Hi everyone!
Being a dance major, I am expected to fulfill certain requirements that the dance board proposes. These reuired courses include ballet and modern technique classes, anatomy for dancers, theory classes, composition classes, and history classes. Two other major requirements are performance units and crewing units. Dance majors are reuired to have 6 performance units at 2 units each, and 3 crewing units at one unit each.
Right now, I am fulfilling my first crewing requirement. The kind of crewing I am participating in is stage crewing for a dance show next weekend. We have been meeting every night since this past Monday and will continue these until the show is over. Basically, being a part of stage crew is surprisingly challenging. I expected to just change the little color for the side lights for the stage, sweep the floors, and learn some termanology of the stage. It turned out to be hanging lights, focusing light, queing lights, flying curtains in and out, mopping and other minor details that i didn't realize even happened during a show.
It's a long and tiring process, but i'm learning a lot about what it takes to put on a dance concert, and I'm even building a little muscle from flying to curtains in and out!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Auditions!
Hi! So tonight I am going to be talking about dance auditions.
A dance audition is typically the part of being a professional dancer that people dread. I see auditions as complete opportunities, whether I get the job or not. Auditions are all about putting yourself out into the dance world and not being fearful of other people's opinions about you. It's also about growing as a dancer, and also as a person. If you get denied a job once, you may want to come back again after you've improved your skill/style/technique - this with push you to become better. If you've come back a few times and still have not gotten the job, then the learning experience will be to learn to move on to a different goal.
In my opinion, auditions may be very nerve racking, but they are extremely fun. In the past few months I have auditioned for several programs and attending these auditions have taught me so much about myself and also about the industry. Despite the countless hours waiting in line to register and sometimes even waiting to audition, try-outs of any sort gets your adrenaline and blood pumping. The feeling of excitement when waiting to show the authority what you can bring to the table is the greatest and most thriving feeling. I was recently told at an audition that "anyone who is scared to go through with the audition shouldn't even be here." I think that this is a true statement because auditions can be long and draining enough as it is, and you need to have a confident mind-set and heart in order to do your absolute best when it counts.
If you ever plan on auditioning for something, please have confidence and a positive heart and attack it with all you've got so it is worth it. If they don't like you or what you bring, there is someone out there who will.
<3
A dance audition is typically the part of being a professional dancer that people dread. I see auditions as complete opportunities, whether I get the job or not. Auditions are all about putting yourself out into the dance world and not being fearful of other people's opinions about you. It's also about growing as a dancer, and also as a person. If you get denied a job once, you may want to come back again after you've improved your skill/style/technique - this with push you to become better. If you've come back a few times and still have not gotten the job, then the learning experience will be to learn to move on to a different goal.
In my opinion, auditions may be very nerve racking, but they are extremely fun. In the past few months I have auditioned for several programs and attending these auditions have taught me so much about myself and also about the industry. Despite the countless hours waiting in line to register and sometimes even waiting to audition, try-outs of any sort gets your adrenaline and blood pumping. The feeling of excitement when waiting to show the authority what you can bring to the table is the greatest and most thriving feeling. I was recently told at an audition that "anyone who is scared to go through with the audition shouldn't even be here." I think that this is a true statement because auditions can be long and draining enough as it is, and you need to have a confident mind-set and heart in order to do your absolute best when it counts.
If you ever plan on auditioning for something, please have confidence and a positive heart and attack it with all you've got so it is worth it. If they don't like you or what you bring, there is someone out there who will.
<3
Friday, April 15, 2011
Back Again
So after an insanely busy past couple of weeks, it's back to the blog.
I think last time I had just finished discussing how the quality and dynamics of dancing is very important. Now I am going to talk about how technique is also very important.
Technique in dancing is the skill that one has when one is trained so precisely in their form of dance. In ballet, the technique is all about the entire body: having correct placement, nice lines, impressive feet, etc. In jazz the technique is about the trick ability: having high kicks, being able to do mulitple piroettes, being able to execute high leaps, etc.
It takes years to develope good technique in dance no matter what the style.
here's a video that shows the dancers' ability to look stunning on stage and also dance together so precisely. we're actually working on this piece in my pointe class, and it's not as easy as it looks....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8YVza2ri7o&feature=related
I think last time I had just finished discussing how the quality and dynamics of dancing is very important. Now I am going to talk about how technique is also very important.
