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FoCo Technique is the active engagement of five elements and three rhythmic stages through three training segments in the dancer’s approach to movement and performance.

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The five elements are root/ground, wood/axis, water/surrounding, metal/tension and fire/kinesphere. Each element applies to the quality of movement and its corresponding physical awareness when applicable. It is the training in FoCo Technique that drives the dancer to masterfully integrate all elements, resulting in finessed texture and well-rounded movement quality.

The three rhythmic stages are pulse, drop and flow. Each rhythmic stage is explored through choreographic dynamics and translated into the body’s physical and emotional expression. During the training of FoCo Technique, dancers are expected to proficiently embody and convey time and meter in their movements, as well as steadily change its tempo in an efficient manner. In all, FoCo Technique trains dancers to approach movement with masterful grasp of textural and dynamic quality. 

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The three training segments are Triggering, Rooting, Mapping. Through a follow-along continuous sequence, dancers will re-define contraction, gravity, clarity and precision of the movement and develop a heightened sense of awareness. 

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The FoCo class requires sophisticated understanding of dance technique and demands strong physical and mental stamina. The class is 90 min and it starts with an active follow-along sequence including Triggering, Rooting and Mapping. In each of these sections, students are led by the instructor to create awareness in muscular structure in order to achieve precision and control, identify and embody rhythmic pattern and dynamic change, develop strong interaction with gravity and generate heat in the body to prepare for the phrase work. In the second part of the class a specific phrase work will be created and taught in details. Through learning the movement, students will experience the coaching style and learn the quality of the movement. By the end of each class, the phrase work will be performed in smaller groups. It is your time to fully embody the combination, apply the instructions and enjoy the dance.

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FoCo Technique Winter Intensive

Video footage provided by Adam Bernstein

Edited by Yin Yue

Dec 3rd to 5th, 2019 from 10am to 4pm, YYDC hosted a three day intensive at Mark Morris Dance Center to share the company's signature style FoCo Technique. In two hours technique training section, it included three training elements: Triggering, Rooting and Mapping, and the afternoon was filled with choreographed phrase work. The technique offers unique insights into control, precision, clarity and so on. The training tools will help dancers to rediscover connection between physical movement and mental status in order to invest meaning back into the phrase work. The technique takes inspiration from Chinese classical and folk dance as well as contemporary dance style to form a hybrid of contemporary dance that promotes grounded, fluid and powerful dynamic movement. 

This intensive focused mostly on breaking down pattern habits and encouraging dancers to exam their own approach to movement in a new way, looking at each movement and transition under magnifying glass, forcing themselves to travel down the path less traveled and exploring into new territory and discovering new details.