Youtube Best of the Best: Updates 21

Two Awesome Dancing Kids
This.

JuBa Films with Justen Beer - With A Piece Of Chalk
This one 3 minute piece just so happens to contain everything that is possibly amirable: good cinematography, great dance and choreography, a young boy who has absolutely mindblowing talent, and a heartwarming story that can reach out and touch anyone and everyone. This one's a tear-jerker.

JuBa Films - Be Individual
A wide variety of interpretations of the same genre of dance: all valid, all amazing. Great message too.

Surfing Waves with Menlowe Ballet
"Sleek muscled fish" describes them well.

Isiah Munoz - Pink Matter - Frank Ocean
Some extremely detailed and intricate work in there. There's meaning behind every move if you listen to the lyrics, and every move is incredibly musical, if you listen to the music. Incredible.

Dance Bag Essentials

You're a dancer. It means you lug around a huge bag with endless shoes, medical supplies, snacks/meals, water, changes of clothes, and all other supplies in between. I was once one of those people who carried literally everything. All the time. My current dance bag is a lot less ridiculous. Now I'm going to try and narrow it down even further to what is absolutely necessary to your dance bag:

1. essentials of going out - yeah, it's not new, but don't forget your keys, phone, wallet, ID, credit cards, etc that you always have with you. I just stuff my purse into my bag.
2. pinky ball or tennis ball - these cute little balls are not only small and portable, but they are, as my teacher says, "your own personal massage therapist for 99 cents." You can't carry a foam roller with you everywhere (I wish), but you can get almost any muscle group to relax with a pinky ball. Use it on the soles of your feet, to your back, glutes, and legs.
3. snack - something that is literally always accessible in your bag. I always have almonds with me, and sometimes I throw in an energy bar if I know I'm going to need more.
4. band aids, blister band aids, and medical paper tape - there's almost no blister or cut you can't cover with just these three items.
5. nail clipper - hangnail or loose flap of skin? Blistered skin hanging loose (gross)? Cut it off and bandage that sucker.
6. small hair kit - hair net, bobby pins, extra hair ties, small can of hairspray if you need it. Find a neat little box or small makeup purse that you can keep it all in so that it won't ever have to leave your dance bag. Boys....I don't think this one applies.
7. water bottle - you might be able to fill it at the studio (what studio doesn't have a water fountain?) if you want to save on weight.
8. advil - sometimes you can't put up with the pain anymore, but you can't just stop either.
9. deodorant - let's face the music, people.
10. jacket and long pants/sweats - unless it's summer and there's no AC in your studio, you need to stay warm at all times.
11. dance shoes and/or socks - kind of a duh! moment, but you won't believe how many times I forgot my ballet shoes when going to class last year.

 On performance night, add:

1. portable sewing kit - what happens if your shoe elastics pop off, or your fishnets rip?
2. safety pins - if you can find them, diaper pins work even better (they have locks so they won't pop open no matter what). Almost nothing you can't fix with a safety pin.
3. hair detangler (if you need to change, curl, or otherwise change hair) - I once had a dancer in my piece who needed to have frizzy, curly hair for a piece before mine and more controlled, pulled back hair for my own. Detangler saved my sanity.
4. hairspray - not only works to tame your flowing locks, but can also be used on the bottoms of your shoes to provide extra grip if the stage is slippery. Water or rosin works for gripping as well.
5. a pair of black shorts (and/or white) - depends on your costumes, but if it malfunctions and can't be saved, those shorts will be your friend.
6. **for girls: nude leotard and/or nude bra/sticky bra - these things will cover you under just about any costume.

Other essentials for me that may not be essential for you:

1. small towel - I sweat like no other. It's especially necessary for ballet (backless leos...)
2. pens - you just never know.
3. small jewelry pouch - I wear rings and earrings 24/7, plus necklaces sometimes. Gotta have somewhere special to put them, or else I lose them very easily...
4. theraband - great for stretching, warming up, and strengthening whenever I have a minute before or between classes.

