Dance Warm-Up: Isolations and Body Waves
A warm-up before a dance or movement composition lesson built on isolations of the head, shoulders, rib cage, and hips, plus body waves to music. It mobilizes the spine, builds body awareness, and gets the group ready to create routines.
How to play
- Students in staggered rows facing the mirror or the teacher, with music at 90 to 110 beats per minute. Minutes 0-2: march in place and side steps on the beat.
- Minutes 2-4: isolations in 8-counts: head side to side and front to back, shoulders up and down and in circles, keeping the rest of the body still.
- Minutes 4-6: rib cage isolations (forward, back, sides) and hip isolations (sides and circles), 2 sets of 8 counts each.
- Minutes 6-8: standing body waves top to bottom and bottom to top, then arm waves passed down the row from student to student.
- Minutes 8-10: in pairs, one student improvises 8 counts combining two isolations and the other copies; then switch.
Rules
- Move the neck without forcing it and without fast full circles.
- Keep your own space with arms out without touching anyone.
- No one judges anyone's dancing: effort is what counts.
Variations
Easier
Half-time isolations (each move takes two counts) and no rib cage waves.
Standard
Isolations and waves in full time with the music.
Harder
Combine two isolations at once, such as shoulders and hips, and make the final improv 16 counts.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: do all upper-body isolations and arm waves seated.
- Hearing impairment: the teacher shows the counts with fingers and turns up the bass so students feel the vibration.
- Shyness: rows face the wall or mirror, and the final improv is optional.
Learning goals
- Mobilize the spine and joints with isolated movements.
- Match movement to an 8-count musical structure.
- Build body awareness as a base for choreography.
Equipment for a class of 25
- music player and speaker: 1
Teacher tip
Count out loud for the first few minutes until the group feels the 8-count. Pick songs students know to ease the early embarrassment.
PatioLab has "Dance Warm-Up: Isolations and Body Waves" and 1299 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More warm-ups for High School
4v1 Warm-up Rondo
4v1 rondo in an 8×8-meter square: four players keep possession with passes along the ground while one player in the middle tries to win the ball.
5v2 Technical Warm-up Rondo
A 5v2 rondo (keep-away) to warm up with the ball: five players around the outside of a square keep possession while two in the middle try to win it.
Activation Ball Relays
Team relays in which each runner completes a 12-meter course dribbling with the hand, dribbling with the feet or passing, depending on the round.
Activation Circuit (4 Stations, 30 s)
Activation circuit with four 30-second stations: hoop jumps, squats, cone zigzag and plank.
Activation with Agility Ladder
Agility ladder warm-up using four footwork patterns of increasing difficulty.
Activation with Basic Plyometric Exercises
An activation with basic, progressive plyometric exercises: ankle hops, vertical jumps, lateral jumps and switch lunges.