After reading the chapter on dance, go to U-Tube, think of a dance you saw performed, watch a dance movie, do some sort of visual research on dance. In the blog comments, tell what you learned and how it relates to the chapter.
For example, a few weeks ago, my son showed me the Blue Men on U Tube. It seems to me that they danced, sang, and had a light/laser show. It was cool, but not having read the chapter or having much experience with dance, I didn't have much to say about it. Of course, your assignment is to outdo my efforts.
Enjoy
32 comments:
I went and saw the movie step up 2 which was a really great movie. It was about street dancing. After that I was wtaching MTV and on it was a show searching for a new dance crew. It seems that the new way to dance is street dancing. Which the book talks about all the different forms of dance and street dance isn' even in there except you can probably add it to the new hip-hop age even though it is very different. It is a new modern form.
Step up 2 is about a a girl that gets into a lot of trouble a lot and the only way she can stay with her family to so go to Art school. She gets in and her crew that she dances with on the streets lets her go because she starts going to this school. She notices that kids at her new school street dance but the art school won't let them show off there talent so they begin there own street crew. In the end they preform in the street with the director of the school there and he see's there talent and starts a program at MSA for the kids like that. Great movie. Seems like everything you watch has street dancing in it. It must be the new popular dance what hasn't been put in the books yets.
The last dance movie I saw was probably stomp the yard, step up, save the last dance, dirty dancing, and honey. I love watching these movies because you can tell how much effort these actors put into learning the dances and the end result really pays off for them and in the films they all look amazing. My favorite part of watching any dancing movie where they have the behind the scene footage and you see the choreographers working really hard to get the actors to learn the right techniques to be able to do the routine properly. I am a huge fan of dance I mean I respect the ballets although I am more of a fan of what the book called popular dance, which is probably why I love the above listed movies so much. Dancing as the book mentioned is a way for people sometimes to get off extra energy, and I find that so true, if I’m having a day where I’m just go, go, go at the end of the day I have usually a lot of left over energy so if I’m home alone I’ll put on some music with a beat and dancing as I’m getting everything done for the evening, or there are even times I’ll go out dancing. When I was younger we had a dance line and I was on for about two years and we learned some many different genres of dance, we did ballet, swing, salsa, and so many others. The thing I love about dancing is that it’s a universal language, everyone can speak it. It doesn’t require a lot of skill in order to attempt it and people all ages can dance. I am a huge fan like I said of dance movies because it can really broadcast how good some people can be with practice.
I have always enjoyed watching any moves when dance is involved. I really enjoy hip hop, street dancing and stomp. The art that they all have and the ability to be so flexible and able to do all those moves you definately have to have the patience and talent for it all.
Another dance i have learned to like is Riverdancing. At first i was like wow that sounds boring but man the talent you have to have. For those who dont know what river dancing is it is a theatrical show consisting of traditional Irish step dancing. Its known for its rapid leg movements while body and arms are kept largely stationary.
The trainging that you would have to do must be so intense as if one person would make the wrong move you would notice it immedately as most of the dance is done in a line form. If you get a chance to watch it on You tube it is a wonderful art of dancing to watch and even experience in person.
O my, Dance has been probably the biggest thing in my life ever since i can remember?! When i was 5 my mom enrolled me in a sping dance class in Grafton, ND. and every year since then i have been taking classes there. Two years ago I was asked, along with two of my other friends in class, to teach the classes age 3 and up. Of course we said yes! I was so excited to be able to come up with dance moves of my own! Although i had to quit the job when i moved on to college. I plan on joining dance classes very soon agian. Dancing to me is so exciting to watch and do!
I also recently went to see the new movie step up 2, about the street dancing. I loved it!( i saw it 3 times already in theaters) The way the people move their bodies is absolutely fascinating to me!? I also have been watching the show on MTV about the dance crews, they all move in ways i didnt even know the human body could! I would LOVE to be able to dacne like street dancers, but i also love watching, and performing, jazz dancing and ballet..even though i'm definetly not graceful.. I'v also been tap dancing for years but its just not as fun to do and watch as the others..well i could go on forever about dancing! I love everything about dance!
in response to aschwartz
I agree that street dancing should be talked about in the book as it a new modern thing that is coming very popular and its awesome to watch being done as you definately have to have the talent for it.
