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Student Spotlight: Jaime Sierra

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This next student spotlight is a bit unusual in that it will have two parts…you see, the featured dancer has a twin who also dances. Tune in for his post tomorrow! In the meantime, here’s Jamie Sierra:

Jaime Sierra
Jaime Sierra

Well, when I was little, as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved dancing. I would dance to any song that I heard. But in later years I started playing sports and sort of just forgot dancing. But I realized that I was missing something. Although I love sports, dancing was my passion. So I started dancing in 8th grade. I learned to break dance with some friends. Even though it was on and off I still danced. And later on I started taking dance class from Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance. I changed my whole style of dancing. I went from only breaking to a variety of dance styles.

2. What do you find best about dance class?

What I really love about dance classes are that you can learn so much from each class. Making yourself more diverse and learning different techniques, just expanding your knowledge in dancing itself.

3. What is the hardest part of dance for you ?

The hardest part about dancing for me, would probably be all the stretching and flexibility. I’m not as flexible as my twin. But I’m trying my best to get there.

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?

My only advice to dancers out there is remember the first time you danced; that it was fun; remember how you felt when you first danced. Even though it’s hard work and sometimes stressful, you can inspire those in the future when you’re a great dancer. So remember to have fun with it!

5. How has dance change your life?

Dancing has changed my life in many ways. It helps me through to all my hard times; even though I’m only 17 there’s been a lot of stress. It made me a better person and has helped me make friends. I’ve had friends before but I now have more friends that I can connect with. Dancing changed a whole lot of stuff in my life. In every single part of me, dancing changed me from my limbs to my heart itself. I wouldn’t be the person I am now without it.

Bio: I am Jaime Sierra and I am 17 years of age. I love to play sports, instruments but most of all dancing. Dancing is my passion and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I dance at Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance

. And my dream is to be a successful dancer someday.

Young Adult Dance Book: Pointe Of No Return

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pointe of no return

by Amanda Brice

“Glissade, pique arabesque, and now pull into retire en face!”

And thus begins the second chapter of my second book, Pointe of No Return, which features a kidnapping (and search for the missing girl) during Nutcracker rehearsals at a performing arts boarding school. My heroine, freshman ballet student Dani Spevak, is assigned to understudy her rival Hadley Taylor as the Sugar Plum Fairy, when Hadley goes missing. And in typical Dani fashion, he sets out to find her.

I’ve never solved mysteries, but Dani and I have several things in common. First of all, we love to dance. Okay, that’s a given. You probably share that with us as well, if you’re reading Catherine Tully’s wonderful 4dancers blog.

We both consider Nut season to be “the most wonderful time of the year” (even though my 3-year-old told me yesterday she can’t go see Nutcracker because she’s allergic to nuts). And we’ve both ended up getting to perform in a ballet even when we thought we’d been relegated to understudy status.

In my case, I was understudying a performance of Gaite Parisienne and one of the older girls in the company got hospitalized with bulimia. It was a weird feeling for me. A real paradox. On the one hand, I was super excited to get to perform, but that meant that Rachel was very, very sick. And you can’t exactly celebrate that, you know?

Same thing with Dani. Hadley’s missing, and it’s actually not in her best interest to find her – this way she gets to dance – but how can you really celebrate that (even if Hadley is the meanest girl in school)? You can’t.

So I took that awkward feeling and built a story around it. Only I changed the basic facts as to why my heroine got to dance. Because while a story about eating disorders might be relevant from a social commentary standpoint (and I do weave them in as a subplot), it probably wouldn’t make for a very good plot. (Or at least not the type of plot I write.) [Read more…]

Collaboration: Making Music For Dance

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4Dancers.org readers can download free music by Cory Gabel. Click here.

By now readers know that I am very much a fan of talking about music for dance. To that end, today we have Cory Gabel with us to talk about how an original piece is created for dance from his point of view…the music side!

