Dancing Honestly

The past couple of weeks have been super busy.  I have immersed myself in the dance life.  From solo rehearsals to ballet boot camp to summer intensive to actually taking classes myself, I have been one busy bee.  This means a lot of inspiration to write about!

I got to take from one of my favorite teachers of all time the past couple of weeks.  The guy has a dream career from being on Broadway to being in movies to being in a hugely popular Christmas commercial that when I saw it a couple years ago, I almost died knowing who it was.  He is an inspiration, a motivation, and just taking his class is an honor for me.  I also got the chance to observe a class.  I had planned on staying for the class that day anyway, but had unfortunately popped my hip in a way that was causing me some concern, so I asked him if he would mind me observing the students.  He was very kind and let me.

The class went over a lyrical combination that they had worked on the day before.  It was a beautiful combo, with beautiful free-flowing movement combined with technique.  When the students started doing it in groups, it prompted the teacher to talk about dancing honestly and it got me really thinking about what dancing honestly really means.

In the competition world, it's difficult for kids to dance honestly.  Often times they are given songs about partying or being in love, and at the age of twelve, how many of them really know what that feels like?  It's very difficult at times to have to pull the emotion and movement style out of kids in that manner.  The teacher put it in a way that resonated with me- "if you're twelve, dance like you're twelve.  If you're 17, dance like you're 17."  

When you are twelve, you are dealing with just starting to explore the world of coming into your own.  You're in middle school dealing with the idea what the opposite sex really means to you, or doing a lot of school work because you know high school is starting soon where all that scariness will begin, or you're trying to figure out if dance really is what you want to do because if it isn't, what other options do you have?

When you are 17, you have had a boyfriend or two at this point.  You're thinking about college, which means you're half excited to get out of high school, but also half sad to leave it.  You're finding out what it truly means to have friends, and school work is stressful thinking about how all your grades will be looked at by colleges.  

The two ages have two very different experiences.  At the age of twelve, you might dance a little happier.  You won't understand  a lot of complications that come with maturity, so you will dance in a slightly more innocent manner.  At the age of 17, you might dance happy as well, but with just a touch of angst.  Maybe you see a couple moments of underlying turmoil.  

It was fascinating being able to watch these kids embody these feelings.  The younger kids definitely had a feeling of innocence to them.  They're at an age when "love" is still an idea of all rainbows and sunshine.  The older dancers had a more evident embodiment that showed that sometimes, with love comes heartache.  

The facial expressions of these dancers matched their styles.  Sometimes you get kids onstage and their expressions are off the wall.  Recently, on the show So You Think You Can Dance, one of Jessica's comments has consistently been "don't pull your face.  Your dancing speaks for itself."  I know personally I find it tough to be in a jazz number and NOT pull my face to make it more exciting because that's what I'm feeling.  In certain areas of dance, they want you to feel it but not make it so incredibly evident on your face.  

It's easy to see onstage when dancers don't feel what they are doing.  Sometimes you just don't see the spark of feeling.  Instead, you're thinking about the movement and I can see your eyes rolling a little back to get into that brain of yours.  This is when the dancer stops being a dancer.  Sometimes teachers try to help by choreographing facial expressions.  What good does that do?  To me, that's not learning what dance means.  Yes, dance has the technique of the pointed toes and the turned out legs or the clear taps and placed arms, but essentially when we dance we tell a story.  Even if the dancer is merely becoming the music and telling the audience "I am the notes on the scale" you are telling that in your dancing.  So why would someone give you their interpretation when you can make it your own? Feel the beats and listen to the story and what it tells you, and let your facial expressions go from there.

Dancing honestly is just so important.  When you don't, it's almost a betrayal of who you are as a dancer, and a betrayal of the dance itself.  Perhaps my words seem harsh, but would you enjoy seeing a dancer at the age of 17 trying to dance a piece about love in a juvenile, innocent manner?  I would rather see maturity on an older dancer.  

Next time you or your dancer enter into the studio to work on a dance, think of who you are.  Think of your age and your experiences in relation to what the song is saying.  Show it in your movements and your style and your facial expressions.  Be true to yourself and your dancing.

Dance honestly.

