Hope Boykin, An Inspirational Dancer And Choreographer Essay

As a youth, I engaged in many forms of dance expression. I studied tap, jazz, and ballet for fifteen years. During these formative years, I choose to forgo many youth experiences so that I could participate in advance dance programs. The hard work paid off when I received a college scholarship to a performing arts

Influenced primarily by cultural roots and incredibly opportunity, Dunham had the luxury of studying in the West Indies as well as anthropological study of other cultural style dances. The West Indian experience changed forever the focus of Dunham’s life and caused a profound shift in her career. This initial fieldwork began a lifelong involvement with the people and dance of Haiti. And, importantly for the development of modern dance, her fieldwork began her investigations into a vocabulary of movement that would form the core of the Katherine Dunham Technique. Though many of Dunham’s primary influences lies within her multicultural experiences, Mark Turbyfill also seemed to play a large role in her future dance career, giving her private lessons despite his doubt in the opening of her student company (Kaiso! 187). Katherine Dunham has been list as an influence to “everyone from George Balanchine to Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Bob Fosse and Twyla Tharp. American dance, including ballet, modern dance, Hollywood and Broadway, would not be the same without her” (Aschenbrenner 226).

In “Showing What Is Possible,” Jacques D’Amboise reflects on an experience when a teacher helped him discover ballet. Madame Seda helped D’Amboise fulfill his talent. With ballet, he overcame the pressure to join a gang like his friends. D’Amboise was able to become a well-known ballet dancer with help from his teachers. When it was time to retire from dancing, he started the National Dance Institute. This project enabled D’Amboise to influence his own students around the world. An influential teacher can affect one’s future by challenging pupils to move past their comfort zones, teaching them to actively control their future, and setting up an environment where they can improve together.

Alvin Ailey was an accomplished dancer and choreographer whose African-American heritage influenced his works in the 20th century. His successful dance career has gained international recognition and acclaim thus rendering a significant legacy. Ailey’s background as a dancer and choreographer had many strong influences from social, cultural, economic and political aspects during his early life. His African-American heritage has greatly influenced his works. Alvin was the founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1958-), galvanized and stabilized an African American presence in theatrical dance. An outstanding performer, choreographer, company director, and mentor to scores of dance artists, Ailey oversaw the growth of his small, pick-up group of seven dancers into a large, carefully managed, internationally-renowned enterprise including several ensembles of dancers and a thriving school in New York City housed in the largest building devoted to dance in the United States. Along the way, Ailey changed the landscape of modern dance by developing new audiences for its performance through a consistent combination of exceptional artistry and wellcoordinated community outreach programs. In all, Ailey invigorated the art of dance with his distinctive creative imagination, his “blood memories” of cultural formations he witnessed as a child-- including the jook joint and the black church --and the strong survivalist ethic he learned as an African American man born in the

The light shine down and the music surrounds her as she dance into the air and across the stage. The audience yells and clap for her as the curtain close. It’s the end of another work week for Jane Onwuegbuchu. Jane comes from a very huge family of 8, where it’s very hard for her to be at the center of attention, especially being the 5th child. Jane was born in Houston, Texas on June 22, 1987 to Rosaline and James Onwuegbuchu. She started dancing at the young age of 3 with Elite dancers and fell in love with dancing since then. “Growing up as a child, Jane was a very good child, she loved dancing and just seeing her dance melt my heart. She was a part of a lot of dance organization, church, youth dance team etc… You name it and she was there,”

From kindergarten until high school, I was a member of the Jean Wolfmeyer School of Dance. Up to 5 days per week, I would be at the dance studio taking classes, rehearsing for shows, and helping out in the less advanced classes. Regardless of skill level, Jean never hesitated to speak the brutally honest truth about students’ performances and she never settled for anything less than perfection. Jean would often preach that she is only the instruction manual and she cannot make us good dancers, we had to do that for ourselves. However, it was not her critique or teaching alone that motivated dancers to perform well, it was her relentless work ethic and commitment to her studio. As a 70 year-old women, Jean held classes as much as 7 days per

“What are you even doing here? I have never seen such flawed technique in all my years as a choreographer.” The words echoed throughout the medical college auditorium. Impelled by the admonishment in front of my peers, I persevered in my endeavor to improve upon my dancing prowess and by the final year of medical school was leading the college dance team. The above mentioned undertaking further spawned an interest for the discipline of Latin Ballroom which lead to participation at the national level. The unwavering focus and persistence even in the face of unfavorable odds is more broadly reflective of my approach towards learning, both academic and extracurricular. This has been instrumental in achieving stellar academic outcomes including being ranked nationally in the top 0.0004 percent in the premedical test and the top 0.6 percent in the common aptitude test for management training.

