Dance studio

I’ve always enjoyed the rush of performing. The stare of thousands of eyes on you, the music ringing loudly in your ears. Sometimes, though, it’s too much. My whole life is a performance, always pushing me to be perfect in the suddenity of the moment. Don’t be fooled however, it’s a horrible show I always put on. When I was three years old, I was bouncing off the walls, digging in pots, being the problematic child. The only things that calmed me were singing and generally being worn out. That…

Suzanne Abraham (1996) describes how dancers feel, and what their physical appearance should look like. Researchers have found that among ballet dancers, it is common to have an eating disorder. Dancers want to be thin and have a ballet dancer body, and not everybody is born the same way to have that lean body type. Therefore, girls start bad habits, such as throwing up and not eating, just so they can have that ballet body type. Gelsey Kirkland, a ballet dancer, explains, “I starved by day,…

The first half of the semester we watched a total of 5 different movies. Each of these movies had different storylines, characters, settings, and motives. However one thing they all had in common was character development. The two movies that stuck out most to me were Billie Elliot and My Life as a Dog. Billie Elliot was directed by Stephen Daldry, a well-known stage director, photographed by Brian Tufano, and written by Lee Hall. It was seen to take place in 1984 and released in 2000. The…

Latin Dance Senior Swing is a cultural engagement workshop for senior centers all over New York. It teaches seniors the dance idioms of tango, salsa, merengue, bachata and cha-cha, in a supportive and fun setting. It supports the physical, mental and social health of New York City seniors, while promoting Latin dance, music and history. Goals include improved posture, body placement, alignment, musicality, balance, coordination, body awareness, presence and coordination. The program will serve…

desirable to you appear to others? From the time I was seven, I never really stopped thinking about the broad aspects of existence. I still incorporated my enjoyments into life, I just analyzed them far too much. When I was almost sixteen, my passion for dance, and use for hyperextended knees, was killed. Dissolved. I know longer had a use for it. If someone ceases your ability to practice the art that makes you feel alive, is it worth it? Passion is never enough to practice…

Flying across the ice, the two time U.S. gold medalists Alex and Maia Shibutani danced their hearts out to Paradise by Coldplay only to lose their third gold medal at the National Figure Skating Championships. Their dance and song choice touched the lives of people all around the world, but wasn’t enough to hold their own against the skaters to come. Although the title was the lost, the words to the Shibutanis song of choice speaks volumes. Songwriter Christopher Anthony pulls at the string’s of…

This video “Ballet, Sweat, and Tears” highlights dancers who study ballet at the Vaganova Ballet Academy. One of the thing that I notice is that these young girls spend many hours in hard training and endless castings to show off their perfect form and their talent. Since childhood they give their lives to a professional path through the ballet academies. They are shut away from their own family and friends. These girls don’t have any personal time, their days are given over to endless practice…

Originally, I had an ensemble part with the rest of my dance class, only understudying for role of Autumn, one of the four soloist positions offered in Milwaukee Ballet School’s Spring Showcase, Snow White. A few weeks before the show, the dancer who I was understudying for became unable to perform her role. The…

At the age of seven I began studying flamenco dance under the direction of Linda Vega in Santa Barbara. Dancing flamenco for nine years brought so much joy to my life, to my family's life, given me physical and performance skills, and has taught me many life lessons. Every summer Santa Barbara celebrates Old Spanish Days Fiesta, which is a five-day long celebration honoring Santa Barbara's Spanish heritage. There are marketplaces throughout the city, called mercados, where visitors can dine on…

Modern Dance Class I went to observe the modern dance class on a thursday morning. This class was split into six different groups of at least 5 people in each. They were all taught a choreography a couple of days before and everything had to be memorized by the time it was their turn to dance. The class as a whole is doing well in communicating and in waiting for each other as they dance. These groups were randomly chosen and they all had to work together to make the choreography look nice,…