The Dancing Soldier

Roman Baca went into the Marines in 2005 and 2006. He served in Fallujah, Iraq. Before he enlisted Baca was trained in both ballet and jazz. When he left to go to war he was pretty positive that he would never have the oppertunity to dance again. After returning from the Marines Baca made it his mission to bring ballet and battle with honesty, bravery and grace. Now 41 years of age Baca is the artistic director of Exit 12 Dance Company in New York.

Each dance he choreographs he makes a story. For example "One dance, "Conflict(ed)," tells the story of a mother waiting for her sons to come home from Afghanistan. Another piece is inspired by the places the mind wanders when on duty" The dances protray an emotional feeling to the audience and is truly unique.

Baca shows that both ballet and the military have things in common. "Each one requires devotion, rigor and intensity. Each one challenges the spirit along with the body. Each one forces you to come to grips with your own mental and physical limits."

Baca states, "And he hopes to return to Iraq as soon as possible. "We could go back with arms or we could go back with guns," said Baca. "But at the end of the day, how many young people are there in these refugee camps that need to be reminded that there is good in the world? That there is hope for a better future?"

work cited: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/03/roman-baca-dance_n_6753020.html?utm_hp_ref=dance

Misty Copeland

Misty Copland is Principle dancer at the American Ballet Theater. There are many things about her that make her stand out from other ballet dancers. She didn't start dance till the age of 13 because she didn't have the money for it and then once she became apart of the ABT she is the 3rd African American to be a soloist at the company over the past 72 years.

She is not only a beautiful dancer but she is a role model to other young girls. Copland was told many times that she didn't have the body to be a professional dancer because of her large bust and muscular body. She states, "You don't have to come from money or have a certain body type to fit into this wonderful, beautiful world that is ballet,"

Her passion for dance shows by the dedication she has for it. She gives young girls that grow up with not that much money hope of one day becoming a famous ballet dancer just like her.

Copland has gotten a lot of attention lately being a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" and other magazines.

Dancing With the Stars

Derek Hough of dancing with the stars has been on the show for seven seasons now. He's known for his great dances and being a great dancer himself. When the show gets to the middle of the season they always have the group dance. This is two groups going head to head. The groups consist of the top to dancers in the competition and then have them pick three other people to be in it with them, so each group has four stars and dancers. 


Each season he has been in when it came to the group dance his group always came on top. But this season he is not feeling so confident. "I won't say this week is crazy - I'm sure you're sick of hearing me say that. It's gonna be a patchwork week. We have our individual dance, the tango, which is looking good. We pretty much have the whole thing down and need to refine everything. Nastia is a quick learner and now that we're getting halfway through the season, I want to increase the difficulty in the routines, but it's tough to modulate since we're not together on the weekends."


We will have to toon in next week Monday to see if everything will come together and see if Derek's winning streak will finally come to an end.

Cite used-http://www.tvguide.com/news/dancings-derek-hough-blog-week5/

Size Isn't A Problem

A dance theater is performing Nothing to Lose. Fat activist, Kelli Jean Drinkwater, collaborated with Kate Champion to work on this performance. They wanted to show that even people who are considered over weight can dance and make it mesmerizing. They want to honor all body sizes and break the stereotype. Drinkwater states, "As an artist and a woman of size my creative practice and my body politics are inseparable..."

The performances shows real bodies in motion, and each person is wearing bathing suits and lingerer to show off their whole body. The show premieres on 21-25 January 2015 at Carriageworks.

So if you are looking for something new in fresh, where all bodies are appreciated and welcome, you should go out and see Nothing to Lose.
As a dancer there are so many stereotypes about how a dancer should look.From experience I have seen dancers go to drastic measures to get the "dancer body". This show is about accepting who you are and being happy with it.


