Teaching Tap Improvisation: Exercises for Beginners
March 10, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
After years of slightly embarrassing moments in front of peers and master teachers, I decided the time had come to develop a thorough improvisation syllabus based on advice from as many great hoofers as possible. I’ll be sharing some of that work with you. Here are the first exercises I present to my students.
Beginning Improvisation Exercises
(Appropriate for students of all ages and levels, unless otherwise noted)
Exercise 1: Group Nursery Rhymes
Goal: Get feet connected to brains, and get students moving!
Choose a song that everyone knows. My suggestion is “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for the first time you try this. ...
Teaching Tap Improvisation: Exercises for Beginners
March 10, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
After years of slightly embarrassing moments in front of peers and master teachers, I decided the time had come to develop a thorough improvisation syllabus based on advice from as many great hoofers as possible. I’ll be sharing some of that work with you. Here are the first exercises I present to my students.
Beginning Improvisation Exercises
(Appropriate for students of all ages and levels, unless otherwise noted)
Exercise 1: Group Nursery Rhymes
Goal: Get feet connected to brains, and get students moving!
Choose a song that everyone knows. My suggestion is “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for the first time you try this. ...
Sunday Snapshot: Trapezium
March 7, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
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. Dave’s work can be found online at davewoodphotography.com and ...
Sunday Snapshot: Trapezium
March 7, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
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. Dave’s work can be found online at davewoodphotography.com and ...
Guest Post: Unifying Women and Mothers Through Dance
March 5, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
The following guest post is from a loyal reader, Camille. I asked her to write this account for Dance Advantage because I appreciated her passionate support of dance and its role in community. 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 ...
Guest Post: Unifying Women and Mothers Through Dance
March 5, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
The following guest post is from a loyal reader, Camille. I asked her to write this account for Dance Advantage because I appreciated her passionate support of dance and its role in community. 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 ...
All In The Family: Battement
March 2, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
This post was originally published in May 2008.
Photo by PBoGs
I’m sure that students reading this blog have used or heard the term battement before. If grand battement immediately comes to mind, I’m not surprised, as the word battement is commonly dropped from the name of other familiar terms.
A mother, father, brothers, grandparents, uncles, all share a family name. In a similar way battement is a family of movements.
From the Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet: Battement [bat-MAHN] — Beating. A beating action of the extended or bent leg. There are two types of battements, grands battements and petits ...
All In The Family: Battement
March 2, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
This post was originally published in May 2008.
Photo by PBoGs
I’m sure that students reading this blog have used or heard the term battement before. If grand battement immediately comes to mind, I’m not surprised, as the word battement is commonly dropped from the name of other familiar terms.
A mother, father, brothers, grandparents, uncles, all share a family name. In a similar way battement is a family of movements.
From the Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet: Battement [bat-MAHN] — Beating. A beating action of the extended or bent leg. There are two types of battements, grands battements and petits ...
Guest Post: Preparing For An Intensive Summer Program
March 1, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
Today’s Guest Post is from Nina Amir who blogs over at My Son Can Dance. I have enjoyed following Nina’s adventures in parenting a son who is pursuing serious study of dance. Dancers are receiving acceptance letters about now for intensive summer programs in cities all over the country. If this is your first big intensive, excitement for what lies ahead is probably charged with uncertainty and stress over preparations. Here, Nina shares what she and her son experienced their first summer at American Ballet Theatre’s summer program in New York City. No matter where you are headed this summer, ...
Guest Post: Preparing For An Intensive Summer Program
March 1, 2010 · Posted by Dance Advantage ·
Today’s Guest Post is from Nina Amir who blogs over at My Son Can Dance. I have enjoyed following Nina’s adventures in parenting a son who is pursuing serious study of dance. Dancers are receiving acceptance letters about now for intensive summer programs in cities all over the country. If this is your first big intensive, excitement for what lies ahead is probably charged with uncertainty and stress over preparations. Here, Nina shares what she and her son experienced their first summer at American Ballet Theatre’s summer program in New York City. No matter where you are headed this summer, ...