The Importance of Sound

The other evening I was sitting at a restaurant watching the Tvs that were on.  They were displaying some sort of music awards (sadly, I do not know which one it was).  Since there was music playing, they did not put the sound on the televisions.  At one point, a friend of mine and I happened to look up to see a gentleman break dancing with only one leg dressed in an old school military uniform with C-Lo Green in the back.  We both looked at each other with the inquisitive expression of  “what is going on?”  Had the music been playing, or the sound in general had been on, we may have had a better idea as to what the point was of this particular act in the show.  It hit me then- music is SO important!

Dance is typically a visual art.  However, there are so many aural aspects to it that one may not typically think about.  The best example is lyrical dance.  Lyrical dance in itself is about the lyrics in the music.  Without the music, you may not be able to fully understand exactly what the dance is trying to convey.  A dancer could be clasping her hands together to show that she is holding flowers while the song portrays a wedding, and without the words, you would just think she was clasping her hands.  It would not be understood that she was a “bride” so to speak. 

As a choreographer, I find that it’s best to choreograph with music.  I took many classes where, and know many choreographers who can create a dance just based off of movement.  I personally love to listen to a piece of music over and over again and find the nuances of it.  When I can get my hands on the composed music itself, I like that even better.  I am fortunate to have taken music classes for a long time (flute player in band for years!) so I can read music on paper and understand it and follow along while the song plays.  This of course is more so with classical type pieces.  It helps me to find parts of a song that I wouldn’t necessarily have picked up on had I not had the physical written composition in front of me.

Even with pieces that do not have  music, I feel like hearing the breath of the dancer, or even the soft swooshing movements of a foot along the dance floor, or hands clapping, or the sound of a turn, are essential to any dance.  Without those, I would feel like any particular piece would be flat and emotionless, even if the performer put all the emotion they could into it.  Sound creates the full experience.  It’s similar to being able to have lighting for specific pieces.  It just makes all the difference! 

Had I heard the music on that night in the restaurant, I may not be wondering right now what it actually was that I was seeing.  Not to mention that I missed a performance by C-Lo Green whom I love!  Next time, maybe I should just ask the server to turn up the sound!

Music to Make You Warm

Snow fell this week in New England, and it got me thinking- again- about warming up in dance! This time, however, it got me thinking about the music I use to warm up my students.

Typically, the warm up music dictates what kind of class a student will be involved in. If it's jazz, I'll typically put on some Dance or Electronic music. At least, that's what I've been using lately. If it's lyrical, I'll put on some slow, pretty sounding music, albeit usually sad. While I usually let the barre be the warm up for a ballet class, if I do a stretch in the center, I'll put on a piece of music that I found on a Finis Jhung and Scott Killian cd entitled "Atmospheric Stretching". Lately, however, I've been into something a little different.

For my younger classes, I've stuck with keeping genre of dance with the genre of music. For my older students, I've been straying the beaten path. I've been going down a more modern/contemporary route. I've been using the soundtrack to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" movie (US version). The music is done by the same pair that did the soundtrack for "The Social Network"- Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. When my students who are on the younger side hear it, they usually say something like "this is weird." Well, it is. But I love it! It's slightly ominous, while being atmospheric. Having read the book by Stieg Larsson, but not having seen the movie yet, it seems to capture the essence of the story. However, I'm not quite going for that violent, thriller/crime theme in the dance class. Instead, it provides a feeling of strength for the dancers to relate with.

For a while before I was using that soundtrack, I was working with Balmorhea's self-titled album from 2007. My students liked the aspect of typewriters and sandpaper-sounding tones. It allowed for me to warm up the students at a slow-ish pace, but also allowing me to gauge how the students were feeling and either speed it up or slow it down, or even work a little longer on specific areas of the body. Without specific or consistent time signatures, or even beats, it provided more of an atmospheric soundtrack, than a downbeat driven class.

What kind of music do you like to warm up to in class? Do you like faster music or slower? What kinds of warm ups get your blood flowing faster?

The Search For Music

Sometimes searching for music for choreography can give me a headache.

Last year, I had a class of a large amounts of kids at varying levels of technique that were being introduced to the idea of an “open” piece. I literally searched for weeks for a song. It started over the summer, and I don’t think I decided until the last possible second. I spent many a night in my bed with my laptop staying up until 3AM doing searches on various internet websites related to music. I did finally find the perfect song, and it was worth it with the top scores that they pulled throughout the year. However, sometimes I wonder if there could have been an easier way.

