About Improvisation...

Martha Graham said that dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body. Dance is an extraordinary form of expression that connects ideas and intentions through a medium other than the written or spoken word. Dance can entertain, communicate and inspire. It can be said that the dancer's instrument of communication is his or her own body and the words are the movement combinations and combination phrases. Both dance and verbal language have vocabulary, such as steps and gestures, they have grammar, or rules for putting the vocabulary together, and they have to be applied, as language in speech and dance in performance.

Improvisation generally suggests a free or open style that creates movements spontaneously. However, Movement Based Improvisation is restricted to movements that exist within a common vocabulary. The dancers take turns leading and following, relying on visual cues and body language as well a group formations and transitions. This enhances their ability to perform together through improvisation rather than rote choreography.

Once the dancers are fully trained they can create infinite dances together in any formation in a variety of tempos. One particularly exciting aspect of Movement Based Improvisation is that the dancers themselves participate in the creation process and move moment to moment creating new dances every time they perform. With time, the group develops a oneness that is both beautiful and dynamic.

Laura Pawel of the Laura Pawel Dance Company stated it best when she said that to be a good improviser, one has to do a lot of listening and paying attention to one another. People sometimes think improvising means simply doing whatever you want, but that's not so. It's tremendously difficult yet very stimulating.

Improvisation is the ongoing act of creation, and the creative process itself is nothing more than a problem solving process. The process of creating a dance means developing a sensitivity to and awareness of your body so that you are able to connect with and act on impulses for movement.

A common misunderstanding about improvisation is that it is invented on the spot without preparation. This is simply not true. There is an extended preparation in the rules of engagement and practice. Improvisation teams or troupes work together, interact and observe one another extensively over time.

Bios...

Ultra Hip Revue is Sherry Morrison, Diana Baker and Julie Watters. This trio of career artists blend their talents and skills to this unique tour de force that never fails to sweep their audiences off their feet.

herry Morrison
Originally from Monroe, Louisiana, Sherry began studying dance and physical education as a teenager. After graduating from high school, moving to Birmingham, and receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, she later would find her way back to her first love: dance.

Sherry began her bellydance tutelage in Egyptian and Folkloric Styles. However, she soon discovered a style that utilized improvisational choreography known as American Tribal Style. She immersed herself in learning and mastering this style, but her love for bellydance would keep her studying and working for the next decade to develop an improvisational dance format with her own unique style and interpretation. Utilizing her background in educational and developmental psychology and drawing from her knowledge of physical education, she developed a format that combined all the things she loved about American Tribal Style, starting with a foundational learning structure that builds up from the basics.

Sherry is not only a talented dancer, choreographer, and instructor, but she is also a musician, playing the bass drum full time for the Ian Sturrock Memorial Pipe Band. She also plays bass guitar and doumbek, and is learning the bodhran. On top of all this, she mixes and arranges all the music for UHR performances. Sherry also has an eye for video production and has produced both of UHR's videos.

Today, Sherry is currently writing an indepth manual on Movement Based Improvisation. She teaches her format in classes to students every week at the Children's Dance Foundation in Homewood, Alabama. Please click here for more information about her classes.

iana Baker
Sherry took Diana on as as her very first student in 1999. Diana's interest in studying tribal bellydance was piqued after seeing Sherry perform. Diana was an original member of DancingBellies and co-founder of Gypsy Red Tribe, performing along with her mentor and partner at events throughout the region.

Diana is a hair stylist by trade and co-owner of Fringe Hair Salon on Birmingham's Southside. A talented seamstress, with Sherry's guidance Diana helped to develop the trademark steampunk-inspired wardrobe worn by Ultra Hip Revue in their debut performance for Muse of Fire's production of Shakespeare's MacBeth at Historic Sloss Furnaces in 2008.

ulie Watters
Julie has been studying bellydance under Sherry's tutelage since 2007. Julie's interest in dance began early on. Beginning at the age of thirteen she studied ballroom dance for many years. During her late teens and twenties her interests turned to Latin dance. The newest member of the troupe, Julie debuted at the MacBeth performance and has been a devoted member of the troupe ever since.

Ultra Hip Revue is proud to boast that Julie was honored in 2008 as one of Birmingham Magazine’s Most Beautiful People. When she is not bellydancing, Julie is one of Alabama's brightest artists and art instructors with regular exhibitions at various local galleries and art shows throughout the year. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is the educational facilitator of Bare Hands Gallery. She regularly serves on the planning committee for the annual “El Dia dos Muertos" event hosted by Bare Hands Gallery, featuring performances every year by Ultra Hip Revue. To view samples of Julie's artwork, visit her website at www.jcaltonwatters.com.

isters of the Hip
The Sisters of the Hip is Ultra Hip Revue's sister troupe made up of Sherry's bellydance students. The Sisters are from left to right: Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark, Priscilla Martinez, Tarria Smith, Shirin Safavy, Lauryn Gallagher, Amanda Perry, and Sandra Swann (not picured).