Counting Counts

As you learn a routine the instructor my count to keep the beat. Usually dances only go to 8 like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and repeat over and over until the routine is over. The counts are there to give some construction to the movements. Each move or movement has a count or counts. In some cases "and" is said between one or all 8 counts to give room for faster movements that don't require a full count. I, personally have done dances where, because of the music they have been in 6 or even 10  I did a jazz number called The Case Continues that was in 10 counts and a lyrical called Hallelujah that was in 6 counts. It is hard sometimes to keep in line when, on the rare occasion, dances aren't in 8 counts. instead of 8. It really depends on how the music itself plays out in which counts make sense. Most songs however go along with the traditional 8 counts.

It helps when you are performing if you learn how to count in your head as well as perform. When I was little it was hard to do both because I would always count almost mouthing the counts and forget to actually perform with my face. I learned though and it go a lot easier to stay with my group. I am a very count oriented person when it comes to dance. Some people go by words in the music or sounds, but it helps me when every movement has a count so I can keep track of where I am in the routine.

Costume Examples

As I say a lot, I have done many dances throughout my life of many different styles. I explained in my post "Dress to Impress" what some costumes looked like for the different styles and gave some websites to order various costumes as well. Here are some examples of dances that I have done with pictures of the costumes that I wore for each.

First of all, hip hop. My studio wasn't very big in hip hop, but we had a guest choreographer com in a few years to choreograph a large group hip hop for the older girls. It was titled We're Gonna Rock and it was a mix of songs that talk about rock and roll. We wore leggings, combat boots, a red sparkly bra, and a leather vest or jacket of our choice.

Secondly, I did a Jazz dance to She Bangs by Ricky Martin. It was a salsa like style and we wore a red sparkly corset black shorts, fish nets, and a red rose in our hair. This was a fun number to perform and the red costume really added to that.

Next, for a Musical theater number we did Bring On the Men. We dressed like house maids and we had a table with fancy place settings, chairs, and big rings on our fingers. there were only four of us in it so the prop really fit well and we all had our own chairs to dance on and play the part of a maid. I, at one point used a feather duster. It was fun to get into a character with such a cute costume to go off of. 

For a lyrical dance I was in a number called River. It was actually a duet with one of my best friends, Gabbi. The song was all about frienship and always being there for someone. It was my last year dancing with her so it was very emotional for us to finally do a duet. We wore a simple, yet elegant two piece off white floral piece with blue to all the river like style to it. 

Synchronization

In dance it is important to keep in step and in time with the other dancers. In a group number all the dancers have to look like the are dancing as one. There are portions of a dance, though, that the dancers break off and do different things. But for the most part, dances are done together. For the sake of entertainment dancers break off so that the number remains interesting. If all the dancers do is everything the same and together it becomes uninteresting. Therefor, solo parts are incorporated and dancers do different things at the same time so the audience has more to watch.  Keeping together in those times that are together can be very complicated. In my experience there have been dances that have many different ages and levels of dance. in those instances having a synchronized group portion in more difficult because not everyone has the same skill level and not everyone can do the same moves. Sometimes dances have been divided into two parts that are similar and done together for the differnent levels. this way it looks like everyone is doing the same thing but there is a different in the movement. Synchronization in dance is very important otherwise the dance looks sloppy and messy this goes along with technique and quality of performance.

Judgement Time!

You perform all your dances in from of 3 to 6 judges that are experts in their field of dance. The competition are judged the same way they are performed. The award ceremony are divided by age and sometimes there will be three awards a day for each age. The dances go by average age of the dancers in them. That's why as a teen and senior soloist you may still be in different aged dance numbers based on the average with the younger kids in the dance. Each dance that is performed gets an award like (from highest to lowest) platinum, gold, silver, or bronze.

Some dances get overall, normally top ten, and those are the highest out of all the award given out in that age. Overalls are not based on category normally, although some competitions give category cups which re the highest dance in that style like jazz, lyrical, hip hop, and so on. Some competitions give out stars rather than gold, silver, and bronze to each dance. Dances are judged based on performance. technique, showmanship, and style, some competitions vary. That is a bit about how dance competitions are judged.

Competition Time

My favorite thing about dance was competing. to be a dance you do not have to go to competitions. I know many great dancers that didn't compete like I did. Basically at a competition they go by age, category, and by group size. The ages of the average competition are mini (2-6), junior (7-11), teen (11-15), and senior (16-19). A competition, depending on how many studios register and how many numbers there are, can last up to 4 days. 