Technique in dancing is the skill that one has when one is trained so precisely in their form of dance. In ballet, the technique is all about the entire body: having correct placement, nice lines, impressive feet, etc. In jazz the technique is about the trick ability: having high kicks, being able to do mulitple piroettes, being able to execute high leaps, etc.
It takes years to develope good technique in dance no matter what the style.
here's a video that shows the dancers' ability to look stunning on stage and also dance together so precisely. we're actually working on this piece in my pointe class, and it's not as easy as it looks....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8YVza2ri7o&feature=related
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Commercial Dance World
Hey!
Extremely long day once again. I taught at my old dance studio from 9am-6pm, and then I had to take my sister (and chaperon her) at one of her friends' parties. I barely got home, so I'm literally pooped.
But back to dance.
As I mentioned in my last post, commercial dancing is a lot about performing from deep within your soul so it really reads to the audience you are performing it for. Dynamics and quality of the movement being performed is so extremely important and good execution of this is how a commercial dancer can stand out and succeed.
Here is a hip hop routine from So You Think You Can Dance from a few years back. I've seen it so many times already, and when I just watched it a few minutes ago..it still gave me chills at some parts because of their exquisite dynamics. You will really be able to see the passion through every movement, and also get a feel of a story being told. It's an incredible piece, and I'm excited to share it with you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JwWtTbUOlE
Entertainment is something that goes hand in hand with dynamics and quality. And as you can see, some of the movement that the dancers executed were raved upon by the audience members, and you probably got a little bit of the chills too. ;] Well leave some questions if you have any, and I'll ttyl!
Extremely long day once again. I taught at my old dance studio from 9am-6pm, and then I had to take my sister (and chaperon her) at one of her friends' parties. I barely got home, so I'm literally pooped.
But back to dance.
As I mentioned in my last post, commercial dancing is a lot about performing from deep within your soul so it really reads to the audience you are performing it for. Dynamics and quality of the movement being performed is so extremely important and good execution of this is how a commercial dancer can stand out and succeed.
Here is a hip hop routine from So You Think You Can Dance from a few years back. I've seen it so many times already, and when I just watched it a few minutes ago..it still gave me chills at some parts because of their exquisite dynamics. You will really be able to see the passion through every movement, and also get a feel of a story being told. It's an incredible piece, and I'm excited to share it with you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JwWtTbUOlE
Entertainment is something that goes hand in hand with dynamics and quality. And as you can see, some of the movement that the dancers executed were raved upon by the audience members, and you probably got a little bit of the chills too. ;] Well leave some questions if you have any, and I'll ttyl!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Commercial Dance
Hey everyone!
So this week was one of the busiest of the semester so far for me. Lots of dance stuff like teaching classes, choreographing routines, auditioning, dance department midterms. And also a math midterm this week which I probably did not do very well on. Anyways, to say the least, I am so worn out and ready to relax... but I have a non-stop weekend and I anticipate the next few weeks ahead to be more full and tiring than this week. So I'm definietly trying to brace myself and stay healthy.
What this post is actually about, though, is commercial dancing. Commercial dancing is the kind of dance that you see pretty much in any part of the entertainment industry. The kind of dancing in the performances at the Grammys, in music videos, in concerts, on shows like So You Think You Can Dance, and also in commercials and movies. This kind of dancing is the type that tends to be extremely entertaining and have a "wow" factor to it. It can be very styleized like hip-hop funk, or it can also be a strong contemporary piece that gives people chills.
Here's an example of a contemporary piece that definitely wowed the audience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk8ImwtnCug
As you may have noticed, the overall quality of the dance is very fluid and soft, but there were various tricks and elements of passion that really set it aside from just a soft contemporary piece. This is what commercial dancing is all about. Performing from your heart to touch the audience.
I'll be talking more about commercial dancing tomorrow and post some more videos because there's some really great stuff out there.
Now it's sleeping time. Night. :]
So this week was one of the busiest of the semester so far for me. Lots of dance stuff like teaching classes, choreographing routines, auditioning, dance department midterms. And also a math midterm this week which I probably did not do very well on. Anyways, to say the least, I am so worn out and ready to relax... but I have a non-stop weekend and I anticipate the next few weeks ahead to be more full and tiring than this week. So I'm definietly trying to brace myself and stay healthy.
