World Renowned Choreographers

Throughout the world there are undoubtably thousands maybe even millions of dance choreographers. But there are many names throughout the industry that everyone knows. Such as George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Bob Fosse, Alvin Ailey, and Martha Graham. Of course there are many, many more choreographers out in the dance world that have had great success. I however do not have the time or resources to give all the talent credit for what they’ve done. So I am touching base on some of the best known choreographers through the years.

George Balanchine was born with the name of Giorgi Balanchivadze. He was born on January 22, 1904 and passed on April 30, 1983. He is credited as the father of American Ballet and he cofounded the New York Ballet. Balanchine was known for his musicality and he even worked exclusively with top-notch composers of his time such as Igor Stravinsky. It would have been a huge honor for any dance of this time to have gotten a chance to work with him or his company.

Paul Taylor is one of the last living members of the second generation of American modern dance artists. He was born on July 29, 1920 and died at the age of 83. He is known as the naughty boy of dance by Martha Taylor because of his creations depicting war, spirituality, sexuality, and morality. He told very scandalous stories through his dance pieces, at least for his time.

Bob Fosse lived from June 23, 1927 through September 23, 1987. He is known as an American actor, dancer, choreographer and director. He won eight Tony awards for choreography and one for direction. He was nominated for an Academy award a total of 4 times and his unique and distinct style is today referred to as “Fosse.” Bob Fosse is my favorite choreographer on this list, however I may be extra biased and possibly brain washed as he is one of my mothers favorite choreographers as well.

While Alvin Ailey is on this list I am not going to discuss him because my last post before this one is completely about him. But he is a great choreographer and is my second favorite on this list. He made great breakthroughs in the dance world and is one of the first African Americans to be such a great success in the industry.

Finally there is Martha Graham. Martha was born on May 11, 1894 and passed on April 1, 1991. She was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her influence on the dance community has been compared to the influence of Picasso on the visual arts community. She was a dancer and choreographer for over 70 years and was the first dancer to perform in the White House. She received many honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris and Japan’s Imperial Order of the Precious Crown. A famous quote by her is “I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It’s permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable.” I find this quote to be so powerful and I couldn’t agree more.

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Balanchine
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Taylor_(choreographer)
3) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/bob-fosse/
4) http://marthagraham.org/

Alvin Ailey

Throughout the United States and other parts of the world there are many different dance performance companies. One of the most famous performance companies is Alvin Ailey. This company was started by an African-American choreographer Alvin Ailey in New York. Alvin was born on January 5, 1931 and he died on December 1, 1989 at the age of 58. His company was given the nickname “Cultural Ambassador of the World.” It was given this name because of the international touring they did. Ailey is the creator of what is believed to be the best known and most seen modern dance performance “Revelations.” His company still performs all over the United States and the world today even though he has long since passed. Alvin was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1977 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988. I personally love his work and his dancers. I also love the pieces that have been created since his death. I was first introduced to his company on the show So You Think You Can Dance and I have personally seen the Company at the University of Iowa. The choreography they do is very outside the box so if classical is what you enjoy most his company may not be the one for you. But this is in no way to discourage you from giving his company a shot. I think anyone could find something enjoyable out of his companies master pieces. Alvin Ailey’s company is one of the most known companies and definitely one of the best in the world. It its estimated that his company has performed for 23 million people at theaters in 47 states and 71 countries. There are over 200 works by over 80 choreographers. Before his death he appointed Judith Jamison to be his successor and over the past 21 years she has brought to company to great success. In 2011 Jamison passed the company onto Robert Battle.

1) http://www.alvinailey.org/about
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Ailey

Performing Arts Acadamey’s

Throughout the United States there are many prestigious Performing Arts colleges and academy’s. These education facilities are for more than just dancing however, they also have departments for instrumental music, vocal music, acting etc. However if you’re looking to just continue dancing for the fun of it and not for a career in dance almost any college you go to have a dance team or dance classes offered for their students. Performing Arts schools are more for the people who want to continue learning as to pursue a career in their art form field of choice. Many great Performing Art schools for dance are Julliard, and University of the Arts just to name a few. Along with these two there are hundreds more throughout the United States and Europe.

