Monday, January 31, 2011

Update on the Recital!

Students are currently working on their recital pieces! They are working so hard!! We cannot wait until they are finished learning their choreography!

Remember, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!!

Tips for Beginner Jazz Dancers

Written by a Yahoo! Contributor.

Jazz is one of most popular dance styles of today. It's fun, energetic and consists of fancy footwork, big leaps and quick turns. So as a dancer with 15 years of experience, here are some tips that every beginning jazz dancer should know.

1) Take A Ballet Class First It is important that beginning jazz dancers have a good sense of balance and grace before starting. The best way to achieve these things, is by having a strong background in ballet. Before learning jazz, I took ballet lessons for several years. So once I took jazz, I already had some of the basic skills and techniques needed to excel in class. So that is why I would suggest enrolling in a ballet class before starting or even taking the two dance forms simultaneously.

2) Jazz Clothing Is Important As a beginner jazz dancer, it is important that you wear the right clothing. Form-fitting tank tops, t-shirts or leotards are typical jazz clothes. As for pants, I would recommend wearing flared jazz pants, as tight pants will only restrict ankle movement. When it comes to picking buying jazz shoes, consult with your dance teacher for preferences or recommendations. Most importantly don't wear baggy clothes. As a beginning jazz dancer, you may be feeling a little self conscious and feel more comfortable in loose clothing. However, your body lines need to be visible, which cannot be achieved with baggy clothes.

3) Maintain a healthy lifestyleHaving a healthy lifestyle is important part of being a successful jazz dancer. Eating right and not drinking or smoking, will give you more energy and help your overall health. Jazz dancing is a wonderful form of exercise that will make you feel good and look good.

4) Practice Makes Perfect Another important tip that beginning jazz dancers need to know, is that practice makes perfect. The more I practice the jazz steps I learned in class, the better I got. So practice at home and before you know it will notice improvement.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

7 Highly Effective Habits In Ballet Training

By Dianne M. Buxton

A key area of dancing for females is pointe work, and a key area for males is jumping. In early training, regardless of age, there are 7 highly effective habits that will contribute to excellence in both these areas. This analysis can apply to other areas of dance in the same way also, I'm choosing this one for the sake of discussion.

***First, education as to specific physical attributes and shortcomings. Every dancer would like to have long and stretchy Achilles tendons, and flexible ankles. These 2 advantages provide the biggest movement between the bottom of a demi-plie and the take-off point of a releve or jump. One of the dancers in my class at the National Ballet School of Canada had a very shallow demi-plie. Yet, she had very flexible ankles and a high arch, and this gave her the thrust to jump very high.

***Second, technical education . Regardless of physical advantages, understanding of the ideal movements and resulting positions can be obtained from an educated teacher, books, and the many DVD's available to all through internet stores. There is no restriction on our access to information.

***Third, a teacher who not only has decent credentials, but who has the required habit of demanding correctness in class. This is a variable, and inexperienced teachers do not realize how often they are going to repeat the same old correction over the years of training, to the same students.... in a million different imaginative ways, and with appreciation for your own uniqueness too.

***Fourth, knowing that there is cross-training that will help you compensate for your physical shortcomings. If you are less flexible than you would like to be, there is Pilates, massage, or Yoga. If you are flexible but weak in some areas, Pilates, and weight training will help.

***Fifth, knowing where more details count - if your habit is curiosity, that's a huge asset. If it's not, adopt it. Studying anatomy and kinesiology is a plus. (I know you already have homework or a job, or family obligations, but hey, if you are serious about dance, all this is just more fun, right?)

***Sixth, coordinating your knowledge of your physiology, and how you might be compensating detrimentally to get the deepest demi-plie and best take-off that you can, and instead compensate more with cross-training and less with bad habits. It's only a life-long process, don't get discouraged.

