Reflective Essay On Dance

Cole used many ethnic and folk styles of dance (like East Indian, flamenco, and the lindy) as a source for movements. His style was derived from dance movements performed for centuries by common people, but theatricalised for use on the stage. This is why, when pressed for a definition of his movement, Cole termed it "urban folk dance."

Ballet “Cry” simply showed to us real life of all African women. Every single American people know what kind of life they went through. Therefore it touched their heard. Alvin Ailey’s “Cry” presented wonderfully combined movements, technique and emotion. Ms. Donna Wood uses tragic face, a mask of sorrow. It is a face born to cry, but when she smiles it is with an innocent radiance, joyfulness that simple and lovely. She never tries consciously to please an audience. He was not only concentrating in movements and physical performance, but also using flowing white gown

She breaks all the images of American standard of beauty such as being physically pretty. She

One of the primary ways in which Tap, swing and jazz dance deviate completely from ballet are how the styles organically developed into social dances. Ballet started as a social court dance however at it’s inception was segregated from it’s roots as something purely performative. Jazz dance forms on the other hand such as tap dance kept many of the swing vernaculars which created them in their performance. That is to say that when watching a tap dancer perform on stage (with a traditional deportment) and then watching a swing dancer in a dance hall, one can see the similarities in movement qualities and even certain steps (such as the “shim sham” or “Attack Annies”). From this it can be argued that Tap dancers (as well as all vernacular jazz dancers of the day) question what dance is by keeping its social roots alive even after it had transitioned onto the stage. The fact that tap dance was a part of the vernacular dance of the day (and still had a casual culture about it) allowed that the Nicholas Brothers to learn to dance without ever taking a class (Frank 67). Where as a ballet dancer may spend long hours training at the bar and in class Fayard Nicholas learned to tap dance purely through watching

a) Many ask, “How can dance be a sport? You can't judge on time and the scoring is subjective!” Just like figure skaters, competitive dancers are judged on many criteria: technique, posture, timing, line, hold, poise, togetherness, expression, presentation, power, and foot or leg action. Dancers have a lot on their minds while performing. They are constantly asking themselves, am I extending correctly? Is my technique right? Is my head facing the right direction?

The dance that I will be focusing on is entitled: thinking sensing standing feeling object of attention. The dance, to me, symbolizes the socialization of persons in Western civilization concerning gender roles. In the beginning there are gestures that are separated from emotion and full-embodiment, but as the dance progresses the gestures become more meaningful and recognizable. The lighting starts out very specific and narrow, then the light encompasses the entire stage, and eventually the dancers are silhouetted as they return to a familiar movement motif in the end. The music is mainly instrumental with occasional soft female vocals, and the lyrics suggest emotion, which is interesting because the dancers do not convey emotion until

Classical Ballet is the epitome of class and sophistication, it is known for its meticulous techniques

Dance critic Théophile Gautier states, “Nothing resembles a dream more than a ballet...” (Anderson 77). The effortless technique of the ballerina paints most ballets as exactly this. Consequently, there is more to a ballet than technique and dancing. Different types of ballets and their structural components separate one ballet from the next. It is important to understand the difference between the two main types of ballets: Romantic Ballet and Classical Ballet. Romantic ballet in the 19th century differs from Classical ballet in the 20th century structurally, technically, and socially. The two dance forms also vary in costumes and narrative. However, with all of those differences, they both use ballet technique for a specific purpose.

Just when social dancing was at its height, World War 2 put a stop to its popularity. Lack of attendance, plus the intricate rhythmic patterns of modern jazz music, which were too complex for social dancing, led to the closing of dance halls and ballrooms. With the demise of social dance, the growth of jazz dance as a professional dance form began. During the 1940’s, jazz dance was influenced by ballet and modern dance. By blending the classical technique of ballet with the natural bodily expression of modern dance, jazz developed a sophisticated artistic quality. Unlike early jazz dance, which was performed by talented entertainers without formal training, modern jazz dance was performed by professionals trained in ballet and modern dance.

I believe I have applied the idea of periodization, or “the gradual buildup of intensity in physical training through skillful timing and scheduling of workouts” by coming to the studio at least forty-five minutes in advance to warm up and steadily prepare my muscles for a rigorous ballet class (85). I believe I pace myself relatively well by marking exercises when I am not performing them at the barre or in the center. Although I do mark combinations often, I employ these techniques more as a mental rehearsal rather than a physical rehearsal. I believe I could improve my marking abilities by using my arms more full out. One section of the chapter that I disagreed with was the section on tapering. Tapering is the slow reduction of “time or intensity of work”, commonly utilized before a big performance or event (85). While I agree with the concept of tapering, I disagree with the book’s response to learning a new technique and tapering old techniques. The book states that when learning a new technique, a dancer should taper some of their other classes due to the fact that different techniques demand new things from the body. While I understand the book’s reasoning, I believe that when adding a new technique, instead of tapering old styles of dance, a dancer should gradually add the new technique into their regime so they maintain the technicality of their old technique and progressively improve the new style of dance they are trying to

My style of dance is tap. Tap has been around for many year, mid 1800’s to be exact. Tap came has come from many fusion of backgrounds. It’s a form of dance that deal with making sounds and rhythms from a tap-dance shoes. Tap dance shoes are dance shoes that have a metal bottom. The metal bottom is called “the tap”. It’s the movement in the shoes, in your feet, that lets you express the different beats and rhythms that you wish to make. Tap has two different major forms, Rhythm Tap (jazz) & Broadway Tap.

The quote, “Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another,” has a lots of meaning to me. It shows that you need to focus more of what your heart is telling you while dancing, oppose to focusing more on the choreography. Some dancers never learn this and end up giving up on dancing. Others, connect to it right off the bat. I was one of those people.

A community is a group of people that share a common or similar characteristic with each other. Some communities can also consist of people living together or practice worship. My essay will include the communities that I am part of which are my dance, school and church communities.

A series of set of movements to music, either alone or with a partner. That is the definition of dancing. Dancing is a way to express one's feeling and to get active.

I attended DancePlus show On Friday December 2, 2011 at 7:30pm at night. It was performed in the Victoria K. Mastrobounno Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. There were four different parts that I saw that day. All of the dances were very interesting and very different from each other. All of the dances had its own unique key factor that separated it from each other. I enjoyed the entire show very well. Out of all the dances I had strong reaction to “Lapa’s Lament”. I believe this specific dance stood out to me compared to the other dances from the show. This show had many different factors that stood out from other shows in the entire performance.