Tap dance is making a comeback lately, with movies like “Happy Feet”, tap being featured on popular shows like “So You Think You Can Dance”, and viral videos from tap artists such as Syncopated Ladies. With its origins in African and Irish cultures, tap dance evolved into a unique art form that is beloved all over the world, and you can find classes for all ages and levels at dance studios.
Imagine, if you can, bored, blank faced orphans in “It’s a Hard Knock Life” from “Annie”. Or, Donald O’Connor trying to “Make Em’ Laugh” in “Singin’ in the Rain” without his hilarious and skilled facial expressions throughout the show-stopping routine. It would be a pretty bleak world if musical theatre dancers didn’t use acting skills to tell their story. If your child is studying theatre dance, there are a few things you can do to help them level up their acting abilities from home!
In order to be a well-rounded musical theatre dancer, you really have to have a wide variety of training in all aspects of musical theatre – dance, vocals, and acting. While not all young dancers want to be professionals, even dancers who participate in musical theatre classes for fun can benefit from learning the different facets of the art form.
The best way to help your dancer improve at hip hop is to practice at home! Games that develop personal style are a fun way to work on individual movement quality, and exercises that focus on the basics of hip hop will help with consistency.
If your child has ever been mesmerized by “The Descendants” or won’t stop singing along to “Hamilton”, chances are you’ve got a musical theatre fan on your hands! Whether they want to be the next big star or just want to dive deeper into the wonderful world of musicals, signing your kiddo up for a musical theatre dance class might be on your mind!
Helping your child improve at a skill you may not be familiar with can feel like a daunting task. I know I would be lost if I was asked to help anyone improve in, say, chess! But when it comes to assisting your dancing son or daughter with their hip hop dance skills, there are plenty of easy and fun ways to level up their abilities from home!
If you’ve got a kid who is cooler than you’ve ever been, hip hop class might be right up their alley! Good hip hop classes stay on the pulse of what’s popular in current hip hop culture, while paying homage to the founders and movements that created the styles that make up contemporary hip hop.
Dancers of all ages are always looking for a way to get better, whether that’s doing more pirouettes, hitting all the sounds in a pullback, or becoming more flexible. Some of the latest products on the market for dancers looking for more flexibility are called leg stretchers. But are these products safe – or even worth the money?
Tired of hearing the same old, tired Kidz Bop songs on repeat when your child wants to practice their hip hop skills? As a dance teacher and judge, believe me, so am I! Finding clean, appropriate, and FUN music for hip hop is harder than it should be, but lucky for you, I’ve done the work already!
One of the coolest things about jazz dance is how varied the style can be! From lindy hop to street styles, Latin jazz to social dances, jazz dance lives in many worlds, and there is no shortage of movies that have some sort of jazz dancing included.