What this post is actually about, though, is commercial dancing. Commercial dancing is the kind of dance that you see pretty much in any part of the entertainment industry. The kind of dancing in the performances at the Grammys, in music videos, in concerts, on shows like So You Think You Can Dance, and also in commercials and movies. This kind of dancing is the type that tends to be extremely entertaining and have a "wow" factor to it. It can be very styleized like hip-hop funk, or it can also be a strong contemporary piece that gives people chills.
Here's an example of a contemporary piece that definitely wowed the audience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk8ImwtnCug
As you may have noticed, the overall quality of the dance is very fluid and soft, but there were various tricks and elements of passion that really set it aside from just a soft contemporary piece. This is what commercial dancing is all about. Performing from your heart to touch the audience.
I'll be talking more about commercial dancing tomorrow and post some more videos because there's some really great stuff out there.
Now it's sleeping time. Night. :]
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Competition
Hey!
So I think last time I finished by telling you the hours of dance team practices. Something else I would like to mention about these practices is that they are always mandatory. It is extremely extremely rare that someone is absent at a practice. I believe this is because our coach wants us to utilize all the practice time we can get as a team, and also thinks it is just a professional thing to do.
During our first few practices of the year (which are in September) we work on time-out and sideline dances for basketball games and other events that we may possibly be assigned to. After about a month of practices, our coach introduced us to our songs for our competition routines and gave us an idea of what our costumes would be like. He gives us multiple variations of choreography including technique so it could give him an idea of who can do what kind of tricks. It was a little bit nerve racking at first -- especially since I was a rookie.
After he has evaluated our technical skills, he started setting formations and choreography permanently so he could move along with completing the routines. It is definitely a very long and strenuous process to complete and perfect a competition routine before nationals, but it is also really fun and interesting to watch your team grow as a whole.
We do a heck of a lot of cleaning up of the dances before we leave for nationals, and one can really see the difference in our performance. We were very motivated to take it all in Florida, and we wound up leaving with 2nd in jazz and 9th in hip hop. we were extremely excited for placing in the top ten in hip hop because it was the first time in Cal State Long Beach Dance Team history that the team has competed a hip hop routine. We definitely felt very accomplished.
Next time I will talk more about commercial dancing. Don't know what that is? No worries.
Watch this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YTbVW_SZvs
So I think last time I finished by telling you the hours of dance team practices. Something else I would like to mention about these practices is that they are always mandatory. It is extremely extremely rare that someone is absent at a practice. I believe this is because our coach wants us to utilize all the practice time we can get as a team, and also thinks it is just a professional thing to do.
During our first few practices of the year (which are in September) we work on time-out and sideline dances for basketball games and other events that we may possibly be assigned to. After about a month of practices, our coach introduced us to our songs for our competition routines and gave us an idea of what our costumes would be like. He gives us multiple variations of choreography including technique so it could give him an idea of who can do what kind of tricks. It was a little bit nerve racking at first -- especially since I was a rookie.
After he has evaluated our technical skills, he started setting formations and choreography permanently so he could move along with completing the routines. It is definitely a very long and strenuous process to complete and perfect a competition routine before nationals, but it is also really fun and interesting to watch your team grow as a whole.
We do a heck of a lot of cleaning up of the dances before we leave for nationals, and one can really see the difference in our performance. We were very motivated to take it all in Florida, and we wound up leaving with 2nd in jazz and 9th in hip hop. we were extremely excited for placing in the top ten in hip hop because it was the first time in Cal State Long Beach Dance Team history that the team has competed a hip hop routine. We definitely felt very accomplished.
Next time I will talk more about commercial dancing. Don't know what that is? No worries.
Watch this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YTbVW_SZvs
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Prepping to Compete
Hey everyone!
A lot of people think that dance team is all about being "pretty" and having "fun". I guess it can be a lot of that, but it also is something you probably wouldn't expect. I will be explaining a little bit of that.
