The past three months have been fairly eventful for me. Three months ago I had the honor in performing in the DeSales University Dance Ensemble concert. Performing in DUDE has been one of my absolute favorite things to due since my Freshman year at DeSales. Each year I set only two goals for myself: to show my best self at auditions and to improve from the previous year. Unfortunately, I cannot say that I have ever met either of those goals, but I am positive that there is still time to do so. This year, I set a new goal for myself: to understudy the senior piece. I was extremely fortunate to have been chosen as an understudy for the senior piece, which was an important moment in my life. Being surrounded by so many creative and eye-opening …show more content…
I am extremely thankful for all of the opportunities I have been provided with, and I wish to make the most of each experience. I am a strong believer that experiences and opportunities are what you make of them and what you give is what you receive. My primary goals for this intensive are to expand my knowledge in as many ways as possible. I want to broaden my dance technique and become both a more intelligent and technical mover. One major set back I have been trying to overcome in my dancing recently is not necessarily due to a lack of confidence, but a lack of ability to show my confidence in my dancing. I often fall into my stereotype as a smaller dancer, rather than trying my best to dance as large as possible. I am also hoping to add a sense of ease in my moving. Since I began my dance training a little later than the peers I was dancing with, I have been fighting to gain some technique. The past five years have been me, doing whatever I can to focus on my technique. I feel as if I have been successful in that aspect; however, I also feel that has added a sense of stiffness in my dancing because I am afraid to make a mistake. I am hoping to find a sense of relaxation in my dancing, while still displaying correct technique.
Ultimately, I am hoping to build a better understanding of the layout of the city. I am hoping to someday move to NYC and I would like to be familiar with it first before doing so. I am excited to take new classes and meet new people. At school, I feel that I fall into a rhythm that is almost too comfortable because I am taking the same classes from the same teachers. I am excited for new experiences that will push me out of my comfort
Different Dance Styles by Doris Humphrey and Maud Allen that Presented New Dances that Displayed Innovative Movements.
and in front of the whole school during spirit week and international week, without a bit of apprehension. Gaining this confidence was and is the key to victories in dance competitions. Confidence and my familiarity with a variety of dance forms such as hip-hop, jazz, and several Indian classical dances can be credited to my winning first place in a memorable competition, where, for the first time, my two friends and I choreographed the dance piece that we performed. This experience also helped as the same friends and I had 2 weeks to choreograph, perfect, and perform alongside a famous Indian singer as he sang live. These values specifically pushed me advance further into the art form, and were also extremely useful outside of the dance
And just like regular literacy and language, it modifies and improves throughout the years and as I continue to progress. The more that I practice dancing and the art, the better I will be at it and the more I will learn. I started to learn to dance when I was 4 years old and just like the words I spoke were simple and small, the dance move I knew how to do were the same. Dance classes consisted of pink tutus with canvas ballerina slippers and a whole bunch of hair spray and bobby pins. You could hear the loud classical music being played over the teacher telling us what are 8 count combination was in French. But as I got older and persisted going to practice 3 hours during weekdays and 5 hours during weekends, the more I exceled. I accomplished more advanced dance moves along with better control and technique. But as I got older and went through more things, I realized how much of a language my dancing really was and what I could truly express while doing it and using it to its full potential. I realized that I could use it to recount stories of events I had been through that had affected me and changed who I was. I could use it to bring a certain topic or problem into the light that I might have been going through at the time. And I realized that it would become what I used to help me cope and express myself through my entire life. It helped me express my feelings without having to use
On September 2nd, I experienced one of the most enjoyable folk dances, known as contra dance, at the First Baptist Church. Due to my cultural and religious background, this experience was new to me and full of mystery. However, it led me to wonder how social music, especially contra dance, is powerful enough letting strangers dance and communicate with each other in a perfect harmony.
It is surprising that tap began as a necessity for survival before it was an art form. It began during the slave trade when slave-holders found out that Africans were communicating coded messages through their traditional instruments and drums. The slave-holders had the use of these rhythm instruments banned to try and stop communication (Holmes par. 3).The Africans, desperate to make contact with other slaves, transferred the rhythms to their feet and tap dancing was born (Holmes par. 4).
Humans have expressed thoughts and emotions through movement long before the development of speech. However, the origins of ballet can be traced back specifically to the Renaissance period and the early court dances in France and Italy. Any celebratory occasion, such as the birth of an heir or an influential marriage would call for social court dancing. All ladies and gentlemen of the court learned these rather intricate dances as part of their grooming for society. Around the 1400s, as the court dances became more detailed and complicated, it became necessary to formally codify these dances to maintain consistency. Special dance instructors or “Ballet Masters” began to appear. These men were highly revered and considered to be the finest dance teachers. They also served as dance makers or choreographers, creating dances that were used throughout Europe. King Louis XIV had a profound influence on the progression of ballet. Not only was he an avid supporter of dance, he was also a beloved performer. In fact, King Louis XIV is commonly referred to as the Sun King, a name he received after appearing ornately adorned in gold as Apollo, god of the sun, in Le Ballet de la Nuit (The Ballet of the Night). Many other highly respected dancers include: Giovanni Battista Lulli, Vaslav Nijinsky, George Balanchine, Vladimir Malakhov, and many more, all being men. It wasn’t until the early 20th century where women were finally respected in the dance world. Women like Martha Graham, Angela Isadora Duncan, Mary Wigman, Gret Palucca, Harald Kreutzberg, Yvonne Georgi, and Twyla Tharp were the first dancers and choreographers who began to create a reputation for women that changed the image of dance all over the world. Today, one renounced Africa...
