As we all know, I am not a ballroom dancer. I have never trained in ballroom, except for two or three Latin classes when I was a preteen. However, the courses only ballroom dancer has disappeared, and as I said before the choreography for the dancing scene in the Christmas play came into my command. The script hints towards a foxtrot.Foxtrot. Ok, it is not my genre, I never trained, but the minute they gave me this post, I knew what to do, and I did it, a very simplified version of it. As simple as it was my dancers, who are actually actors, could not get it, they could not get "slow, slow, quick, quick, slow" my interpretation "Step, cross, step and turn, line drop step". A child could do that! Then we went on to other pieces, so I decided I‘d go even easier. I gave them jazz squares, sixteen bloody counts of jazz squares, and it would look great! It would look great, if they could do it. Moreover, if they could dance in sync with a little coordination! No, they each randomly stumble and flail as if they were flounders lined up on a ship deck!
Tuesday: Today rehearsals went great! None of the losers who gave me trouble showed up so I was happy. Some parts were changed, not majorly, and I improved what they were doing wrong. Everything went great and I was very happy.
Wednesday: Lord help me please. Back stage I tried to run through the dance but the costume mistress was more concerned about getting they're mustashes on rather than them learnin the dance so I had to give in, 3 of the six dancers on the stage didn't know the rutine. When about to correct what they did wrong the director (My tutor) spoke at the same time, I didn't notice but that didn't stop her from shouting at me. I stopped talking and she went on to explain so then when she finished I went on to explain what happened but one of the dancers who never attened any of my rehersals started to back talk to me and the director yelled "shut up". SO I turned around and said "don't speak to me like that", she said sorry but one of the actors said "She is the teacher she can speak to you how she likes" (I hate country people. So I left the rehearsal then and there, I sent a text message to my director saying sorry and that I am sick of having to work with such disrespectful students. She replied asking me to come in at 3:00 for a meeting. So I did and we had a quick chat, and sorted things out, afterwards my dance partner approached me and said "You should not have been such a brat, and your fucking up the dance" I replied saying "right so you can be the choreogrpher then, I'll quit" she replied something like "No, I..." but I walked away and went up to resign. The director asked me not to resign and to choreograph the rehearsals on thursday. I am wary and don't have the energy to work with these people but I have to.
Thursday: Only one dancer shows up. I am alienated from the others in my course and I can't wait for university next year.
PS. Sorry this is late.
Love S
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Genres; The value of Dance?
*Been a while I know but last term was so hectic. I've organized this term so that I'm not as busy.
So as the title suggests This entry is about genre and style of dance. As a contemporary dancer I value all forms of dance that require ultimate flexibility and true work ethic. Saying this may sound like I don't value street dance very much, but I do! I can see the technique and the athleticism of the whole genre, but barely any stamina. If a street dancer was to try out for a dance school and told they weren't what the school was looking for there would be this whole issue of "Oh ya'll are close minded and stuck up!" when simply its probably because the dancer can't point, or jeté, or anything else necessary for dance schools. However street dancers are constantly saying that classical dancers are pussy's and snobs and constantly making fun of ballet, the ultimate dance! Ballet is the most disciplined dance I know of and street dancers are just scared to even try it. If they want respect, they should show some.
By the way I'm not taking Hip-Hop this dance term ahaha
So as the title suggests This entry is about genre and style of dance. As a contemporary dancer I value all forms of dance that require ultimate flexibility and true work ethic. Saying this may sound like I don't value street dance very much, but I do! I can see the technique and the athleticism of the whole genre, but barely any stamina. If a street dancer was to try out for a dance school and told they weren't what the school was looking for there would be this whole issue of "Oh ya'll are close minded and stuck up!" when simply its probably because the dancer can't point, or jeté, or anything else necessary for dance schools. However street dancers are constantly saying that classical dancers are pussy's and snobs and constantly making fun of ballet, the ultimate dance! Ballet is the most disciplined dance I know of and street dancers are just scared to even try it. If they want respect, they should show some.
By the way I'm not taking Hip-Hop this dance term ahaha
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Dance Partners'...
