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The Procrastinator’s Dance Gift Guide

Nichelle (admin) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:59:28 +0000

By now your stockings have probably been hung by the chimney with care…

But you’ve still got dancers on your gift list! And Amazon is telling you that ~~paying expedited $hipping fee$~~ a dose of Elf Magic is your only Ho Ho Hope for the timely arrival of those gifts.

Never fear, the digital age is here! These gifts are a procrastinator’s dream:

Choreography for Teachers

DancesToGo.com provides à la carte choreography for a variety of dance levels and genres. They’ve got a great group of guest choreographers with years of experience as teachers (and I’m not just saying that ’cause I’m one of them)!

One way to gift it: You may not know which choreography would be most useful for the gift-recipient. Since Dances To Go uses PayPal’s services, you could send money to your dancer friend or family member (they will need a PayPal account) for use at the site. While you’re at it, send them an iTunes gift so they can grab the music, too!

Help for Studio Owners

DanceStudioOwner.com gives studio owners what they need to be successful – e-books and articles, monthly teleseminars, templates, checklists, customizable forms, and plenty of support in an often isolating job. This is one of my favorite resources because they offer so much value at affordable monthly and yearly membership plans. Gift a membership and make your favorite studio owner very happy.

A Weekly Action Plan for Success

A new year. A new commitment to going the extra mile in your dance classes. We at Dance Advantage deliver the keys to make this year outstanding with an e-mail course that provides terminology, an inspirational quote, something to Dancescribe in a dance journal, and something to do EVERY WEEK in a 40-Week E-course.

Let us sustain and motivate your favorite dancer the whole year through. Yes, you can “gift” this e-course. It’s called 4 for 40 and you can find it right here.

Digital Reading

Whether your gift-recipient is Team Nook or Team Kindle, you can give specific digital publications as gifts at the Nook Store or Kindle Store (just look for the Buy/Give as a Gift links on the book’s purchase page).

Here are some of my favorites and books I’ve read this year:(...)

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© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2011. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Dance Bag, Dance Media, Dancethropology, Featured, Film/Video, Online, Product/Website Reviews | Who's talking about this article?

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A Head Start On The Holidays

Nichelle (admin) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 13:21:06 +0000

With each year it seems department stores kick off the shopping season earlier and earlier. It’s Halloween weekend and Thanksgiving’s a month away! And now you’re thinking, “Oh no, not Dance Advantage too!”

BUT, with so much going on around the holidays – informal parent observations, formal performances, not to mention all your shopping, cooking, traveling, and other family obligations – it is important to think ahead.

However, that doesn’t mean you have to think too hard! With the choreography, music, and class ideas below I hope to lighten your load a little so that you can focus on more important things this time of year.

Ready-made Holiday Choreography

Downloadable holiday routines are available at DancesToGo.com. Three of them are my choreography:

A Little Angel - Parents will appreciate this silly holiday number for young children, age 3-5. It does feature Santa and mentions prayer in the lyrics, but is mostly about all of the naughty stuff little ones TRY to resist in anticipation of Christmas. It’s fantastically fun with plenty of repetition.

The Little Christmas Tree – This touching and elegant number for 5-8 year-olds could be used for holiday celebrations or informal performances. It works best for(...)

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© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2011. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Choreographing, For Classroom, Music, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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Put Your Routines “In the Pocket”

Guest Contributors — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:38:23 +0000

Photo courtesy Camera Eye Photography (CC by 2.0)

Today’s guest post comes from music editor Morriss Partee at Squirrel Trench Audio.

If you’ve ever spent any time around jazz musicians, you might have heard them talking about getting a song “in the pocket.” That’s musician-speak for creating a great groove, where all the musicians are “dialed-in” and on the same page, tempo-wise. The song just feels great at a certain speed; not too fast, not too slow, just right.

Well, dancers need to be “in the pocket” too when it comes to executing your choreography. A change in tempo of just 2 to 4 beats per minute (BPM) can mean the difference between a dance that struggles and a dance that feels great and natural for the performers.

You can use your iPod Touch or iPhone to get all of your dances “in the pocket” and match your routines to your dancers’ ideal pacing.