Sources http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/kelli-jean-drinkwater_n_6456750.html?utm_hp_ref=dance

365 Photos

Dance is an art. There are many aspects of it that makes it beautiful but the best part is a still picture of dancers. When a picture can capture the beauty of dance it is amazing. One dancer/ photographer, Mickael Jou, made it his mission to go out and take 365 photos of dance poses around Berlin.

His pictures are truly captivating. Each dance pose goes with the setting which makes him look like he is apart of the background. He is trained in ballet and modern. Mickael used to dance in the streets of Paris entertaining people passing by.


Despite the title being "365 photos" he will not be taking them everyday, it will take around 3 years.
He states "My self-portraits help me express the emotions that I feel while dancing," he explained. "Dance is a very powerful art form, and I try to translate my emotions into my photography."


Many dancers have this same feeling. The only difference is that he has the ability to get it on a photo. Each photo being edited makes it look very professional and makes the viewer not want to look away.


Sites-- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/mikael-jou-365-photos_n_6867080.html?utm_hp_ref=dance

Why I Dance

There are many reasons why people dance. To escape reality, to become something new to

express themselves. The Huffington Post went out to ask the top 39 dancers in the world why they dance. They asked dancers from the American Ballet Theater, Ballet San Jose, the Kansas City Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Nashville Ballet, Abraham.In.Motion, the San Francisco Ballet and a children's studio in Hawaii.


To name a few of the famous dancers that took part in this is Maykel Solas, Alexandra, Basmagy, Kayla Rowser, Ommi Pipit-Suksun and my personal favorite Misty Copland. There answers were very true to the dancers they are. "I dance because I can become someone else on stage.", "I dance to be alive. Mind. Body. Spirit. And transmit that to others!", I dance because I want to make people FREE." and the quote that I liked the most was from Ryan Jolicoeur which said, "I dance because I have to.".


This dance campaign was really cool and I appreciate all the different responses that it got. All the answers show the influence dance has on people and how passionate a person can be about it. The 21st century gives dancers like me the ability to pursue it. There has been more and more opportunities for dancers with all the tv shows and the companies.


Sources- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/18/whyidance_n_6344090.html

Stay With Me

Youtube has been a big help to the dance world. It gives dancers a way to express themselves and share their talent with viewers from all over. The newest hit on Youtube has been the contemporary duo Emilio Dosal and Kelsey Landers. This dance is breath taken and has half a million views in not even a full day.

If the name Emilio Dosal sounds familar then you can probably remember him from the hit dance show "So You Thing You Can Dance." He was a contestent last season and got to the top 20. Emilio audtioned on the show with a hip-hop dance and this video is really suprising. We get to see him voulnerable and thats the beauty in it.

The video is to the song "Stay With Me" cover by Boyce Avenue. It was choregraphed by the two dancers, Emilio Dosal and Kelsey Landers. The video was done by John Shih, Gerald Nonato and Theerada Watcharaton.

The concept behind this video was to show love. It takes place in a apartment and the couple begins to argue sitting at a table and then dances through it. At the end of the video it looks like a happy ending and then when the music stops, the girl, Kelsey Landers, is seen walking with another guy. It is very emotional.

Dance part of the video is amazing. They manage to weave in and out of each other looking like they are one person and then away a second later. Kelsey's extensions are graceful and the way she dances with emotion is mesmerizing, which is the same for Emilio. I can't imagine how popular this video will be if in less then a day has half a million views.

Sources- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/12/emilio-dosal-stay-with-me_n_6848174.html

Dance Like You're Under Water

For most people dancing is a taught thing. You have to take classes to learn how to perfect the art. But there are always those talented few who are natrually gifted with the ability to dance. Adilyn Malcolm is an 11 year old girl who had put a youtube video up of her dancing, and she is one of those few.

She has never taken a class and is a self taught dancer. The way she moves looks like she is almost swimming. Her moves flow right after another, which takes true talent to do.

Dubstep is been becoming so much more popular lately, and it's people like miss Adilyn that make it mesmerizing. 