***Seven, a truly habitual appreciation of your own uniqueness, talents, intelligence, and determination. There will always be an invitation to doubt yourself, envy others' real or imagined superiority, and waste time thinking negative thoughts. Proper rest and good nutrition have a lot to do with #7. Body and brain fatigue, and nutritional deficiencies are directly related to mood. Please be curious and get the information you need. These 7 highly effective habits are just the tip of the icebergs, but they are a great guide to go with until you develop your own uniqueness in training priorities. About the Author: Dianne M. Buxton is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Canada. She continued dance training at The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and Toronto Dance Theatre. She taught at, and choreographed for The National Ballet School, York University, and George Brown College, in Canada, and taught at Harvard University in the U.S. http://www.theballetstore.com recommends The Ballet Bible - a concise package of textual and visual education for a dance student.

Source: www.isnare.com Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=163444&ca=Recreation

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Valentine's Day is just around the corner!!

Here at Avalon Dance we offer PERFECT Valentine's Day gift certificates!!
Classes we offer:
Belly Dancing
PIYO
Modern
ZUMBA
Hip-Hop
Ballroom
+ More!
Show your significant other a great time by taking one of our dance classes!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

10 Amazing Dance Facts

10. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest ballet class involved 989 participants in an event organized by Andrew Warth in Canal Walk Shopping Centre, Cape Town, South Africa, on August 24, 2008.

9. A prima ballerina can complete 32 fouette turns, while staying in the exact same spot on the floor. After performing the turns, the tip of her pointe shoe will be hot to the touch!

8. The seven movements of dance are: Bending, Gliding, Turning, Stretching, Jumping, Rising and Darting.

7. A Physiotherapist is a doctor who’s specialty is to treat dancer’s injuries.

6. All dancers have to take at least 2 to 3 years of ballet class or they must be at least 12 years of age before they may go en Pointe. This is because at a young age toe bones are still soft and the dancers could be badly injured.

5. Modern dance was developed in the 20th Century.

4. One tutu requires 60-90 hours of labor and over 100 yards of ruffle.

3. On May 24th, 1998, the greatest ever number of tap dancers gathered for a single routine at the Stuttgart City Square in Germany. Choreographed by Ray Lynch, the 6,952 dancers tapped away for 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

2. An hour of vigorous dancing (think quickstep, not waltz) can burn up to 500 to 700 calories depending on your height, weight and fitness level. And it's a lot more fun than trudging along on the treadmill.

1. A male dancer lifts about 1 1/2 tons of ballerinas, in performance only, during his career.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

New Year, New You, New Adult Class Schedule!

Tired of the same old routine on the treadmill, elliptical, and track? How about trying dance to burn off those extra calories?

We offer a great variety of Adult Dance Classes for a great start on your New Year's Resolution!

The schedule is as follows:
  • Mondays at 7:30pm- Belly Dancing
  • Tuesdays at 6:30pm- PIYO
  • Wednesdays at 6:30pm- Modern
  • Thursdays at 7:30pm- Zumba
  • Fridays at 6:30pm- Hip Hop

Below are a list of class descriptions:

  • Belly Dancing-a Middle Eastern dance in which the dancer makes sensuous movements of the hips and abdomen.
  • PIYO-the perfect blend of Pilates, Yoga, sports stretch, dance stretch, and athletics that will help you burn calories and build muscle!
  • Modern-a style of theatrical dancing that is not as restricted as classical ballet; movements are expressive of feelings.
  • Zumba-the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning producers, and contagious steps to form a "fitness-party" that is downright addictive.
  • Hip Hop-social or choreographed dance styles primarily danced to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Welcome Back Students!!

We would like to welcome all of our old and new students to this spring semester of dance!! We are super excited about this new semester and especially excited about the Spring Recital/ Performance.

We revealed the theme of this year's recital- A Night at the Oscars. It's going to be an AMAZING SHOW! We have already started preparing for it. All of the songs and costumes have been picked out. Come into the studio to see what your dancer's class song and costume is!

We are very happy to see so many new faces and we are looking forward to an amazing semester!

1st blog of 2011!!

Hello all :) and welcome to Avalon Dance's Blog!

Here we will post events, news, pictures, videos, classes, schedule changes and more!

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Try a dance class today, you will love it!