OPI - Culture of Color
Yes, you read it right. OPI, the nail polish maker. Made an ad with 4 dancers, each representing and wearing a different shade of OPI polish. In a dance battle with a horse. A horse. Yes, a horse.
Val Chmerkovskiy for Zendaya Coleman on DWTS
They added Contemporary to Dancing With The Stars! Interesting addition and pretty well done, but I don't think all the stars can keep up with this, and it might be dangerous for some.
Vinh Nguyen - Break Ya Neck
Clean, simple, but still brilliant concept, choreography, and filming.
Wrecking Orchestra - Amazing Tron Dance
I can't say the dancing is anything new or exciting, or even particularly good. But man, you've got to admire those special effects and how they use them. Fascinating.
Wayne McGregor and Mark Ronson - Royal Ballet LIVE - Carbon Life
Insider's perspective. Very cool!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Youtube Best of the Best: Updates 27
Gabe Copeland for Tap Overload - Poppin' Taps
Did I mention I'm obsessed with 'Thrift Shop'? No? Here's another clever version...tap style!
Gene Kelly - Tapping on Roller Skates
We all knew Gene Kelly was amazing, but color me impressed.
Jason Gorman - Baby's Romance
Musical and intricate, danced two different ways by two beautiful dancers.
The Royal Ballet - A Day in the Life of a Dancer
I'm sure not all ballet companies run their dancers' lives like this, but it's probably pretty close. Looks exhausting!
DS2DIO - Chachi Gonzales and Ian Eastwood in Dancers Among Us
If you haven't heard of Dancers Among Us, Chachi/Ian Eastwood, or DS2DIO/Jon M. Chu, you should go check them out.
Did I mention I'm obsessed with 'Thrift Shop'? No? Here's another clever version...tap style!
Gene Kelly - Tapping on Roller Skates
We all knew Gene Kelly was amazing, but color me impressed.
Jason Gorman - Baby's Romance
Musical and intricate, danced two different ways by two beautiful dancers.
The Royal Ballet - A Day in the Life of a Dancer
I'm sure not all ballet companies run their dancers' lives like this, but it's probably pretty close. Looks exhausting!
DS2DIO - Chachi Gonzales and Ian Eastwood in Dancers Among Us
If you haven't heard of Dancers Among Us, Chachi/Ian Eastwood, or DS2DIO/Jon M. Chu, you should go check them out.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
tWitch & Allison
GOT ENGAGED! I can't even handle it.
Catch the video of the proposal here: http://www.dancespirit.com/2013/03/how-twitch-proposed-to-allison/
Tell me girls, is this how you'd want your future husband to propose if you were to marry a dancer? Do you want to marry a dancer?
Catch the video of the proposal here: http://www.dancespirit.com/2013/03/how-twitch-proposed-to-allison/
Tell me girls, is this how you'd want your future husband to propose if you were to marry a dancer? Do you want to marry a dancer?
Friday, March 1, 2013
When You Can't Dance...
In my previous post, I wrote on injury and how demoralizing it can be for a dancer. Sitting out is a terrible feeling. Your soul is screaming to dance and it breaks your heart that your body isn't able to facilitate that kind of movement.
I've been there. I was extremely demoralized myself when I wrote that piece. I've been struggling with a rotated vertebrae and twisted ribs that made it hard to breathe, slouch, and turn my neck to drive, let alone dance from Halloween until late December of 2012 (although, I had some pretty fabulous posture for a few months). I spent nights crying in frustration, or trying not to because it hurt to gasp for air. I didn't know what to do.
I sat out of a lot of classes. At my university, dancers who sit out of class fill out observation forms. Basically, you watch for specific things and answer questions. You write about dance and learn to develop a critical eye. I've always been a harsh critic watching dance, but a few things happened while I was watching that had never happened to me before:
How did I see the change? I performed in our biggest show of the year in December, when my back was hurting so much I couldn't breathe sometimes and I depressed my navicular on opening night (leading to shin splints so bad I was limping for 2 weeks). However, I danced completely normally and characteristically of myself. In January, only a month later, I watched a video of myself dancing in a rehearsal video for a different piece. Sure, the styles were different and I wasn't in as much pain in the second video. But I looked different. I saw a different side of myself. I had never seen myself dance so freely, so relaxed. That's when I knew that taking the time off and changing my view on dance and on my injuries had made me a stronger person. Being a stronger person made me a stronger dancer, and it liberated me and made me capable of everything and anything I could think of. Sure, I'm still working on it, but I know that that break was crucial for me.
So if you're injured, please take this as an inspiration. Watch dance, but don't watch idly or critically. Watch actively, with what my sociology teacher calls "beginner's mind." Have no expectations and watch like you've never seen dance before. Like a sponge, absorb every nuance that you possibly can. You'll miss moving a lot, and I promise that it will be frustrating to sit out, all the same. But it could make all the difference, like it has for me.
I've been there. I was extremely demoralized myself when I wrote that piece. I've been struggling with a rotated vertebrae and twisted ribs that made it hard to breathe, slouch, and turn my neck to drive, let alone dance from Halloween until late December of 2012 (although, I had some pretty fabulous posture for a few months). I spent nights crying in frustration, or trying not to because it hurt to gasp for air. I didn't know what to do.
I sat out of a lot of classes. At my university, dancers who sit out of class fill out observation forms. Basically, you watch for specific things and answer questions. You write about dance and learn to develop a critical eye. I've always been a harsh critic watching dance, but a few things happened while I was watching that had never happened to me before:
- I got to know the dancers around me. I mean really. I really watched them for the first time, without looking for things to make my dancing better or for things that they were doing wrong. I looked for dancing. Just pure movement. What came of it? I fell in love with literally every dancer around me at some point. And that made me so much more grateful for where I was and the opportunities I had.
- I improved. Now that I'm dancing again (although not without pain), I feel that something has changed. Watching classes made me a better dancer. I notice this particularly in my modern class (strangely, the class I did not have to fill out observation forms for). When I came back to dance in late January, after 3 months having not danced a full modern class, I suddenly was on. On my leg. On my center. On fire. I absorbed so many nuances of the style and technique that I just never saw when I had to dance it just by watching.
- My dynamic range is so much bigger. I have so many more choices now, simply because I took the time to watch. Watching other people make choices that I would never make prompts me to take risks and go where I would never go before, now that I know what's possible.
How did I see the change? I performed in our biggest show of the year in December, when my back was hurting so much I couldn't breathe sometimes and I depressed my navicular on opening night (leading to shin splints so bad I was limping for 2 weeks). However, I danced completely normally and characteristically of myself. In January, only a month later, I watched a video of myself dancing in a rehearsal video for a different piece. Sure, the styles were different and I wasn't in as much pain in the second video. But I looked different. I saw a different side of myself. I had never seen myself dance so freely, so relaxed. That's when I knew that taking the time off and changing my view on dance and on my injuries had made me a stronger person. Being a stronger person made me a stronger dancer, and it liberated me and made me capable of everything and anything I could think of. Sure, I'm still working on it, but I know that that break was crucial for me.
So if you're injured, please take this as an inspiration. Watch dance, but don't watch idly or critically. Watch actively, with what my sociology teacher calls "beginner's mind." Have no expectations and watch like you've never seen dance before. Like a sponge, absorb every nuance that you possibly can. You'll miss moving a lot, and I promise that it will be frustrating to sit out, all the same. But it could make all the difference, like it has for me.
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