The first step is to download an app called Tempo Magic Pro (lolo) to your device, available from the iTunes App Store for $4.99. (There may be other apps that will accomplish the same thing.)

Then, when you are in class with your dancer, select your song, and use the app’s slider to adjust the tempo of the song up or down a couple of BPM and watch to see if it improves the dance.

Tempo Magic Pro automagically figures out the native tempo of the song, so you’ll see both the original and changed BPM on your iPod Touch or iPhone’s display.

Bumping your Beats Per Minute

Usually, a very slight shift of between 2 to 6 BPM faster or slower is(...)

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Giving Thanks Giveaway: TenduTV

Nichelle (admin) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:00:44 +0000

This giveaway is now closed.

Welcome to Day 2! Our first giveaway is from TenduTV.

The world of dance at your command.

TenduTV delivers dance programming to every screen imaginable, from your iPod and mobile phone to your living room television.

A few years ago, TenduTV founder, Marc Kirschner was a consultant, helping content companies figure out all of the new technologies that were coming. He became very excited about the potential for HD and digital distribution.

Around the same time, Marc whose wife is a member of Jennifer Muller/The Works, came to the realization that dance had a distribution problem, but it was one of supply, not of demand. People love dance, but what was available to the home audience wasn’t enough, and the film quality wasn’t good enough.

“So,” Marc says, “three years ago, with a small shovel, we set out to move mountains, and now we’re giving audiences the dance programming they want at the quality they deserve.”

Here’s what you can win:

Tendu.tv wants to give away permanent downloads of ALL FOUR of the first titles they are making available on iTunes and Amazon ($70 value) to ONE Dance Advantage reader.

The two performance pieces, Dutch National Ballet’s Hans Van Manen Festival and Wayne McGregor | Random Dance’s Entity are the first dance performances to be available on iTunes, and will also be available in high-definition. Equally important, these are two of the most respected choreographers producing work today, and, according to Kirschner, “two of the most elegant performance captures we’ve seen.”

The Dutch National Ballet produced the Hans Van Manen Festival to celebrate choreographer Hans Van Manen’s 75th birthday. Hans Van Manen was one of the first artistic directors of Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) and has served as resident choreographer for both NDT and the Dutch National Ballet. The Festival includes performances from Dutch National Ballet, NDT II, the Kirov and the Bavarian State Ballet, all of which regularly feature Van Manen’s works.

Readers may remember Wayne McGregor (called “the closest thing to a rock star that ballet can currently claim” by the New York Times) from the documentary La Danse. While his work can be found in the repertory of companies such as New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and the Royal Ballet (where is he resident choreographer), to be able to watch his company perform is an experience. Entity toured the US earlier this year to resounding acclaim, and we’re excited about making this work accessible to a wider audience.

Essential Dance Film is the first in an ongoing series of collections of “dance film” or “screendance”, which are choreographic works produced specifically for the screen and not the stage. These nine films have toured the world, winning award after award. If you haven’t seen a lot of dance film, Essential Dance Film is your starter kit.

40 Years of One Night Stands is the ultimate real-life dance fairy tale. It’s the story of how two women started a ballet club in the middle of nowhere, and of how that company grew to become recognized around the world – The Royal Winnipeg Ballet. 40 Years is the “Little Engine that Could”, if the Little Engine wore pointe shoes. Alastair Macaulay said about the film “It brought tears to my eyes more than once just because its story… is so irresistible and, in human terms, so admirable”.

Please note that the titles being given away are not yet available for download. Expected delivery is early December (although some titles may arrive earlier). Winner will have the choice of whether or not to receive the downloads via iTunes or Amazon Video on Demand.

Wow, an amazing gift for any dance enthusiast!

How to enter:

Leave a comment at this post, answering the following: What would you like to see from TenduTV?

Is there a type of program you want to see? Is there a device you want to watch videos on? TenduTV wants to deliver, so any and all suggestions are welcome!

As TenduTV downloads via iTunes and Amazon are currently limited to North America, this giveaway is available to U.S. and Canadian readers only. The giveaway closes Saturday, November 13.

(Sincere apologies to those of you in other parts of the world. TenduTV hopes that distribution will soon be extended worldwide.)

Best of luck! Stay tuned for our second giveaway of the day this afternoon.