Julliard is located in New York, NY and was established in 1905. This elite university is currently training about 800 undergraduate and graduate students within its programs. Julliard is has received a reputation throughout the dance world for their superior quality of dance education and artful training. The dance program at Julliard is under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. At Julliard they aim to create and produce true contemporary dancers. These dancers have an equal amount of Ballet and Modern training creating a great balance between the two. Once you have graduated you have the opportunity to dance with world-renowned ballet and modern dance companies within the United States and overseas. This dance program offers a four-year graduate program, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with liberal arts requirements. In addition to dance Julliard has Drama and Music programs.

University of the Arts is one other oldest Universities created in 1985 but its origins are traced to two schools from the 1870’s. This university devotes itself to the performing arts. The University of the Performing Arts is located in Philadelphia, PA. The University of the Performing Arts currents educated about 2,100 students. It is made up of two colleges with two divisions. The College of Art, Media and Design and the College of Performing Arts. Along with the Division of Liberal Arts and the Division of Continuing studies. If you are looking to study dance you will obviously be a part of the Performing Arts where you can major in dance. You can take a multitude of classes such as Jazz, Music business, Musical Theatre and Production. In addition to that after finish your first degree you can go back for graduate programs such as MM in Jazz Studies, MM in Music Education and an MAT in Music Education.

There are of course many other performing arts schools with dance programs but these two are personally my favorite two dance schools. They are very prestigious and if you are strongly considering a career in dance these two schools would definitely be good places to audition for. I think both of these schools provide a variety of dance styles and informative classes to keep you growing and learning.

1) http://www.juilliard.edu/
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_the_Arts_(Philadelphia)

Creators of Dance

Dance does not have a clear history behind it. It is believed to have originated 3300 BC according to tomb paintings found in India and Egypt. One of the earliest forms of dance was a way of expressing myths during story telling. Along with showing and expressing your feelings to the opposite gender. Dance was also used in healing rituals. Before written languages came to be dance was a way to pass stories from generation to generation. Many of the modern day dance forms can be traced back to historical and traditional ethnic dances. Even though you can trace contemporary styles back to early styles of dance unfortunately there is not much historical background to trace these dances back to. I wouldn’t be surprised that if in a few hundred years the dance of today is considered to be the beginning of dance. As sad as that realization is there really isn’t too much information about dance until we hit the 1900s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_dance

Dance Shows

Dance has become a very prominent part of American culture. I believe that the media has created many new dance shows, such as Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) and Dance moms. Of course along with these new shows has come a lot of controversy, mostly Dance Moms.

I’ll begin with Dancing with the Stars, Dancing with the Stars just began their 17th season last week with yet again a wide verity of stars, from Bill Nye the Science guys to Amber Riley from Fox’s hit show Glee. Although I’m not a huge fan of the show anymore I love the publicity it gets dance. Along with the fun that the stars and professionals have on the show. I think it opens the eyes to the viewers at how enjoyable and physically taxing dance can be. Especially when your favorite star is on the show. I definitely think it has shed a new light on dancing and has gotten people of all ages to give dancing a shot.

So You Think You Can Dance is one of my absolute favorite shows on television. I think its great to see all the people so passionate about dance coming to all the auditions and supporting their fellow dancers. It’s amazing to see all the different techniques and styles in just the United States. I also love seeing all the competitors coming back and trying again and again if they hadn’t made the top 20 the previous year. My favorite week of the show is Vegas week because it is the time for all the dancers to shine and show the judges what they are made of. It’s also a time to figure out who you like and make your own top twenty. Then follow your favorites through the rest of the competition and see how far they get. Not to mention amazing dances and choreography from some of the best choreographers in the United States, such as Travis Wall, NappyTabs, Tyce Diorio, Mia Micheals, Mandy Moore and Sonya Tehya.

Finally it is time to talk about Dance Moms. A group of beautiful young dancers and their slightly crazy, very protective moms. I personally love the show for all its quirks and bumps. But I do get tires of hearing… “Is your dance studio like Dance Moms?” The answer is no my studio is not like Dance Moms. Our moms don’t sit and watch the classes because first of all our rooms just aren’t big enough for that and second most of us drive ourselves. We also do not wear midriff showing costumes, mostly because our owner is very against that which I respect immensely. Now I’m not saying every inch of our body is always covered because that is not the case either. There are cut outs and open backs we just do not enjoy showing our whole stomachs. Yes the mothers of younger children stay and can watch but they don’t get in cat fights. Another difference is that we don’t learn new dances every weekend and then compete with those dances the following weekend. We also don’t do a pyramid where we all fight for the top and solos. At my studio we learn one dance for every dance style and we clean and perfect those for the whole year and compete with just those dances. In addition to that anyone who would like to do a solo, duet or trio may do so.

