The Right Steps Towards A Career In Dance

It can be scary to break out of the comfortable confines of your local studio. But branching out has many benefits for an aspiring dance professional. By taking a wide variety of dance classes from different sources, you become a more versatile dancer. In today’s dance industry, versatility is extremely important. Sure you can specialize in a specific dance genre, but it is also important to be well-versed in a variety of styles.

Organic Relief: Relax Pack Review & Giveaway

Many dancers utilize hot and cold therapy packs to relieve sore muscles and injury pain, not to mention dancers and teachers who suffer from chronic conditions. So, encouraged by my initial investigation, I approached Tiffany about a possible review of her product on Dance Advantage. She generously offered several products for review and, in addition, has agreed to give away some Relax Packs to readers.

Teaching Tap Improvisation: Exercises for Beginners

Begin with a very structured 4/4 song that does not have any strange segues or extra measures. Have all students beat their hands on their legs, clap or snap to the beat. Continue their time keeping, but have them now count out loud – “1..2..3..4″. Be sure you do not have them count “5..6..7..8″. This is a cardinal sin in the music world, as you’ll find out if you dance with live musicians! Explain to your students that each set of four counts is a measure, or a bar. I often use this with my elementary students who are learning addition and/or multiplication.

Sunday Snapshot: Trapezium

I was so wowed by this image when I saw it appear in the Sunday Snapshot pool. The distal reach of the dancer’s arms create a striking diagonal and, of course, the musculature of a dancer’s back is always an absorbing feature. I was very taken by the angular shape of the body and play of shadow and light, and I thought you would be too. About the Photographer: Dave Wood is a part-time photographer from Denver, Colorado. His primary focus is on black and white images of the nude human form.

Guest Post: Unifying Women and Mothers Through Dance

I knew also that she was employed as a dance teacher in Scotland, doing a job very much the same yet also very different from that of many dance instructors. She will tell you more about this work in her own words but I feel it speaks to the affect dance and movement can have on the soul and on a group of people. Occasionally, I like to step away from the technical, instructional, business, and material side of dance to remind myself and those reading of the unifying and universal power of dance. As Camille will reiterate, I hope this reminder will encourage those of us who hold keys to find their own unique ways of unlocking this potential in dance.

All In The Family: Battement

Battements, as they are practiced at the barre and in centre, are the foundation of many other movements in ballet (jumps and travelling steps such as assemblé, tour jeté, grand jeté, and so many more) and in other dance forms. It is necessary to have a solid grasp on the simplest forms in order to perform the others correctly.

Guest Post: Preparing For An Intensive Summer Program

My son had some trouble with dehydration the first week. We live in California, and I didn’t really think that would be a problem since we were coming from a dry, hot climate. However, it was so hot and humid in New York that he sweated more than usual and didn’t drink enough. The kids need to have electrolyte packets and other sports drinks along with water to keep them hydrated.

There’s An App For That: In Fact There Are 10

Apple’s customer reviews are helpful for deciding where to spend your money but, as most dance-related apps have a smaller audience, there are many that haven’t received visible feedback. So, I went in search of dance apps that I could share with you! Some I had already, others were generously offered by the makers for review on this site.

Profile of an American Icon: A Few Words With Paul Taylor

I feel very honored that Mr. Taylor took the time to answer a few questions about his life and work in an email interview. Paul Taylor is one of the most prominent and influential choreographers of our time. Yet, in the late 1940’s he was studying painting and swimming on scholarship at Syracuse University when amidst a series of seemingly unrelated dance experiences he was struck by a revelation or, as he describes it in his autobiography Private Domain a “flash of recognition… an unignorable hunch” that he was to become a dancer.

Relearning and Reinforcing Body Integration

Movement is a layered experience. We develop movement patterns and then continue to relearn them as we get older. Babies learn to crawl, developing the spiral and then relearn and master it as they walk and then run.

Helping Dancers Deal With Disappointment

Parent your child through this setback and support them in becoming a more resilient and confident human being. When your child is faced with a letdown, you have a great opportunity to encourage your son or daughter to face and rise above the obstacles that come their way. It may not feel like a gift but it is.

Developpé Dilemma: Deb Vogel Addresses a Reader Question

When I received Amy’s question about pain in developpé below, my instinct was to help yet, I was not confident that I was fully equipped to assess what might be happening with Amy. So, I did what I would have for any student who had a problem I could not work out – I took her question to someone more knowledgeable than I – Deb Vogel, a neuromuscular educator and movement analyst who has been working with dancers for years.

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