dancewinn

It’s just about that time of year again. The time where everyone is scrambling around making last-minute adjustments, getting everything they need to done before the big day. Only this scramble doesn’t involve long line-ups – unless you count the line-ups for the mirror to check out costumes, hair, and make-up, or the line-up to get tickets ripped at the door of the theatre. I’m not talking about Christmas shopping here. I’m talking about our annual Winter Concert.

We used to try to be as politically correct as possible. No Christmas songs, only wishing people a happy holiday or season’s greetings… then last year we decided to take a different approach. Why not just celebrate who we are through the dancing we do? I decided we should end the show with the statement, Merry Chrismakwanzaka… because really, why not?

Dance is a form of art, and you always have a chance to offend someone. Maybe that move was too suggestive? Maybe she doesn’t look right doing that kind of dance? Will they think that I’m putting their child in the back row because I don’t like her? Because he isn’t a good enough dancer?

And yet, something as simple as a time of year when you actually have a chance to be happy and need little reason to be that way gets thrown to the wayside so no one feels offended. I don’t know if I’m the only one who finds this funny?

I’m just glad that our studio has been able to get past the religion/culture issue for our winter concerts to simply express ourselves the way we want to at this time of year. We have a Jewish boss, some of our staff is Christian, some spiritual, and some believe in nothing… so why not just agree and disagree and celebrate that? Why not give our audience the chance to decide if they’ll be offended by the type of music they hear, or the dance moves they see, or the fact that their kid is in the back row?

My variety students are doing a fantastic job working toward the concert. This year they’re performing “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” and much to my delight, none of them think it’s just a song their grandparents listen to at Christmas. They were all excited to perform this song when I introduced it to them and thankfully, they’re all still very much into it now. We’ve even created on-stage persona’s for them.

Every year, I perform a singing solo at the winter concert. This year I’ll be performing “Out Here on My Own” from Fame. This is the first year that I’ll be singing while a dance is being performed. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out but I’m always up for a challenge.

This is also the first year that I won’t be dancing in the show. My dance life has started to take a back seat to my school life. I don’t mind. I just see it as another new challenge that I have to get through. It will definitely be weird not running around like a chicken with my head cut-off on and off stage every 5 seconds.

I am also emceeing the show for the very first time.

I recently realized that my two worlds- the dance one, and the communications one- have always and will continue to be intertwined… I don’t think I’ll ever have to completely give up one to take-on the other, I think dancing will just take a more recreational place in my life and communications will become my work.

I’m sure at this time of year everyone has been thinking about what to get those special people in their lives for Christmas… or of you’re like me you wait until the last second and freak-out at the mall 5 days before Christmas when everything is sold out and all your “great ideas” were bought a long, long time ago.

I thought I’d get myself into the Christmas spirit by putting together a list of things you could potentially buy for the dancer in your life… and mom, if you’re reading this, these are all  things I’d love to see under the tree this year!

I’ve always been a fan of the work of Degas. His gorgeous renditions of water colour ballet dancers evokes a feeling almost like being on that stage myself. I’ve seen plenty of prints of his work at places like Kite and Caboodle in the Johnston Terminal at the Forks.

Why not a Sigg water bottle or a coffee mug with a dance motif? I found some great ideas at cafepress.ca. I really liked the saying “It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer”… aww, how sentimental!

How about a gift certificate to their favourite dance supply store? Our shoes are constantly getting worn out and we can always use another body suit. My tights last about 2.2 seconds.

If you know the dancer’s dance shoe size (many manufacturers have now moved to labelling ballet shoes in the same sizes as street shoes… which makes life a lot easier) you can head over to Mallabar or Harlequin and snap up a pair or two. I would stay away from trying to buy pointe shoes for ballerinas because the sizing there is crucial and every foot is different.

Tuition is expensive, if you’re looking for a gift for a struggling student/dancer like myself nothing is better than having an outlet for your stress that you don’t have to worry about paying for yourself.

I WOULD LOVE A LULULEMON GIFT CERTIFICATE ANY DAY OF THE YEAR… but since it’s Christmas and you’re all in the giving spirit.. why not fork over $100 so that I can use it toward a pair of pants that makes me feel like air when I’m dancing and are so incredibly flattering I wonder why every article of clothing in the world isn’t made out of it. They may be expensive but they’re also amazing!