Classics

I know what you may be thinking, how can dance have “classics”? Just like any other sport, art form or anything you can have classics in dance. What most people don’t realize is that dance has been around for hundreds of years, it was here before many of todays most popular sports and pastimes. But it is much more known in todays culture than it used to be, because dance has become a big thing in many cultures not just in America. Along with the help of dance shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, Dance Moms and Dancing with the Stars dance comes up in todays culture everywhere.

But let’s get back to the classics of dance, such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Now I know what you’re thinking, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella are Disney movies aren’t they? Yes, in fact they have the same story lines and everything. However the ballets were around years and years earlier. Sleeping Beauty was first performed in 1890, the music was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1). Cinderella was composed by Sergei Prokofiev between 1940 and 1944 (2). While I could go into great detail of what both of these ballets are about I’d hope that anyone reading this post has either watched the movie and or ballets and knows fully well what they are about.

The story of the Nutcracker is basically little Clara is at a party on Christmas Eve and falls asleep. The present she had received, a nutcracker comes to life. Now I don’t want to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t seen it so go on out and see it, it is a great way to get into the spirit of Christmas! The Nutcracker was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. It was not very popular when it originally came out, but has had tremendous popularity since the late 1960’s (3). It is performed by many ballet companies around the world and auditions are held all the time! My sister even auditioned once, the prominent season for this beautiful piece is of course Christmas season.

Now its time for a darker side to ballet. Many of you may be familiar with the movie Black Swan that was released in 2010 which is basically a modern spin-off of this ballet, however a little more extreme with the issues presented in the movie. This ballet was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875-1876. This ballet tells the story of Odette a princess who is put under a spell and turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer (4). Of course there is more to this story than just a beautiful princess being turned into a swan but again, you’ll have to see it for yourself to know it all. This ballet is a Russian classic that is enjoyed by many around the world.

I highly encourage you all to go out and watch these classic ballets. Whether in person or even on video they all have great story lines and exquisite dance.

Sources:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleeping_Beauty_(ballet)
(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_(Prokofiev)
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker
(4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Lake

Scheduling

The illusion that most of America has is that dancers practice everyday of the week immediately after school until 10 at night. While that is the case for some studios it’s definitely not the case for all. To be a dancer you don’t have to drop out of everything else you’re doing and eat, sleep and breathe just dance. You can fit dance into the schedule you already have. You’d be surprised at how easily you can fit even just one class into your crazy hectic life.

 

Personally I dance two days a week but I am at the studio three days a week. I dance on Wednesdays and Sundays. But I also help teach a class on Monday nights. In addition to that I have show choir on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Monday I teach 3 year olds for 45 minutes. On Wednesday I have a Technique, Ballet and Pointe class totaling three hours for the night. On Sundays I have 3 hours and 15 minutes worth of troupe (what we call our competition teams) this includes Tap, Jazz, Contemporary and 15 minutes to warm up. I then also have a Hip Hop class and  Modern class adding in another hour and a half. In addition to that I have 3 hours of show choir twice a week and find time to do all of my homework after being at school from 7:00 to 3:45. Along with usually being in bed by 9 or 9:30.

 

So if you even remotely want to try dance but think to yourself “I just don’t have time.” I challenge you to give it a shot because I know you won’t regret it! Most classes ten to be 45 minutes to an hour per style and it never feels like you’ve been there that long. Once you get going you look up and realize its been 55 of the 60 minutes when you feel as if its only been 15 minutes. Dance can be a great get away from all the other stress in your life and schedule. A way to just forget all your worries for a while, relax and have fun. Along with making new friends who had you not started dancing you would have never met because you don’t attend the same school or a multitude of other reasons. Dance is all around a great thing that gives you many new opportunities.

Is Dance a Sport?