I'm sure I missed some things. What are some essentials for you? Do you agree with mine?

dance things that make me happy.

Because sometimes, there's things I come across that just don't fit into a category. They're just dance-related, and they make me happy. This will probably be a collection of photos, songs that I deem scream "dance me," and other random things.

www.dancersamongus.com/photos
...is just beautiful and inspiring. A copy of their book would make a great gift for a dancer too.

This beautiful photo of Robert Battle's Takademe in rehearsal for Alvin Ailey
...takes my breath away.

Ludovico Einaudi - Solo
Beautiful song. If it had a little build to it, it would be a gorgeous dance piece. Maybe we can hand it to Hans Zimmer to remix?

This leotard from Dancewear Solutions
...and many others in their Ballet Leotards category. And this one. Oh, this one too. Heck, all of them.

This pose and this move from deviantART
Some things I'm testing out in my next piece? Probably.

Youtube Best of the Best: Updates 20

Oh my gosh, my 20th update of this series! So proud!

Adrian Causing and Leslie Hubilla - My Neck, My Back
This. Is. Fantastic. As described by one of my good friends who linked me this video, the booty shakin' is "tastefully done." ...Who knew that was possible?

Jabbawockeez Dance Tutorials: Phil #1
Not choreography, but Phil of the Jabbawockeez gives us "tutorials" on how to make your dancing better and how to stand out amongst the crowd.

Lindsey Stirling - Epic Violin Dance Performance and Spontaneous Me and Shadows
Miss Stirling looks like more of a violinist than a dancer, but you gotta give the girl props for dancing so well while playing violin. Oh, her music is fantastic too. The girl can move, and she looks like she's having the time of her life at the same time!

Margaret Fuhrer for DanceSpirit - Gap Spotlights Two Awesome Dancers
This is exciting stuff! Lil' Buck and SF Ballet Principal Yuan Yuan Tan (you've heard me gush enough about her) have been featured in Gap commercials and ads! It's an article link, but the video comes with the article.

Margaret Fuhrer for DanceSpirit - Heidl Klum Can Dance (thanks to Mia)
Also on the advertising side of things, Mia Michaels is choreographing model Heidi Klum for Jordache jeans. The commercial isn't out yet (does this news still count as Youtube?), but keep an eye out! Check out this photo from the shoot.

Farc Madalin - Drake ft. the Weeknd - Crew Love
There's something different about this guy. It's smooth and his choreography travels a lot, with a slight undercurrent of sex appeal. So glad I discovered this!

Auditions for Justin Bieber & Jon M. Chu?!

This. Is what I call a fantastic opportunity and true use of modern technology.

As you all pretty much know, commercial dancers generally choose a city to live in (NYC or LA for most) and audition around for jobs that may last anywhere from a few hours to a few years. If you don't live where the performance or shoot is taking place, and you don't have the money to fly there and stay in a hotel (who does?!), you won't be looking for that job. Until now.

Normally, I'm not a huge Bieber fan. But I am a Jon M. Chu fan, and in this case, I respect the work that they are doing together. For Bieber's Believe Tour, Jon & Justin are holding both LA and online Youtube auditions! They don't want to limit the dancers they hire to the LA area, they want the cream of the crop of the entire country - world even! And for a chance to work with Jon M. Chu and to book a gig as huge as Justin Bieber, what commercial dancer's dream isn't fulfilled here?

I found out about this opportunity through DanceSpirit, and was extremely excited until I realized that I was still in school and couldn't commit to the tour even in the slim, slim chance that I'd be cast. But, I thought, maybe some of you do have the availability to commit! I encourage all of you who have the time to go for it! It's a video audition - there's no stakes, no nervousness, you can cut and splice all you want to present yourself in the best light, and best of all, auditioning is completely free! So what are you waiting for?!