All 1000 Moves, A REFERENCE, NOT A GUIDE

I don’t usually make this way…

My work starts in improvisation, how else? I don’t know another way. 1000 Moves for Back Up Dancers began as a joke: dance to music with your friends, look at a video and write down all the moves, memorize the moves, string them together - a set of simple directions, a self replicating process, a dance that would make itself.

This is the hardest thing I’ve ever made. My mind lives in the cross-reference. The act of reference, the movement in-between points of reference. When I scatter these moves around me I find myself inside a flat ontology. All of the references have to be invented. Instead of a dance making itself I’m relearning how making a dance works, how choreography invents the reference.

These are the moves we have so far.

1. DAD DANCE 2. EXTENDED ARM SWING ARMS BENT 2b. EXTENDED ARM SWING ARMS ABOVE HEAD 3. TAP SAME HAND AS FOOT

   4. FIST AND PELVIS CIRCLES 5. SPRINGSTEEN WALK 6. SHOULDER SHRUG SAME LEG AS SHOULDER 7. GROUNDED POGO

   8. STRUT WITH EXTENDED ARM 9. CRAWL OPPOSITE ARM REACH 10. MASH POTATO 11. SALMA AHGA SNAKE ARMS

   12. STEP TOUCH HANDS HANDS TO CHEST 13. GRAPEVINE 14. LUNGE POWER CHORD 15. STEP TOUCH ARMS CROSSING CHEST

   16.PENCIL TURN WITH HAIR FLIP 17. ART DECO 17 B. CONTINUOUS ART DECO 18. SLAPPING THE DESK

   19. KNEE POP WITH SHIMMY ARMS LOW 19 B. KNEE POP WITH SHIMMY ARMS HIGH 20. KNEE POP ARMS REACH OUT, SHOULDERS PULL

   21. KNEE POP HANDS CIRCLING HIP CRESTS 22. STEP TOUCH SNAP 23. TWIST HANDS TRIANGLE 24. STEP TOUCH HANDS CRESTING WAVES

   25. STEP TOUCH IN ELBOWS PULL BACK 26. PONY ARM PUSHES SIDE 27. SLIDE BACK SPRINGSTEEN 28. PRANCE HANDS DRAW SMALL CIRCLES

   29. EXTENDED PRANCE ARMS SWIM FORWARD 30. STEP TOUCH HANDS TO SHOULDERS 31. PADDLE TURN SMALL SLAP SIDE

   32. HALF TURN ARMS IN DIAMOND SHAPE 33. SMOOTH DAD 34. PAUL TAYLOR, RUN RUN FONDUE 35. STEP TOUCH OUT ARMS PARALLEL TO LEG

   36. HYPER PONY 37. TAKING A LAYER OFF 37 B. ACTUALLY TAKING A LAYER OFF 38. HANDS POINT DOWN BENT OVER SWING

   39. ARMS OVER HEAD, POSE 39 B. ARMS COMB OVER HEAD CONTINUOUSLY 40. ARM TO FOREHEAD KICK BACK 41. ARMS LIKE BLADES

   42. SIDE SHUFFLE SIDE, LITTLE FIST PUMPS 43. KICK 44. TURN INSIDE OUT 45. LITTLE FAN ARMS 46. ARM WRAP TORSO KNEE POP

   47. ARMS REACH UP, BEND SAME ELBOW AS KNEE 48. CHA CHA SIDE TO SIDE 48 B. CHA CHA HANDS MAKE FULL CIRCLES

   49. LUNGE SWIPE ARM SIDE 50. BUTT KICK ARMS WINDMILL 51. L ARMS LUNGE 52. PARTY ARMS

   53. SIDE TO SIDE SHUFFLE ELBOWS DOWN HANDS UP 54. ARMS TO SHOULDERS UP AND DOWN, LOOK OPPOSITE DIRECTION 55. AIR PUNCHES

   56. LAWN MOWER 57. REACH UP BREAKDOWN HAND TO KNEE 58. GESTURE FROM CHEST, HEAD BACK 59. RIBCAGE BACK AND FORTH HANDS ON HIPS

   60. LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER, SWITCH SHOULDER 61. RUNNING INTO TADA 62. SHAKE DOWN 63. WHIP HEAD WITH HANDS BEHIND BACK

   64. GESTURE UP AND DOWN WITH HAND 65. LITTLE DRUMMING HANDS HIT TRIANGLE 66. KNOCK KNEES

   67. ONE HAND BEHIND HEAD, OTHER BEHIND BACK, WALK IN A CIRCLE 68. HALO HANDS AND SHIMMY 69. PLIE CHUG 70. CHARLESTON

   71. TWIST ARMS STRAIGHT OUT 72. LUNGE HARP ARMS 73. PLIE THROW ARMS DIAGONALLY OUT 74. TWIRL LIKE CHENE ELBOWS IN HANDS OUT

