Character Dancing

This week I thought I’d share a little perspective on a type of dancing I used to do when I was younger, called character dancing. Character dancing is similar to folk dancing, because it represents special national dances in a formalized way. Character dancing is a common supplement classical ballet companies will incorporate into the curriculum because they teach expression of the body and face. Continue reading

Irish Dancing

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, today’s post will focus on Irish dancing!

In 1366 the Statute of Kilkenny imposed heavy penalties upon anyone practicing Irish customs, so traditional dancing was carried on in secret until the 1700’s. During that time Dance Masters would travel the countryside, one per district, teaching peasants how to dance. Several versions of the same dance started to appear all over Ireland. Over the years the dances were assembled and modified to be the four main types of Irish dances that we see today; the jig, reel, hornpipe, and set dances. Continue reading

Swing into Action

Thanks for the votes Tricia and Ramya! As requested, we’ll be learning about swing dancing today.

There are 3 major types of swing: East Coast, Lindy Hop, and West Coast. They’re all pretty similar, but East Coast swing music is usually 6-count while the Lindy Hop is 8-count. And West Coast swing is an evolved form of Lindy Hop. I like the Lindy Hop form the best, so that’s what I’ll describe how to do today!

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Spicing up the Rumba!

Voting is still open! I’d like to hear from you what you’d rather me go over: either the Cha Cha or Swing? It’s up to you! Just post your vote along with any questions you might have about this week’s dance in the comments section related to this post.

Today I’ll discuss 2 different steps to add variety to your Rumba: the New Yorker* and the New Jersey*. Continue reading

Mixing up the 2-Step!

Below I’ll describe a few ways to mix up your 2-step that’ll make for an interesting dance! In order to complete any of the moves below, you’ll need to have good frame that I discussed from last week. I have a video to accompany each step, but I apologize in advance for the video quality. Everyone involved was a little pressed for time due to exams this week. Continue reading

The 2-Step Basic

It’s time to put those protests of “I can’t dance, my feet just don’t move like that!” away, because I’ll be teaching you the 2-step today! This basic dance is as easy as walking because well, that’s just what you’re doing while dancing! The 2-step, that can be used in a wide variety of music (anything that’s 4/4 time), from Sweet Home Alabama to Waka Waka to Ain’t to Proud to Beg, I’m sure you’ll find a song that you can dance the 2-step too. Continue reading