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!
Friday, February 25, 2011
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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