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is back with their traditional production of the Nutcracker this year. Tickets start at $23.50 and go up to $86.50 for those 12 years and up. Children’s tickets range from $18.50 to $86.50. The RWB also has subscriptions available. A four performance subscription starts at $100.

There are tons of dance movies out there as well. Some of my favourites include Dirty Dancing, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Center Stage

Of course, we can’t forget the Musical Theatre dancers out there… We’re talking about Chicago, Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge where both the singing and the dancing come together so well, you almost believe it’s normal to break out in song at random times throughout your day.

I just haven’t been able to get J-Lo’s wipe-out on the AMA’s off my mind. I guess if your in the frame of mind that any publicity is good publicity (ahem… Kanye) then I guess J-Lo’s little ker-splat has worked wonders. Since she married Mark Anthony and had her twins, Max and Emme, she hasn’t seen much of the celebrity spotlight. This got me thinking about other mishaps that have taken place in dance/performances. Let us reminisce… shall we?

Janet Jackson… You most likely know what I’m talking about, but just in case you didn’t see the ummm… slip… I’ll tell you a bit of the background. Janet Jackson’s famous wardrobe malfunction took place during the half time show of the XXXVIII Superbowl in 2004. She was performing an intense (and sexay, yes I meant sexay) duet with Justin Timberlake. At the end of the performance Timberlake ripped off Jackson’s top and her right breast complete with nipple cover was fully exposed to millions, upon millions of viewers. This event led to a debate on what can and should be considered indecent on television. In the end, CBS was fined $550,000 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Jackson and Timberlake had a lot of explaining to do for a very indecent nine-sixteenths of a second!

Beyonce… In July of 2007, Beyonce was performing a concert in Orlando, Florida. The singer was wearing a long trench coat and heels and was full out Sasha-Fiercing-it on stage when she took a massive tumble. According to clickorlando.com, one audience member said, “We saw that she was pumping her hair around and really into with her trench coat and high heels and as she proceeded to come down the stairs, she tripped on her coat and it seems like she fell on her collarbone and face, sliding down about 12 stairs,” the woman said. I’ve got to say, I may not be the biggest Beyonce fan in the world but I give her massive kudos for sticking to the cardinal rule of dancing. She got up and kept dancing like the embarrassing fall never even happened. I’m thinking I should use this video as a teaching aid. I could use it to show my students an example of what to do if you fall on your face in front of a massive crowd of people… or the more likely occurrence of your shoe coming undone, or even your costume falling off.

Scarlet? The name of the YouTube video says it all. “Scarlet Takes a Tumble” is probably one of the most painful experiences you’ll see this year… her pride, and her tail-bone seem to be incredibly damaged. I do have a few questions for dear Scarlet all involving the thought processes that led up to this mind-blowing event. I fractured my tail-bone dancing once too… and I couldn’t sit for 6 months- I didn’t fall on the edge of a coffee table, so I can only slightly imagine the sheer pain she was in after her fall… oh well, like I said publicity is publicity… and now we all know who Scarlet is.

I wish I had video of all the times I’ve had wardrobe malfunctions or taken tumbles, or even completely forgotten a dance when I’m front row and centre… My pride is grateful for the fact that MOST of these glorious mishaps haven’t been caught on tape.

I finally revisited the twitter account I created over the summer. Some people tweet all the time… their last update is 3 minutes ago. Mine was 2 months ago.

The only reason I really got a twitter account in the first place is because I’m studying Public Relations, and like any committed communicator I figured I needed to be on top of all aspects of the social media/web 2.0 world. I figured if I knew the basics I would be more of an asset to potential employers. Then I actually tried to use twitter on my own. I soon realized I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and promptly decided I would not cheat on Facebook.

Flash forward to Monday afternoon, PR class – where we were assigned a Twitter lab. I was excited at first because I was slightly ahead of the game – I had an account. But what good is a twitter account when you can’t remember the password?

Several tries later I finally remembered the magic password.

