Monday, April 24, 2006

Annoyed at missing Hip Hop Dance Festival

If there is one huge thing that most dancers lack, it's marketing sense. Less than 20 minutes from my house an international hip hop festival was planned and executed over this past weekend. Did I know about it? Nope. It was a huge, groundbreaking event, yet I didn't see anything on the TV news, in the newspapers, on posters or anywhere else. Needless to say, we didn't attend the event ... which we would have attended if we had known it existed.

Ok. Here it is. For those of you who don't know .... there is something called a press release. You send it to all media organizations, TV, radio, newpapers, etc. They, in turn, print the press release (or follow up by putting a reporter on the idea), then they print the information about your event for free. Sometimes, yes, you have to do follow up calls after sending a press release, but making sure enough news organization receive it is the first step. A groundbreaking event is sure to make the news ... somewhere.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Take the Lead Movie Review

I loved it, but there was little traditional dancing in the movie. It reminded me of Dangerous Minds with Michelle Pfeiffer. Skilled civilian goes into ghetto school, teaches kids skills, saves the day and everyone lives happily ever after. However, Take the Lead is based on a true story.

It is a truely inspiring movie and I loved every minute of it! I thought that Antonio Banderas was amazing and danced very well. He is, afterall, a passionate latin man! I surprisingly loved the dancing too! It was a movie "about" dancing and what dancing can do for a person. The mix of hip hop and ballroom was great!

I travel to New York City often and when watching this movie, I felt as if I was actually in the city. Very good for atmosphere.

If you hate hip hop, less fortunate people and/or any type of dancing that strays from traditional ballroom, you may not like this movie. However, if you have an open mind and love dance, you'll have a great time. Go and see this movie!

Happy Birthday Dance Girl!

Happy Birthday Dance Girl! You are the greatest!!!!

Saturday, April 15, 2006

New Season So You Think You Can Dance 2006


New Season So You Think You Can Dance 2006 starts on May 25th 8/7c! Thursday on FOX!!!!! Can't wait! New host: ....Cat Deeley, one of the leading television hosts in the UK, has been named to host the second season of the hit series. Deeley has won many awards for her work on "CD: UK Live," on which she has appeared for the last six years; her three years on "SMTV: Live"; and many shows for the MTV UK, BBC and ITV networks.....

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Ballroom Dance

Dancing With the Stars will return for another season. Now I know for sure.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

One Last Dance

Just watched One Last Dance. Loved the dancing. Much of the choreography was done by Alonzo King and included dancers from his Lines Ballet Company (Contemporary Ballet). Lovely dancing which is worth watching the movie for. My favorite, however, is that the movie included Rasta Thomas ... a great male dancer. My daughter and I have followed his career and were really thrilled to see him in this movie. If you get the chance, check out his web site. http://www.rastathomas.com/ On the negative side, the movie had way too much arguing for my taste. It was a little sad to watch because it was about older dancers at the ends of their careers. Will we buy it for the dance movie collection, absolutely. Simply for the small clips of great dancing.

.......One Last Dance - Description: Husband and wife Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi team up for the dramatic tale of redemption ONE LAST DANCE. Travis (Swayze), Chrissa (Niemi) and Max (George De La Pena) were three students of master choreographer Alex McGrath, but had a falling out many years ago over a particularly difficult piece that Alex created just for them. But upon Alex's death, the three are reunited and agree to attempt the dance piece once more to save his company, in the process reopening old emotional wounds that were never properly healed. Featuring acclaimed choreography and dance scenes, ONE LAST DANCE allows Swayze and professional dancer Niemi to showcase their skills in a film written from the experiences and struggles of performing artists.......

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

So You Think You Can Dance Season 2

The SYTYCD show is rumoured to be starting up around May 2006. Look out for it! It should have ballroom, hip hop, ballet and other dance types. There is a new host this year.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Take the Lead Ballroom Dance Hip Hop Movie

Here is the background story of Take the Lead:

Antonio Banderas stars in Take the Lead, a drama inspired by the true story of Pierre Dulaine, an inspirational Manhattan dance teacher and competitor who volunteers his time to teach ballroom dancing to a diverse group of New York inner-city high school students serving detention.

The students are initially skeptical of Dulaine, especially when they learn what he's there to teach them, but his unwavering commitment and dedication slowly inspire them to embrace his program. In fact, they even take it one step further and combine Dulaine's classical dance with their unique hip-hop style and music to create a high-energy, unique fusion. As Dulaine becomes a mentor for his students, many of whom haven't had much to strive towards in their lives, he inpires them to hone their craft for a prestigious city ballroom competition, and in return they share with each other valuable lessons about pride, respect and honor.

Comments from TheDanceMom: I will review this movie later. It hasn't been released yet, but I am excited to see it. I do like Antonio Banderas very much, but I am always disappointed when they cast stars in dance rolls, unless, of course, the star has years of dance training. For instance, in the movie Center Stage, Maureen, was not really a trained dancer. Why? Who knows what the thinking was! The cast was mostly trained dancers with years of performance experience, yet she was cast for star power? Doesn't make sense. She did a nice job, but dancers should be cast to play dancers in dance movies! Although the general public won't know if the star is performing the moves correctly, there are thousands of trained dancers who will know.