This year, I had an opposite experience that was extremely uplifting. It started out in panic mode. I had created an idea in my head over the summer regarding the “theme” of the piece I wanted to do. I knew I wanted a certain style of music, and unfortunately, I got a piece of music into my head that I knew had been used a couple of years ago. I had searched absent-mindedly a couple times in the weeks leading up to the start of dance, but abandoned the project quickly every time because of the song in my head.

This past weekend, I realized that I needed to pick out a song quickly. The time when choreography begins had come up fast, and I had lost track of time. I went into the music searching phase in a cluttered-mind-state. Not a promising start. Somehow, I started looking at the same things I had been looking at before, and wound up on a different path. Within 20 minutes, I was at my computer listening to a song for a third time, with tears coming down my face. I knew that I needed this song. It fit the composition styling I was looking for, and it moved me. It’s very rare that I pick a piece of music that doesn’t inspire me- even for younger children ballet, which often can be the most difficult kind of choreography for me. It was incredibly uplifting to find a piece of music that had touched me in a way I was looking for.

I know that every teacher has different styles of looking for music. Just the other day I was sharing a room with a dance teacher who had an idea of what she wanted to do for a hip hop dance, and she was on a music site looking up songs related to candy in hopes to find a remix. Sometimes our methods provoke a long search that lasts weeks. Other times, our methods provide us with a quick and easy process. It can be extremely frustrating, but in the end, I always feel it is worth it when I find a song that fits the group I am choreographing for.

Now that I have found a song for the group, I am thoroughly looking forward to beginning the choreography process. Although overall it is a group that I’m familiar with, there are a few new additions this year that will make the group a little different, and I’m excited for what that means for them!

I hope that all the other competition teachers out there are enjoying their music searching process!

Boston Ballet's Night At the Hatch Shell

It was the last evening in August, and as the sun set behind the Hatch Shell in Boston, the air began to feel crisp with the sounds of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Snowflakes" emanating from the stage. Yes, The Nutcracker was being played in August.

This is not so off, though, if you think about it. Today is September 1st, and Boston Ballet begins their Nutcracker season immediately after Thanksgiving, which is only 3 months off. However, my experience with this concert was not about the Nutcracker. It was about a first.

I was fortunate enough to witness and be a part of the audience of the first performance of the Boston Ballet outside at the Hatch Shell with a live orchestra (Boston's Landmark Orchestra). The orchestra performed works by Tchaikovsky and for certain pieces, Boston Ballet's principle dancers performed pas de deuxs, pas de trois, and pas de quatres across a stage that was built specifically for the event. Between pieces, the conductor gave tid bits about Tchaikovsky and the music, and even about the collaborations of the choreographers. It was a first for Boston, and I feel so special to have been able to have been a part.

I was amazed when I walked over the bridge at half an hour to the start, and 3/4 of the lawn was filled with people that had already staked their claims to grassy areas. People had blankets and food and drinks. It was incredible. I was unfortunately pretty far back, so I had to re-position myself constantly to get a good view, but it was absolutely worth it. The dancing by Boston Ballet was absolutely sublime. It wasn't perfect, and that's the teacher in me judging, but to have had the limited rehearsal time, and to have only met that stage earlier in the day, the performers were incredible. From the gorgeous port de bras of the ballerina who performed the Swan Lake pas de deux to the flexibility of the arabian dancer from The Nutcracker to the quirky character movements of the Puss N Boots dancers from Sleeping Beauty- all were phenomenal.

It was also lovely to be able to see the orchestra. At the ballet, more often than not, the orchestra is hidden from view since the dancing is the star. It was a nice change to watch as the string sections' bows bobbed and weaved furiously, and the brass section stayed stoically steadfast as they blasted their way through the finale of Swan Lake. I always love seeing the conductors as well. The passion of a conductor always comes out in front of an audience, and the orchestra's performance is always a tribute to his skills. In this case, Jonathan McPhee (who was actually a guest conductor of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, and is Boston Ballet's Music Director and Principal Conductor) has mad skills.

As the music filtered out into the night air, I couldn't help but feel particularly content. It was the perfect Boston night with cool air, a divine orchestra, and a world-class ballet company. As a dancer, and a dance teacher, you can't ask for anything better. To be part of a first like that is something that I will never forget. I can only hope that they continue these concerts. The turn out was incredible, and it's a great way to expose people to a less commercial side of dance. It's a way, at least, for us girls to feel a little bit of sophistication in our daily lives.

Last night made me very excited for the Boston Ballet's upcoming season. I can't wait to get my tickets to the upcoming performances!