Even though I am too old for the new type of dancing, I too have seen Step up 2 and Stomp the Yard. ( I have teen age girls). I think this type of dancing falls into the Pouplar dance style. The text states that popular styles change rapidly from generation to generation. Dance is a form of self expression and every generation finds its own unique way to express itself and therfore we experience new and exciting ways to dance. Remember disco? LOL. Each generation also seems to have it's dance cult movies. IE Dance fever, staying alive, flash dance, foot loose, step up 1 & 2, you got served, save the last dance 1 & 2, Shall we dance, take the lead, the list goes on and on. The popularity of these movies gives up a conformation of how much dance is a part of our lives and and interactive form of art and socialization.
Even though I've seen quite a few dance movies, I checked out U-tube to see something different. There was a performance by a high school boy, on stage, that was crazy amazing. He was break dancing in a way I've never even thought was humanly possible. His entire image throughout the performance was imitating a 'rubber-like,' flexibility. It was a great performance, even though I had to cringe a couple of times, thinking how bad I would be in pain if I actually tried it.
As the textbook explained, it does seem as though dance is moving in another direction again these days. I wonder what future generations are going to think about street dancing, break dancing, etc. in the future?
In response to Heidi
You brought up an excellent point on how there have been movies made about each generation's dance themes. It just proves how influencial and important dance is in our society.
in response to aschwartz
That movie wounds really interesting. It's amazing how popular stree dancing is becoming these days. It seems like there's always stuff being showed about their unique art form. In fact, I think there was going to be a street dancer on sixty minutes or something recently. Either way, the whole street dancing thing sounds really interesting and I'd love to know more aobut it.
The most recent dance movie that I've seen was on Youtube called Insane Breakdancing Power. To put it completely plainly... I was AMAZED! I think I've fallen into the stereotypical catagory of people who view dancing as something primarily for girls (except in drama - which I even love to do). Watcing this movie of what has to be one of the fastest growing styles of male dance in inner cities was so intriguing and mind opening. If you ever thought dance was for girls only... then think again. What I saw was all men with exceptional strength and agility. I was amazed at the amount of physical strength and fitness that is NECESSARY to breakdance like the men did in the movie. I mean, these are not skinny little guys with toothpics for arms... they are fit, muscular guys! I think the overall form of breakdancing is truly unique and rather intriguing. I could not believe how fast they moved and the crazy positions they were in was amazing too. To think that the body can be moved and spun around in those ways is mind boggling to say the least. I have to say, my opinion of dancing is completely changed. I can see that it is way more than the typical ballet and slippers with classical piano playing in the background!
In responds to Zachary good comments about the ability to have rhythm and style. Men that can dance are sort of rare. However, the ability is amazing and it could also be something fun if you can have a it all. Interesting U-tube ideas and fun to see. This class has the ability to change many ideas that we all have.
In response to bean:
I was inspired by hearing your passion for dance, and how you have found a way to pass that on to others. That is what life is about, taking what we know and giving it to others. When it a passion of ours, it's wonderful!
Dan
Week 10
Well as I finished reading the chapter, Dancing with the Stars came on the TV. There are other dances that I have seen that I could comment on, but I thought I would sit back and see if I could learn something, and write about what I saw. They were doing two different dances, the Mambo and Quick Step. I enjoyed the Quick Step the best, and the dancers that I found the most interesting were Shannon and Derek. They performed a Swing style Quick Step that was great! I have always enjoyed Swing music and dance. It is amazing how fast they move around the dance floor and with such precision. Seeing all the different couples dance showed the different personalities of each one, and how they could communicate the feeling of the dance to the audience. Reading this chapter has helped me appreciate watching dance, and watching Dancing with the Stars has encouraged me that just about anyone can learn to dance well. Maybe someday I’ll even try it!
Dan
In response to mckenzieb
I have seen all those movies too. I love dance movies. I think it is because I can't dance that I love to see how others can. Dance movies always catch my eye because they normally take someone that can't dance and teacher them how or they aren't aloud to dance the why they want too. I love dance movies
Dan - I totally agree with you in regards to Dancing With the Stars. Watching something like that can give a person a much greater appreciation for the athleticism, strength, stamina, etc. that dancing like that requires. Indeed, it requires most of the same abilities that other sports require. In the end, you just put them "to use" in a different way. Very interesting/cool nonetheless!
In response to Lorraine
I have heard of river dancing but I've never actually seen it performed. I googled it and it looks hard and amazing! I see what you mean if someone messes up it would be easy to catch and hard to fall back in step because it is really fast! I can't imagine the time and patience it would take to learn something like that...or even harder try to choreograph something as difficult.
