How Web 2.0 Can Help You Learn To Dance
October 31, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
How Web 2.0 Can Help You Learn To DanceDance classes are traditionally taught in the studio, with mirrors, an instructor and some pumping music. We’re not going to suggest that classes are taught any differently at the moment, but savvy dancers are using the internet to find classes and teachers that suit them better. This in turn is putting pressure on dance schools to wise up and embrace internet marketing and technology to entice students to their classes.
Not so long ago, to find a class you had to commit to turning up in person, to a room full of more experienced dancers, and to trialling a class to find out if you liked it or not. Then there was trying to decide which style: hip hop, or street (what’s the difference?), street jazz, or jazz funk. It was all so confusing, time consuming and expensive.
Now many teachers will regularly post their classes online on YouTube for example. This not only acts as a great advert, it gives the students a chance to review the class and remember routines for the next week.
Creation Dance, a dance class provider based in London and with classes in Oxford and Brighton exclusively markets and sells its classes online for a number of reasons. Speaking of the model, founder Elle Kealy says,” This is a great platform for consumers. Not only can they access our national classes from their home or office, they can view each teacher’s class online, decide which style they like best and sign up without having to spend time and effort coming to the classes. For a company such as ours, which started out with a simple website and one class, this enables us to reach out nationally. Starting dance classes in Oxford and Brighton would not have been possible using the traditional dance school approach. Students still come along to classes each week, but they know what they are getting.
Creation Dance plans to take this evolution further. With a new website launching in November 2008, Creation hope to have online dance classes for students to follow live as well as community portals and jobsites, where dancers can subscribe to rss feeds alerting them to the latest news and views.
For now the new site is committed to providing information and booking services for enthusiastic dancers, but the hope is that by mid 2009 the dance world will have truly caught up with technology.
Dancers can visit the site at http://www.creationdance.co.uk and give their feedback and ideas.
Creation Dance is a specialist adult beginners dance school with dance classes in London, Oxford and Brighton. Contact elle.kealy@creationdance.co.uk or 0870 140 3234 for more information. www.creationdance.co.uk
Dance and Fitness Jobs
October 31, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Good news this week, the jobsite linked to Creation Dance www.danceandfitnessjobs.com has been featured on the hit website abc-of-fitness.com. You can check out the site and see what you think. Any feedback is always appreciated. We've had a lot of dance teacher applications this week and I think it's a great way to source people for our classes. We always need good teachers!And not so good news, Julie Jade, who has been taking our classes for a while now will be in panto in Edinburgh this Christmas, which means that her classes will come to an end in November. I know her students will miss her lots!
Good luck in panto Julie!
Our new website is going to be live next week, we've been waiting for a while for this one. Once it's up you'll be able to check it out again at www.creationdance.co.uk and let us know what you think!
Just Dance
October 29, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
In follow up to the previous post about Agnes DeMille, I was delighted to learn that at a later age in her autobiography, Dance to the Piper, Agnes did in fact grow a backbone and stand up for herself. I admit that my rant about the book was somewhat harsh and perhaps uncalled for, but let it be known that my frustrations were more with her choice in lifestyle than in any capacity her quality of work produced. (Hence why I gave kudos to her for several of her best works). And I know for a fact that Agnes is an extremely talented writer because I loved reading her book, The Life and Work of Martha Graham.I was excited at the amount of responses that came from that post. Some people agreed with me to an extent while others were offended that I focused more on her lifestyle. Many of my friends admitted that they neglected to read the book in school as well, but wanted to after reading my reactions and descriptions. Since I am happy to promote literacy, I invite others to read the book too and see what your own reaction is.
If there was one thing that this book taught me, it was at the point in the book when Agnes was choreographing Oklahoma!. Having reached her final breaking point, Agnes decided that she was getting paid to do it her way, so she wouldn't worry about what anyone else thought. She decided that this would be her last choreographic work, so nothing else mattered after this and she could feel free to pour herself into the work without worry. What I took from that was the fact that other people will respect you for standing up for yourself. And also that one of Agnes' best works was created with disregard for what other people think. She totally earned back some of my respect at that point. The irony here is the fact that this lesson parallels my life right now and how I am having to toughen my outlook to survive in New York City.
But when life gets you down, or the negativity is coming at you, you only need to remember one thing....
In the words of Lady GaGa, "Just Dance." Simple.
Pictures
October 27, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Fighting a bout of depression. Can’t think of anything to say. Here are some pictures that cheered me up a little.
Timebomb–10th Anniversary Season
October 27, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Timebomb, the Company’s tenth anniversary season premiered December 16-21 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in Manhattan. An explosive, intimate, fifty-minute dance presented in the round, Timebomb features choreography by Daniel Gwirtzman, original music by Jeff Story and Shawn Baltazor, lighting design by Pamela Rapp, and dancers from the Company: Oren Bar-noy, Daniel Gwirtzman, Stacy Martorana, and Rachel Warren. Finding inspiration from our lightning-quick, dense, technologically saturated culture, and its demands on the individual, Timebomb is an urgent meditation on the unpredictability of life and the impact of the unexpected.
The New Yorker:
Gradually building up from a solo into a quartet, “Timebomb” doesn’t explode all at once. Instead, eyeing each other warily as they work in the round, negotiating handholds and counterbalances in fraught encounters, the dancers suggest participants in the kind of complex schoolyard game that can turn brutal in an instant. A drum-heavy score helps sustain the tension, but it’s mostly Gwirtzman’s choreographic craft and invention–setting the free swing of limbs and bodies against forces of suspension and hesitation–that keep the work taut and surprising.
