Posts Tagged ‘dance’

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Fascinating Facts About The Lindy Hop

Sunday, September 18th, 2011

The Lindy Hop is considered to generally be the grandfather of modern day swing. This dance was a popular routine during the 1920s, along the period when jazz music had been the newest craze. Being a part of the Swing family, we can safely state that the Lindy Hop began as one of the divisions of African American dance tradition.

History

You can find 3 specific dates that may reveal the various stages of the Lindy Hop history, the very first one will be the highlight of the actual Swing era in the year 1920 up to 1940, its change around 1950, and also Lindy Hop’s resurrection in the 1980s period.

Founded in Harlem, New York through the 1920s, researches are actually in a position to separate its moves into a mixture of breakaway, hop and Texas Tommy. The highlight of this specific dance was achieved in the 1930s.

Lindy Hop was widely known in various night clubs and dance studios in different metropolitan areas of the USA. Regrettably, the dance later on became inactive as the fees or tax sanctions in a variety of clubs and dance studios ended up being elevated.

The Lindy Hop These Days

As of this moment, Lindy Hop is usually completed in localized areas of different locations. Regrettably, the dance routine didn’t quite make it up to the high stage. The dance maneuver is conducted in numerous dancing tournaments, social events, along with other dance acts both public and private. The Lindy Hop can be carried out with a partner or alone.

Skills

Given that Lindy Hop is an element of the actual Swing family, a lot of its moves are available in other dance styles popular today. This dance routine is described as a sports partner dance. As opposed to universal norm in partner dancing where partners are meant to stay upright and mostly touch by means of their hands, the Lindy Hop starts off with an athletic position with emphasis on lower body motion or footwork.

Savory and G.I. tend to be two of the main forms of Lindy Hop. Even so, dancers also can opt to incorporate their own dance steps to increase originality.

The Savory style Lindy Hop highlights the upper body movements which especially incorporate horizontal jerks and sways that give it its standing as a lively type of the dance maneuver. On the other hand, the G.I. Lindy Hop gives accent to the uppermost torso posture with energetic lower body steps.

The dance steps incorporate a number of the routines that can be observed in Tap dancing and Charleston. The process employs 6 and 8 rhythm counts to put an accent on the lead along with weight changes when executing the program. Lindy Hop generally integrates Hip-Hop or Jazz music into the background as dancers perform. The background music employed is very active in most cases incorporates lively dance movements conducted by soloists or partners.

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A Journey Through The Years Of British Dance

Monday, July 4th, 2011

For many years, British dancers were mostly confined to folk dance and musical revues, while the likes of France, Italy, Russia and even Sweden refined and embellished ballet. In the 1930’s all this changed however, when two powerful women founded the first ballet companies.

Coming out of the famous Ballets Russes under Serge Diaghilev, were Ninette de Valois and Marie Rambert. The pair encouraged the first home-grown choreographers and launched small companies of star dancers in London. Among these was Frederick Ashton, who went on to become one of the best choreographers in the world.

The determination to establish ballet on a national, subsidised footing meant there was a swift growth. The greatest company in the world was considered to be the Royal Ballet in the 1960’s and stars such as Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev were prominent. Major new narrative ballets such as Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée and Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet were performed at the world’s top companies.

Ballet Rambert generated innovations in contemporary choreography, thanks to the work by Marie Rambert. A new injection of inspiration came to London in the 1960’s in the form of American modern choreographers such as Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. In the 1980s pop music was put into choreography, from the Rolling Stones to The Fall, by new dance stars such as Christopher Bruce and Michael Clark. 

The rise in TV dance talent shows and the recent popularity of hip hop, has changed the face of contemporary dance once again. Rappers and DJs have been brought into the dance scene, and have inspired a host of street dance classes up and down the country. The UK contemporary dance scene is in a constant state of change and development, while classical ballet has never been more popular in Britain.

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What’s Modern Ballet

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

If I walk up to somebody and I ask them what sort of ballet style they wish to learn to dance, many of them had no clear definition of what modern ballet is. If you’re one of those people who desire to know what modern ballet is all about then this article should give a clear picture of exactly what it is.

Style Of Modern Ballet

For those people who do not know much about modern ballet, it is really a type of dance that traces its roots on influences made by both classical ballet and modern dance styles. Though it doesn’t have a particular, well-defined “technique” that will differentiate it from classical ballet, it does take certain methods from classical ballet, like the pointework, and combines it with the fewer restrictions of body movement and range of flexibility that modern dance styles offer.

Typically, turned-in positions are used in modern ballet with the inclusion of more innovative styles. A typical modern ballet dancer should be able to interpret using ballet ideas using modern styles.

Origin Of Modern Ballet

George Balanchine is said to be the person responsible for the birth of contemporary ballet. His style composes of flexed hands and legs, off-balance positions, and turned in legs. The clothing is different from traditional ballet, tunics and unitards are now a new addition to the wardrobe. Balanchine’s style was further developed into a style with Baryshnikov’s influence moreover went into the contemporary style of ballet.

Similarities With Classical Ballet

Modern ballet does not stray too far off from traditional ballet. The jargon of ballet alone is still the same. Both designs require their dancers to be well trained, and the affinity and connection of both styles to music is still there.