1. Can you tell readers how you got involved with making music for dance?

Around 2002, I was transitioning out of my alternative rock band Limestone Rome. I moved into instrumental music and writing scores for film. Around that time I caught a great Pilobolus performance where they integrated all kind of modern rock, alternative, techno, electronica – all the styles I like to work in. Seeing the power of that music with dance a light bulb kind of went off – why don’t I write original music for THAT?!

cory gabel
Cory Gabel

2. What is your music like?

It’s such a cliche to say that’s it’s hard to categorize, but it truly must be – iTunes seems to put every release I come out in a different category! As far as musical styles, I combine elements of modern orchestral, industrial rock, electronic dance music, usually aiming for a fairly large, theatrical or epic sound. I always like to contrast those thick sonic textures with very minimal, simple sounding melodies of solo strings, piano or vocals. When my music gets reviewed or commented on, I often hear comparisons to Trent Reznor, Philip Glass, Moby, Danny Elfman and others.

3. What is the process of making music for dance like?

It really varies depending on the project and the nature of the collaboration. For more theatrical pieces, I may actually get involved with the development of the story, working with the artistic director to sketch out the acts and pieces and determining what styles and tempos of music will work for each. For pieces that are more thematic, the choreographer usually has an idea of what they’re looking for, and may even already have some music they’re working with. We talk about what is and is not working with what they have, really aiming to uncover the emotional core of what they’re trying to convey.

I almost always work remotely – so it’s lots of correspondence via phone and email – I send music as it develops, they send me back videos from rehearsals. It actually works very well!

4. What special considerations are there when working on projects such as these?

It’s recognizing that for the music to work at its best, it needs to be completely married to the dance that will be happening with it. Film music is meant to be felt emotionally, but not necessarily heard. Pop and rock music are their own sole attraction. But music for dance works when you really can’t imagine one without the other. I think that’s why many of the people I’ve worked with want to continue our collaborations – it’s hard to go back to picking out CDs and other music that weren’t written to perfectly compliment their choreography once they’ve seen how cool that can be!

5. What are the greatest challenges?

It seems increasingly hard for ballet and dance companies to commit to completely original works, I’m sure much of which is financial. Additionally, the idea of creating all new music, choreography, costumes, lighting, can seem a bit ambitious for many companies (and their boards!). So – navigating through all the conversations to get to the point where everyone says “let’s do it!” – that’s actually the challenge. In my experience, however, I’ve yet to have a project where everyone involved didn’t feel it was both creatively and financially successful at the end.

music for dance6. What about the rewards?

I absolutely love tech and dress rehearsals. It’s at that point that I finally get to see how the music that I’ve written and produced has also been the foundation for dozens of other creative people – dancers, choreographers, musicians, designers- to work their craft. Plus, I’m a junkie for the buzz before any kind of live performance – the nerves, the glitches, the last minute changes – that’s very much part of the thrill!

7. What’s next for you?

I’m collaborating again with Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in Indianapolis, we’re going to re-stage and expand The Casket Girls (originally premiered in 2009) for Halloween 2013. I just completed Water Wars with Sonia Plumb Dance, and we’re also talking about a new production for 2013. I’m always having conversations with potential collaborators, which I can’t announce just yet, but I encourage dance companies of any size to reach out – I’d love to hear about your ideas for new works!

4Dancers.org readers can download free music by Cory Gabel. Click here.

The following clip is an excerpt-mix of nearly 20 original pieces written for dance by Cory Gabel.

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[soundcloud id=’39342032′ artwork=’false’]

Student Spotlight: Jorina Kardashi

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Please welcome dancer Jorina Kardashi from Princeton Dance and Theater Studio for today’s student spotlight….

ballet dancer
Jorina Kardashi

When I was younger, I always loved to dance all around the house.  I started out taking some dance classes at a local YMCA at four years old, but the lessons weren’t the challenging classes that my parents were hoping for.  Our neighbors had a daughter who did ballet, so they recommended the Princeton Dance and Theater Studio to my parents.  Taking their advice, my mom and dad decided to enroll me at PDT, and I have been dancing there ever since.

