Dance Class

       I hope everyone had a good weekend / winter break , but now back to blogging. First I decided to recap on my previous blog posts. So far I have talked about what dance is and what it means to me, Items you need for dance ( clothing,shoes, dance bag, etc), where to start with it all, and the style of dance called jazz. Today I'm going to talk about what happens in a dance class. If you have never taken a dance class this may be interesting or if you have taken a dance class, you can relate. 

        

        Well in any dance class the first thing to do is warm up. Before doing anything in dance you have to warm up your body, that way you don't pull a muscle or injure yourself while dancing. Warming up goes with all sports as well. With dance you work on your flexibility, strength and technique. Depending on the class you take or level of difficulty you are at, warm ups are different. Certain classes are different as well. For classes like jazz,lyrical  and contemporary you have to focus on stretching really well. As a dancer you use almost every muscle in your body and it is important to build muscles and strengthen them. These warm ups consist of many different types of stretching, ab work out ,push ups , working on technique , building up more strength and many other things. 

        After warm up in a dance class we go across the floor. Now reading that if you are not a dancer ,you may be a little confused. The teacher of your dance class will give you a progression to do  and go across the room, one ,two or three people at a time or more( depending how big the class is). After that some classes learn a combination. A combination is a series of dance steps put together. You would learn them and then dance to the music for the combination. Music is the key to dancing but I will get into that in another post. So that is what happens during a general dance class. I got this from my experience of dance classes, but other studios may do it much differently. How does your dance class go? 

   

         There are also warm ups for tap. Tap is when a person wears shoes that make noise by rhythmic tapping of the heels and toes of the shoe. For tap you mainly warm up your feet since that is what you mostly use in this type of dance. For ballet you also stretch a lot and focus on technique and the placement of your body ( legs, feet , shoulder, stomach, arms etc). For ballet you warm up at a ballet bar and then go across the floor and do specific ballet combinations. 

         For a vague description / summary of how dance classes go : warm up, go across the floor, learn a combination or a dance piece that your class will perform. There are many ways for a dance class to go so this is probably one of many ways. Don't forget to stay hydrated through all the dancing!! Have fun in class! 

         

The Start of it All

            Well, if you're reading this blog there is a good chance you're a dancer, if you're not this could be where you begin(or you could be reading for enjoyment or if you are bored). It starts by choosing a dance studio that you want to go to, whether your friends go there, or the studio gets really great reviews. When you sign up for classes you are going to need dance wear. You would have to go to a dance shoe store and by the proper shoes. Some studio have particular brand names of shoes, and there are many. From Capezio, Freed ( favorite brand for pointe shoes), Bloch and many more depending on what kinds of shoes you need.  There are ballet shoes, tap shoes, jazz shoes, sneakers, point shoes and character shoes! The main color of jazz and tap shoes are black to tan and ballet and pointe shoes are pink. 
   
     Besides all the shoes, shoes and more shoes you also need particular clothing items for dance. For dance studios there are different types of dress codes. For a general idea, I will tell you what I have seen most people wear to dance classes. To ballet class most dancers wear pink ballet tights, a leotard a skirt and ballet slippers and hair slicked back in a tight pony tail or a bun (as a dancer you learn to do hair pretty well, and in a fast way). For other classes you may need shorts, spandex, sports bras, tank tops, and depending on what class certain color tights. 

     Now all that can be pretty overwhelming but depending what class or classes you take you only those items(unless you take all of them)! After starting this you are going need to put all this stuff somewhere. You can keep a dance bag to carry all your shoes in and any extra dance clothes! Make sure to always have a water in your bag as well and have fun with the start of dance (if you haven't started). My next post will be on all the things to keep in your dance bag and the what the style of Jazz is. 

Question: What is your favorite style of dance or what style seems interesting to you?

What is dance?

      This is my first blog post and I'm excited to start something new and share what I have learned with you! This blog is going to be about dance (if you couldn't tell). I'm  going to be blogging about the different types of dance, the technique of it all and everything in between.
     Dancing is something that takes a lot of dedication, time and effort, just like other sports do. Dance is a very meticulous art, and has much detail put into it. There are many types of dance from ballet to hip hop, jazz, contemporary and so much more. I will be mentioning all the different types of dance in future blogs to come! 
      In the Dictionary the definition for dance is,"move rhythmically to music, typically following a sequence of steps". That definition gives dance a general statement but for me it is much more than that. Dancing is a way for me to let go and relieve all the stress that I have. I am able to have fun and be creative and express myself. I love dancing and I have been dancing since I was very little. I am a company dancer and I go to dance competitions and conventions (which I will also blog about). 
     That is all I have for today! I will have another post up by tomorrow! 

Question: Do you think dance is a sport or an art or both?