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