Coco Villa

DIDIDADA: A Movement Practice with Coco Villa

DIDIDADA is a site specific guided movement practice that can be led as a drop-in class (phase 1) or an intensive workshop (phase 1 & 2). In the first phase, DIDIDADA prioritizes accessibility and playfulness to uplift the body, mind and spirit through a variety of breath work patterns, hyper warmups, rigorous abstract movement prompts, groove evolutions, and grounding practices. Emphasizing continuity of motion, it is designed to provide a basic movement vocabulary, create catharsis, aid in embodiment, and allow us to simply dance for the joy of moving and reconnecting.

In the second phase, participants will shift from curiosity to craft as the generated movement vocabulary becomes the baseline for simple, repetitive scores. In these scores, participants experiment with rhythm, pace, texture, gravity, flow of energy, availability, and magic.

DIDIDADA is open to all levels and experiences.

CORE ELEMENTS

✦ regulation of the nervous system (breath work, vocalizations)

✦ warm ups (high-energy movement, mobility exercises, muscle activations)

✦ abstract prompts (establishing movement vocabulary with action, task, & expression)

✦ groove evolutions (structured improvisations, choreographic scores)

✦ grounding (walking meditation, breath work, vocalizations)

INSPIRATION

Villa’s dance methodologies are informed by blending simple repetitive choreography, structured improvisation, psyche-kinesthetic processes, instructional text, rhythmic breathing, and experimental body mechanics. While not using the according terminology, instruction is inspired by elementary school PE activities, modern dance, contemporary dance, traditional Colombia folk dance, Caribbean dance styles, dance fitness, somatic movement practices, performance art and familial rituals.

ORGIN STORY

DIDIDADA started as an unnamed daily ritual in physicality and was simultaneously created as a response to grief. It was a private process in practicing release and surrender in the form of continuous motion, exploring natural body mechanics and meditation rooted in repetition. I wanted to bring more lightness into my day to day. The concept was further refined when my mother and grandmother developed serious health concerns. I created this out of wanting to aid their recovery process with movement and tend to my own practice in growth and healing. Established in 2016, DIDIDADA evolved into workshops I facilitate by presenting my research in movement for wellness as a physical language for healing, connection, spiritual growth, and expression inspired by familial practices, somatic movement, breath work and traditional dance forms.

This practice has been shared internationally at Pocoapoco || NECIA (Oaxaca City, Mexico), Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Valencia, Spain), Tanzfabrik (Berlin, Germany), Performance Space New York (New York, NY), Lower Manhattan Cultural Center (New York, NY), Wave Hill (Bronx, NY), Activation Residency (Bethel, NY), KinoSaito (Verplank, NY), Pocketbook Hudson (Hudson, NY), Black Mountain College Museum (Asheville, NC), Marigny Opera House (New Orleans, LA), YoungArt’s The Jewel Box (Miami, FL), Casa Museo Arte y Cultural (Cartagena, Colombia) and many more.