November 2nd, 2011 — 1:47pm
Welcome to the new 2011/2012 Pair Dance’ Street Dance sessions blog post.
Many Thanks to all the attendees, parents and guardians that keep supporting our weekend programmes!
Use this space to discuss the dance sessions with your tutors and your colleagues.
Write your ideas for future performances … (Christmas performance ideas anyone?)
Parents, class attendees, audience and everyone connected to the programme, your feedback and opinions are very important to us. Please post your comments here!
Make sure you have a look at the video from our SummerBlast performance under the Creative Learning section.
Keep working hard and dancing harder! 
Iris Calheiros
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July 22nd, 2011 — 7:15pm
A huge thank you to everyone involved on the SummerBlast performance at the Watford Palace Theatre!
The success of this performance wouldn’t have been possible without your hardwork and support for the Creative Learning programme.
This new post serves to evaluate the SummerBlast performance and the other events the Creative Learning programme participated in this Summer – Town Parade, Big Picnic at Aberford Park and Family Day at Meadow Park!
Parents, class attendees, audience and everyone connected to the programme, your feedback and opinions are very important to us. Please post your comments here!
- How did you feel performing on the day? Describe to us your experience on the day.
- How did it feel to experience the overall dance show procedures?
(rehearsals,backstage,changing rooms, on stage,after performing)
- How do you feel we can improve the programme?
- How can we improve the classes for next semester?
- What other types of events/performances you would like to participate in?
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January 30th, 2011 — 6:36pm
Hi All.
Jodie and Sam have come up with some ideas for a performance theme:
Matrix
Blue Brothers
Robots being built on a conveyor belt…
Men in Black
Frankenstein
Sam & Jamie fight scene?
Solos
Could throw Sam for back sumi… add some gym stuffs
Give us your ideas and comments as we prepare for our next PERFORMANCE!!
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October 23rd, 2010 — 11:37pm
The pioneers of Modern and Contemporary dance created artistic expression in the form of dance, through their overt rejection of the traditional. They challenged popular consciousness through an avant-garde approach to movement. Isadora Duncan was a pioneer of free dance, and created an improvisational style of expressive dance far removed from the rigidity of ballet, performed to classical music. Her goal was to abstractly represent her emotional response to the music. Loie Fuller used dance to represent natural phenomena like plants and animals, through improvised movement, whilst another early pioneer, Ruth St Denis used elaborate costumes and lighting to explore ritualistic Asian religion.
In the late 1920’s Martha Graeme began to experiment with new forms of choreography, focusing on the breath pulse, and the expansion and contraction of the torso. Doris Humphrey used gravity as a defining feature of movement, exploring the concepts of fall and recovery, balance and imbalance. Both these choreographers shocked and angered the audience by devising stark, intellectual performances that challenged popular notion of dance as beautiful and graceful.
The third generation of choreographers like Merce Cunningham then began to challenge the traditions of expression and representation developed by their predecessors and so the rebellion continued! He created dances that expressed no theme or emotion and did away with the concepts of fall and recovery, expansion and contraction. Modern dance began to challenge the concepts of space and music; could be viewed from any angle, and steered away from choreographic patterns towards chance and the unexpected.
The pioneers of Modern dance paved the way for abstract expression and subversion which choreographers continue to build upon today. Themes of contemporary life such as gender, power, sexuality and the body are explored through movement, sound, space and visual effects. Modern dance has become a realm in which all the tools of artistic expression can be integrated visually and spatially; where boundaries are blurred and notions of the acceptable are challenged.
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September 25th, 2010 — 11:09am
Street dance is an umbrella term, used to describe dance styles that evolved outside of dance studios in everyday spaces such as streets, school yards and nightclubs (or at least that’s how Wikipedia sees it!)
The first thing to keep in mind is that street dance is derived from social dance. It’s taken on new and unique twists alongside the development of urban social dances. This means that its use of technique is far less stringent than in other kinds of dance and it relies more upon an style and rhythm. There is a looseness to all skilled street dancers which allows them to channel the nuances of the music directly through their bodies. Whether you’re interested in breaking, popping or locking the more relaxed you are, the easier it will be to adopt the range of movement.
So what is street dance to you?
What do you like about it and what do you get out of it?
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August 21st, 2010 — 11:21am
Hi all and welcome!
The first item on our new blog page had to be a ‘HUGE’ thank you to Hertsmere Borough Council for the grant that not only funded some well needed office products but enabled this blog page to be built directly into the Pair Dance web site – thank you!
So drop us a line, suggest a topic or start one of your own!
Enjoy.
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