Ballroom Dancing

Ballroom Dancing is the newest dance form on my daughter's list. She took Argentine Tango a while back, but now has been taking lessons daily since August. Loves it! She has learned the foxtrot, waltz, viennese waltz (however it's spelled) and the Tango. She is also learning the latin dances. It's interesting to note that after fifteen years or so of ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical and modern that ballroom dancing uses entirely different dance muscles. Isn't that strange?! Anyway, the technique is entirely different and she just loves it! She enters her first competition in January. Can't wait to learn all about this new endeavor! We won't return to NYC for a couple of months. Taking a break to prepare for ballroom competition.

Work, Stretch and Dance CAREFULLY!

Dancers: The colder months are upon us. Many of the dance injuries that occur happen in January, February and March .... when the cold is bitter and dance studios keep the studios at subzero temperatures. Be sure to warm up your bodies properly.

Try taking a hot bath before class, bring extra socks so you can change wet socks and keep your feet warm, bring some cushy slippers to class so you can warm your feet during off times!

Eat! If your energy is down and your body is cold, you will be more prone to injury. So, bring little snacks and nibble between classes. Also, drink lots of water.

You can also heat up one of those corn filled heating pads that you microwave and stick it in your dance bag to heat your feet up on or to warm your shoes.

Broadway Dance Center Needs Your Help! Read Please!

After reading this blog, please link it to your blog or sent it via e-mail to people who may be interested in this topic. Speading the word is the best help I can provide to this cause. Thanks. Here is an article from Backstage and other links.

Dancers Rally for NYC Center
December 01, 2005

Dancers rallied Thursday morning in support of the Broadway Dance Center, which is in the midst of a legal battle to retain its space on West 57th Street in Manhattan.

About 150 people gathered at the facility, said Bruce Cohen, press representative for the center, on Thursday afternoon.

For two decades the center has served the rehearsal, training, and conditioning needs of thousands of dancers, according to Cohen.

"More [than] 40,000 members, including Rockettes and Broadway chorus line dancers, consider the Broadway Dance Center their professional home and the place to stay in shape," said a press release announcing the rally.

The New York Times reported on Nov. 23 that the dance center might lose its home, a victim of Manhattan's "heated real estate market," which "is squeezing arts groups in the city."

The center is involved in a legal battle with its landlord, the Extell Development Company, to keep its space at 221 West 57th St.

Extell purchased the building and an adjacent site in June for a reported $67.5 million, according to the Times story, which added that the Broadway Dance Center's lease expires in 2012. Allison Ellner, chief executive officer and director of the center, told the Times that Extell had offered her $1 million to leave the space but that she had declined and that she had estimated the relocation cost at $3.4 million.

Franklyn Snitow, an attorney for Extell, told the Times that the company was prepared to operate the building "while there are existing valid leases for the premises." He would not comment on negotiations for relocating the dance center, except to say, "We were not willing to accept the dollar figure they presented."

-- Roger Armbrust

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/stage/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001613074

Also visit the new BDC Support site: http://www.supportbdc.org/

Great Suggestion from Julia

Fellow Blogger Julia Wrote .........
She can still do her breathing excercizes and do gentle humming excercizes and other voice related practise that doesn't make a lot of noise. Perhaps her teacher can show her some for the next time, a soundless workout for the voice! ........

Thanks! What a great suggestion! We'll do that at her next session.

The Holiday Struggle

We went visiting this Thanksgiving. It was tough for my daughter to keep in shape with all the food and lack of dance classes. She went to the exercise room daily and rode the stationary bike, elipical rider, roman chair and lifed weights. She recently got the New York City Ballet Workout I and loves it! She remembered the exercises and did them in the apartment we were visiting. It all worked and she is in great shape, but, wow, it took a lot of dedication to keep going every day!

The singing practice just stopped for seven days. We were visiting out relatives in an apartment building and no noise was allowed. So practicing sing was just OUT!!!! We both became very aware of the struggles of people who don't live in neightborhood housing. Very difficult to be a singing or musical instrument artist if you live in an apartment building where you have to be quiet!

