This year I attended 3 different events, all of which are mostly related to dance. However, though they are all similar in dance, the different styles of dance as well as the setting and conditions for which the dances occurred offered much to learn.
Thriller
2013
On
October 28th, the night of the Reno Zombie Pub Crawl, I performed in
the annual performance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller under the Reno arch. The performance was of the iconic dance from
the 1990’s legend, and was executed entirely by volunteers who were either
self-taught or participated in one of the many practices set up by event
coordinators. This was the 3rd
year in a row that I participated, and just like the years before I was
stationed in the front row for the performance.
The event typically boasts 100+ member participation and a 300+ captive
audience. Though the event was much
larger in scale, because the event had no entry costs and was fueled entirely
by volunteers, many of which who had no dancing backgrounds, the event was
marred with a couple interesting issues that smaller but more formal
performances typically did not have.
One
of the largest larger issues was dealing with stubborn performers or stubborn
parents of performers. With no entry
costs and no centralized standard of skill for the performance, there were many
who believed they had the right to the front row of the event. Though there were assigned volunteers to deal
with situating these people, dealing with them was too much of an issue. This led to a large amount of crowding
towards the front, with many who were either unskilled at the performance, not
dressed in costume, or otherwise unfit.
Despite
the issue of stubborn participants, the event was still a large success. Notably, the issue is not necessarily
exclusive to volunteer performances and the size of the event undoubtedly
compounded the issue. Overall though,
the Reno Thriller performance continues to be a wonderful and fun event that I
hope to attend while I am in Reno.
Hip-Hop
Dance Classes
Over
the semester I’ve managed tried two Hip-Hop dance classes. One of the classes was taught by an
instructor at the Heart and Sole Dance and the other was taught at the Sparks
Elite Dance Academy. However, despite teaching the same discipline, both
focused on entirely different aspects of Hip-Hop.
The
session at the Heart and Sole Dance Academy started with a quick warm-up to
loosen the joints, and then led into different techniques and principles that
compile Hip-Hop. For this specific
session, the instructor taught hitting, speed changes, isolation, fixed-points,
and miming. Hitting is the art of
leaving a movement relaxed, then tensing up.
This is essentially the basic building block into “pop and lock”. Speed changes are similar and start with a
quick movement that slows down, typically to match a tempo change or “drop”
within the music. Isolation is the
practice of isolating a single body part and moving that part without moving
the rest of the body. Fixed-points
anchors a body part to some point in space and moves the rest of the body
around. Isolation and fixed-points are
then combined into miming, which is just mimicking a mime.
The
session at the Sparks Elite Dance Academy started with an elongated warm-up to
get the blood flowing. Afterwards we worked on choreography for Will.I.Am’s
“Screen and Shout”. The choreography was
broken down into short sections. The
choreo for the first couple seconds where taught slowly and broken down step by
step. Afterwards it was taught faster,
and then once again to the music. After
the group got it down, the next part of the choreo was taught and so on.
Despite
being of the same practice, the two sessions were entirely different. Elite Dance Academy focused more the
different techniques and theories that comprised Hip-Hop, whereas the Heart and
Sole Dance Academy focused on the application of Hip-Hop and how it is appropriated
to fit the music. In the context of
learning and building up to be a Hip-Hop dancer, one builds the foundational
knowledge and the other builds the stamina and works one’s body to the music.
Argentine
Tango Class
Starting
in November, UNR was hosting an Argentine Tango Class in the KC Rotunda. Since I had taken a social dance class
before, I was quite interested in the class, especially since I had not yet had
experience with Argentine Tango specifically.
Argentine
Tango differed from many of the other social dances I had learned before. Despite having Tango in the name, it was far
different from the regular Tango. The
differences can best be illustrated through the “basic” step of each
dance. In regular Tango, the basic step
travels in one direction. Tango in
general is meant to be a dance in which all the dancers on the floor follow the
same line of dance, which is in a counter-clockwise direction around the floor. Argentine Tango, however, uses a “basic” step
that is more like the Waltz basic step.
The Waltz basic step, or “box step”, goes in 4 different directions,
typically following a box shape. The
Argentine Tango basic step however seems to take that box and stretch it
out. Whereas the Waltz starts with a
step forward, step to the side, step back, and a step to start back where the
couple started, the Argentine Tango starts with a small step back, a step to
the side, two steps forward, a step to the side, and a step back and ending a
bit further forward. Argentine Tango
also has a few nuances that are considered taboo in other forms of dance I have
learned. For instance, in each other
form of social dance, the couples mirror each other – a step with the left
forward with the left foot is met a step back with the right foot of the
other. However, in Argentine Tango, it
is legal for the couples to take crossed steps – the couples can both use the
same foot, and both take a step forward to cross legs.
Just
like any other social dance, Argentine Tango differs from the other dances
despite all being under the social dance umbrella. These differences all preserve the culture of
the dance’s backgrounds, but more importantly give me something to do with my
life.
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