2.      What do you find you like best about dance class?

Between the two parts of ballet class, barre and center, I would have to say that center work is definitely more enjoyable.  Especially during more “dancy” combinations, I can let go of everything and just have fun.  The technique that I gain from barre carries through to the center and becomes my second nature, and not something that I need to focus on.  The euphoria that I have for dance mainly comes from the feeling that washes over me every time that I start a combination in center and find myself lost in the steps, enjoying every minute of class.

3.      What is the hardest part about dance for you?

One of the hardest things that I’ve had to do is to correct the occasional bad dance habit.  I’ve found that if I learn something slightly incorrectly, that habit is embedded in my muscles and becomes part of my muscle memory. Once the habit is pointed out, I have to force myself to do it correctly and to think about it every second.  I’ve realized that it’s extremely difficult to continue this process until the new memory is formed, but it is a vital skill to reach success.

4.      What advice would you give to other dancers?

I would advise other dancers to try to expose themselves to as many different styles of dance as possible.  When I have gone outside of my comfort zone, I’ve actually improved my dancing in my field of expertise, ballet.  Recently while working on a contemporary piece I learned how to loosen up my body a little more, something that has carried through to my every day ballet classes.  I completely understand that trying new styles is hard, but taking other classes has helped me fix many of my technical ballet corrections.

5.      How has dance changed your life?

Dance has impacted my life in a way nothing else ever has. It has given me an outlet where I can hone in on one activity without having to worry about anything that is going on in school or with my academic work.  It has given me a way to challenge myself and attempt to use my body in a way it isn’t normally used.  Finally, it has given me a way to express myself and an appreciation for different art forms.  Although it can be hard to fit dance into my schedule, it has become a defining characteristic for my personality and who I really am.

Opus 4, No. 2: Jungian “Personality Type” Analysis Applied To Music

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by Allan Greene

One of my all-time favorite ballets, and one of the great dance creations of the Twentieth Century, is Balanchine’s “Four Temperaments”.  When I was Company Pianist with the Dance Theater of Harlem we must have performed it fifty times.  I did maybe twenty performances as the piano soloist with orchestras in Paris, Houston and the Spoleto USA Festival.  I am steeped in this work.                                   

At the time I was performing it, however, I was completely unaware of the connection between the four medieval “temperaments” or “humors” (choleric, melancholy, sanguine, and phlegmatic) and the much more recent work of the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung.  In the early 1920’s Jung synthesized ideas dealing with the relationship between physiology and personality, many of which he had come across in readings about world civilizations, into what he called the Psychology of Type (his 1921 book was called Psychologische Typen).  He noted how the differentiation of four personality types was common to the classical Greece (through the physician Galen), the medieval Persian physician Avicenna and early modern Europe. 

At first Jung drew on these historical ideas to resolve the conflict he was having with his mentor, Freud.  The two had a celebrated professional break-up in 1912, and Jung spent some time trying to reconcile with himself why this had occurred.  Out of this he created the concepts of introvert and extrovert, which have morphed into touchstones of our modern psychology.  In Psychologische Typen he extended the number of personality types to eight.

The idea for Balanchine’s Four Temperaments was not Balanchine’s (nor was it Galen’s) but, according to program notes for the American Symphony Orchestra prepared by Adrian Corleonis, came from the composer Paul Hindemith.  Corleonis doesn’t show however where Hindemith came across the idea.  It’s always possible that he was familiar with Carl Nielsen’s Second Symphony (1901), nicknamed also “The Four Temperaments”.

The essential idea in all of this is that there are four kinds of personality: one tending toward sadness (melancholy), one tending toward hesitance (phlegmatic), one tending toward cheerfulness (sanguine) and one tending toward anger (choleric).  All human beings possess one of these four personality types, and, according to pre-Modern medical science, must be treated appropriately.

It is my belief that all pieces of music, too, are constituted of recognizable “personalities”, and the best performances of them understand and animate the interaction of these personalities. [Read more…]

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