Monday, November 24, 2014

Learn Ballet: How to do a pas de chat!

Literally translated, pas de chat means "step of the cat."

The sideways traveling step mimics the movement of a leaping cat.





This is how to perform the pas de chat, broken down, step-by-step:

The dancer starts by putting his or her feet in a third or fifth position.

Demi-plié, bring the back leg up to retiré position. Step out to the side into a second position

Bring the other leg up to retiré position. Place foot devant back in third or fifth position ending in plié.

Now try it by leaping from one foot to the other. Both legs should be brought into retiré together, almost at the same time.

(Italian pas de chat)

Variation - Italian pas de chat, or the grand pas de chat:
The front leg stretches out to a developpé and the back leg remains in retiré in the air.









Try this combination:
Glissade, glissade, glissade, pas de chat
Pas de bourree, sous sus
Repeat starting with the other foot.

Happy dancing!

Miss Tess
tessc@balletpetite.com

Friday, November 14, 2014

What makes us want to dance?

Why is it that we can't help but tap our toes or want to get up and dance when we hear certain songs?

One of 2014's hottest and most upbeat songs was definitely "Happy" by Pharrell. Even if we've heard the song 284,375,928 times on the radio, television, or kids belting it from the backseat of the car, you have to admit that it's a pretty catchy tune and your body just wants to jam out to it.

But there's actually a scientific reason as to why people like to dance to certain songs.

A study by neuroscientists in Denmark showed that certain gaps in the beat of music make our bodies want to fill in the extra space with dance. The rhythm does not necessarily need to complex, but the syncopation of the beats is what kicks our brains into dance mode. In fact, our brains make us want to dance because it predicts the beat of the song.

Other studies have shown that music activates the cerebellum of the brain, the same part that deals with timing and coordination. Even when we're watching someone dance, our brains are trying to predict what the next part of the dance is.

There are other theories that suggest that its simply our biology to have rhythm and want to dance - steady heartbeats, breathing, footsteps, etc.

So, turn on your favorite song, get up, and dance! It's in your nature to do so!

Happy dancing!




Miss Tess
tessc@balletpetite.com


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

"Should-be-obvious-but-apparently-is-not Dance Etiquette"

I stumbled across this fantastic article that a fellow dance instructor shared on Facebook.

The title intrigued me: (click to read the whole article for yourself)

"Should-be-obvious-but-apparently-is-not Dance Etiquette"

I love teaching. I love working with kids, both the itty-bitty ones and more advanced dancers. With the little ones, I can totally be much more lenient toward them. They are still learning rules and classroom decorum, and many have not started to attend school yet. I get it, and I can work with that. In fact, I am very happy to work with younger students in teaching them how to behave in dance class. Funny, and true, but sometimes my 4 year olds can behave better than my 7 or 8 year olds.

(Please forgive me for venting.)

With older students, its not that I am less tolerant or less nice, but I do expect more from them behavioral-wise, as any teacher really should. More experience in a social classroom setting in school should have engrained basic class rules into students' minds, but I am truly baffled sometimes by the behavior that my older students exhibit in the class. Not only am I confounded, but I end up incredibly frustrated and annoyed. I'm sure many other teachers share this same sentiment.

The article pointed out eleven really great and "obvious" things that students really shouldn't do during class. I just wanted to elaborate on a few of my favorites:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T the teacher
Teachers put in a lot of time and effort to make class a meaningful, and hopefully, joyful experience. Back talk and silly faces don't only affect the teacher, but it can ruin it for the whole class too.
I also find that some students think that dance behavior is different than school behavior. Would you act this way in front of your school teacher?
And, saying thank you at the end makes a teacher's heart soar.

 
No talking during class
Now, that doesn't mean no talking ever. Silent classes are no fun. Even I don't like them. I welcome questions and helpful comments. That signals to me that students were paying attention and genuinely want to do their best. But the incessant chit-chat and giggles between exercises are totally unnecessary and disrespectful. Save the talking for before or after class, or better yet, call each other!


Be on time!
I know that many kids today are enrolled in several different activities, and it can be a struggle to caravan from one to another to make it on time, and I know, sometimes there's the occasional traffic jam. But with any activity, there needs to be a level of commitment, especially when many parents invest a lot of time and money into activities like dance. Arriving to class late is very distracting. Not just for the student running into class late, but for the rest of the class. Students who come in to class late may miss very important warmups and stretches. My dance teacher, Miss Claudia would not let anyone join the rest of the class until they completed a plié and tendu exercise. She also did not allow anyone to interrupt by coming in during the middle of an exercise; they had to wait until it was finished before coming in.


Don't fix your hair/clothes in the middle of class
Hair and clothes can be very distracting for everyone of all ages.
Please, please, please, please, PLEASE get the hair tied back before walking into class. Miss Claudia was also very insistent that if you did not pull your hair back, she would do it for you... with masking tape. And believe me, she followed through on that promise.
Those shoes better be double knotted and tucked in.
Keeping the sweater on or leaving it off? Pick one and commit.
No, legwarmers don't go on your arms. No, please don't keep one on your arm and one on your leg.

Dance is meant to be fun and exciting. The little things can get in way and take away that experience. I encourage everyone to read the full article and keep all things in mind whenever they walk into a class. I promise that everyone will be able to get a lot more out of it!

Happy dancing!








Miss Tess
tessc@balletpetite.com