Thom Yorke and the new 5Rhythms dance craze

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Charlotte Macleod10 April 2012

Cohabiting with almost eight million other Londoners requires self-restraint.

There are times when you experience a kind of shouty rage, which communal living demands you suppress. Sometimes you need to let it all out.

Crooning in the shower or karaoke in the car can help but my latest obsession involves singing along to Radiohead's single Lotus Flower while dancing to the accompanying video.

I find that I am not alone in this. Lotus Flower has clocked up more than seven million YouTube hits since the video was uploaded a couple of weeks ago and it shows lead singer Thom Yorke doing a kind of ecstatic dance. It's a mesmerising performance, choreographed by Wayne McGregor of the Royal Ballet and Sadler's Wells.

Here's what I like to do. I wait until everyone is in bed then I put my computer on the kitchen table and play Lotus Flower, full volume and full screen. I watch the way Thom moves, his body now fluid, now taut, each movement precise. He extends his hands, and unfurls his fingers. He bends, swivels, and returns. Now he is still. He begins again, measuring out the music with his moves. I imitate Thom, then elaborate, catching glimpses of myself reflected back in the darkened kitchen window.

Thom is accessorised with a bowler hat, and there's this brilliant moment when he crams it down on his head while doing a jiggy-pixie-knee-lift manoeuvre. Trust me, it's cute. I admit to having invested in a bowler myself, a tenner down Portobello market.

After a week of dancing alone with a cyber-partner, I worry that I am in danger of becoming a bit sad. It's time for new partners, and preferably ones in the same room. So I opt for a 5Rhythms dance class because it is the polar opposite to a traditional class. Rather than mimicking a teacher in an attempt to attain perfection, 5Rhythms is all about freedom of expression.

Arriving at my first class I am feeling uncharacteristically shy. My fellow dancers are already warming up under the neon strip lighting of the sports hall. This is not what I had envisaged. I long for Thom and the privacy of my own home. My classmates limber up by flicking their hands, flexing their feet and even rolling around on the floor. I feel like an extra in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

My morale improves once the lights are dimmed, scented candles lit and the music starts. Our teacher, Emma Leech, guides us through the first rhythm, called Flow, inspiring us to "inhabit the music". The next rhythm, Staccato, ratchets up the beat, and Emma encourages us to dance with each other.

The Chaos rhythm induces a frenzied letting-go. I jettison my Thom-style bowler in favour of whipping my hair back and forth. I discover that my hair is made for whipping, my legs are made for leaping, and my arms are made for waving. This is fun. This is abandon. It is like being on ecstasy without the ecstasy.

After a while my body generates a real heat and my moves become more fluid. It is exhilarating. I unfasten my mind and let my body go. By the time Emma moves us into Lyrical, we are transformed into a manifestation of sound and rhythm. As we subside into Stillness, moving in tai-chi-esque slow motion, we have become lost in music. Just notes. Floating.

At the end of the class, I feel mentally and physically refreshed, and oddly connected to the other dancers. We have experienced a kind of moving meditation, a catharsis through dance. It feels like something shared. (Emma regularly brings the therapeutic benefits of 5Rhythms to children in inner-city schools and to those in addiction centres and prisons.)

Back at home, I realise that my 5Rhythms session has induced an unexpected liveliness. It is the most fun I have had for ages with my clothes on. There is nothing else for it. I take out my computer - it's time for Thom. I play Lotus Flower again, full-volume and full screen. Thom and I dance as one, in a virtual pas de deux.

The rhythm's gonna getcha

What is it?
5Rhythms was devised by New York dancer Gabrielle Roth in the Sixties to harness the energising and therapeutic benefits of dance. "Energy moves in waves," he says. "Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in rhythms. A human being is just that - energy waves, patterns, rhythms. Nothing more. Nothing less. A dance."
Classes
A trained and qualified practitioner will lead you through a sequence of five types of rhythmical music. It is a structured class of freestyle dancing. Most classes last for two hours.
What are the five rhythms?
They correspond to five types of musical beat. Each creates a wave of energy by building into a crescendo then subsiding into stillness.
Music
The music is an eclectic mix of tracks, varying from week to week. Expect anything with a strong beat, from contemporary hits to world music.
Do I need experience?
There is no need to have ever danced before. You go entirely at your own pace and there is no sense of competition. 5Rhythms attracts a range of ages and abilities.
What to bring
Loose clothing, plenty of water and an open mind.
Cost
Sessions cost £10-£20.
Find 5Rhythms near you
Gabrielle Roth has a list of all qualified instructors at gabrielleroth.com.
My teacher was Emma Leech: emmadance.co.uk. or you can try acalltodance.com or5rhythms-janebelshaw.com

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