First of all, I consider dance team a very demanding sport. It requires strength of your muscles, a good physical stamina, and kinestetic awareness. Another important and unique part of this sport is the required memorization of routines. As a team, we know probably around 20 different routines and sidelines that we perform at different games. Some of them we learned at camp during the summer, and others we learned during our normal practice hours. We are expected to know each (minute long) routine for the entire season, no questions asked -- this helps us to develop advanced and professional dancer skills, and also preps us to memorize our 2 minute long competition routines.
We practice 3 times a week for 3 hours. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday: 7-10pm. It is definitely a challenge since I commute and since I have this 8am class after every night of practice, but I try to push through it.
Well I figure you're already pretty bored from this so far... so I will expand next time.
Until then...
A lot of people think that dance team is all about being "pretty" and having "fun". I guess it can be a lot of that, but it also is something you probably wouldn't expect. I will be explaining a little bit of that.
First of all, I consider dance team a very demanding sport. It requires strength of your muscles, a good physical stamina, and kinestetic awareness. Another important and unique part of this sport is the required memorization of routines. As a team, we know probably around 20 different routines and sidelines that we perform at different games. Some of them we learned at camp during the summer, and others we learned during our normal practice hours. We are expected to know each (minute long) routine for the entire season, no questions asked -- this helps us to develop advanced and professional dancer skills, and also preps us to memorize our 2 minute long competition routines.
We practice 3 times a week for 3 hours. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday: 7-10pm. It is definitely a challenge since I commute and since I have this 8am class after every night of practice, but I try to push through it.
Well I figure you're already pretty bored from this so far... so I will expand next time.
Until then...
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Dance-packed Day
Hey everyone!
Today was a super long day for me, and it was completely filled with dance! I woke up at around 8 this morning and did some math homework. I left my house around 9:30 in order to get to my dance studio (West Coast School of the Arts) by 10. I subbed a level 3 jazz class and it went amazing - I am so impressed with those girls' talent everyday. Then I took a jazz 5 class at 11 which really stretched out my muscles and challenged my hamstring flexability.
For the rest of the day - from 12-430 - I choreographed different groups. These groups had dancers of different ages, levels, and different styles of dance. It was really interesting going from style to style within the 4 1/2 hours, and it was so much fun. I really enjoy teaching and choreographing and hope to go far with it in the future.
After teaching I rushed back home, got ready in 30 minutes, and got picked up by some of my friends from the dance department. We went to a Los Angeles Ballet show in Glendale. There were two ballet excerpts and one contemporary. The ballet was really pretty, and the contemporary piece was choreographed by a famous choreographer names Sonya Tayeh - mostly known from the show So You Think You Can Dance. The show was amazing to watch and we had a lot of fun. And now I'm finally back home ready to go to sleep.
Well I'm really sorry that I just randomly talked about my day, but I think it's important to show you that my days are packed with dancing a lot of the time. Actually, yesterday was full of dance like today as well. So 2 day out of the 3 of my weekend was dedicated to dance...and I loved it.
Will pick up on mre competition stuff next time ;]
Today was a super long day for me, and it was completely filled with dance! I woke up at around 8 this morning and did some math homework. I left my house around 9:30 in order to get to my dance studio (West Coast School of the Arts) by 10. I subbed a level 3 jazz class and it went amazing - I am so impressed with those girls' talent everyday. Then I took a jazz 5 class at 11 which really stretched out my muscles and challenged my hamstring flexability.
For the rest of the day - from 12-430 - I choreographed different groups. These groups had dancers of different ages, levels, and different styles of dance. It was really interesting going from style to style within the 4 1/2 hours, and it was so much fun. I really enjoy teaching and choreographing and hope to go far with it in the future.
After teaching I rushed back home, got ready in 30 minutes, and got picked up by some of my friends from the dance department. We went to a Los Angeles Ballet show in Glendale. There were two ballet excerpts and one contemporary. The ballet was really pretty, and the contemporary piece was choreographed by a famous choreographer names Sonya Tayeh - mostly known from the show So You Think You Can Dance. The show was amazing to watch and we had a lot of fun. And now I'm finally back home ready to go to sleep.
Well I'm really sorry that I just randomly talked about my day, but I think it's important to show you that my days are packed with dancing a lot of the time. Actually, yesterday was full of dance like today as well. So 2 day out of the 3 of my weekend was dedicated to dance...and I loved it.
Will pick up on mre competition stuff next time ;]
Friday, March 4, 2011
Competition
Hey!
