Lesley Mealor, BPA Dance Performance

Burlesque dance is a sensual, sometimes bawdy and comedic dance style reserved for adults. Historically, burlesque dance was a part of variety shows as early as the late 1800s that featured lewd comedy, suggestive dancing, pantomime, and later, the striptease. One famous example of early 20th century burlesque can be seen in the movie “Gypsy” starring Natalie Wood as Gypsy Rose Lee, a real burlesque dancer, whose gimmick was to strip down to nearly nothing but never reveal anything more than an arm or a leg.

A heels class can be one of two things depending on the dancers it’s intended for. A heels class in the context of a children and teen’s dance studio will be a class that includes jazz, street jazz, theatre dance and/or commercial dance styles that utilize character heels. 

Dancing in a group means that sometimes you won’t always be in the front. It’s just the nature of group activities! But, what does it mean if your dancer is consistently placed in the back row? How do teachers choose who to place where on stage? Is being in the back row in a dance routine bad?

After taking steps to assess your child’s progress in dance as we have written about in our article 3 Things Parents Can do to Assess Their Child’s Progress in Dance you have realized that your dancer is not progressing. Now you are wondering what you should do, and that is where we come in with a few ideas and actions you can take to ensure your dancer is learning and moving forwards in their training.

If you’re unsure how to measure progress in dance, take these steps before anything else. First, talk to your child! Second, ask your child’s teacher how they’re progressing in class. Then, you can observe a class to see for yourself your child’s progress before considering changing studios.

If your dancer comes home from class complaining that they’re not progressing, or if you are sensing that they’re not performing at the level they should be, you’ve got to start asking some tough questions.

Some of the hottest trends in the dance industry in the last ten years are the turn board and the spin disc. Dancers looking to improve their pirouettes utilize these products to help with balance, suspension and speed. But aside from just stepping on a turn board and spinning, what are some other ways to use a turn board or spin disc that can benefit a dancer?

If you’ve never been to a dance competition, they are quite the sight to behold! Imagine hundreds of dancers, all decked out in beautiful rhinestone costumes, perfect hair and makeup, and every dance shoe you can think of! The music is pumping, hairspray and glitter are in the air, and everyone is excited to show off their hard work.

If you’ve ever wondered about how dance competitions are judged, look no further! As a veteran judge of ten years for competitions all over the United States and Canada, I’m here to answer all of your burning questions about how dancers are adjudicated and scored at dance competitions. 

The best jazz shoes for dance class have a snug fit and are well made. They come in various colors, materials such as leather or canvas, can be slip on or lace up, full or split- sole.