To read more about the season, please check back soon to our Events page.
Check Out Our Timebomb Teaser
Check Out Our Timebomb Trailer
Unexpected opportunities
October 27, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
A while ago I wrote a post comparing salsa to life.As it is, life has caught up with salsa and I'm going through a low.
In itself that's not so bad. Granted, it's not the ideal time to be looking for a job but there still seem to be enough vacancies so who knows what will happen.
One of the downsides of my current situation though is that I'm stuck in a small town in the middle of nowhere. There is not a single place to go dancing anywhere near me.
At first this brought me down. Or I should say, I used it as a justification for feeling down. I wasn't feeling to great and it looks like I was looking for a reason to justify that. Dancing, or rather not being able to dance, became that reason.
For a while I allowed myself to sit just around being grumpy. But then I started asking myself, am I really feeling this bad because I can't dance. And is it even true that I can't dance?
Obviously the answer was 'No'.
I wasn't feeling bad because I couldn't dance. After all, I could. All I had to do was put on some music. I might not be able to dance with a partner but that didn't mean that I couldn't dance at all. As soon as I admitted that to myself I put on some music and started practicing again. Instantly I started feeling better again as well.
No, this doesn't mean that my problems disappeared instantly. I doubt that there is anything that can make all problems disappear overnight. But it did make me realize something.
I might have some problems at the moment that need to be solved but if I'm willing to compromise a bit, just like dancing without a partner for a while, than it will be easier to move forward again rather than being stuck in the moment.
So that's what I'm doing at the moment. I'm dancing without a partner. Both to the music and in life. Let's see how fast I can change that again.
Enjoy your week and have fun dancing!
Afro-Root
October 27, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
This was the AfroEnergyDance- Root Energy Centre event, held in Taipei Taiwan.
The pictures speak for themselves....
Let the energy move you...
Dance to know your Dance...
Chandra xxxx
Prima princesa
October 26, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Mary Kate Mellow y Stephanie Troeller son dos madres que viven en Montclair, NJ. Ambas inspiradas por sus hijas que adoran el ballet, realizaron un lindo video llamado "Prima Princessa"."Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake" es un divertido ballet para niños y niñas en el que Prima Princessa, una linda hada bailarina animada; transporta mágicamente a un grupo de niñas a ver un fragmento del "Lago de los cisnes", realizado por el Ballet de la Opera de París. En los intermedios, las niñas regresan a casa para aprender simples pasos de ballet, los cuales se recrean en ambientes coloridos, con animales, niños y jóvenes bailarines de la Escuela de Ballet Americano. Es el regalo perfecto para los más pequeños, que se están inciando en el ballet.
Si deseas conocer un poco más sobre este video, puedes visitar su página oficial, allí encontrarás cortos del dvd y páginas de Prima Princessa para colorear!!
También puedes visitar el blog de estas amorosas mamás.
Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troell are two mothers who live in Montclair, NJ. Both inspired by their daughters who love the ballet, made a nice video called "Prima Princessa."
"Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake" is a fun ballet for boys and girls in which Prima Princessa, a cute animated fairy ballerina; magically transports a group of little girls to see the Paris Opera Ballet performs select segments of Swan Lake. In between acts, the children returns home to learn simple steps of ballet, which was recreated in colorful surroundings, with animals, children and young dancers from the School of American Ballet. It's the perfect gift for the little ones, which are being initiate in the ballet.
If you want to know more about this video, you can visit the official web. And the blog.
Issue 4 Intro Video
October 24, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Hello everyone! thanks so much for checking out On Center Magazine. Enjoy this video about Issue #4! xoxoxo!
Happy Hour
October 23, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
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Beck’s Bar, Arts House, Meat Market, Melbourne
October 17, 2008, as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival
Wendy Houstoun is a unique artist. Not only is she able to perform text and movement with equal skill, she’s also a talented comedian.
In this solo piece she deftly combines all three elements, playing a barmaid in a pub, or in this case, a corner of the Meat Market which has been set up as a tacky bar. Partaking of as much alcohol as she serves, our barmaid winds up in a state of inebriation which inevitably leads to wonky speeches and turns on the dance floor. The humour is both physical and verbal as she sends herself up, tells bad jokes and gets tangled in the streamers, though she never crosses into slapstick.
The strength of the work lies in the undercurrent of sadness and desperation that runs throughout. Both on a personal and a broader social level, Houstoun demonstrates without preaching the pitfalls of alcohol as a social lubricant and solution to life’s problems. It’s like being the designated driver and watching your friends make fools of themselves, though Houstoun is a more interesting drunk than most.
With good direction and a clever script, her wit seems to grow sharper while her sentences grow ever more incoherent. Whether in a series of depressing toasts, exaggeratingly clichéd bar talk or a repetitive sequence of falling movements accompanied by equally repetitive conversation, she represents all too well why the Government has become so concerned about our binge drinking culture.
Houstoun makes direct eye contact and interacts with the audience as she moves around the very close space, a similar and equally effective approach to that of her other festival show, Desert Island Dances. Both of these insightful, innovative works speak clearly to audiences while remaining sophisticated and meaningful, making art accessible even for the most inexperienced festival-goer.
Originally published in The Age newspaper. NB the image above is from an earlier incarnation of this production. In the version I saw, Houstoun's costume was totally different, and she didn't wear the red wig.