So I'm going to try to pick up where I left off. In my last post I finished talking about what it takes to make a competitive college dance team and how the camp generally works. After camp and at the beginning of the school year is when the team starts working on the competition routine(s). For the Universal Dance Association national dance competition, each school team can only compete in two categories of dance and each routine can only be two minutes long.
Two minutes may seem like a long time for a dance routine, but there are a few things to take into consideration when one is actually choreographing a routine. There has to be various elements in each routine that displays strengths in technique, execution, precision, and overall impression. These things are their own individual categories on the score sheet and are very important to a teams' success. Usually, the coach of the team choreographs the routine, but some coaches hire choreographers to come in and make a routine for them. An advantage of the coach choreographing the routine is that they really know what their team's potential is - they know their strengths and weaknesses. An advantage of an outside choreographer coming in to teach a routine is that it can be something different and challenging for the team; therefore, the team would work very hard to master this choreography and surpass the challenge.
My team routines were choreographed by our coach, Rey Lozano. This past weekend our dance team had USA collegiate dance team nationals at the Anaheim Convention Center(this is the reason I have been so busy). We got second in jazz and second in hip hop and WE BEAT CAL STATE FULLERTON. This was a great victory for us, and I am personally very proud of our team for working so hard and doing so well at nationals.
Here is a video of the CSULB dance team jazz routine that was performed at UDA Nationals in Florida:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5s6cryIHnY
I'll be back tomorrow to recap more on competition stuff.
As always, feel free to ask questions!
So I'm going to try to pick up where I left off. In my last post I finished talking about what it takes to make a competitive college dance team and how the camp generally works. After camp and at the beginning of the school year is when the team starts working on the competition routine(s). For the Universal Dance Association national dance competition, each school team can only compete in two categories of dance and each routine can only be two minutes long.
Two minutes may seem like a long time for a dance routine, but there are a few things to take into consideration when one is actually choreographing a routine. There has to be various elements in each routine that displays strengths in technique, execution, precision, and overall impression. These things are their own individual categories on the score sheet and are very important to a teams' success. Usually, the coach of the team choreographs the routine, but some coaches hire choreographers to come in and make a routine for them. An advantage of the coach choreographing the routine is that they really know what their team's potential is - they know their strengths and weaknesses. An advantage of an outside choreographer coming in to teach a routine is that it can be something different and challenging for the team; therefore, the team would work very hard to master this choreography and surpass the challenge.
My team routines were choreographed by our coach, Rey Lozano. This past weekend our dance team had USA collegiate dance team nationals at the Anaheim Convention Center(this is the reason I have been so busy). We got second in jazz and second in hip hop and WE BEAT CAL STATE FULLERTON. This was a great victory for us, and I am personally very proud of our team for working so hard and doing so well at nationals.
Here is a video of the CSULB dance team jazz routine that was performed at UDA Nationals in Florida:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5s6cryIHnY
I'll be back tomorrow to recap more on competition stuff.
As always, feel free to ask questions!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Making the Team
Hey everyone. Basically life has been non-stop usy for the past week, and I finally have time right now to talk a little about dance team.
So, to start off, it is essential to state that the Long Beach State Dance Team holds auditions in late spring. In March 2010, about 30 ladies tried out to be a Beach Girl, and only 11 girls made the team. It is a very selective process and usually the coach, Rey Lozano, knows exactly what he is looking for.
Some recommended dance skills to have by the try-outs include:
Scissor second leaps
Other advanced leaps
Leg hold turns
Atleast a quad pirouette
Strong jazz and hip hop skills
A la seconde turns
After you've made the team, there is a meeting during the summer to explain everything invloving dance team for the year. This includes important dates, game information, fee information, competition information, and more. The next thing that comes is camp. Camp is usually a few weeks before the start of the fall semester, and it's the first time the team dances together. At camp, the team learns different routines that they will perform at basketball games throughout the season. This year at camp we learned 6 different routines within 2 days. It was very physically demanding, but it was fun getting to know the team in a dance environment.
In my next blog, I will continue to describe the dance team season and wil be getting into some competition stuff!
So, to start off, it is essential to state that the Long Beach State Dance Team holds auditions in late spring. In March 2010, about 30 ladies tried out to be a Beach Girl, and only 11 girls made the team. It is a very selective process and usually the coach, Rey Lozano, knows exactly what he is looking for.