I think the last movie that I saw that was based on any type of dancing was Save the Last Dance. I guess I don't really get into ballet and I haven't went out dancing since I was about 16 but there is something about dancing that gets my heart going. I love to, but I don't really ever go. I went on you tube and saw some really bad hip hop dancing and some really good stuff. One of the better ones was by a group called Kaba Modern. There were a lot of people all choreographed very well so that was sort of cool but there is a certain art to hip hop dancing just like any other dancing. You can either look really good, or appear really foolish. There was another group called the NZ Hip Hop Dance Crew who seemed a little more in sync so that was fun to watch. I guess I am more into "popular dance" so I don't mind watching a lot of this stuff but I do love pretty much any form of it. This summer, I hope I can convince my boyfriend to take salsa lessons with me...we'll see! :)
I have to say that dance is something that I am not good at, but love to do. I was in dance as a child, with those cute outfits that cost so much money. I did line dancing and then the typical just for kixs dancing. I have to admit that dancing is a way of living care free. Just letting yourself relax and so your emotions without a care who is looking at you. On the more professional level, I love to watch dance. I newest addiction is the television show “America’s Best dance crew”. The show airs on MTV on Thursday nights, and I must say it is awesome if you enjoy dancing. Dance Crews all over the nation have danced on the show, displacing every kind of dance you can think of. Each there is a different dance challenge that the crew has to master, wither it is performing a special move, telling a story through dance, or to a special mix of music. Every week America votes on who there favorite dance crew is, and the bottom crews dance off and the judges make a decision who stays and who leaves. From watching this show, I have gained a new interest for dancing and love to watch each move. There is so much athleticism in the show. From break dancing to doing flips’ showing the gymnasts it and it is truly exhilarating.
in respone to leah..
in my blod i just talked about a show call "America Best Dance Crew", and on that show was the group kaba modern- in fact they were my favorite. what i liked the most about the group was how together they are, and how insync they are. every move and all their isolations and tansitions are right on the beat everytime. the girls are also showcased, and in the hip-hop dance world, that is rare.
in response to lorraine
your right to riverdancing is alot of work i've seen it done it is so interesting how they can keep moving i'm sure if i tried i'd fail in a haertbeat! have you ever heard of the slap leather dance we were taught that in high school it's very fun to do!
I picked the song “, Okay here it goes again,” or as many people know it as “, The Treadmill Dance.”
I first heard about it last year in high school. If you ever get a chance to view it I recommend it.
In the video there are two rows of treadmills with four in each row, set up so when the band members walk on the treadmills they come toward the camera. Let me explain more, they start in the back and while the treadmills are moving they walk toward you taking a step on each treadmill. They do many stunts while staying on the moving treadmill.
Their state of mind and expression looked like they were having fun. The subject matter makes me wonder how long it took the guys to manage that dance.
I guess they just wanted to try something never before seen. With the stunts they did and the music they used they both came together really well.
The first time I watched the video I couldn’t believe it I had to watch it twice before o could say anything.
I think of myself on our treadmill and I can’t even walk backwards. It makes you wonder how many times a person would fall or get hurt while trying to mimic the video.
So four guys, eight treadmills. That would take so much concentration just to step in the right spot and the right time.
A couple of the guys even got on their hands and knees and were crawling for a little bit. It was pretty weird how they put everything together.
I guess if I were bored one day and wanted to watch something on you tube that’s what I’d search first just to see how many moves they actually do. That would be so cool if I could meet the band and try the dance!
I was on campus today in East Grand Forks and in the commons a group of girls from Central High School came and preformed a street dance. It was really cool. I enjoyed it a lot. I just happened to be grabbing a snack in the cmmons at the right time. I know this isn't from U-tube, but I thought this was even more interesting seeing it live. It was a pretty short dance, but I really haven't seen anything like it. I never seen alot of the movies that everyone has been talking about, so this is new to me. The dance consisted of stomping, claping, turns, sinkronization(sp), and some shouting in harmony. It sounded awesome when all the girls stompped and moved in harmony. I think that this kind of dance is a popular dance style. This is new to our generation. It is dance mixed with sreet moves and becomes a harmonious dance.
I have watched Dancing with the Star a few times and I really did gain appreciation for daning. You get to see first hand all the work and emotion that goes into dancing.
