I always had the thought of performing with a larger group would be messy yet fun. In reality it was more than that, the enjoyment, thrill, and learning the choreography was like a roller coaster ride. The progress was crazy and disorganized at first, even myself was a bit clueless on what was going on. Initially we started with simple dance moves that were taught on a daily basis, and as each day past we keep adding on- that’s when the idea sparked of performing as a large group. Everything started from scratch, it was really messy because we would start learning the first section of the dance and then start learning a second section, which made everything collapse. Also when we finished assembling the choreography, there would be “extra” timing where some dancers stayed still, which meant learning another 8 counts, but the small dilemma was that those counts were constantly changing. In my case I had to learn the first section (because I would have to enter at some point), duos’ initial choreography, forget that one and learn the new version; it would get frustrating at some points because I would forget certain moves. Additionally, a challenge I had was that I couldn’t swing my leg or kept the other leg straight, and point my foot when it was in the air. Even though there were some downfalls, the art piece was done with the hard work and contribution from everyone, the final task was staging and performing live. From learning the piece to performing in front of an audience, my favorite part was staging everything because the environment felt fresh, spacious, I simply felt eager to perform. Next thing you know all dancers get on stage, the mysterious tune starts playing loud through the speakers, and ends with the satisfaction from the friends and family members. In short, I learned that it’s not easy to accomplish a choreography, one needs the patience and most importantly have passion to accomplish the movements, but overall I had the pleasure to be in a large group full of talented dancers.
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Student Voices Campaign video was a learning process incorporated with academic and personal growth, not only for myself, but for my partnets as well. The outcome of the video was somehow related to our original idea, from the concept to the video effects to the message we wanted to send to the audience. We incorporated everyone’s team ideas or thoughts to our script, and with the editing effects it was possible for the video to come out how we expected it. Most importantly the goal or overall purpose we wanted to get out, was that arts are important for one to express themself as any kind of artist.
Students Voices Campaign was introduced to me for the first time and it makes me proud to see how organizations want to hear from communities about the importance of arts in schools. Personally having arts, any kind of arts as an official subject for children during the early childhood stage would create an environment for them to express emotions or just experience an art. Continuing would eliminate the stereotypes of teenagers thinking: “I can’t draw, act, dance, etc.”, and have them learn that art can be pleasurable. To make our words be out there, my peers and I are planning to create a video where the theme is: everything starts from scratch. Any kind of art starts from scratch- a simple thought- that evolutionates into a finished product. Our focuses are going to based of Windsor High Schools’ NUEVA. Everyone in NUEVA has role, but at the end an idea has an outcome of a talented people in a play, which is something we want to demonstrate- the process. The beginning of the video would start either black or white slowly fading into different people planning storyboards, designing costumes, writing scripts, and more. In the middle of the video would be colors showing the “finishing” touches of a play wrapping up fast (effect) backwards to the day of the play. Adding the music created from the students and a scene of the curtains opening. The finale would be a video of us brainstorming the video. Something we would integrate in the video is a narration of a story or a poem and create the video as esthetic as possible. Overall our goal is to demonstrate how art can define a person and be a tool of expressing yourself.
In the informational blog post: “Tips For Turnout- Isolating Your True Turnout”, from The Ballet Blog, explains which muscles are used for turnout and ones that could affect the dance move. In general, most people think turnouts come from the gluteus maximus, but in reality it comes from the hip, along with six other muscles. Gluteus minimus( Internal rotator), piriformis, gemelli( superior & inferior), obturator internus, quadratus femoris, and the obturator externus are the six deep external rotators with different functions to create a perfect turnout. Turnout is ticket around the back of hip, under of leotard, from lumpy bone, with the support of core muscles to help stabilize the turnout. Hip flexors assists the leg to be in the air for a period of time, along with the VMO to control alignment in the knee. Even thought gluteus is beneficial for jumping, it’s a risk because using it too often will develop tension, and limit the flexibility in turnouts. In addition, using frontal hips will cause the TFL and Rectus Femoris to be inflamed or sore. Lastly, it is a interesting tip not to grip the outside of the lower legs, because it strains the ankles and knees.
In my opinion after reading this article, it made me question how I do my turnouts. What was an eye opening, were the main 6 principles of muscles used to construct a turnout. To be honest, I don’t know how to explain the way I do my turnouts. My description would be that I turn my inner thighs either right or left and point my foot downwards, while “squaring my hips”. Some dance movements require to use turnout, which is sometimes difficult because I’m either sickling or I’m not as flexible. When I’m corrected, I feel the difference in my leg right away. In conclusion, I’ll think about the muscles and the effects when doing my future turnouts. In Joe Goode’s Ted Talk, titled “Choreography and Creativity”, he talks about how people interpret dance as a scary activity and speaks inspiring poems written by himself. Joe Goode is a dancer, performer and choreographer who owns a company and was doing a shows called the “Gambler”. He noticed how he should introduce himself and sing or dance before each performance, so the audience knows what they are in for. Goode provides the audience with 3 poems called: “Dancers”, “Process”, and “Hitchhiker”. “Dancers” contained anaphora because of the repetition of the phrase: “dancers shouldn’t talk”. In the second poem, “Process”, a dancer walked on stage and began dancing as the poem went along, presenting movements from the words. The dancer would do modern movements and release of the body to the end of the poem. “Hitchhiker”, the last poem,meant a lot for Joe Goode because he expressed freedom through dancing with a setting of a forest. Three dancers appear on stage doing a modern piece and as “freedom” was said, all the dancers collapsed on the floor.