She has a few more videos on YouTube with many views and growing. If she keeps this up she will definitely be going places.

Sources: Selhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/20/adilyn-malcolm-dancing-dubstep-audacious-adi_n_6016678.html

Pointe Meets Technology

Over the years pointe shoes have developed greatly. More and more they have come out with new pointe shoes to fit and work with individual dancers. But now they have come up with a new pointe shoe called e-traces. These aren't your typical pointe shoes, they have built in technology to calculate and record movement. The things recorded goes onto an app that shows the mapping and choreography of the dancers feet. 

The designer of this, Lesia Trubat, appreciates the actions of dancers and believes that these shoes will transform the image of a dancer into a visual language. The shoe has electronic devices on the bottom and side of the shoe developed by "sewable electronics".

We have seen how technology has slowly been incorporated with dance. From solutes, to animations in the background. But Trubat combines both dance and technology allowing dance fans to interact with ballet in a new way. 

This is only the start to a new future for ballet and dance. I am eager to see what will come next. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/17/lesia-trubat_n_6148618.html?utm_hp_ref=ballet

http://www.self.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/e-trace-1.jpg

Dancing with the Stars

'Dancing With the Stars' is coming back for it's 20th season. This seasons cast is better then ever. Cast vary from Willow Shields who was Prim in "The Hunger Games" to Noah Galloway a Iraq war vet who is a double amputee. Also they have Patti Labelle, Rumer Willis, Suzanne Somers, Riker Lynch, Robert Herjavec, Michael Sam, Redfoo and Charlotte Mckinny. The stars will learn how to dance from their professional dance coaches/ partners, and will have to perform a different type of ballroom, along with contemporary dance, every week. 


The show is known for their breath taking choreography, and brilliant teaching skills. They show that literally everyone can dance, despite some not so good as others. When the  show comes back then the judges are along with it. The panel of judges are Len Goodman,Julianne Hough, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba. There had been speculations  of Len Goodman retiring after nineteen seasons of the show,  but that is not true. 

Monday March 16 is the set date for the return of the show on ABC. The eleven celebrities  and dancers are ready and excited for the new season to begin. 

Work cited- http://tvline.com/2015/02/24/dancing-with-the-stars-season-20-cast-patti-labelle-hunger-games/

http://www.wggb.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/dancing-stars-season-17-cast-lineup.jpg

Dance Intensives

Summer is approaching fast and for most people that means laying in the sun and relaxing but for dancers it means intensives. Dance intensives are a time for dancers to practice for hours. Most intensives are a couple weeks long from eight in the morning till six at night. But what intensive should you choose?

Depending on the type of dancer you are, the place to do an intensive will vary. The main types of dancing for intensives are ballet, jazz and contemporary. Some intensives will include all three and others will concentrate on just one. 

The Joffery Ballet School is known for their intensives. They are located in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Georgia, Chicago, Miami and Dallas. At Joffery the intensives are a good seven weeks, with grueling hours. But it is definitely worth it. There are many talented choreographers and teachers that come and help students be the best they can be. 

Auditions for this can be found on the Joffery Ballet School website: http://www.joffreyballetschool.com/audition-dates-and-locations.html


http://www.jccc.edu/files/img/press-releases/pas-11/joffrey-ballet-2-lo-res.jpg

Shen Yun

If you live in the Grand Rapids area you probably have heard by now about the Shen Yun Company. They have been advertising it everywhere, in the mall, at different stores and restraunts. If you haven't heard about this then you are at the right place.

Shen Yun company brings the Chinese culture out through dance. The performance uses beautiful tapestry and classical trained dancers. The orchestra blends both East and West, and they have amazing animated backdrops.

Chinese is known for their great spins, flips and peer grace. It is one of the most expressive art forms in the world. Shen Yun is a story-based dance. They protray stories from the past and present.