   75. SQUIGGLE OCEAN ARMS 76. KNEES BENT DIAGONAL HUNCHED OVER PUMP 77. SKI-HOP WITH HANDS WAVING UP AND DOWN TOGETHER

   78. HIP POP HANDS WAVE OPPOSITE DIRECTION 79. HANDS BEHIND HEAD UPPER TORSO CIRCLE 80. DISAPPEARING ACT

   81. POP SUNGLASSES WHILE BOPPING FROM SIDE TO SIDE 82. BEND OVER TO FLOOR COME UP WITH HAIR TOSS 83. RIBCAGE PUMP WITH HANDS FORWARD

   84. PRANCE WITH POINTED FEET HUNCHED OVER SNAP OUT 84 B. IN PLACE WITH FOOT POINTING IN AND OUT 85. TORSO WAVE WITH PLIE

   86. PRANCE RUN WITH FISTS PUMPING DOWN 87. FENCING PRANCE 88. DEEP SECOND PARALLEL TORSO CIRCLE ALL THE WAY AROUND

   89. PRANCE SIDE TO SIDE SECOND PARALLEL PUMP PALMS FORWARD 90. JUMP IN AND OUT HEEL POP THROW ARMS UP 91. PONY BOP

   92. DISCO FOOT POP ARM SHIMMER DOWN 92 B. DISCO FOOT POP SHOULDER SHIMMY 93. WALK AROUND SELF SUN SHIMMER ARMS

   94. RELEVE BENT KNEE SWINGING HANDS 94 B. RELEVE BENT KNEE SHOULDER ROLLS 95. GATHER ARMS WIDE PRANCE SIDE TO SIDE

   96. AROUND THE WORLD 97. SPIN AROUND SELF CROUCH PHANTOM ARM 98. TENDU SIDE PUSH ARM DOWN 99. PADDLE TURN ARMS UP IN “U”

   100. ROLLING FISTS 101. RAISE THE ROOD SKI JUMP 102. SNAKE ARMS FROM BEHIND STEP TOUCH 103. 1,2,3,4 MOTOWN 104. OPEN LEG, FRAME LEG

   105. TRIANGLE ARMS WHIP TURN 106. PRANCE SIDE TO SIDE ELBOWS BEND HAND TO CHEST 107. SLIDE DOWN ON HANDS AND KNEES CIRCLE HEAD AND TAIL

   108. EN POINT CRISS CROSS WALK WITH ARMS STRAIGHT OUT 109. TIP TOE FORCED ARCH WALK ARMS OUT SIDE TO SIDE AND DOWN

   110. SKIP WALK ARM THROWN DOWN 111. HAND OVER HIP DRAG WALK 112. ELBOW JAB, SKIM JUMP OPPOSITE LEG OUT

   113. WALK IN A CIRCLE AND SLIDE, KNEE DOWN, LEG OUT ARMS WIDE 114. ARM OVER HEAD LOOKING DIAGONALLY UP 115. RUN TO DIVE AND SLIDE ON FLOOR

   116. MUD FLAPS KNEE/LEG PEDDLE LOOKING UP AND DOWN 117. SKI JUMP PRANCE HANDS PUSH AIR AWAY 118. LUNGE, HEEL TAP

   119. CRAB WALK, HANDS TO FEET 120. WALK INTO LUNGE ON KNEES, PELVIS AND SHOULDERS SHADE 121. HIEROGLYPHIC FORCED ARCH WALK

   122. KNEE POP HAND OVER SAME HIP, REACH ARM UP 123. SPIN KNEES TOGETHER ONE FOOT KICK BACK 123 B. WITH ARMS IN “L”

   124. WIDE LUNGE “L” ARMS WAVE THROUGH TORSO 125. WIDE LUNGE REACHING 126. RUN TOUCH FLOOR, SIT DOWN FORWARD FOLD

   127. LITTLE FORCED ARCH SAME FOOT LEADS, SHOULDERS SHAKE 128. LUNGE PUMPING ARMS FORWARD TO MOVE FORWARD 129. STROKE A WALL

   130. SWING PELVIS WITH FISTS LOW 131. PEDDLE SHOULDERS REACHING FORWARD AND BACK FOOT POP 132. ARM SWING OUT FROM SHOULDERS STRAIGHT

   133. ARMS CROSS/UNCROSS SHIFTING WEIGHT FROM FOOT TO FOOT 134. PULL YOUR DRAWERS UP 135. DRUMMER ARMS OVERHEAD

   136. FIST OVER HEAD LITTLE PELVIS THRUST 137. LUNGE COMPASS SURVEY SAME ARM AS FOOT POPPED 138. SWEEP SKATING SIDE TO SIDE

   139. MALL WALKER 140. PEDDLE FEET, GUITAR FINGERS 141. FIST TO SHOULDER BREAKDOWN TO LINDA RONSTADT RIFF

   142. TOE AND FINGERS POINT 45 DEGREES 143. LA PIETA MELT AND REFORM 144. STEP TOUCH REACHING OUT TO THE FRONT

   145. HAND TO HEART OTHER ARM ACROSS 146. PRESS ONE AND THEN TWO HANDS DOWN 147. HANDS ON KNEES UNDULATE THROUGH MID BACK

   148. SHRUG SHOULDER, SURVEY SHIFTING WEIGHT 149. CARRY A CIRCLE 150. JUMPING JACK CLAP 151. RUN WITH PRANCE ARMS