Solos go on day one from youngest to oldest in categories. Duos and Trios go the next day by age followed by small group, large, and lines the nest couple days. The largest competition I have been to had thousands of dances. In bigger cities that's normal. I have only competed in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas so they usually only go a weekend. The competitions I went to most were Starpower, Talent on Parade, Nextar, and Bravo. I went to about 5 a year beginning in February and ending with nationals in June. I have gone to bigger national competitions in Florida, Sandusky, and Las Vegas which are normally the bigger competitions that last a week out of the summer. Starpower is the largest competition i have attended in my time as a competition dancer. 

picture by Starpower National Talent Competition 

Dress to Impress

Costume also has an impact on the routine. Whether you are being judged or not it's great to have a sort of costume to go with a dance number. Jazz has a wide variety of costumes depending on what fits the dance. I have worn trench coats for a mysterious jazz and it was very fun! That was a very serious dance, I have worn a leggings and a sparkly sport bra for a sassy jazz. Really there is no and to the costume possibilities. Lyrical costumes can vary too. I have worn a flowy dress for a pretty number and i have worn shorts with a skirt and a lace bra for a more serious lyrical piece. the most fun costumes are musical theater type costumes depending on the song you get the opportunity to wear anything or dress up. I always loved dressing up like a character. For hip hop its usually more street style of clothes, sometimes even jeans if you do less movement. I have worn leggings, combat boots and a leather vest for a rock themed hip hop which was my favorite hip hop dance I've done.  Here are a couple of websites that have catgories that go with styles of dance.
http://www.discountdance.com/
https://www.weissmanscostumes.com

Face It

Performance is a very important aspect of dance. Along with your body movements, your face plays a large role in the performance. I have don't sad dances and the very happy ones. It is important to use your face otherwise you look uncomfortable or boring. Sometimes if a dancer has a great facial performance the small mistakes they make in the movements wont matter as much. Don't leave it all up to one dancer int the group either. With a solo, of course you are the only one that has a performance. With a group, although, every dancer needs to have the right facial features. Most dances a smile will suffice. My dance instructors used to say that if you don't know what to do, smile. depending on the song and style the faces differ. With lyrical it's usually a more subtle smile or comfortable face. With jazz the face can be anything from a big cheesy smile to an angry piece. It is very important that your face shows that you are comfortable and know exactly what your are song even if you make a few mistakes.

Some of my experiences

Since I just did a post about how dance has changed me as a person and giving me confidence, I thought I'd share some of my experiences in the styles I have already talked about. Like I said my personalfavorite is Lyrical and I did many solos in the lyrical style.  This first picture is of my lyrical solo my senior year of high school it was to a poem with no music called The Slant.

picture by Talent on Parade National Talent Competition

 My favorite lyrical group I have performed was called Lamentation it was a sad form of lyrical that is what the second picture is from. It was a small group meaning there were 4 to 10 people on stage and in this case there were 6 people.

Talent on Parade National Talent Competition 

 I have done many jazz numbers as well one of my favorites was a line, which means there were over 20 people in the number. It was to a mix of kesha songs. Most lines are a mix of may songs that have a theme with them and they can sometimes be like a small play. They are usually about 5 to 6 minute long dances with people going on and off stage to allow breaks while other ages dance. Here is a picture of my Kesha routine.

Talent on Parade National Talent Competition 

One more jazz number I have done was called Red football. Kesha was an upbeat fun jazz number, but this one was more softer with hard beats to hit. We had a prop in this dance. It was a large cage that we danced on top of and inside.

Talent on Parade National Talent Competition

Open Up

Dance requires a sense of knowing who you are and really impending up and leaving it all on the floor. I struggled with this as a kid. Dance has been a very important part of my life! One of the reasons I decided this blog was to show the wide variety of dance and the abundance of aspects that come with it. People think that it's all ballet and tutus when it's so much more dynamic than that!  I wouldn't be the person I am today without it! Dance has a way of healing. I took a class from someone who was a dance therapist once and it was the most interesting thing. She used dance to really make us feel things and let go. It takes a lot for me to break out of my shell and I believe that dance did that for me. I was very shy to the point where I wouldn't even talk to my relatives out of town when I visited them until like the second day we were there. They were my family and I was still too shy to talk to them.