I proceeded to learn that those little symbols that seemed like typos on people’s tweets (like #, RT, D, etc.) actually meant something. We even got a handout for those of us who are visual learners… which is good because I probably still couldn’t tell you, without looking at my handy-dandy handout, what #crecomm means (except I think it has something to do with categorizing messages, maybe?)…

This comes from the google search engine listing for twitter:

“Twitter is without a doubt the best way to share and discover what is happening right now.”

This new twitter addict would have to agree.

But reading further into it the last two words of that statement, I can’t help but think… Twitter is the best “right now”… so what’s next?

Twitter has kind of made the meaningless in life become meaningful, hasn’t it? Really, why should I care that Joe from Alberta just trimmed his toenails, or for that matter that Heidi Montag (of the Hills “fame”) is cooking dinner for her husband for the umpteenth time this week? Yet, even though it annoys me, I’m still hooked- checking my account every 5 minutes.

Maybe it’s just the novelty of it right now that’s got me so initially invested? I guess only time will tell… I’m going to go see if I have any new followers.

The TV Guide Network will be airing a 12-hour dirty dancing marathon on Christmas day. According to an article on popwatch.ew.com,“Currently, the 12-hour Dirty Dancing marathon is planned as a special one-time event for Christmas day; however, depending on the response we may very well keep this as an annual tradition.”

Ok, maybe this is an awesome idea and I love that it will be a tribute to Patrick Swayze but even I couldn’t watch 12 hours of this movie (have I mentioned its on of my absolute all-time favourite movies ever?) without wanting a little change in scenery. Now, if they flip-flopped back-and-forth between the original and “Havana Nights” (where Swayze makes a cameo as the dance instructor – my how magical, he’s the first Benjamin Button, getting younge as everyone else grows older) who shows Romala Garai’s character (Katey) that she isn’t talentless and can shake her thing like any sultry latin dancer) then I think they’d have a winner.

I don’t want this to cheapen the love I have for Dirty Dancing…

Maybe it’s because Christmas day in my family is jam-packed with festivities that I don’t understand the boredom that can ensue on a holiday where everything is shut down (especially for those of us who don’t celebrate Christmas). Perhaps there will be a broad audience of people who have nothing else to do but watch the same movie 6 times in one day?

At least this year, I can talk all six of my female cousins into watching something more entertaining than watching them play guitar hero for hours on end… Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing at all.

Aaron Carter is one of the leading contestants on Dancing with the stars and I’ve got to admit, I was a little astonished to see him doing so well in the spotlight.

Although part of my still sees him in all his pre-teenage cuteness, at a time when I had a major crush on Nick Carter’s little brother. Back when I wished I could join Aaron’s party and that he would be singing to me.

Then he disappeared until news of his hard-partying ways hit the tabloids as the party scene took its toll on cute little Aaron, the former child celeb’s career- and life, for that matter- took an unfortunate nosedive.

Who’d have thought the littlest Carter would have swung out of his hard-partying ways and onto the dance floor? This is the second week in a row that Aaron and his partner, the freshly un-engaged Karina Smirnoff (wonder if ex-fiance Maksim Chmerkovskiy and dance partner Debbie Mazur will step it up?) have been at the top for the past two weeks. Looks like little Aaron is all grown up… but will he be the next comeback kid?

The Foundations of Classical Ballet Technique

Background: The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) publishes this book. The RAD was established in 1920 by a small group of well-known dancers brought together by Philip Richardson, former editor of ‘Dancing Times’. These dancers “represented the principal dance training methods of the time. It was their concern for the poor quality and badly organised state of dance training in Britain at the time that led to the emergence of the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain” (rad.org.uk). The company grew and in 1935, King George V granted the association a Royal Charter, which allowed them to be called the “Royal Academy of Dancing.”

Price: $85.00

Availability: only available radcanada.org/radstore

Currency: first published in 1997, still used today

Comprehensiveness: “This book presents the foundations of classical ballet technique. It defines what the basic elements, positions, and movements are, explains why they are important, and describes how they are to be performed…” (5)- if you already know how to dance and are training to become a dance instructor.

Ease of use: this book is light, and portable at only 116 pages it is not textbook-like.

