Teacher’s Top Three: Improvisation and Composition Studies

IMAGE A flocking dance piece called "Seeds of Compassion" performed in Seattle. IMAGE

Jenn Romano works with high school dance students and in two after school dance programs for at risk youth. Jenn’s Top Three comes directly from her work, teaching dance composition in New Mexico high schools. She uses these “games” to practice improvisational skills as well develop student-generated choreography in her classes.

Give The Gift Of Dance In Your Community

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Before your big performance day (and after), add some informal performances to your schedule. Not only is it good practice and experience for your students, it’s great advertising, and most importantly, a wonderful gift to the community. Stacey suggests ways to encourage parent involvement and how to make the most of your outreach come recital time.

Spring Fever Giveaway 2011: SURPRISE!

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Our final giveaway comes from… Dance Advantage w/ a little help from a friend. Two readers will win a copy of The Dancer’s Way by Linda H. Hamilton (a comprehensive dancer’s companion); Richard Maddock’s As Creation Unfolds: Part Three (an instrumental album for relaxation or choreography), and a micro-fiber sleeveless t-shirt featuring the DA logo (great for class). A third, grand prize winner will get all this plus a pair of the popular MUK LUKs to keep the feet and ankles warm between classes.

Spring Fever Giveaway 2011: Squirrel Trench Audio Editing

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Squirrel Trench Audio, offering music editing and original remixes for dance, would like to give away one editing session of a single song to dance competition/recital length to THREE different Dance Advantage readers. Squirrel Trench Audio will make the edited song available online for winners to download in both high quality mp3 format, as well as aiff for highest quality when burning to CD. Since the finished product will be made available for downloading, our winners can be located anywhere.

Spring Fever Giveaway 2011: Black Swan

image ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A DVD COPY OF THIS ELECTRIFYING THRILLER AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD MARCH 29 image

TWO Dance Advantage readers will win a DVD copy of the electrifying thriller, BLACK SWAN, available on BLU-RAY and DVD MARCH 29. You may have loved it or loathed it but, if you saw it in theatres, you know BLACK SWAN is a film dancers will want to have in their home library. BLACK SWAN stars Natalie Portman in her Academy Award® winning role. The seductive and haunting Best Picture nominated film is directed by innovator Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler). Daily Variety hailed it as “…wicked, sexy and ultimately devastating… fascinating.”

Spring Fever Giveaway 2011: Dance In A Box

IMAGE 1-2-3 Dance: Interactive Hip Hop choreography kit. IMAGE

Today’s giveaway is sponsored by Dance in a Box. Dance in a Box provides tools for teachers to aid in teaching hip hop and rhythm to kids age 3-12, including interactive choreography kits and learning music. Creator, Tricia Gomez is giving away her new 1-2-3 Dance interactive hip hop choreography kit, containing 50 mix-and-match hip hop step cards and much more, to two DA readers.

Spring Fever Giveaway 2011: BalletBand

IMAGE Stretching with Balletband: Miami City Ballet Principal Dancer, Jennifer Kronenberg, stretches in 3 poses. IMAGE

Our giveaway today comes from Balletband. Balletband is a heavy duty latex resistive stretching band specifically designed for dancers offering a hands-free alternative to traditional stretching techniques. Looping the band around one foot and the opposite shoulder, dancers can stretch and strengthen their extension in arabesque, à la seconde, or croisé. The band’s resistance also effectively works the legs and turnout in a seated straddle position.

Spring Fever Giveaway 2011: abc for dance

IMAGE Pre-pointe: A year long training guide by abc for dance. IMAGE

abc for dance creates teaching tools, curriculum and specialty manuals for dance educators and dancers. The not-yet-released Pre-pointe Dance Curriculum includes both a manual (pdf format allowing teachers to print what they need) that covers the reasoning behind pre-pointe work, screening for readiness, educational materials for parents, in depth descriptions of all exercises, sample lesson plans and video clips of the exercises, AND exercise cards with each exercise printed on heavy cardstock to be taken into the classroom for easy reference.

Spring Fever Giveaway

IMAGE DanceAdvantage.net Spring Fever Giveaway -- March 21-27, 2011 IMAGE

Maybe you remember our last (and first) big giveaway event in November. We’re set to go again, giving away more great prizes to Dance Advantage readers in our Spring Fever Giveaway! March 21-27, 2011. We’ve got you covered – your A-B-C’s and 1-2-3′s! Wearables, gear to help you practice and improve, teaching and curriculum aids, and more!

Share A Moment With The World…

IMAGE A group of dancers jump into the air over concrete blocks. IMAGE

What will you be doing this time TOMORROW? Thousands worldwide will be dancing as they come together simultaneously to create a global public art performance, uniting time zones, people, and cultures. Now in its seventh year, dance anywhere® will take place on Friday, March 18, 2011 at noon pacific daylight time (PDT), 3pm EDT.

The Stem of Aplomb – Part Three: The Lumbar Spine, Sacrum, and Coccyx

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Having addressed the Cervical and Thoracic spines in previous installments, we now turn our attention to the lower three sections of the vertebral column. Learn about the lumbar spine, intervertebral discs, the sacrum, coccyx, and get a quick and dirty list of the 3 big take-away points about ‘the stemb of aplomb,’ the spine.