I started opening up more in middle school and even more in high school because I had a place like my studio that taught me no one was judging me and I could open up. I believe dance taught me how to open up and be myself. I am still quiet natured, but I don't consider myself shy anymore. If you talk to me I will talk back and I'm not afraid. I won a national title with the confidence dance gave me!  Dance taught me to open up and have individuality and not to care what others think and it will forever be part of my life.

Hip Hoppin'

Hip hop is a style of dance that uses the beats and rhythm of the music almost to the tee. There are many styles of hip hop like pop and smoothie hip hop. I, personally don't have as much experience in the style of hip hop, but I've done a few combinations and learned moves at various conventions. Hip hop is a difficult style to achieve in that it requires your body to isolate all parts. Some hip hop dancers are considered animators. They use there body and isolation a to create illusions and robotic like movements. Another type of hip hop in the crunk style. It seems to look messier in the movements compared to some styles of hip hop dancing. Here is a video example of a hip hop dance that is considered animating. It is performed by Twitch and Cyrus and it is called  robotic animation. 

Confidence is Key

As a dancer I have gained a lot of confidence. Like I said, I was a very quiet kid and dance was a great way to get my personality out there and shine. I do not, however, have a competitive nature as some think. I have won some and lost some and I'm perfectly okay. I enjoy dance because of the confidence in myself that I have gained. It shows when you dance whether you are comfortable adn confident. Keep your head up no matter if you stumble and fall. I have fallen or messed up more times than I can count, believe me. It makes it easier if you just get up and brush it off and know it happens to everyone. In a competition there are those girls who think they are the best and they may become intimidating, but if you have confidence in yourself it doesn't matter because the most confidence dancers are the ones that shine the brightest.

Tip Tap Shape

Tap is another form of dance. One of the most famous tap dancers is Fred Astaire. He is most famous for dancing and theatrics. It's a very particular type done with leather shoes with aluminum taps on the toe and heels. Tap is a rhythmic dance where the taps of the shoes make rhythms to go with the music. It take a special dancer to excel in tap. 

Image of Fred Astaire from http://banyuleperformingarts.com/

I took tap most of my life, but it was more of a side thing. I never really pursued it. Music with a good, solid beat is ideal for tap. I have seen some tap dances with no music at all, The dancer creates the beats and the rhythm with the taps. It's a very cool thing to see a nice, solid tap dance. The taps create a pattern. There are many steps involved in a tap dance basic and the more complicated ones. Here is an example from So You Think You Can Dance! The girl in the video, Gabby, actually won this most recent season.

Warming Up

With all other sports, dance requires the dancer to do a thorough warm up before beginning routines or class. Warm up usually starts with stretching. You have to do a series of stretches in order to get your muscles able to move with your body as you dance. If you do not stretch you  have the potential to tear a muscle by stretching it too fast without the proper warm up. Every muscle in the body is used during dance so the average class has almost an hour set aside to stretch and warm up. The warm up may include crunches or sit ups because the core of the body is worked extremely hard during dance. It may also include in place pirouettes and leaps across the floor. Basically, the class consists of the small parts of dance that come together to form the whole dance.

Life of Lyrical

Lyrical dance is my personal favorite! I have done many, many lyrical dances, small and large, groups. I have also done lyrical solos throughout my life that I have competed as well. I enjoy it because there is so much emotion involved whether it's a happy song or super sad song. I love the fluidity of the movement and the style of the dancing. I enjoy watching lyrical and seeing all the strength in the movement and all the different stories. Lyrical dancing does just that, it is meant to tell a story in some way whether the story be easy to understand or more encrypted like if the song has no words or something.

 It is called lyrical to go along with the word lyrics (if there are any) sometimes there are stories told by dancing to just a strong piece of music without words, but it still has a meaning or story. Most likely, though, there will be lyrics and the dancer uses the words to help feel the emotion and tell the story. I have been pretty shy throughout my life, but being on stage telling a story and feeling like people were listening was almost easier than talking. Usually slow songs with softer movements. Sometimes, however, there are songs with more beats and sharper movements considered lyrical beacuse of the movemnet quality.

