Zumba

Three laps around the gym, minute long planks, crunches, sit-ups, and pushups in a matter of thirty minutes. As a dancer, experiencing and realizing the strength that needs to be present in order for an athlete to grow is vital. We go through long hours of choreography sessions, pain and strain on our bodies, and vigorous training. Many people will disagree on the status of if dance is a sport or not. Both Mary- Elizabeth Esquibel, in her article “Why Dance Will Always Be a Sport” and the infographic entitled “Is Dance a Sport?” attack this controversial dilemma. Even though these arguments use different formats, they use rhetoric similarly.

I had just moved to Washington state and I auditioned for the local dance studio’s competition team for fun. I had no idea how talented they were. And I was just an untrained recreational dancer…Not surprisingly, I didn’t earn a coveted spot on the team it the first time I auditioned. That didn’t stop me from training seriously and auditioning for the team each year until I made it. And here I stand, now starting on my sixth year on the team and as one of the last people from my original team who decided not to quit when they started high school. Dance isn’t just twirling around in pretty pink tutus. What the general population doesn’t picture when they think of dance is the tremendous amount of strenuous work and the blood and sweat and tears that goes into every performance and competition. Certain dancers can’t handle it and quit when they realize they don’t have the passion. My passion keeps me living and breathing and most importantly, dancing, when times get

This was particularly exciting because the music was written and sung by Beyonce, a majority favorite. However, the costumes lacked coordination and seemed put together very last minute. Although, the purple and red vests did match the lighting which added a unique touch. The dance moves were fun and upbeat which allowed for the audience to enjoy themselves and experience the joy the dancers expressed. The dance truly attempted and succeeded at displaying the true spirit of Beyonce. Also, the dance moves seemed to have been carefully planned out to their fullest potential. The originality of the dance was exceptional which was one of the many components that cultivated its excellent

Marie and I had just left her house and were walking to the tryouts. It was a really quick walk because she lives only 2 houses away from the studio. This was back in August 2017, a few days after dance camp ended for the summer. We hurried down the stairs to go inside and kept talking about how nervous and excited we were the whole way down. Once we got inside of Bleker’s, we started talking to the other girls. After just a few minutes we were all taken into the dance room and together we all learned a hip hop, jazz, and tap routine. We only had about 30 minutes to learn all of the routines so we were all feeling a little rushed. Before we knew it, the dance teachers put us into groups of 3-5 girls. These groups were the people we would perform our dance routines with. My group was Meghan S, Grace, and I.

I was the only one who was fearful for what was about to happen because the humiliation of being unprepared to perform in front of the whole school left me with a sense of angst. Color guard was just called up to perform and as the music started, cheers were ringing through the gym. Everyone seemed excited for the performance, yet I remember everything going in slow motion: students yelling, teachers clapping, and yet my girls looked clueless. This was the moment I was dreading since before the school year started.

I was up walking around everywhere and many people kept coming up to me asking for pictures so that lasted around another two hours. So it was time, I had to prepare myself mentally because there was more people than expected. I had the girls in a straight line and when the music began they danced their way on to the stage. Soon as the song began to my part I danced on to the stage with the other girls. Is was going pretty smoothly but the Dj we had messed up the parts for the music so I had to guide the girls with me to make sure everything goes as planned. The dance took around 5-8 minutes it was really short but we kind of expanded the time. The guest clapped and began to continue to party, around three hours later we had the Father-daughter dance, it was really emotional for me because he was really proud of me because I was becoming a young woman and how he would never forget the first time he held me in his arms. I was just really happy to see him on my special day. Then I danced with my mom who also cried and my godmother and my aunts and uncles, there was just a lot of dancing with my family

Dancing is a recreational activity that has been enjoyed by millions of people for centuries. There have been countless styles of dance and thousands of memorized steps that have been performed in front of people or even just simply enjoyed alone without and audience. When a handful those thousands of steps come together, it creates a routine. Even though there are countless dancers that are breathtaking when they perform the routine in front of and audience, most dancers cannot be proficient without someone to assemble those countless steps together to create something awe inspiring, beautiful, and entertaining to watch. Dance is a world of constant change due to the want of awe, the need to produce something unique, and the necessity to catch the audience’s attention. Although many people believe some dance styles have not changed for centuries, innovative choreographers flip dance styles upside down with their unique approaches.