Nicest Dance Teachers on Earth

There are two sisters who run a dance school. They are both extremely talented and actaully the sweetest people on earth! No, really, they are incredibly sincere and would literally give you the shirts off their backs if you were in need. You don't meet many people like that and when you do, you are obligated, under the rules of the human race, to acknowledge that sincere, nonmalicious, kind and giving people actually exist. I didn't really believe it, at first, and then I watched them interact with people for a year. Unbelievably giving. Never two-faced or insincere. Never .... can you believe that? It's true.

We stopped by to see them yesterday to let them know about my daughter's latest adventures in dance. It was great to see them both and hear what their school and kids were up to. This was the school that my daughter attended in her last year of dance before turning 18. And, guess what ...... they just hired a voice teacher so they could add voice to their regular weekly dance classes ..... these ladies really know the business of dance!

Another dance pic

This is a pic from her jazz solo. Although you can't really see it clearly, I made both of these costumes and I'm very proud!

My daughter dancing

This is my daughter one year ago, doing a layout in her modern solo.

I'm really impressed with the voice teacher!

She had her second lesson in voice. The voice teacher records each class so she can take the tape home and repeat the lesson and practice for the next week. I don't stay for the class, but I did hear her practice today. Wow, what a great class!!!! The entire class is packed full of vocal excercises to build the voice. I do hear a lot of improvement, even in one week. The last 15 minutes is devoted to a audition song. They haven't chosen a song yet, but he has some really intelligent choices for next week. I like what I hear!!!

You know what this is about.

Yes, another dance school, another rant. I shouldn't even have to title the topics anymore because each paragraph seems to be the same thing. My complaining about, yet another, teacher or school. This time we tried out a new place. This school is a 'professional' ballet school located in a nearby city. It runs the dance program for a local university and has a VERY good reputation. With that said ..... we will never attend classes at this reputable school again! What a let down. Granted, it was a 7:30 pm class for ages 15 and up to adult. Not one student was stretched, not one student could extend past a 90 degrees (and 90 is a generous description). Every student fell out of turns.... all of them. The teacher did not know how to choreograph safe moves (no linking steps). I was in fear for my daughter's legs and ankles. Leaping .... well, lets say hopping .... didn't go well for them either. Techno music from the seventies ..... enough said.

Singing Lessons - Books for Vocals

The vocal coach gave my daughter some great tips. He said that when you audition for musical theater (which he has performed in on Broadway and off), you will have to sing your audition piece in the key that the musical is in and that plain old piano music isn't always in the key that you need it to be in. He recommended the series of books The Singer's Musical Theatre Anthology which comes in different singing styles such as Tenor, soprano, etc. We haven't purchased the specific book yet, but when we do, I'll write about it.

Rude, Rude Dance Teachers!

O.K. I'm going to rant, yet again, about dance teachers .... believe me, there are plenty of dance teachers I adore. It's just that those teachers run a class as it should be .... there's nothing to rant about, because the are simply exceptional people and teachers. But, after my story, I'm sure you'll agree...... My daughter had to hit a ballet class with real people. She's been doing David Howard video classes and just needed to take a class with a real teacher and real dancers. So, we went to the professional ballet school she attended last year. Well the place was shook up last year and the ballet mistress left and, well, new people have taken over. Still, exceptional instructors ...... except for one....... Get this, in the middle of ballet barre, the instructor who choreographs the Nutcracker for the weekend rehearsals comes in ..... with her three year old. We all know that three year olds are full of energy and run everywhere and get into everything we don't want them to get into. This three year old was no different.... full of energy. So, the ballet instructor, is giving this incredible sophisticated and packed with knowledge class and ..... the visiting ballet instructor .... gives her kid a TAMBORINE!!!!!!!!! A three year old with a tamborine in the middle of the classroom, during ballet barre..... (feeling my rant yet?). She made the stupid little comments that most horrible parents make when they know their kid is disturbing other people "now play quietly little, Johnny." and she also pulled him into the hallway, every once in a while so he could continue his tamborine playing in the hallway .... as if the teacher and dancers couldn't hear him play by the door. hmmmmm. Then she just left him...... all alone. And of course, being the typical three year old, he wandered back in with all the dancers and sat in the middle of the classroom for .... about ten minutes as she sat in the lobby (where I was sitting watching this horror) talking with the members of the board and who appeared to be her father. I could hear that the boy was in the classroom and that he was, indeed, becoming very skilled on the tamborine. After a while she finally went in and took the tambroine away..... well he cried.... so she gave it back to him and GRABBED A TAMBORINE HERSELF .... SO THAT SHE COULD JOIN HIM IN PLAYING!!!!!!!!!! (FEELING MY RANT YET???????) At this point, I got up and walked out into the hallway and stayed there. You may be saying "Why didn't you say something?" Well, the answer is simple. I have spent my daughter's entire life clearly saying something and she asked me to let her handle everything herself now. So I let her handle it. How rude some people can be. If you have kids, please don't be this rude.