Here is my all time favorite dance from So You Think You Can Dance! It was on season 2. Danced by Travis Wall and Heidi to the song Calling You. It's about a girl trying to giver her love in the form of a flower to a young man and he cannot accept it. It's a great use of story telling and sybolism I love it every time i watch so i want to share it with you! The Bench 

On Pointe

If your are advanced in ballet there is the option to go on pointe. Point is when the dancer advances from just flat ballet slippers to shoes that have a block at the toe in order for the dancer to balance on the toe of their shoe. I say it is an option because I, personally, did not do ballet much. I tried it when i was younger, but it wasn't for me so i remained on flat shoes throughout my dancing career. If you are a ballerina, per say, you will most likely go on pointe because ballet is what you decided to be the main focus of your dance life. I have many friends who went to a ballet school that are advanced on pointe and have been in shows and have participated in ballet productions on pointe. I love ballet, but my studio was more of a competitive lyrical or jazz studio. We did, however, take ballet twice a week in order to maintain the important aspects of dance that come from ballet.


Image from the American Ballet Theatre gallery
Choosing the right pointe shoes is a process. I have chosen pointe shoes only twice, but I have learned about the important aspects of picking the right shoes. Here are a couple of details put into looking for new pointe shoes.  They must be tight to your foot;although it is important to have wiggle room in the back near the heel to allow your foot the be comfortable. They should fit your toes comfortably and not squeeze them otherwise they will not allow gooddance quality. they must fit to your foot almost perfectly so many dancers spend almost hours in the dance store having someone experienced help them try on shoes because if your going to do a lot of pointe you do not want your feet to be in pain and possibly injure yourself. If you are curious to learn more about ballet shoes her is a video by the New York City Ballet

Ballet

Ballet is what all other forms of dance are based off of. It is the most important lesson to have as a dancer or if one aspires to be a great dancer. All of the other styles of dance are the same steps that you may learn in ballet. It makes up the execution of all other forms of dance. Ballet is a series of movements based on strength, poise, and technique. Ballet terms are in French, and it is a very good idea to also know them in English. A good ballet student is well educated on the terms of ballet. Here is a link to ballet terms and their translations as an example provided by the American Ballet Theatre

The ballet class begins with a warm up at barre. A barre is put into place to assist with balance as the dancer performs the warm up exercises such as plie (to bend), and tondu (to stretch). The ballet class normally has an hour of such exercises using the legs and arm movements, It is done mostly in place. When the barres are moved, the ballet terms are put together to form a combination in the center of the floor to form a small routine, Across the floor is also popular in ballet where the dancer uses movements in the combinations to move from one side of the floor to the other.

The ballet dancer typically wears pink tights and a black leotard to class sometimes paired with a skirt depending on the instructors preference. The goal is to have all the dancers look the same to make them dance in unison with one another. Ballet shoes can be leather or canvas and fit tight to the foot as they may stretch out with wear. I prefer canvas as they are cheaper and move better with the foot.

I, personally prefer other styles over ballet. I didn't do many ballet dances in my competitive time, but I took ballet classes twice a week and knew it was very important for me to improve as a dancer.  Here is an excellent ballet dance that inspired me as a dancer.  Ballet Dancers

Intro to Style

Dance is an art form. It has many different styles from ballroom to hip hop or street dancing. I, personally, do not have a background in ballroom unless you count partner dancing for choir shows in high school. I want to talk about the styles I am familiar with and then go into detail in upcoming posts. I have been doing ballet since I was five, and I have dabbled in a bit of hip hop. My personal favorites are jazz and lyrical. Every different style of dance requires different technical elements and have their own styles within them. Take jazz, for example. Slower jazz exists as well as hard hitting, faster jazz. There is soft, more beautiful, lyrical as well as lyrical that has more beats or possibly no music at all.

 I love to watch So You Think You Can Dance on TV so I'll continuously provide links to dances that I, personally, enjoy and may go along with the different styles of dance. Dance has different aspects of strength as well as endurance that is necessary to keep moving and pushing forward. Dance competitions exist all over the country that men and women attend to show off their style and possibly win a national title.

Dancing through Life: An Intro to my Blog

Hi, my name is Amelia Wynn and I am the author of my personal blog, Dancing through Life. I believe I am an "expert" and that I have a lot of valuable information on the topic of dance because I am a dancer and have been dancing competitive since I was four. I also did high school and my college dance teams. Before that, I was in a dance studio watching my sister dance and do gymnastics.

Dancing through Life is an informative blog that gives you a peek into the world I grew up in that revolves around dance. I will inform and also give some advice on the world of dance. From hip hop, to ballet you don't have to be the best dancer to enjoy dancing.  Dance has been the biggest aspect of my life. I enjoy dancing and researching dance and have done my fair share of dance related essays and projects. I hope you get something out of it,and I look forward to sharing my knowledge on dance.