The big controversy in the dance world is whether or not dance is truly a sport. Of course most dancers will say, of course dance is a sport, and most other athletes will say it’s not and that it’s an art form. I personally believe both sides are correct.

The definition of a sport is “all forms of usually competitive physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators.” I believe that dance is a sport because it is physically very hard to do. You have to be in fantastic shape to be able to leap feet in the air, turn multiple times on a small center of gravity and get up and down off the floor in a matter of seconds. Not to mention having the flexibility to kick to your head and contort your body into all the crazy positions there are. Dancers do just as much cardio as any other athlete. They run, do abdominal work, arm strength and endurance. Along with a lot of stretching and balance exercises. Dancers are always working to become better while performing well and entertaining the audience at performances and competitions.

The definition of an art form is “An activity or a piece of artistic work that can be regarded as a medium of artistic expression.” All dances are different which would constitute is as a medium of artistic expression because all art is in some way, shape or form different. Dance can also be an art form however because it involves intricate movement and many kinds of music. Dance involves many years of training in order to perfect the form. However I believe that you can never truly perfect dance because you can always improve. I also believe that is true of many art forms, whether it be a musician, painter, sculptor etc.

I don’t think that dance can be categorized into just an art form or just a sport. It utilizes the best of both into one activity. The competitiveness, entertainment, physical ability and skills from a sport and the uniqueness of art into one beautiful and mysterious thing. I’m proud to be apart of something so spectacular and unique activity that many cannot say they are a part of.

Technique

As brought up in my last post there are many different styles and ways of teaching technique. What is taught on the East Coast is different from what is taught in the Mid-West and West. That is what makes dance different from most other sports and art forms. With most sports you are expected to do every throw, move and hit in approximately the same way. In most art forms you are expected to do every note, key change, and volume the same. With dance you can always be at least a little unique. You can create new moves, jumps, turns and combinations. You can be turned out or parallel, but please nothing in between it is an eye sore! The placement of the leg in different turns can be specific to each studio or dance. Especially since no two dancers are the same how one dancer must place their foot in passé is much different from another. It all depends on the structure of your foot. Just please don’t sickle! That is one thing that is universal… sickling is a no, no matter what.

Jumps can also have different placements, such as brushing your front leg when it’s straight or developing your leg as you soar into the air. The angle at which your legs are can also be different per dancer. While the technique is always the same, turned out legs, pointing through your feet and toes etc. not every dancer is capable of reaching that flat 180 degree leap, while others may be able to get higher than a 180 degree angle.

The technique between each style of dance can change as well. The technique you use for ballet is different from the technique you use in Jazz. In ballet you are always in a turned out position, I don’t think I have ever seen a ballet that they are not turned out. Where in Jazz you tend to dance with parallel feet, especially in turns. Flexed feet is also a very common image within Jazz. But what is great about dance is that you can always change things up, try new things and continue to learn. I highly encourage all dancers to do research, watch videos of the styles and fads from other areas of the country and to try new things to always keep improving.

Technique is never universal within the dance world everywhere you go something is going to be different. It’s a matter of personal preference and what each dancer is capable of. So if it’s different than what you’re used to don’t automatically think they’re wrong because its not what you so. As long as you use the core basics virtually anything in dance can be correct.

Below are some examples of the two different techniques I discussed in this post.

Dance Styles

Most people when they hear the word dance automatically think of classical ballet or pointe. Of course many of them do not know the name of them so when asked “What kind of dance do you do? Is it that kind where you dance on your toes? Doesn’t that hurt?” I typically reply “It’s called pointe, yes I do that style and yes it can be painful but its all worth it.” I then proceed to tell them all the other types of dance I do, such as ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and hip hop. Now of course those aren’t the only styles of dance, those are just the styles of dance offered for me at my studio. In addition to all those styles theres also ballroom, latin, crump, disco and the list could just go on and on. I for one love all the different styles of dance that are in the world. I love that there are so many options to choose from and that everyone can choose something that they find interesting and fun. Theres so much in the dance world to explore and not every studio or city or country has the same way of teaching it. Thats what makes dance so unique is that no matter where you are, what style you’re doing or who you’re learning, you’re always learning something new and new techniques. It’s never too late to get started because no matter where you go you’ll be learning something new and different!