In 2006 a group of leading classical Chinese artists got together at New York to share the culture with the world. Many of the artist are winners of international competitions in dance, choreography and music.

So if you happen to live in Grand Rapids and want to see an amazing production check out Shen Yun at the DeVos on February 14 and 15. 

 Sources- http://peacecenter.s3.amazonaws.com/img/SY2015_Greenville_web-image_660x376.jpg

Sergei Polunin

You may have heard the new song "Take me to church" by Hoizer. But have you seen Sergei Polunin dance for it? He is a 25-year-old Ukrainian dancer, but he is also known as the Tatted-up "bad boy" of ballet and he is a former member of the British Royal Ballet. 

The dance was all improve and is quiet breath taken. It was posted just last week and has over 1.8 million views.  David LaChapelle directed this video and then uploaded it to YouTube. 

He's moves were flowing and went with every beat to the music. His grand jete's were so high and then his extensions just kept going. The emotion of the dance came off from his very first move and held out till the end. I am thoroughly impressed with how well this dance is and how many views he got in just a matter of a week. The "bad boy" of ballet defiantly  gave people who aren't even ballet lovers a look into what dance actually is, pure emotion. 

Sources-http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/moscow-ballet-star-sergei-polunin-in-stunning-hozier-video/515834.html 



The dance-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-tW0CkvdDI
http://cdn.designfather.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/sergei-hozier.jpg

Maddie Ziegler

You may know Miss Maddie Zieglar from the hit television show "Dance Moms" on Lifetime. She became a big hit on the show and then soon became a sensation. She had her first big break when she was the star of the music video "Chandelier" by Sia. The video got millions of views just in weeks. Sense then she has been in many interviews, some include, Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel. She was also in a new music video for Sia with Shia Labeouf called "Elastic Heart" which also got people talking.

The twelve year old  has become a social phenomenon. Her carrier has continued on television shows like "Austin and Ally" and "Drop Dead Diva". She has also had the opportunity to perform on "Dancing with the Stars" and "Saturday Night Live".

But what is so captivating about this little girl? Some may say it's her polished technique and her beautiful extensions. But the most captivating thing is her face. She knows how to pull in the audiences attention with her facial expressions. Maddie's acting on the stage is brilliant and she continues to wow people every time she performs.


Sources- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maddie_Ziegler
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7467/15845696866_a5aea09568_h.jpg

Raise the barre.

Hi! I'm Lara and this blog will be about dance. I am a dancer myself and I have a true passion for the arts. Posts will be weekly updated with new things every week. It will provide dance tips, whats going on in the dance world, perks of being a dancer ect. I'm excited start this blog and start raising the barre for dance.

Health Benefits of Dance

There are many things that make people healthy. Eating right, taking vitamins, going to the doctor, working out, ect. One of the most health beneficial things to do is dance.

All the different types of dance have different advantages. For instance ballet focuses on strength, technique and flexibility, were as hip-hop focuses on popping and locking. Jazz is high-energy, leaps and kicks, and ballroom is about being close to your partner and working on extensions . Despite all the different types of dances there are out there they all have one thing in common, they benefit your health.

Dancing is a fun way to get and stay in shape. There has been studies done that dance will keep you young because of it's benefits towards your heart, cardiovascular system and lung capacity. There is an estimate that dance can burn 5 to 10 calories every minute based on the intensity. The balance that dancers need are crustal, and it helps with core and avoiding injuries.

Not only is dance healthy for the body but it's healthy for the brain. Dance helps to improve memory with the steps that are required to learn, this increases mental exercise. Dancers also are very creative, with making dances up and figuring out ways to do certain moves with their body.

So next time you want to loose a pound or two, or having a more healthy brain just get up and start dancing.


Sources- http://www.dancescape.com/health-benefits-of-dancing
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Dance_health_benefits?open
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/healthy-eating-funny-little-pair-dancers-made-orange-slices-35924231.jpg