Some recommended dance skills to have by the try-outs include:
Scissor second leaps
Other advanced leaps
Leg hold turns
Atleast a quad pirouette
Strong jazz and hip hop skills
A la seconde turns
After you've made the team, there is a meeting during the summer to explain everything invloving dance team for the year. This includes important dates, game information, fee information, competition information, and more. The next thing that comes is camp. Camp is usually a few weeks before the start of the fall semester, and it's the first time the team dances together. At camp, the team learns different routines that they will perform at basketball games throughout the season. This year at camp we learned 6 different routines within 2 days. It was very physically demanding, but it was fun getting to know the team in a dance environment.
In my next blog, I will continue to describe the dance team season and wil be getting into some competition stuff!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Being a Beach Girl
Hey everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the rain - I know I am!
So for my post today, I will be explaining briefly how college dance teams usually work. College dance teams are very important for various reasons. One really important reason is because we are a part of what is called the "spirit program" of our school. The spirit program usually consists of the cheer team, the dance team, and the mascot. What this program does is cheer at games, appear at school events and functions as a form of spirit, appear at community events, etc.
This spirit program is especially important to a college because sports are so highlighted at the college level. The spirit teams are there to support the sports teams and most importantly fire up the crowd. Like I mentioned in my last post, I am a member of the 2010-2011 CSULB dance team. Long Beach State dance team attends men's and women's home basketball games. We dance throughout the game on the sidelines, performing on the court during time-outs and sometimes halftime. Our duty is very interactive with the fans and players, and it is a very exciting and privileged position to be in.
Here is a two minute video capturing an essence of what our season has been like so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHLwqPoa2ds&feature=related
PS. If you haven't been to a basketball game yet, tomorrow night is a really good night to go. It's a televised game against Montana, so it will pretty much be a full house. Also, dance team will be performing our hip hop routine at half time. So you should take a trip to the Pyramid tomorrow night at 8pm. ;]
I think I'll stop here and let this part of the college dance team world sink in. Tomorrow I will talk about the competition world. If you have any questions at all, feel free to leave a question in a comment!
Talk to you tomorrow!
So for my post today, I will be explaining briefly how college dance teams usually work. College dance teams are very important for various reasons. One really important reason is because we are a part of what is called the "spirit program" of our school. The spirit program usually consists of the cheer team, the dance team, and the mascot. What this program does is cheer at games, appear at school events and functions as a form of spirit, appear at community events, etc.
This spirit program is especially important to a college because sports are so highlighted at the college level. The spirit teams are there to support the sports teams and most importantly fire up the crowd. Like I mentioned in my last post, I am a member of the 2010-2011 CSULB dance team. Long Beach State dance team attends men's and women's home basketball games. We dance throughout the game on the sidelines, performing on the court during time-outs and sometimes halftime. Our duty is very interactive with the fans and players, and it is a very exciting and privileged position to be in.
Here is a two minute video capturing an essence of what our season has been like so far:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHLwqPoa2ds&feature=related
PS. If you haven't been to a basketball game yet, tomorrow night is a really good night to go. It's a televised game against Montana, so it will pretty much be a full house. Also, dance team will be performing our hip hop routine at half time. So you should take a trip to the Pyramid tomorrow night at 8pm. ;]
I think I'll stop here and let this part of the college dance team world sink in. Tomorrow I will talk about the competition world. If you have any questions at all, feel free to leave a question in a comment!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
A Hint of Dance Team
Hi! So like I promised, I will explain the style of dance from the video of my last posting.
To start off, I should let you know that I attended a small, all-girl, Catholic high school in Fullerton, CA. This school had a dance team that, like other teams, held try-outs in order to see who would compete as the JV and varsity teams.
High school dance teams usually compete in various styles of dance. Here are some basic styles and descriptions that some high school dance teams choose to compete under:
Jazz
Routine should include jazz technique. Sharp jazz choreography is essential.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJRDnKD23k
Pom (the style from the video in my first post)
Routine incorporating the use of pom pons; teams are penalized for any dropping of poms. Pom technique includes sharp, cheer-like motions. Some of the technique that is really emphasized in this style are jumps like toe-touches. Creating visuals with the poms and formations are important with this style.
