Social dance

While walking into the Gershwin Theater in New York City, people flow past quickly going to their seats to wait for the play to begin. As the lights dim in the large room, many people erupt into loud cheers and claps of excitement. The play begins with a soft string instrument, and is joined by the melodious sound of drums, flutes, and trumpets. The actors appear on stage swiftly as the life of the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed on the slanted platform in front. Theater has allowed people…

The conga is a novelty dance that is danced individual with a partner, or in a line also known as a “conga line”. The basic steps in a conga line include three shuffle steps on the beat followed by a kick on the fourth beat. When the conga is done as a couple dance, the dancers face each other and move opposite direction of one measure, then they switch directions. When you are at a party, many times people will start a conga line. This is done by each person behind the next places their hands…

elastic I was, with my skinny little body, almost like a compass when I opened it. In the same way that I could not eat everything I wanted, since I had to follow diets so as not to get fat. If it were not for the great passion and love, I felt for the dance I would not have been able to go through the sacrifices that happened in my…

What do you think of when you hear the word ballerina? I know that I think of young women and girls that dance on their tippy toes. There special shoes that allow them to be able to do this are called a pointe shoe, and can be made for just one specific dancer. It’s not all graceful and effortless movements. If you are not trained for these shoes you can really get hurt. Today I will tell you the five major parts of them that all work together to make sure that the dancer does not get hurt. At…

reading through the PowerPoint presentations I found that they really helped me have a better understanding of the ballet dance and how it originated. As we learned the very early beginnings of ballet originated in Rome. However, the very first ballet that we know of today happened during the crusades in 1581 and it was called Ballet Comique De La Reine. The main purpose of the dance was to flatter the French and nearby people and to remind people that the medics of Florence, Italy still…

answer is a lot harder than one would think. According to sport nation, “Cheerleading is actually one of the most demanding sports out there”(Connolly). Cheerleaders have to hire a choreographer to make a great and fun routine. A normal routine has a dance at the end of a routine, a cheer in the middle routine, and stunts every 7 seconds. It takes about 24-48 hours to make a routine. Everyday cheerleaders practice their routine over and over again until it’s perfect.They bring…

Pilates to improve their physical fitness and technique.” (Facts About Dance - Did you know?). Dance is a fun activity, but it is obviously difficult and time consuming. The activity takes hours of training, team effort, and a strong passion for the art. Even though dance may just look cool to some people, it is a dancer’s job to make what they are doing look easy. If there is no motivation or dedication to work, practicing dance would be pointless and no one would improve. Competing and growing…

players, have studied ballet to help them improve their performance during games (O'Conner). Also, research has shown that ballet benefits the physically and mentally challenged due to the fact that it can improve gait, balance, quality of life, social skills, and many others (Komaroff). Ballet is not just for prima ballerinas; ballet also provides benefits for non dancers. Ballet has been proven to positively impact non dancers including athletes and the physically and mentally challenged.…

The tango is a partners dance that originated in by the Rio de la Plata in the 1890’s. The Río de la Plata is the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The young form of the tango was known as tango criollo (the Creole tango). There are many forms of the tango today. The tango dance is a dance that has influences from European and African culture. The tango was often called “The Argentine Tango”. The tango style has changed over the years of it’s existence. When the tango originated, it…

Released in 2011, the documentary, First Position, directed by Bess Kargman, exposes the hardships and the competitive reality of ballet. The documentary uses of multiple film techniques to present the reality of the art rather than preppy stereotype that surrounds it. My experience as one who sacrifices much, a perfectionist and a fellow dancer who faces body stereotypes, I accept the audiences positioning. My similar experiences as a fellow dancer, incurs an empathic response to Miko and her…