DrumnDance

  WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DANCE Here it is autumn again! A new season for your dance classes. Here are 6 ways to improve your dance as you get back into the studio, be it in person or online. These are corrections teachers give the most, or should be. They are basic things. Set realistic goals and fix them. Make your dance come alive not matter the level of dancer you are. These seven things will at least get you off on the right foot. USE YOUR EYES: Do not get stuck in the mirror. Utilize the mirror when you need to. The head is the heaviest part of the body, so if you direct your eyes your body position will be corrected. Utilize your eyes when using your arms. This helps relate to what happens when you dance. ENGAGE YOUR CORE: Having a strong core helps you move with more stability and faster. Keep it together. Remember the core in Oriental Dance is the solar plexus area of the body. Other dance forms it can be a little lower in the body. DO NOT CHEAT ON TURN ...

  BECOME MUSICAL AND GET RHYTHM This piece is written to help the average dancer at any level understand the use of rhythm and musicality in the dance. Today more than before most dancers learn choreography. But you have to be able to make it yours. You are not a puppet on a string. If you are lucky enough to be able to work with musicians or even work in a club doing long solo shows then you might be doing improvisation. Either way you need this information. RHYTHM : You have to listen to a piece over and over again before you can choreograph or improvise to it. Absorb every piece you want to dance to so you can translate it. Sit sown and let the music be your focus. Try to open a sense of awareness to the sound. Study, the different rhythms that are used and the instrumentation. Is it a keyboard, derbecki, tambourine , tar or tubl beledi giving you the rhythm? If you are unsure of the instrument etc try the following ideas. GET THE RHYTHM 1. Find a role model: Look for ...

  CONSISTENCY IN ADULT LEARNING Part 2 Consistency is key for building knowledge and improvement in any activity. Encouraging your adult students to be consistent across all aspects of their classes will set them on the path to success. Consistency In Effort Consistency in effort can also be very dependent on the emotions of the day, and life outside the studio heavily influences this. It can be great one week and feel less so the next. It can even swing between the two within a single class. So how do you encourage consistency in effort during class? Ballet is truly an ‘in the moment’ experience, and when the dancing stops, that moment has passed. Ask your students to approach each enchaînement with renewed effort every time, not allowing what has gone before to color their view. Of course it’s important to hold on to the corrections and instructions that you give them, but if something doesn’t work, it’s important they learn from it, and then let it go. This is one of the m...

FALL 2020

CONSISTENCY IN ADULT LEARNING PART 1 Consistency is key for building knowledge and improvement in any activity you undertake. All adult students, and we are all students of something, across all aspects of classes. This will set them apart and put them on a success path. In this article I am referring to dance or movement classes but can be used for anything you are interested in. ATTENDANCE : - Attendance is the most obvious way that consistency will make a difference in your work. Turning up every day is so important for learning and retaining knowledge. It also means that skills can be continued and be honed, which means you will enjoy your classes or practices so much more.. Being consistent means there is more opportunity for self expression and less scrambling to keep up. Now I am speaking of just dance technique as technique is the basis for dance quality. Having consistency means your technique is constantly being refined. It gives you the freedom to dance your heart out. ...

The Mirror Image

ELEMENTS OF DANCE / FUNDAMENTALS OF MOVEMENT Part 2 Here is Part 2 as promised. I hope these articles are of help to you. They are the basis of all great dancing. You need all of them to be a good dancer. Do not leave any out. Be the best you can be. While we are all on this lockdown called COVID-19 spend your time wisely. These are the building blocks of dance. 5. BALANCE: Balance is concerned with more than balancing on one leg. Your aim is to achieve and constantly maintain an inner balance of the whole body. It is tension of mutual support among all parts that bring the whole together in a new way. It is an inner relationship between all the points of your body which you hold your awareness. It is not something you do once in a while. It is constant. A sense of balance whether you are moving or standing. In the actual act of balancing, if you can find inner balance, you are nearly there. If you are aware internally of the need for the sensation o...