Difference With Classical Ballet

Although both dance types are pretty similar in a few things, they do have specific differences that helps create a distinction between the two dance styles. Among the main distinction between the two styles is that modern ballet focuses more on the movement of the dancers instead of the storyline of the performance.

Modern ballet has lesser focus on symmetry. It is obvious in the way the balance on stage is disregarded. Traditional ballet maintains an upright posture while modern ballet allows a specific degree of body twisting while dancing.

Which Is Better?

Both dancers have advantages and disadvantages despite minor differences. Anyone who wishes to do ballet dancing has to select the style that he or she is most comfortable with.

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Onegin (Ballet) - An Absolute Classic

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Onegin is a ballet in three acts and six scenes that is based on the poetic novel ‘Eugene Onegin’ by Russian author Alexander Pushkin. The ballet was adapted by renowned choreographer John Cranko in 1965 and was set to Tchaikovsky’s piano divertimento The Seasons by German composer Kurt-Heinz Stolze. Onegin premiered in Stuttgart on April 3rd 1965 with Cranko further revising it in 1967 for the Stuttgart ballet; this is the version that is performed to this day. Onegin is widely considered to be one of Cranko’s finest works.

Act One, Scene One sees the characters Olga, Madame Larina and the nurse excitedly preparing for Tatiana’s forthcoming birthday celebrations with Madame Larina in a wistful mood as she recollects her own lost youth and beauty. Olga’s fiance Lensky, a poet, arrives for the celebrations with Onegin, a young man from the city who is bored with his life and seeking new experiences in the country. Tatiana instantly falls for the worldly gentleman from the city but Onegin regards her as a simple country girl. Tatiana’s bedroom is the setting for Act One Scene Two and here we see Tatiana inflamed with love for the handsome stranger that Lensky has introduced to the family. In her heightened emotional state Tatiana writes Onegin a love letter that she gives to her nurse with instructions to pass it on to Onegin.

In the first scene in Act Two, Tatiana’s birthday party celebrations are in full swing. The local gentry have turned up to celebrate and they speculate on the possibility of a blossoming romance between Onegin and Tatiana. Prince Gremin is also in attendance and this older man is the preferred future husband of Madame Larina for her daughter, Tatiana. Onegin finds the whole scenario boring however and he has been put into a bad mood by Tatiana’s love letter, which he regards as childish. He finds Tatiana and tears her love letter up in front of her telling her he will never love her, leaving the young girl distraught. Bored Onegin flirts with Olga in an attempt to provoke Lensky that spectacularly backfires. Lensky is enraged by the flirting of his so-called friend and challenges him to a duel. In the second scene in Act Two Tatiana and Olga try to talk Lensky out of the duel but with his ego wounded, Lensky is determined to see it through. The duel goes ahead and Onegin kills his one time friend - and for the first time shows some emotion. Tatiana sees Onegin for the shallow person he is and regrets her infatuation with him.

In the first scene of Act Three Onegin returns to St Petersburg after several years to attend a ball at the palace of Prince Gremin. The prince has married Tatiana who is now more worldly wise and has grown to be a beautiful young woman. Onegin regrets his treatment of the younger Tatiana and is overcome with regret about losing the chance to be with her. The final scene of the ballet is set in Tatiana’s boudoir where she is found reading a letter from Onegin expressing his love for her. He turns up at her room eager to reconcile with her but Tatiana although still having strong feelings for him tells him she can never be happy or respect him and orders the heartbroken Onegin to leave.

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Disco

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

Although today, disco is not that famous anymore, it’s still considered by lots of people as one of many more influential genres of music and dance style in its time. A lot of our styles of music and dancing types that we have today appear to take some parts or aspects from Disco back in its time. Lots of modern-day sounds and movements bear affects from Disco.

What Is Disco?

The birth of Disco began as a way for people who do not like rock music to get away from rock music. Rock music in that time was demonitized and people simply needed a way to get away from it. Disco was famous among the black gay community at first, then the white gay community in New York adapted Disco that resulted to its introduction the well-known music. Latinos and women soon went with the vibe of disco after that.

Disco Sounds

Disco is actually influenced by a lot of different music, that would originally include soul and funk music. Generally, music which has a “four-on-the-floor” steady beat with an eighth note or sixteenth note pattern with soaring vocals, electronic bass lines which are syncopated but prominent, and an off-beat open hi-hat, are the music which are associated with Disco. You might even notice that certain disco tracks have other instruments in the background also, for instance strings, electric pianos, horns and electric guitars, to add a few more rich sounds to the music. These make the music very easy to dance to.

Disco Dancing Basics

The fundamentals of Disco dancing is very basic, indeed, all it requires is some movements from left to right. The dancer brings his foot together after moving in one direction and repeat the same pattern. As a rule of disco, dance to the beat. Failure to do so can end up in an embarrassing night at the disco club.

Advance Disco Dancing

Repeating the same dance design can be boring even for a disco dance, the great thing to do is to accompany it with hand gestures and some spins.

The hand expressions can also have specific patterns to it. Keep in mind to go with the beat of the music.

What You Should Wear

There is no strict need with the kind of clothing you wear as long as you are comfortable with it. You need to be able to move around no matter what dance patterns you’ll perform. 

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