For our cultural event we decided to take pride in our Latin roots and hosted a dancing workshop, a Salsa Night. On this night we were accompanied by some of the ladies of Lambda Theta Phi and Lambda Sigma Gamma, as well as some friends. The plan for this workshop was to have a dance instructor teach all of us how to dance Salsa, as well as some other Latin dance styles. We reached out to the brothers and asked for help, thanks to that we were able to get an Alumni Brother name Netzahualcoyotl Romero to teach our workshop. Netza took us step by step on the basics of Salsa dancing, and little by little we were able to learn that…. we are terrible dancers, despite our two left feet we did not give up and kept on trying. Thanks to the encouragement

In his new town of Bomont, rock music and dancing is outlawed. When Ren McCormack attends school he was quick to learn that there is no prom due to the no dancing rule. Ren McCormack is very good with his dancing and shows in a few scenes that he has previously done gymnastics. However, Kevin Bacon did not like the fact that a dancing double was needed but it made for some great scenes. There are a variety of dances within the movie that can range from spinning on pipes in a very gymnastic setting within a warehouse to a very formal dance. It is easy to see that the actors were in rehearsal for many many hours per dance. Overall there were nine songs that were played. It was sure to show that practice pays off when every beat spot

That was until the “strange” music started and the dancers came out moving the portable flats to create imageries. It was really distracting having some of the dancers, usually a male and a female, narrate the story while others danced on stage the same time. I was so captivated and drawn into the dialogue being shared that I forgot at the initial part of the performance that I came to watch a dance. I had to adjust my eyes to see the whole stage so I don’t miss a

The beginning of class was a bit challenging because it has been so long since I have actually practiced dance and stretched. The workout and warm up for the first two weeks kept my body in great shape capable of feeling relaxed and muscles moving. The warm up made the dances a bit easier to actually keep up, but still was a challenge. The way the stretches are handled are great because it is a new routine my body has not gone through. It is quiet the challenge because my left leg is stronger than my right, but I push through to have the equal exposure.

Everyday, I go into the studio and hear a generous hello from a staff member. If the vibrant dance bags, and leather jet black couches do not make you feel at home, then the dancers will. Mallory Flores is an intern and dancer of 15 years at Encore Studio, and thinks Encore’s sense of community is what makes everyone feel at home whenever they step onto the dance floor. Not only does the sense of community keep the dancers going, but it keeps the business running, as Karen Flores stated she loves how “the people she sees come in and out of the studio have a constant positive energy radiating off of them”. Yet, being at the studio for up to fourteen hours a week for some dancers does not keep them from coming in and enjoying the curriculum taught in class. Not only does it drive the dancers to come to class, but it keeps the teachers motivated to continue to put out their best work too. Angelina Gallo thinks that “The dancers at Encore are so passionate, they are kind, they are genuinely good people… I think a lot of this stems from the dance training and the people that they are surrounded by on a daily basis. The students are my family.” which shows why everyone feels the constant state of security within the

For these past two years in high school, I have been taking Cleo Mack’s dance program that is provided for us at MCVTS. Starting the program freshman year I did not know what to expect at all but I am glad my mom pushed me to come to this school. I have been dancing since I was three at a competition studio who is very strict about almost everything especially performance quality, but as I have learned from Ms. Mack it’s good to tone down the face and make your dancing more authentic and real.

All though I was scared because I wasn't stretched I was super happy and excited, because I didn't know that my favorite choreographer was teaching the addition. I learn the dance in pain I thought to myself, that the dance my learning was too much of a difficulty for me. Once all of the 15 intimidating groups of talent, go to addition. I was next in

Within the past two years, dance has become a more prevalent part of my life. Dance has provided me with a source of diversion and a creative outlet from the monotony of classes. A research colleague invited me to attend a UF Volaticus Aerial Dance Club meeting. Aerial dance is a form of modern dance that incorporates the use of hanging silk ribbons to fully utilize all physical space. I was hesitant to attend at first because I have little formal training in dance, but I became hooked and was a regular attendant. Aerial dance not only pushed me physically, but it also taught me to control my body more gracefully and fluently. Last year, I performed Bhangra, a style of dance from the Punjabi region of India/Pakistan, for the Asian American