My newest dance partner is nice. However, she seems to care about what her little clique think about her more than being my dance partner. Even though I proposed the idea of us being partners, as we are both very tall and it would be very hard for her to get a male counterpart, I am beginning to regret it. I took a risk, the major one being she is a trained Irish dancer. Irish dancers are very stiff and even though she has had some ballet, she can be quite stiff. Also she isn’t putting as much energy into the relationship as I am, I believe that partnering is 65% trust, how can she let me do lifts when she doesn’t trust me and how can I let her mount my back when I don’t trust her? I have tried to spend time with her but she seems to only want to do this when her clique are not around. In her clique, there is one other girl, a singer and a boy, an actor, the actor does not particularly like me and so neither does the singer so my partner’s loyalty is split, well it should be but it is clear where it lies. This feeds into more distrust. The funny part to me is that if I walked out of the partnership I would be on smooth sailing to another partner. However, my partner would be screwed, as I said before she is very tall for a dancer and most male dancers would look ridiculous beside her and find her impossible to carry. I however do not. Therefore, her snubbing really is not doing her any favours, except she is the only dancer I can be paired with in my college course. There is another female dancer in the year but she is strictly solo and hates partnering as she can’t handle lifts, mounts or even dips, so if I am stuck until September too. Is it worth risking it by telling her that if she keeps up her rudeness I will quite? Will she realize that loosing me will hinder her more than it will affect me? On the other hand, could I be reading into the whole thing and blowing it out of purporting in my mind? Is there anything I can do to make her want to work on our personal relationship?
Help!
Love,
S
Hip-Hop
So I have started Hip-Hop classes and I can I just say "fudge it. As a contemporary dancer I am finding hip-hop alien and weird, I'm OK at it but still getting kind of frustrated. My hip-hop classes run from 7pm to 8pm on a Tuesday, my biggest dance day as I have morning dance class is college from 9am to 11am and night contemporary from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. In my hip-hop class there is this one guy, no I'm not crushing, who is very good, well great and he knows it. He is so cocky that it pisses me off, I can't believe it, anyway I caught him looking at me in the mirror during a run through and snickering at my incompetence at his style, I wasn't that bad I was just a bit slow on technique. I grimaced at him and he seemed to noticed that I wasn't pleased. I had half a mind to go up to him and say "why don't you try my style for a day see how you cope" but I didn't. I could tell that he couldn't, he was very skinny with no upper body strength, so he certainly couldn't lift a partner in any classical based style. I was very offended but I kept up with the choreography and got it by the end of the hour, I was very pleased but felt bitter after the class, there must have been almost 20 students in that class, none of them did anything else but hip-hop and all of them had the same rudeness about them. So I left the class to go down two storeys and wait for my contemporary thinking "what a jerk that guy is" as I felt so insulted but then when the other contemporary dancers arrived I felt better because we all started chatting and having fun.
I want to know what is the matter with street style dancers. Hip-Hop dancers, Krump dancers and so on are all so rude to non street dancers, its so annoying because we should all be looking out for other dancers. I never look down my nose at a B-Boy because they can't do contemporary but I may as well because they seem to do it to me when I'm just trying to learn they're style!
I want to know what is the matter with street style dancers. Hip-Hop dancers, Krump dancers and so on are all so rude to non street dancers, its so annoying because we should all be looking out for other dancers. I never look down my nose at a B-Boy because they can't do contemporary but I may as well because they seem to do it to me when I'm just trying to learn they're style!
Intro (The Dancing Blog)
Hey you guys, so I guess I owe all of my followers a huge apology for not writing in my blog in so long. I have been busy with college, internships and I recently sign a two-year contract with Mythology at the Basics ( http://www.europemyth.eu ) as a performer. So, I've been climbing my little ladder, but its no excuse for abandoning my blog here on blogspot and I hope you guys will believe me when I say it won't happen again. As you can see I have created a second blog, Dancing Angel, here I’m going to discuss my career, college, dance and anything that may relate so I hope you guys stay tuned and give me input, ask questions and request my view on a topic if you’d like to know. If you already did not know, I am a performing arts student and I will be heading off to university next year, God willing, to study dance and performing arts.
Anyway, here is the low down of what I have been doing recently. I am doing dance in college, but I have started hip-hop classes outside college and I am finding the choreography alien as I have not danced in this style in three to four years and am more adapt to lyrical or contemporary. However, I am going to keep at it. I returned from Poland on the thirty-first of October after a ten day training course with Mythology at the Basics, where I got to study under a hero of mine; Nicolai Veprev. In college now, we are preparing for the children’s play, The Big Book of Nursery Crimes, in which I play Jack from Jack and Jill. I am also the co-choreographer of the dance scene with my dance partner Danielle. This show will be showing in Dublin during the end of November to mid December and we are taking it to Swansea, Wales on the 2nd to the 4th of December. I have filled out my UCAS and I am just waiting for my reference to be completed before I pay for it. Through my UCAS I have applied to five colleges, four in London and one in Liverpool. All of the courses I have applied to major in dance and minor in physical theatre and drama.
Ok you guys that’s all I have for now. Please leave me a comment and say hello. I also have a vlog, face book, myspace and twitter, I will link them so you can check them out.
Sending out good vibes, so much love and positivity to you.
Myspace http://www.myspace.com/sean.cummins
Mythology at the Basics http://www.europemyth.eu
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