Example: (also in my first post) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etms3_E41h8
Hip-Hop
Routine consisting of clean and tight hip-hop movement. The routine may be themed, but the music may not contain inappropriate lyrics. Visuals with formations are important in this style.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f5Uh1E-q3k&feature=related
Lyrical
Routine should demonstrate balance, extension, isolations and control utilizing the lyrics or mood of the music.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJe2PshwiBw
Contemporary
Routine should utilize contemporary style to show extension, balance, and musicality. Movement can combine lyrical, modern and company style techniques.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fss9eWT_Tx0
These are the typical categories included in high school dance team competitions. Most dance teams compete in only one or two categories, but some choose to compete in four or five... it just depends on the coach's desire. For instance, my team only competed in pom and jazz every year.
So this was a broad overview of high school dance teams. In my next blog I'm going to include information and videos of some college dance teams, because I am also on the Cal State Long Beach Dance Team... so stay tuned. ;]
To start off, I should let you know that I attended a small, all-girl, Catholic high school in Fullerton, CA. This school had a dance team that, like other teams, held try-outs in order to see who would compete as the JV and varsity teams.
High school dance teams usually compete in various styles of dance. Here are some basic styles and descriptions that some high school dance teams choose to compete under:
Jazz
Routine should include jazz technique. Sharp jazz choreography is essential.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJRDnKD23k
Pom (the style from the video in my first post)
Routine incorporating the use of pom pons; teams are penalized for any dropping of poms. Pom technique includes sharp, cheer-like motions. Some of the technique that is really emphasized in this style are jumps like toe-touches. Creating visuals with the poms and formations are important with this style.
Example: (also in my first post) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etms3_E41h8
Hip-Hop
Routine consisting of clean and tight hip-hop movement. The routine may be themed, but the music may not contain inappropriate lyrics. Visuals with formations are important in this style.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f5Uh1E-q3k&feature=related
Lyrical
Routine should demonstrate balance, extension, isolations and control utilizing the lyrics or mood of the music.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJe2PshwiBw
Contemporary
Routine should utilize contemporary style to show extension, balance, and musicality. Movement can combine lyrical, modern and company style techniques.
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fss9eWT_Tx0
These are the typical categories included in high school dance team competitions. Most dance teams compete in only one or two categories, but some choose to compete in four or five... it just depends on the coach's desire. For instance, my team only competed in pom and jazz every year.
So this was a broad overview of high school dance teams. In my next blog I'm going to include information and videos of some college dance teams, because I am also on the Cal State Long Beach Dance Team... so stay tuned. ;]
Friday, February 11, 2011
Introduction
Hi everyone! My name is Clarice Faith Ordaz. I'm 18 years old and a freshman and dance major at Long Beach State. School is a pretty big challenge for me, but I try to attack it with all I've got. I have austere parents and a 13 year genius sister whom make my situation a little more tense, but I still try. But the most important information about myself that I would like you to understand is that I am a dancer.
First off, let me just say that dancers are very often misunderstood and stereotyped. So no, I'm not bulimic or anorexic, my favorite color is not pink, and I'm not super peppy. Also, there are so so so many styles of dance - some of which I don't even study. Therefore, throughout this blog I will be enlightening you about various styles and techniques of dance, as well as talking about how my days usually run and how dance is a huge part of my life.
I'm going to leave my first blog posting with a video of the high school dance team I was on for four years. It's a video of us competing at Nationals last year, and the style of this kind of dance is called pom. If you have no idea what I am talking about, no worries, because I will explain this and more in my next blog that I will be posting tomorrow.
Enjoy. :]
First off, let me just say that dancers are very often misunderstood and stereotyped. So no, I'm not bulimic or anorexic, my favorite color is not pink, and I'm not super peppy. Also, there are so so so many styles of dance - some of which I don't even study. Therefore, throughout this blog I will be enlightening you about various styles and techniques of dance, as well as talking about how my days usually run and how dance is a huge part of my life.
I'm going to leave my first blog posting with a video of the high school dance team I was on for four years. It's a video of us competing at Nationals last year, and the style of this kind of dance is called pom. If you have no idea what I am talking about, no worries, because I will explain this and more in my next blog that I will be posting tomorrow.
Enjoy. :]
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