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2010. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Dancethropology, Giveaways | Who's talking about this article?

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Giving Thanks Giveaway 2010: Dances To Go

Nichelle (admin) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:00:50 +0000

This giveaway is now closed.

Welcome to the Giving Thanks Giveaway 2010!

We’re going to kick things off with DancesToGo.com

DancesToGo.com creates fun and ready to teach downloadable dance routines for dance studio and elementary school teachers and their students.

Knowing first-hand how busy dance studio owners and dance teachers are with classes and competitions, two women from Southwestern Ontario, Canada, Frances Hellens McDonald and Lisa Bondy, created this unique resource to provide ready-made non-syllabus practice and performance routines.

They offer a collection of dances by award winning choreographers and talented performers whose artistic backgrounds include dance, music, drama, and television. Incorporating creative movement and props, their preschool routines are perfect for energetic little ones. Meanwhile, DanceToGo’s classical selections will inspire the young dancer. These selections are sure to put a smile on each and every dancer (and their parents!).

All routines are available instantly and for each one DancesToGo supplies an iTunes link to suggested music, which can be purchased separately. Also available for many of their preschool routines is a video download of the dance, performed by an instructor.

Teachers can download easy-to-read notes with footwork and arm movements, music, and/or video right to their iPod, iPhone, iTouch, or iPad, then head straight to the studio.

DancesToGo wants to give away ONE $25 dollar gift-certificate to THREE different Dance Advantage readers.

With prices ranging from $1.99 to 3.99 per download, this will buy a number of routines for use in your classes.

To win a gift certificate, here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment at this post, answering the following question: For which of your age groups or classes would ready-made choreography really come in handy?

This giveaway is open worldwide and lasts until Saturday, November 13. Three winners will be drawn on Sunday.

I hope you are one of them! Check back later today for another giveaway.

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2010. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Dancethropology, Giveaways | Who's talking about this article?

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Way More Than Dance: Anaheim Ballet on YouTube

Nichelle (admin) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:00:19 +0000

Video sharing has become a massive part of online culture. YouTube is ranked as the third most visited site on the internet behind Google and Yahoo. In addition to the thousands millions of amateur dance videos posted on YouTube, many professional dancers, dance studios, and dance companies have joined the fray, adding their own videos to YouTube.

One ballet company in particular, however, has taken YouTube dance videos to another level. While many organizations focus solely on the performance, Anaheim Ballet has been prolifically creating video podcasts which feature way more than dance. In the almost two and a half years they’ve been podcasting, nearly 100 videos have been posted. These include profiles of past and present company members, “Ask a Ballerina” sessions which answer viewer’s questions, rehearsal and class footage, unique montage videos, and every once in a while some excerpts from their repertory. They raise awareness of important issues, they display ballet as an artistic and athletic art form, and they do it all with flare and personality. It’s relevant, it’s entertaining, and it’s smart! Anaheim Ballet’s video sharing initiatives have certainly enhanced their presence online and the presence of ballet as well.

Here is just a sampling of what you’ll find at the Anaheim Ballet YouTube Channel:

A fun explosion of stop motion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQX_CQgyOJQ

Ask a Ballerina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E1sIvifbME

Raising awareness about genocide in Rwanda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he0zP–bH3g

Alum Aria Alekzander – now with Houston Ballet (woot!) – her parents are the artistic directors of Anaheim Ballet. Read a little about Aria’s dancing family and her love of the Nutcracker at Houston Ballet’s blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wVXSS5Wv34

The silly side of things… don’t miss the blooper reel for this one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyQDod2TPio

You may see more videos and subscribe via Anaheim Ballet’s YouTube channel or view the videos at www.morethandance.com.

Want to purchase the original music that accompanies the videos? Check out morethandancemusic.com or search iTunes® for Anaheim Ballet.

If you’d like to learn more about Anaheim Ballet, visit the website. Or, connect with the company on MySpace for additional news, updates, and behind-the-scenes footage of podcast director, Evan Rosenberg in action.

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2009. | Permalink | Category: Ballet/Pointe, Beyond the Bubble, Blog, Dance Companies, Dance Media, Dance Styles, Dancethropology, Online | Who's talking about this article?

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