The last movie I saw that involved dancing was Hairspray. The new one, not the old one. On a light note, I learned that John Travolta can still dance even covered in a large woman’s costume and wearing a dress and high heels. I did not think anything of it while I was watching it, but now that I am, he seemed happy playing this part. You’re probably thinking, “Duh, the man is an actor. He gets paid to be happy.” But, I don’t think even the greatest actors can fake happy in their eyes. I really feel that playing Edna Turnblad brought Travolta back to his Danny Zuko days in Grease. This movie is full of examples at how dance can provide an insight into inner lives and states of minds. The Travolta example fits this statement well. Another example is how the dances fit the music and the moods. The beginning song and dance is full of excitement for a girl is ready to take on the day. Another involves some shrewdness towards “outcasts” so the movements indicated a lot of strutting and “snotty” head shakes. It was a really good movie but the dancing made it come alive.
Dancing can be described in many different ways as in the chapter reading has given us a lot of value to what dancing really can be. The movies that I've seem from Hairspray to Grease can't be said enough to how fun they make it look. I have taken dance lessons with my husband and that was so bad, he has no rhythm and I felt like I had too much, we try but it's not what I'd like. Dancing with the stars is interesting and they enact what it takes place with all the preparations for the style they dance. I did look at U-tube and did not find anything so great, I'm sure there are some but the ones I checked were not very good.
I have always liked dance and have been very interested in it. The movies that I think about when thinking about dance are Dirty Dancing, and Footloose. I grew up kind of watching these movies because my mom loved them, so she watched it often. It was so interesting and fascinating to see how they learned to dance together, and then performed in dirty dancing. In Footloose it proves that they loved and enjoyed dancing so much that they did it even though it was considered “forbidden” in the town. I Like I said I have always enjoyed watching dancing be it Little Kix, high school dance line, or professionals. I also enjoy watching musicals with a lot of dancing in them like Grease, and High School Musical. They actors and actresses put so much hard work into the moves and the movies is so much better because of it. I think that dance is a good way to also express yourself and your emotions. A lot of people dance the way they feel and you can really tell.
Dance. I love dance. I like watching movies about dance. Just to name a few: Step Up, Step Up 2, Dirty Dancing, Stomp the Yard, Honey, Dirty Dancing Havana Nights, and Save the Last Dance. I was in dance in high school when we had a dance team. I LOVED it. I enjoy watching different dance shows on TV. If there were dance lessons offered where I grew up I would have loved to be in them. I watched the Waltz on you tube. I just love watching the two people move. They look so elegant gliding across the floor. I also enjoy watching dances from different cultures. My fiancé is Native American and we I enjoy going to Powwows and watching the dancers. Dance is a very important part of communication as well. People have to be able to move together to dance together. Dances can also be emotional just by watching the way the bodies move. You can tell a lot just by watching the dancers and what they are putting into the dance.
I really haven’t had a lot of experience with dance. When we were kids we danced with our grandparents to the polkas and waltzes that played loudly from the livingroom of the old farm house on Sunday afternoons. We would dance at weddings and shower dances. As a teen, we would frequent the local ballrooms to see live rock bands perform, there was some dancing and just standing around, watching and jamming to the music.
After reading the chapter and attending a ballet for my second assignment, I have found that dance is a way to see the music in motion. The music alone is beautiful, when the dance is added it is a visible expression of what story the music has to tell. The interpretation of the music with body movements captures the feelings and expressions that tell the story. I have never looked a dance in this way! It is like my eyes have been covered all these years and a new perspective has opened them to a whole new world. Does that sound corny? Well, I really enjoyed seeing the ballet and if I get another chance to go I will not hesitate!
in response to Heidi
I agree with you that every generation has it's own dance, a way for them to express themselves.I think that is a very important part of who we have become today. I too loved all of those dance movies,Footloose, Saturday night fever, Dirty Dancing etc.
In response to ASchwartz: I agree with you it seems that all of our popular dance movies to day are either about someone learning to become good at dancing or someone whose trying to break away and do they're own thing. But either way I always enjoy a good dance movie the moves some people pull these days are really neat to watch.
My favorite memories of dance are from my two daughters that dance, nonstop! Really!! They are what our chapter calls ‘social dancers’. My oldest daughter is going to start tap dance this year, but ever since they have been young, they have loved to dance. We bought them dance shoes as soon as they could walk, and now they dance alone, together, to music and to their own singing. I believe that it offers a very great form of exercise, and movement, and their imagination soars!
In response to bean:
It is so great to see someone so pumped up about dancing!! I too feel that it is a great thing to do. Around where I live it is somewhat a lost art, and I hope that my girls pick it up and love to do it for the rest of their lives!!
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