Cover Up Fat Dancers

I think it's fine that fat girls want to dance recreationally. If you're going to dance and you have a choice of what to wear, please (and I'm pleading with you here), please don't wear two piece dance costumes and costumes with no back. I attended a competition yesterday and there was a good combination of dancers, thin, fat, short, tall. The thin girls had long sleeves and closed front and back dresses....the fat girls wore short, backless and two piece costumes. Now come on ladies! I don't want to see your four inches hanging over your pants and jiggling when you dance. Really....I don't. Save the skin dresses for those who can wear them.

First Private Voice Lesson Today

Just got back from her first private voice lesson. Excellent teachers. Husband and wife team who actually perform in theater ... often. Learned a lot. Can't wait until next week!

Kareoke Backing Response Question

We did look at the Kareoke Backing option. However, do you know if the backing instrumentals are instruments or techno music. If I were to purchase something like that, I'd want the instrumentals to be good enough to use on stage eventually, if needed. I know some performers who buy performance tracks of their song.

Thanks for your helpful comments!

Yes, musical theater is much different than regular dance! We were actually given the impression for many years that musical theater was a "lesser" form of dance that only loser dancers did. WRONG! Musical theater is absolutely technique driven with the addition of actually using the face and body to "act"! Then add the voice on top of that. It is, in my opinion, the most complete form of dance. Although, all forms of dance have a place. We finally saw musical theater done the right way once we started going to NYC and were just floored at the training necessary to pull it all together! Both of our impressions about musical theater (from what some unnamed dance teacher implied!) changed immediately. It is now my daughter's favorite type of dance.

Choir is a great idea, but not an option for us. However, we do have a great selection of CD's and piano sheet music at a library near us. Still, there can never be enough music to choose from.

Thanks for your helpful comments! Good luck!

Holding Back Dancers - Learn to sing!

Who would have imagined after all these years of tirelessly training in dance, that singing would hold back a dancer! Well more and more dancers are finding that to be the case. No singing ability, no job!

Does my daughter sing? Not a note! Now, however, we have hired a voice teacher, read the "Singing for Dummies" books, purchased mulitple "how to sing" dvd, vhs or whatever is available so she can catch up. Gee, this would be another instance where her "teacher", and I use the term lightly here, might have clued her in to needing to sing in the professional dance world. I am the type of parent that says "If you need it, we'll get it." However, if I am not a professional dancer and I was not involved in the performance profession, how am I supposed to know what training is needed or not needed. Oh yea, that's the part where I hire a "professional" to give my daughter and I "guidance". Nope, well it didn't happen here (except at the last school she attended the year before she turned 18 -- too late!).

However, singing is like ballet. You have to learn the foundation technique before moving onto the more advanced techniques. It is not simply something you "catch up on" as I said earlier. But once you're over 18 and you need a job, "catch up" is what you have do! So parents, if your kids are young. Get them voice lessons before it's too late! If you can't do voice, do band, play the piano ... anything to give them a foundation in music so that they can later take voice. Luckily, my daughter played the tenor saxophone in band and also had piano lessons and ear training. So she isn't entirely in the dark. The music background has helped a lot!