In the heart of Miami, Miami Dade College’s (MDC) dance majors put on a performance called The Art of Dance. Under the direction of Michelle Grant- Murray, guest choreographers challenged the students of MDC. The students were also able to exhibit their own work, as this was also their student choreography showcase. The evening consisted of diverse styles such as – African, contemporary, and world dance; unfortunately, I cannot say the all of the pieces impressed me.
“Who knows only his own generation remains always a child.” This quote from George Norlin echoes the edification that cultural exposure can offer. How does African dance relate to do modern dance? The two are so heterogeneous in their make-up that one would not think of them as having similarities. The truth, however, is that all dance forms are linked in some way or another; they all strengthen and sharpen each other. Modern dance has its roots in African dance with the emphasis placed on the connection of weight and gravity. Brenda Dixon Gottschild names five aesthetics that are present in African dance. A particular piece that draws attention to the relation of the five aesthetics to modern dance is “Split Sides”, choreographed by Merce Cunningham.
I have been a dancer since the age of 3. My earliest memory of dance was when I was too terrified to go on stage during a recital and I refused to go on no matter how much they tried to push me. Up until the age of about 12, dance had been just a hobby or an extracurricular activity. In fact, I didn’t even enjoy going to dance. I didn’t have friends there and I wasn’t that good of a dancer. It wasn’t until I participated in Dance Bermuda’s summer dance intensive in collaboration with the American Ballet Theatre in 2012, that I realized that I had a passion for dance. At the program, I was exposed to other dancers that were my age and older and most of them were much more advanced than I. So to avoid being the worst dancer in the program, I took to YouTube and watched hours and hours of dance videos. I researched all the ways to improve my ballet technique. I can remember trying to practice my pirouettes in the kitchen and falling onto the table and knocking a whole bunch of things over. I was determined to be as good as the other girls in the program. By the end of the two weeks I was fired up, motivated, and ready to get back to class after the summer.
The Northern Territory is known for its culturally diverse population and some would say it is the ‘multicultural hub’ of Australia. With all of these cultures comes distinctive customs and traditions. Throughout history dance has been used to help people develop a sense of identity, the younger generations are also taught social patterns and values through the different dances. The significance of these traditional dances was to reinforce and celebrate cultural law and practices including the celebration of the passage from child to adulthood or spiritual worship. The predominantly Western culture in Australia often causes minority groups to struggle for recognition regarding their beliefs and traditions. This is parallel to the Australian dance industry, where many cultural dance groups feel they have to justify who they are and are often
Contemporary dance first originated from ballet, however changed when Isadora Duncan decided that she didn’t want to dance ballet. She disregarded the refined technical Classical ballet and thus the concept of Contemporary dance was born. This style incorporates movements where the body moves freely and doesn’t have restrictions, embodying raw human emotion. Pioneers of contemporary dance comprise of the internationally known Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham (The Conversation, 2014, online) + (Bibliography, 2012, online). These three dancers helped to revolutionise contemporary dance and express their interpretation of it, all unique but added layers to the genre. A range of movements that originated from these dancers are
A question that has pondered for a myriad of years: how does one develop the vision of choreography in the mind and transfer it to human bodies? Choreographers try to explain this question through the pieces that they develop over the years. Their pieces “must be part of an organic whole, supporting the story, characters, and the overall artistic intent” (AACT). The Encyclopedia of Britannica defines choreography as “an art of creating and arranging dances”. The word is derived from the Greek words to “dance” and “write”. Modern day choreographers were asked to define the choreography in one word like the ancient Greeks derived it from. The words that they described choreography as were: art, movement, creativity, planning, and expressions
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”- Colin Powell
On the night of the DancePlus performance, I saw numerous little performances. There were six of them in total and the one I had most reactions and favors to is the last one of the first half, which is called Swampin. It was choreographed by John Evans with additional material by Oluwadamilare Ayoride, Jennifer Payan and surprisingly, the dancers. Usually what I would expect from a piece of dance performance is choreographers dominating the process of being creative on the grounds o f coming up dance moves. However, this time, it is nice to see how the dancer actually participating first hand in the creating process of the whole performance which would definitely benefit the quality of the dance, since the dancers would their own choreography