From watching the entertaining Ted Talk, my takeaway were the poems, especially “Process”. That poem made me think of the workshops of release the body because of the word choice, and the word “ falling”. Everything in class is a process, a process of learning, and a process doing. From my experience, doing those workshops was a process because it was something I’ve never done before. The use of our bodies releasing towards any direction felt weird, yet sensational. Never would I think I would do a dramatic releasement in any part of my body. In my opinion the first poem sounded like dancers are a type of stereotype and they should just stick to what they’re doing. The last poem made me visualize an image in my head while he was telling it. In conclusion, Joe Goode’s poems made me think how much I’ve grown as a dancer or person and how much I can achieve with freedom. The article provided from CNN: “5 Reasons Why Dancing Is Good For Your Health”, written by Robert Jimison, it informs how dancing can benefit the well being of a human- mentally & physically. Jamison’s article begins with a background story from a person who started dancing due to personal reasons. “Dance is the most basic and most honest form of communication between my mind and my body and between me and the world.”, words from Whitney Thore, a person who overcame obstacles to show who she can be. One out of the five reasons was yourself, one doesn’t need machines to work out, by having yourself present is all a person needs. On the healthy scale, having yourself present can benefit for children and seniors because as people one is always improving fundamental principles. Dancing can help improve memory for older people, shown from the result from a study of Professor Aga Burzynska. The reason is simple, seniors learn routines,repeating it, which is kept in a memory box. The third reason is “mental escape”, defined as not worrying about anything, a time to let go of all problems and focus on the present. A study showed that female teenagers feel more positive, energy and confident after dancing. It also helps a human with balance and coordination by learning movements in a dance class and having a low risk of falling. Lastly “dance had no age limit’, there’s not rules, every age group can do it, and healthy for the mind and body.
Thinking back to kinder, in Cali Calmecac we would dance in front of many people, which most of my peers disliked. But I would be the opposite, getting excited every year, dance different genres with a spark of nervousness. Now joining intro. to dance was a great option for some reasons mentioned from the article: yourself, mental escape, and no age limit, among others. I initially thought joining dance would benefit my healthy “status”, maintaining my weight, or source of working out. Little did I know it would improve my mental state. Having many dilemmas in my life has changed many factors within myself, from not having the positivity or energy as before. Being present in class takes me to another world, making me forget the monstrosities outside of class. Dance takes me over control of my body even when I’m doing chores at home, which ends up with a weird look on my mom’s face. Until we end up dancing together. Even though I’m not good at memorizing all the dance terms or dancing in general, I always have a relaxing time, which that’s all that matters.
How would you describe your growth as a dancer this semester?
I have never had any dance teaching & learning experience in my life until I joined introduction to dance. This semester contained many factors that would confuse me time to time. I would hear basic terms from ballet and would know how it looked like, but I didn't know it would be difficult to do them. Technical wise, I learned the basis from zero; it took me a while because of the terms and foot work. Also, I think I’ve grown as a dancer by letting go of my shyness and engage more, little by little. Without any judgement from my peers. Your technical growth, your ability to retain and perform choreography ? Being in this class, I have noticed there’s a lot of technical work, especially footwork, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't try. I still remember how I would pause to see how to do a movement, but practicing the same movements made my body do it on its own without relying on my conscious. After learning some fundamental movements, we started learning choreographies, which was mind blowing. I was excited as a puppy when they first get their chew toy. Because of my excitement, I would put more effort which was more easy to memorize choreographies. Sometimes it would get frustrating because there was this movement I couldn't mastered. My legs were either “tangled” or not strong enough to do a sweeping turn. At the same time, it motivated me to continue learn how to do correctly and perform it with confidence. What were your challenges this semester? There were many barriers keeping me and dancing separate for a period of time. The first challenge I had to face was the fear of being judge because I’m self conscious about many things, especially if it had to do something with my body. After some time I had trouble learning the language used for every moment, I would get (still do) confused and mix one term with another. A perfect example would be arm and foot positions 1-5 because I get mixed up with the arm movements 3-5. Coupe and spotting would be movements I think I still need to work on. Overall I did have moments where I couldn’t master a certain movement, but I’ll continue to try. What did you learn? Connect to the standard sets for proficient Throughout this course I have learned many things, not only dancing , but a connection with my own body. Think I’ve learned the fundamentals & history of modern, jazz, and contemporary and the trust I need to have when doing those dances. Let go of judgement, and be free in a space where I know I’ll improve something.The part I love the most is working with my peers on choreographies because we point out mistakes, motivate each other, and bond. I learned how to dance different genres, from contemporary to hip hop, which most dance classes don't do. Having a variety of dances has taught me that they all share a similarity; the way of creating a type of dance. What are your personal goals for the Spring? My personal goals for Spring is to improve my dancing skills, step by step, slowly. Improve my turns and my positioning of my arms, so they don't look stiff or awkward. A goal I would like to achieve is to design an original choreography to demonstrate how much I’ve grown since day 1. As they say: “practice makes perfect”, is something I want to view it as a goal because with practice I could achieve many things.
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