“Go within everyday and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out” (A Quote by Katherine Dunham 1). Once one of the most successful dancers in both American and European theater, Katherine Dunham, a dancer, anthropologist,social activist,and educator, continues to inspire people throughout the world. Named America’s irreplaceable Dance Treasure in 2000. Dunham remains a name heard regularly in dance schools across the world (“Katherine Dunham Biography” 4). She is known for always trying to make a difference and in the process she has become of the world’s greatest humanitarians (Osumare 5). Katherine Dunham’s work in African American rights in the dance world and her creation of new styles of dance makes her an important figure in American dance History.

Bella Lewitzky, in her time, was considered a world-renowned modern dance instructor. Her astounding technique, to engage the core, is still used world wide today. Born in the utopian socialist community of Llano del Rio in the Mojave Desert, her family settled in San Bernardino when she was a child. Dance was of a great interest to Lewitzky; she grew to love the art of dance and attended classes taught by Lester Horton during the 1930’s. Soon after beginning dance with Lester, Bella “established herself as a highly charismatic performer with the Horton Dance Group…”

Jazz dance and cheerleading pioneers brought world-renowned appreciation to what they are today, a performing art and a sport. According to our first handout from class, jazz dance left the streets in the 1930s and 1940s and began making its way into studios to be looked on as a profession and performing art (Handout 1, page 14), but this historical transition wasn’t done as easily as it sounds. The book Jump Into Jazz discusses the history of jazz dance and how it was moved from street corners and “comedy acts” into studios and classrooms. World War II slowed the attendance of social dancing, which led to ballrooms and dance halls closing their doors.

On October twentieth, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. at Harris Center in Folsom Lake College, a dance performance called “Twyla Tharp Dance” was exhibited by The Department of Dance. The dance contained three shorter works with two intermissions. Each of the pieces were completely different from each other because each piece had its own unique style so there was not a particular classification. In any case, there was one particular piece called “Country Dances” choreographed by Twyla Tharp was a fascinating piece in a way that it was there for amusement, as well as bringing back the old dancing style to the audiences to remind them how great the old days were. Each dancer of the piece truly understood their own character and danced to their own heart desires.

Sally Banes is an American writer and dance historian and critic. She is also a professor of theater history and dance studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Banes has written multiple books and contributed to many documentaries and films. The book Moving History / Dancing Cultures, which Banes contributed to, includes the article “Choreographic Methods of the Judson Dance Theater”. This book was published in 2001.

Growing up in the Big Apple can be rough at times; especially for 17 year old Leila Ashford. Leila’s mom died when she was 10. She now lives in a tiny apartment with her father. Her father works in a big business and barely has time for Leila. When her mom was still alive, Leila was enrolled in a dance class; she was momma’s little ballerina. Ballet was Leila’s biggest dream. After her mom died, her dad got really upset and quit his job. Ever since, there hasn’t been any extra money for Leila to reapply, but she didn’t let that stop her. Everyday after school, Leila would go out onto the patio and dance until sunset. She was determined to be a professional dancer some day.

A wealth of traditions in dance has come before me, and will most certainly come after my time as a dancer is done. My growth as a dancer has been and is influenced by many movements, and the ones that I feel influence my journey the most are the blending of culturally or historically significant forms of dance with modern dance, and the resurgence of expressionism. Dance has been evolving for thousands of years, spanning many different cultures in different geographical locations. Many regions have rich histories of dance, like samba in Brazil, waltz in Austria, ballet in Russia, and kabuki in Japan. When modern dance first revolutionized the dance world in the 1800s, it starkly contrasted many forms of dance.

What qualities are looked for in a professional dancer? Perhaps some people look for a dancer who is simply talented. Talent is an important quality in a dancer because if a dancer is unable to set themselves apart based on their talent, it is impossible for them to become discovered in the industry. Some people think a dancer has to also be smart and able to apply corrections and memorize choreography efficiently. Without this, the talent of a dancer is wasted. In order to be a competitor, a dancer must be close to perfect, which comes with applying corrections given to them by a judge. Another quality looked for could be the dancer’s professionalism, or how well the dancer works with other dancers. As a dancer, you work with many different dancers and choreographers. A dancer needs to be able to be professional and friendly while working with others. If a dancer is unable to work with other dancers, the group dances will fail, and if a dancer is unable to work with a choreographer they can not efficiently learn the choreography. As Dance Magazine’s nominee for Dancer of the Year, Maddie Ziegler exhibits the following praiseworthy traits: success, personality, and versatility.