PROMPT
State your name and post a fun dance photo!
LENS
Create a Vimeo or YouTube account.
ALTERNATIVE
Take a photo of a moment in your dance-making and caption it using only adverbs

PROMPT
Pick a song that is OPPOSITE of your taste, improvise to it and see what comes out.
LENS
Complete a YouTube tutorial on your chosen software and give it a shot. Don't worry about not liking it at first, keep experimenting.
ALTERNATIVE
Draw and share a map of your work on paper

PROMPTS
Use the Dancemaker app to create some fun dance phrases. You can pick the words yourself or use the randomizer. Take a screenshot and share you awesome phrase! (Link to blog, google play, itunes)
LENS
Set up a camera and record yourself developing movements and phrases. After you finish your rehearsal, watch your video in 2x-4x speed slowing to normal playback speed whenever something you did catches your eye differently now that you're seeing it on film.
ALTERNATIVE
Describe your dance-making so far in 3 sentences

PROMPTS
Find two distant points in your space. Create a phrase that travels between them as best you can, highlighting the distance.
LENS
Make a hand dance film of the phrases you like so far. Set up your camera to capture just your hands and while standing still, mark through your phrases using your hands to represent the body's movement. See if this hand dance inspires any gestures for your piece.
ALTERNATIVE
Take and share 3 photos of something that originally influenced your dance, something that is currently inspiring it, and something you’d like to have further shape your dance

PROMPTS
Pick 2 extreme temmpos and create movement to them back to back.
LENS
Film your phrases fully in silhouette, make sure your light source is coming from behind your dancer.
ALTERNATIVE
Share a video or image of a teacher or mentor whose work is influencing yours. Share a few sentences about why they matter to you

PROMPTS
Create a unique light source (phone flashlight, candle, lamp, etc) and move only within that source of light. Play within the fringes of light and darkness.
LENS
Try filming the same phrase using different light sources. Notice how the camera reacts to different sources, and levels, of light and shadow, depending also on where the light source is in relation to you and the camera.
ALTERNATIVE
Invoke Susan Rethorst’s “wrecking” process; take your work, change it radically, and describe what comes of it

PROMPT
Choreograph some material to a song, then perform it to a completely different song.
LENS
Film your dance reflected in a very shiny object. This could be a mirror, but look for shiny items that have angles and curves, such as a curved glass bowl or light fixture. Point your camera directly at the object, and have the dancer perform so that movement is seen in the reflection.
ALTERNATIVE
Talk with someone about what you’re working on. Ask them to reflect back to you what they’ve heard with 5 words that describe what they understand of your dance. Share their text

PROMPT
Use today to catch up to any prompts you may have missed!
LENS
Take a look back through the prompts and oyur notes. Review your footage.
ALTERNATIVE
Bring back outtakes (of film, phrasing, music, or concepts), and make 2 changes that invite back your consideration. Share your re-creation

PROMPT
Tear out a piece of paper from a notebook and place it on the ground. Connect the paper to the floor with a body part and create a phrase while keeping your body connected to the piece of paper.

LENS
Film the phrase you are working on from a tilted angle, so that the dancer is diagonal in the frame rather than square (this is sometimes called a canted or Dutch angle). Consider how this change in the horizon affects the appearance of weight in your movements.

ALTERNATIVE
Imagine your work as a series of colors in sequence. Share a photo of something that matches some of these colors

PROMPT
Try an accumulation phrase. A+AB+ABC+ABCD...See how long you can keep going, repeating and adding without missing any of the movements.
LENS
Make the focal point of the lens your connection to the paper. Try using different angles to capture your connection.
ALTERNATIVE
Have your dancer (maybe it’s you!) practice the movement while holding an object that is important to them. Describe in a sentence the shifts in weight and tone

PROMPT
Recreate your favorite dance photo, then improvise with that energy. Tag us in your recreated photo!
LENS
Find a way to fix the camera on or near the dancer's sternum, with the lens facing away from the dancer, "seeing" from the perspective of the sternum. If you cannot safely affix it, have the dancer use one hand to hold the camera against their chest. Record the dancer performing a few phrases. Review the recordings and describe the movement quality (as seen by the sternum) in a few words.
ALTERNATIVE
If your dance had a sound, what would it be? A scream? A burp? A long sigh? Share a sound or a description

PROMPT
Experiment with different ways of starting, ending, or initiating movement.
LENS
Film only your feet or wheels. Keep the camera very low, focusing on the interaction between the ground and the dancer.
ALTERNATIVE
Write 3 sentences about your work. Use google translate to translate to a language with which you are unfamiliar. Then translate from that language to one more. Translate from there back to your native language and share your new phrasing

PROMPT
Find a quiet space to improvise. Don't move for the firsst minute, then slowly begin moving based onn the sounds are are becoming attuned to: the wind, a house settling, or even your own breath.
LENS
Keep the camera still and experiement with different body parts entering different parts of the frame. For example, a hand reach from the bottom of the frame. Play with the on/off stage quality of the frame.
ALTERNATIVE
Imagine how you would describe your dance to a 5 year-old

PROMPT
Create a phrase that reflects your body moving from extreme cold to extreme heat.
LENS
Experiment with how an angle, zoom, or editing can give the effect that your film is in a certain climate.
ALTERNATIVE
Do a little research on audio description for dance/performance, try describing a phrase or two of your dance. Share your description verbally