Expensive? Yes. We purchased sheet music, then purchased the cd to listen to the song, dvd if it came from a movie, background music to practice the song with the instramental. That would be "per song". Voice lessons are $25 for one half hour and $45 for an hour. New York City BDC lessons are $20 per hour, but it costs a lot for us to drive two hours, take the train and eat for the day. Then, as all dance parents know, you add that cost onto the cost of dance training and equipment and you have to mortgage your house!

It sure would have been nicer to know about this years earlier!

Lazy Dance Teachers

Let me start by saying that we have been very lucky in that the dance teachers that my daughter has taken with were very attentive and professional. However, there have been some, as the commenting blogger pointed out, that are lazy. Laziness seems to take shape in "Recreational" classes. In EVERY recreational class I've heard the teacher say "Well the students take this class because they want to get a little exercise and have fun doing an activity." I think that's fine, however, these teachers follow this statement up with less effort in the Rec classes. They don't correct technique and, from what I've witnessed, get downright sloven in class. Sloppy, sloppy work, appearance and attitudes.

I'm a bit angry about this subject! My daughter was in rec classes for years. When she was young I could not pay for competition classes or more than two classes a month. Most of the little kids took 4 or 5 classes. Ballet, tap, jazz, acro and lyrical. Naturally, those who took 5 classes gained lots of skill and became little "naturals". The teacher would say "See, there's a natural." Not understanding that little Suzie had already been in over 260 hours of class since the age of three! Of course Suzie's a natural! Those 4-5 hour a week kids were also streamlined into the competition classes which are always more intense with lots of focus on technique. I saw this opportunity slipping by because I could only afford two rec classes for her. It was frustrating!

Eventually, after about seven years of dance, I began to make more money and she began to take 5 plus hours of dance a week, sometimes reaching 10 plus hours. She also began to compete in all the major dance areas, but was far behind the others technically. To get back to my rant on Rec Classes .... if the lazy teachers took the attitude that they were being PAID to teach kids dance .... CORRECTLY!!!!! My daughter wouldn't have been sooooo far behind. She might have been a little behind because she wouldn't have been in as intense of a class, but at least she would have a basic GOOD foundation in technique.

Now, she has EXCELLENT technique..... all credit to her hard work and sucking the information out of the brains of dance teachers whether they liked it or not! Credit also to some very caring dance teachers who did corrective dance surgery on her technique! But wouldn't it have been nice if she was just taught correctly in the first place?

Follow-up on Stage Moms from a fellow blogger

A fellow blogger wrote this in my comments section:
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Drama Mom said...
I totally agree and would like to add that it has been my experience that most of the time dance instructors want to work with the most "naturally" talented students because it is much easier to teach someone that is natural. It is laziness. Like a teacher who only wants to work with the smartest children.... lazy....

Also, to me, a stage mom is someone that is doing it for themselves and not the child. Performing should be the desire of the child not the mom. If she is pushing her terrified child out on the stage or reprimanding her for not winning. That is my definition of a stage mom.
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We both are obviously like minded on this subject. It is really silly to me when I hear teachers talk about "natural" talent or people saying that Olympians are born. Well my daughter also does figure skating and gymnastics. Those kids are at the skating rink or at the gym DAILY ...... FOR HOURS! That is NOT natural talent. That talent is earned and learned. Where she skates many National and World Gold Medal winners also skate. They practice hard every day. It's true that genetics may help bring an olympian along, but even a "born" olymic champion won't become that champion without hard work.

For the kids who people see as not having natural talent, they most often have not been introduced to the dance or sport until they were older and simply won't have as much practice as those who are percieved to have natural talent. I've seen plenty of nontalented kids study for a few years and blow right by natural talents! So there!

Full Day in NYC

We did visit the LaDuca dance shoe store. Wow! We could have purchased every shoe in the place. Beautiful dance shoes. The softest leather! The MOST flexible shoe! Really top rate stuff. The store was located in the garment district and I couldn't have been happier walking by all those cloth stores! We had to buzz the door to get inside and the woman who helped us was incredibly professional. She laid velvet cloth on the floor so that the shoes wouldn't be damaged from the floor when my daughter tried them on. Clearly, the shoe is superior.