Geoff Mazeroff

Overview

Track-by-track Breakdown

Warmup — We Came to Bang

• There are plenty of repetitions of the Hip Push in this track
• The 3-Step Snatch feels really good to start the class; lots of opportunity to show levels of dancing
• This is the first time in quite a while where we’ve had a move where we face different parts of the room (front, sides, back)

Isolations — Runaway (U & I) (Dillon Francis Remix)

• Getting the correct rhythm of the 1x slow 4x quick chest pops took a few tries
• The precise control needed to make the Chest Glide look correct is why we have Isolations tracks
• The Double Toe Rock with Kick is introduced here and then comes back as part of the Jam in Love routine

Funk — Can You Do This

• As I expected, this reminded me a bit of Proud Mary from BODYJAM 72 — four simple moves that we can put together
• I don’t care for circling the hands forward on the 7 Kick, but it does work up a sweat
• The rhythm for the 7 Kick (where you hold one leg back at the end) took some time to finally get
• Again, we see another move with low, quick kicks

Jam in Love — Drunk in Love

• Interesting idea to preview the Shoulder Whip Combo before participants have learned any part of it
• The Hip Circle Balance feels nice to do — we rarely have circular movement that works vertically
• Plenty of time to set up the arm lines of the whip, snap, chest contract, then lift
• We see the Double Toe Rock (from the Isolations track) again

Jam in Love — Drunk in Love (Diplo Remix)

• Now that we’ve heard the track and learned the moves, we now get to go bigger — faster, sharper arm lines
• Like the Warmup, we do the Backward Hip Roll to different areas of the room

Jam in Love — When We Were Young (Zomboy Remix)

• When I danced this the first time I couldn’t figure out why we were doing this weird back step plus mambo routine with the feet; the second time made much more sense because I knew where we were going — you need to set up the footwork first
• The back turn feels perfect for the block, and it’s very simple to execute with the right timing
• I like that the Reach & Drop plays with the timing — lifting up on 1, then dropping down on 2 (instead of 3)
• It took a few times for me to get the quick footwork going with the Up & Cross Arms, but it feels good once you nail it

Jam in Love — Runaway (U & I)

• Pretty solid way to end the block — we do the routine four times with breaks in between
• There’s a callback to the Hand Push from the Warmup as well

Recovery — I Want You Back

• Even though the moves are small, this seems rather energetic for a recovery — lots of wide step-touches, back kicks, and toe rocks.
• The moves go really well with the track
• Even in the Dance School, Gandalf mentions that there are some weird timings — 6 counts before starting a move instead of the usual 8 we get per measure

Tribal Love — Delirious (Boneless)

• Although it was coached in the masterclass, the Step Kick Behind looked more like a back step instead of a deliberate kick; the Dance School clarified that, though
• The Moon Jump looks pretty awesome when executed correctly; the weight transfer feels very natural
• The Triple Chest Push brings back the chest movement from the Isolations track

Tribal Love — Like a Pro (Clean)

• It’s kind of interesting to have three (odd number) of the Make It Bounce Hip Rolls followed by the Smack It Smack It; the asymmetry makes it stand out
• The contrast of movement in the Loco-Motion makes for a great place to dance bigger

Tribal Love — Like a Pro (Yellow Claw Remix)

• It wasn’t until the end of the first round of dancing the masterclass that I figured out what I was supposed to do with my feet for the Round Di Corner Hips — fast in the feet, slow in the hips
• The Wind It Up is a great place to add some self-expression — keep the toes turning in/out, and then rotate the torso, letting the arms do what they want
• This is the first place where we put the routine thus far together

Tribal Love — Delirious (Boneless) (Reid Stefan Remix)

• We have about 2 minutes to practice what we’ve learned so far

Tribal Love — Baddest (Ape Drums Remix)

• More practice, but at a slightly slower tempo (120 bpm down to 105 bpm)

Tribal Love — Baddest (Clean)

• Here we learn the holding pattern of the Hand Flick with Chest Wave

Tribal Love — We Make It Bounce

• We get about 3 minutes to put the routine together with the Hand Flick Combo
• The Double Hand Drag (which we see in the next track) is introduced

Tribal Love — We Found Love (R3hab Remix)

• Now that we’re more comfortable with the routine, we can start dancing bigger
• The Jump Everybody (double-jump/drop) and the Double Wave get added here to finish up the routine

Tribal Love — C.U.B.A.

• Not much here — just finishing out the routine we started in the last track and idling with the Hand Flick Combo

Tribal Love — Don’t Stop the Madness

• We do the routine once in Breakout mode to this short track

Tribal Love — Tremor

• Like C.U.B.A., not much here — just finishing out the routine we started in the last track and idling with the Hand Flick Combo

Tribal Love — Stopping Us

• For being the finale track, we only do the routine twice
• We get a good 30 seconds of outro to wind down the block

Groovedown — Latch

• Exactly what a Groovedown should be — super-small, super-simple moves
• Even though it’s a little more energetic, I like the Double Time House Tap; it fits well with the style of the music

Wrapping Up

This release is pretty solid — a good blend of styles, contrasting moves that aren’t that difficult to pick up. Even though there are loads of tracks, it’s a musical potpourri where we can lose ourselves in the music and just dance.

The routines are both 8×8 blocks and they’re set up gradually in an easy-to-learn manner. I found that I felt pretty confident in the moves after watching the masterclass twice and the Dance School once. The back-half routines in the past several releases have had a main choreography block plus a filler routine. (This release’s was the Hand Flick Combo.) I feel that this back-half had more “downtime,” probably so that the routines lined up better with the varied music track selections.

I’ve listened to the Mash It! music and feel it would be fun to do. I haven’t had a chance to review the Oldschool bonus block yet, although the moves from the Dance School look pretty fun.

As of this posting, I’m still not teaching BODYJAM due to schedule issues at my facility. I still enjoy keeping up with the current releases and would have no hesitation to dance this release again soon. My plan is to reintroduce BODYJAM after the new year with a targeted marketing campaign and a better time slot.

Stay tuned for my reviews of BODYJAM 74 (Get It Lit)!