PROMPT
Improvise for a minute, then choose just 20 seconds of that phrase to repeat over and over.
LENS
Give your camera lens a point of view or assign it an emotion, as if it is the gaze of another person or character in your piece. How does this change where the camera looks? How does this change how it looks?
ALTERNATIVE
Place your camera microphone, or any sound recording device, on the floor and record the sounds your body makes touching those surfaces in that space. Repeat in another (or many more) space(s) with a different kind of surface. Listen to how your movement sounds different. Share the audio

PROMPT
Improvise during the point in your day when you are most exhausted.
LENS
Set up your lens on the floor at an upward angle to capture the exhausted movement of the basic prompt. Notice the mood of this angle. Does the exhaustion read more than when it's a more framed shot?
ALTERNATIVE
Record a phrase from your dance on video. Share or play it in reverse. Giving special consideration to movements that now defy gravity, create a phrase inspired by your reverse phrase. Share your newly reversed version

PROMPT
Find an interesting painting or sculpture. Let your improvisation by influenced by this piece of artwork.
LENS
Film a section or phrase as close up as you can and then as far away as you can. Consider how perspective changes the mood.
ALTERNATIVE
Give your dance sound effects. As you move, verbalize how each movement sounds, “whoosh,” “bop,” “baow” or whatever sound your movement makes. If you already use these kinds of noises to name or describe movements, focus on filling out finer details or transitions. Share your audio recording or image of these sounds

PROMPT
Take a look back through the prompts and use today to catch up on anything you might have missed, or go back to your favorite one for today.
LENS
Take a look back through the prompts and your notes. Review your footage.
ALTERNATIVE
Does your dance make you hungry for something specific? Write down just the flavors of what you eat/drink before and then after rehearsal

PROMPT
Sit down and come up with 5 adjectives to describe the last dance piece or major movement you've seen. Cut them apart, shuffle them, and then improvise to the random order you arrange them in.
LENS
Select a phrase from your piece, between 15-25 seconds. Film the dancer from at least 4 different facings (such as frontal, profile, from behind, on a diagonal) Edit that phrase together as it was performed using only 2-4 seconds from any facing at a time.
ALTERNATIVE
Find/think of a natural thing or human made object that most encapsulates your dance as a whole. Share pictures of that thing as a sculpture of your dance

PROMPT
Find three different types of fabric and move on them letting the textures influence your movement.
LENS
Record final footage for your piece.
ALTERNATIVE
Select movements or phrases to create the 15 or 30 second “trailer” of your dance, but perform it yourself as a 15 or 30 second mini-piece, record and share

PROMPT
Put yourself in a totally new space that you would never think to choreograph in. See how it influences your creative juices.
LENS
Review the footage you have recorded for your final piece. Mark sections in the video that you like. It's ok if it is not all in the same shot.
ALTERNATIVE
Describe your dance making so far in 3 sentences. Add it to your 3 sentences from earlier in the month, reshape/edit those words and phrases into a poem. Share your poem

PROMPT
Take a moment to move in a way where you are in charge of every movement, then switch to allowing the movement to happen to you. See how distinct you can make the difference.
LENS
Edit your selected clips together to make a full length version. Do not review/rewatch what you've just put together.
ALTERNATIVE
Think of your dance in three sections–perhaps as simple as beginning, middle, and end. Using an image search online (or photos you have) select three and make a triptych of your dance to share

PROMPT
Create an entire movement that takes place in the space of one breath: in and out.
LENS
With only the memory of making your edit yesterday, make an entirely different edited version with your selected clips (or other clips not used), do not review/rewatch what you've just put together. This can be a linear edit of very abstract.
ALTERNATIVE
Imagine 3 very different places you think would make sense as a performance site for your piece could be a theater, another indoor/outdoor site, maybe the moon?) and collect images of that site. Share 3 images you’ve collected

PROMPT
If you have a way to bring in an observer, even if it's via some sort of live feed, do so during your improvisation today. Play with interacting and ignoring them.
LENS
Watch your two edited versions. Does one version work better for you? Can you combine the best moments from each or use a strong moment from one in the other? Spend time really looking at your edits.
ALTERNATIVE
Make a collage of images from any reusable paper you have. Then rip this up and make a new one that is in conversation with your dance right now. Share a photo of your collage

PROMPT
Perform the same movement to different music or sounds.
LENS
Lens: Try placing different music or sounds over some of your clips. See how it influences what you notice about each clip.
ALTERNATIVE
Write down the order of moments from your dance on separate scraps of paper. Move these pieces around to re-order or repeat. Take a picture of your scraps

PROMPT
Sum up your work this month with a word and a gesture, and post it on social media.

LENS
Polish your dance film with fine tuned edits, add titles, credits, and acknowledgements

ALTERNATIVE
Go to the url of your favorite non-news website. Write down the first 12 words you notice. Create 3 possible titles for your work from this vocabulary. Share your words list

PROMPT
Look back on all of your personal processes for developing your NACHMO work this year. Share one of them with us or someone in your NACHMO community!
LENS
Look back on all of your personal processes for developing your NACHMO work this year. Share one of them with us or someone in your NACHMO community!
ALTERNATIVE
Look back on all of your personal processes for developing your NACHMO work this year. Share one of them here so that we can compile and offer your ideas for NACHMO’s 2022 January Challenge!