For dancers, dance teachers, and those who love dance. – Page 99 – A website for dancers, dance teachers and others interested in dance

Student Spotlight: Jamie Sanderson

February 24, 2013 by Rebecca H. Walker

For our Student Spotlight this week, we are pleased to introduce dancer Jamie Sanderson…

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved in dance?

I first became involved in dance at the age of 14. I was originally involved in amateur productions every year with my local theatre summer project; I then started to look into dance too. I watched a showcase performance by my previous performing arts school and got goose-bumps – I was amazed at what I was watching. I remember thinking to myself, “I want to do that, I want to dance!” – sparking my involvement.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class?
With dance I find that it is really personal. Every movement you do has its own personality: it’s like saying ‘there’s no two people in the world that are identical’ in any single way, because that is impossible. Dance is for you, dance is about you and dance is you. I think the moment you start to dance you find everything you do becomes more expressive and dynamic, and you open yourself up a lot more. It therefore seems that my life is easier now – in some aspects – because I dance.

3. What’s the hardest part about dance for you?
The hardest part of dance is money, however it is a part of dance itself. I think to be involved in dance you need to understand the reality, and if you don’t, you are making more trouble than you need. You need knowledge of the job sector, what is available, and you need to think wisely.

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?
I would say ‘never give up, never stop, just keep dancing’, because to be dancer, you must never stop being involved in dance, in any aspect.

5. How has dance changed your life?
I believe dancing has changed my life as it has allowed me to understand a lot about myself, and others. It has allowed me to express myself and communicate in ways I haven’t learned intuitively. Dance has become an ever-changing life style for me and will continue to be so for a very long time. There is always something new to learn as it is such a hands-on experience, something that I shall never stop striving to grasp.

Jamie is a third year student at Middlesex University studying Dance Studies. He is currently the co-ordinator for MDXdancers – a company enabling dancers to broaden their range of dance styles outside their study programme. Jamie is also part of the MDX Cheer Dance Squad, winning 1^st and 2^nd place respectively at the British Cheerleading Association Nationals in 2012.

Outside of university, Jamie dances with two companies: avoiDance and Kansaze Dance. With avoiDance he has performed two company works at various festivals, and has taught avoiDance company class for students at Middlesex University. Kansaze Dance has seen Jamie perform showcases, and most recently at Resolution! a platform at The Place in London.

Aside from dance experience Jamie has appeared as an extra in the 2009 British film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

Teaching Dance Improvisation

February 22, 2013 by 4dancers

by Janet Neidhardt

Teaching students how to improvise seems to be a bit of an oxymoron sometimes. How do you teach students to think in the moment and not plan their movements out but still make it look interesting? I try to teach improvisation tools much like I teach choreography tools. I assign short studies with specific guidelines and emphasize making purposeful choices. The tools we discuss should help them make educated, in the moment decisions that add to an improvisation.

I always have some students watch while others dance so that we can have discussion about what was aesthetically pleasing to us and discover the improvisation tools together. Some tools my students have come up with recently are: moments of contrast catch the eye for example different levels, dramatic changes in timing, people crossing each others’ pathways, and moments of unison can be strong after chaos.

When I first introduce improvisation I give my students two rules: [Read more…]

Going With The Flow: Improvisation & Collaboration At Brooklyn Ballet

February 21, 2013 by 4dancers

In Brooklyn Ballet’s 2013 performance season ballet and street dancers will collaborate and improvise, musicians will play the program’s music live, and hacker collective NYC Resistor will create a visual landscape using body-mapping technology and intricate code.

Artistic Director Lynn Parkerson takes us inside just one of the works in this year’s program.

This season you are doing an improvisational piece that highlights both street and ballet dancers. Can you talk a little bit about why you chose to put these two styles together and what it looks like?

I’ve been working with this mix of dance styles since 2004. I keep finding new ways for them to come together in choreographic terms. Our latest work-in-progress, Quilt, takes the mathematical concept of vectors, a concept shared with us by London-based choreographer Julia K. Gleich, as a road map and set of directives for the dancers to interpret.

The use of vectors as guides for moving is opening new ideas to both the ballet dancers and the street dancers. It’s also underlining the inherent differences in the way they each approach movement with their varied backgrounds. For example, if part of the instruction is to reach the opposite side of the stage in a short period of time, the ballet dancers dart there with purpose and clarity. The street dancers tend to take a more rambling strut. Their ideas about speed are just as different as their ideas about initiation.

What is the music like for this piece and how did you select it?

Gil Morgenstern, Reflections Series International, selected the music for Quilt. I’ve worked with Gil for a few years, and he always brings something interesting to the table—something that complements the work in the studio. For this piece, he is also comparing two styles by performing alternating partitas from Bach and Barkauskas, composers from different centuries.

