I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet because before too long, I just might collapse from exhaustion. Actually, every last muscle in my body hurts, so I have no idea how I'm even holding my head up right now. It's safe to say that the intensive is fully underway. We had all six teachers for the first time today and it was so nice to have such a wide variety of personalities and styles. There's nice, cheerful, intense, hyper, and quirky, and all of these different traits in the teachers make me feel excited and happy to be dancing. We have done everything from classical ballet technique, to high energy jazz, to Raggae groove, to hard-hitting hip hop. On the second day I feel like I have already expanded my comfort zone and my range immensely.
One of my favorite combos today was the Raggae taught by Kupono. This was something that I have never done before, but it was similar to hip hop. It was all about your own unique groove and style. Kupono pointed out that he wanted to combine me and another girl in the class because I had a lot of flow and smoothness in my body and she was hitting everything hard and sharp. It's important to look around you during class and pick up on dynamics that other people have that you would like to incorporare in yourself. Your peers are your inspiration. Pick and choose when you are going to use certain qualities and change it up to keep the piece interesting.
My all-time favorite of the day was Brandon's jazz combination! It required so much strength, energy, and speed. It was such a challenge, but an extremely fun one :) I loved this combo because it pushed me to my limits. We were also in a small space so we had to work with what we had and navagate around other people. I got a special high-five from Brandon after one of the times that my group danced, and this is the biggest compliment I could EVER get.
The teachers have had some really good advice for us already and I will never forget their words. We were told to never mark the movement and always do it full out because that is the only way we can get better. If we're not going to be fully committed to something, why waste our own time along with the teacher's time? I think that's a great motto to live by. They also told us to be "smart" dancers. What that means is you are not only striving to be the best performer and technical dancer you can be, but you are easy to work with. Kupono said he has gotten all of his dance jobs by adapting to change, being cooperative with other dancers and the instructor, and being aware of everyone and everything around him. Be a hard worker, determined, and when you show your love of dance, everyone will notice.
One of my favorite combos today was the Raggae taught by Kupono. This was something that I have never done before, but it was similar to hip hop. It was all about your own unique groove and style. Kupono pointed out that he wanted to combine me and another girl in the class because I had a lot of flow and smoothness in my body and she was hitting everything hard and sharp. It's important to look around you during class and pick up on dynamics that other people have that you would like to incorporare in yourself. Your peers are your inspiration. Pick and choose when you are going to use certain qualities and change it up to keep the piece interesting.
My all-time favorite of the day was Brandon's jazz combination! It required so much strength, energy, and speed. It was such a challenge, but an extremely fun one :) I loved this combo because it pushed me to my limits. We were also in a small space so we had to work with what we had and navagate around other people. I got a special high-five from Brandon after one of the times that my group danced, and this is the biggest compliment I could EVER get.
The teachers have had some really good advice for us already and I will never forget their words. We were told to never mark the movement and always do it full out because that is the only way we can get better. If we're not going to be fully committed to something, why waste our own time along with the teacher's time? I think that's a great motto to live by. They also told us to be "smart" dancers. What that means is you are not only striving to be the best performer and technical dancer you can be, but you are easy to work with. Kupono said he has gotten all of his dance jobs by adapting to change, being cooperative with other dancers and the instructor, and being aware of everyone and everything around him. Be a hard worker, determined, and when you show your love of dance, everyone will notice.
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