Defects or omissions: very well written from a dancer’s/instructor’s perspective

User’s experience: I found this book very helpful and easy to use; I was lucky that we have this book on file at the studio I work at since I wouldn’t be happy to pay $85 for a book (although it is an asset). This is not a book for beginners, you would need a background in dance, particularly in ballet to know how to navigate through the book if you weren’t sure what exercises/moves you needed. I don’t think this would be a good editing tool if you were writing a piece on the ballet, unless you had some prior knowledge of classical ballet, or trained dance.

The Ballet Book

Background: This book was written by Darcey Bussell, principal dancer with The Royal Ballet since 1989, in conjunction with the Royal Ballet based in London, England. The Royal Ballet is based out of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The Royal Ballet has been around since 1931 and is considered “Great Britain’s most prestigious ballet company” (roh.org.uk/).

Price: $9.44 with taxes at Chapters Indigo

Availability: available at Chapters Indigo, Coles, and McNally Robinson, as well as online at all those stores

Currency: first published in 1994, then in 2000, and this version in 2006.

Comprehensiveness: This guide has been written for the young dancer, especially those who are just getting into the ballet-world, which makes it the perfect handbook for a writer who has no dance or ballet background. It is written in a clear and concise manner, which makes it very appealing, but I find that the pictures make it too busy- I wasn’t sure where to look first. Photographs of real dancers performing each exercise is helpful and beneficial since it will more closely resemble what an audience member would see in real life, since the illustrations in the “foundations” book are too idealistic.

Ease of use: This book is a great size for clarity in the pictures but if it was pocket-sized I think it would be much more practical (the type is very big and could be sized-down a great deal). Since it is a print version it can be taken along anywhere. Being only around 65 pages it is thin and light, which makes it more easily portable as well.

Defects or Omissions: I think this is a great book for people who don’t know a lot about ballet, but I think they should show that most, if not all of the exercises they showcase are not done in segments but rather are performed smoothly, flowing through each position because this could throw someone off who wouldn’t otherwise know to look for smooth transitions.

Users’ experience: I enjoyed this book, especially as a dance instructor. I thought the glossary on page 62 was very helpful because it helps to talk out the steps to see them sometimes.

Overall, for an editor, who has no experience in ballet, I believe it would be beneficial to use both The Ballet Book and The Foundations of Classical Ballet Technique. I think each have omissions that the other book makes up for. Since The Ballet Book is written for newcomers to the ballet world it describes things in a way that I think the “foundations” book fails to. Though for layout and navigating purposes I believe “foundations” is clearer. The Ballet Book was slightly more concise and the coloured photos are more helpful than the supremely idealistic depiction of the exercises illustrated in the “foundations” book. The low cost of this book, and wide accessibility is another bonus. So, if I had to choose, The Ballet Book would win.

On Friday, Oct. 30 Promenade Dance Academy and CrossFit Winnipeg will be throwing a Halloween Thriller Social to benefit the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.

Approximately 20 dancers from Promenade Dance Academy have devoted time during their much-deserved summer vacation and several Sundays from the beginning of September until the end of October to work on a piece to the Michael Jackson hit, Thriller. The dance is choreographed by Tobi Leveille, director of Promenade Dance Academy.

Throughout the night a special group of dancers will be performing a Thriller dance for social-goers.

Tickets are $10, costumes are encouraged. This is a family-friendly event, people of all ages are welcome. Hope to see you there!

Update: The Halloween Thriller Social was a success! We were able to donate money to the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation. We were so fortunate to have the support of such great dancers, parents, family, and friends. Thanks to everyone who attended!

Oh, and the dance went off without a hitch!

Winnipeg’s own Rusalka, Ukrainian dance group have been rehearsing and performing for their new show Razom. The show features a 90-person ensemble with Ukrainian dance groups from Calgary and Edmonton joining Rusalka on Nov. 1 at the Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall (2 p.m.).

I’ve seen Rusalka perform and it’s always an amazing feat. Go see this!

Looks like CBC has their own version of dancing with the stars, with a Canadian twist. They’re adding a little ice, a little blade, and pitting male hockey players against female figure skaters in Battle of the Blades .

Sandra Bezic, a five-time Canadian pairs figure skater who is well known for her choreography, plays producer and judge on this show.

Contestants have the chance to win up to $100,000 for charity.

The show, now into it’s 3^rd week runs on Sundays and Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.