How open are you to choosing music for pieces that you set on the company?

I’m open to anything!

What is your choreographic process like, and how much do you allow the dancers to have a say in the process?

It depends on the piece. We perform some repertory, both contemporary and from the classical canon, that are completely choreographed and set on the dancers. Other works have lots of room for individual choices and spontaneous interpretation. In this program we have works where both of these choreographic methods are represented. Tracing Back, our new digital collaboration, is a “set” piece. Quilt and Spiders, Cooks and Mood Swings, were both explored by the dancers in the studio during creation. Quilt in particular will still be an improvisational exploration in performance.

What is your view about how music relates to dance—and to choreography?

Music for me is often a catalyst or inspiration for a piece, however I like to keep the dance and music independent of each other as I’m creating the movement material. If it is a set piece I like to look at the score and get to know the music very, very well. I always remember my time at the Merce Cunningham studio where we were not allowed to use music. It is liberating, and you get to know movement material for its own sake. You have to ask yourself: is the movement interesting without music?

Performances are February 28, March 1, 2 & 3 and March 8, 9 & 10.

Purchase tickets or read more about this year’s performances.

DVD Review: La Fille Mal Gardee

February 20, 2013 by 4dancers

by Emily Kate Long

Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee is one of the best-loved works in the Royal Ballet’s classical repertoire. This black-and-white release, recorded in 1962 (just two years after the ballet’s premiere), features the original cast of principals: Nadia Nerina as Lise, David Blair as Colas, and Stanley Holden as Widow Simone, Lise’s mother.

Ashton’s construction balances the humorous narrative with surprising choreographic shapes and movement sequences. This ballet is a true work of art, and producer Margaret Dale’s arrangement of the ballet for the BBC studios ensures each aspect is given due attention. The large-scale dances are given appropriate perspective, and close-up shots allow the narrative to flow smoothly and the comedy to read clearly.

Act I begins tongue-in-cheek with a dance for four hens and a rooster, setting a tone of lightness and humor for the entire ballet. We meet Nerina as the impetuous Lise, teasing her mother and always up to something. She is in love with Colas, but Widow Simone has other plans—Lise is to be wed to Alain (Alexander Grant), the bumbling and subtly hilarious son of a wealthy landowner. This act is laced throughout with smart and lively choreography for the villagers, as well as the comic “Clog Dance” for Widow Simone and four of Lise’s friends—an echo of the chickens’ dance that opened the act. After making their way to the fields for both work and play, the entire cast is chased home by a spectacular thunderstorm.

Act II opens with Simone and Lise back indoors, drying off and settling down to domestic pursuits. Lise’s mischief continues, and eventually Simone leaves on an errand. By the time she returns, Colas has sneaked into the house and hidden in Lise’s room. Lise is sent upstairs to change into her wedding dress in preparation for the arrival of Alain, his father, and the village notary. Soon the lovers are discovered, much to the dismay of the future parents-in-law! After recovering from the shock, Widow Simone relents and blesses the marriage of Lise and Colas. Act II closes with a boisterous, circular party, and as in the first act, Alain gets the last laugh.

The pas de deux in this ballet are certainly worth mentioning as highlights—none are of the usual “opening-adage-solo-solo-coda” formula. The first two make use of ribbons, one brilliantly playful, the second a nod to traditional, formal pas de deux framed by an entire corps de ballet. The third is danced through a window, and the last, reminiscent of La Sylphide or Giselle, is seamlessly integrated into the general merry-making.

This production in utterly charming and plays out like a storybook, and it’s a treat to see the original principal cast. Dance lovers will enjoy watching this piece of history!

Student Spotlight: Kelsie Moreno

February 18, 2013 by Rebecca H. Walker

For today’s Student Spotlight we give a warm welcome to dancer Kelsie Moreno…

541446_10150664405691868_611825027_n — Dancer, Kelsie Moreno

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

My mom put me in gymnastics when I was 5. I did it for 2 years but because I wasn’t very flexible I didn’t really enjoy it after a while. I tried soccer at 8, but it wasn’t for me. My mom put me in ballet just before my 9^th birthday. I did ballet 1 hour a week for 6 months before I also added jazz. I started taking more classes after that and by the time I was 12 I was competing. Even though I had been competing since I was 12, I didn’t really get into dance or discover my passion for it until I was 16. I am so glad and very grateful that I was put into dance.

When I was 17, my old studio closed down and it left me without a place to dance. I went to another studio for a bit but it just wasn’t the right one for me and I started to question my commitment to dance. I found Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance after seeing them at a dance competition. Once I started taking classes at Nuevo, I rediscovered my passion for dance and why I wanted to be a dancer. Being here has given me the right tools to develop into a much better and well-rounded dancer.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class? [Read more…]

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