Dance on TV

I can not get enough of dance. Seriously, my mother thinks I take too many classes a week (at 3 please, that's like nothing), but I think I need another on Saturday or Sunday because I always want to dance on the weekends. So I love anything that has to do with dance, and here is an overview of my favorite two dance TV shows.

Dance Moms
Ok, this show is both ridiculous and dramatic, but I like it. It has a mix of drama and dance that really draws me in. There are girls half my age dancing that are 4 times better then I will ever be. The choreography is great, and the fights are entertaining. Just to let you guys know, the teacher doesn't yell as much as it seems. She actually has a great relationship with her dancers, but dramatizes it for the show. 

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/dance-moms

Dance Academy
So, I had never heard of this show until it showed up in a random search I did on youtube. It was filmed in Austrialia, so I don't know how popular it is there, but it just aired in America. It is really a great show, it is a fictional show about an Aussie girl who auditions for a ballet academy and makes it. She lives at the academy, and has problems with jealous and carefree girls she meets. There are also plenty of boys, and as the season progresses some romances spring up. The actors and actresses on the show are actually pretty good dancers, so they do show a lot of dancing. I love this show and absolutely recommend it to anyone interested in ballet. Dance Academy is on Netflix instant, or you can watch it on Youtube. 
http://www.teennick.com/shows/dance-academy

I also tune in for Dancing with the Stars if a celeb I know is on it. I know I missed So You Think You Can dance, but I've never actually seen it! Tell me if you watch any of these shows and what you think, or tell me if I missed any of your dance shows!

How to find a dance studio

So, if you haven't started dance yet, one of the first steps to starting dance is actually finding a studio. You want to make sure you find the best studio possible, so here are some tips.

1. Decide how intense you want the class to be, and consider whether you would like to compete or do performances. I dance at two studios, one is a recreational, med-intensity competition studio, and the other is an intense performance studio. My recreational studio doesn't do full shows, but they do competitions, and the intense studio does The Nutcracker and performs in many different places, but does not compete.

2. Decide how many classes you want to take a week. You can take just one class if you want to do ballet purely for recreation, but if you want to do pointe, you should take at least two 90 minute classes a week, with more being better.

3. Start looking! Use yellowpages.com, recommendations from friends, and even look in the phone book for dance studios near you. Pick a few with the right amount and intensity of dance classes for you. 

4. Look for qualified teachers. If training at a more intense ballet academy, the teacher should have professional training, and should have been a professional dancer. A competition school should have a successful record with competitions.

5. Consider price. A  class shouldn't be more then $12 or $13 for a group class. Private classes can often be several times that number.

5. Check out the area. You can ask to take a class to get a feel for the studio, and while you are there, check out the studios. Are they large, air conditioned/heated, and clean? Are there enough barres and floor to ceiling mirrors on at least one wall? Is there sprung Marley flooring? Also, how do you like the teacher? Is s/he nice, does s/he use time wisely, does s/he explain properly and give corrections? How is the atmosphere, is it as strict or as relaxed as you want it to be?

Happy Feburary 13th!

Hello everyone! Just got back from my first dance class of the week. It was fun, but I was soo stiff from skipping my stretching over the weekend, I really need to work on that more! We got the DVD of our Nutcracker, so of course I'm watching it as I type. I'm obsessed, really. I've only just seen the Snow Scene for the first time, our studio did an awesome job on it. There's this cute pas de deux with one of the top Sr. Corps members and a guest male dancer, it was really beautiful, though I thought he was going to drop her for a second! I may have a new favorite Nut dance. I can't wait until I'm on pointe, the suspense is killing me! Just a few more months...


I would love to post a little video with clips from the DVD, but the quality is really bad. The DVD is just for the dancers, not public sale, so they didn't bother going high-def. Sorry.

Quick Update

Hey everyone! I had my teen class tonight, and we had a lot of fun. We turned out the lights, blasted music, and spent most of the class doing flexibility and strengthening exercises. It was so stress releiving and relaxing. 


I've gotten a few requests for a stage makeup post and a stretching post. One of my friends agreed to help me with the stage makeup, and we even discussed making a video instead of a post and, same for the stretching. What do you guys think about maybe doing a video? I don't really like to be on camera (I think my voice is weird), but I think I can suck it up if you guys are interested.


So tell me what you think!


Edit: Hey guys, my friend and I tried to make a make-up video, but unfortunately my camera lagged a lot and the video and audio didn't match up! We were really dissappointed that it didn't work out, and I'm sorry I couldn't get it up. I may try again when I get a better camera. Also, sorry for the lack of posts, I'll work on one sometime this week.

Flexibility Goals

Hi everyone! Hope your winter is going well! I'm just making a quick post to use as inspiration for myself and hopefully some of  you. As you guys might know by now, I absolutely love (LOVE) the Arabian Coffee dance from The Nutcracker. Like, I adore it. A lot. And you guys might also know, I am not flexabile. I am about 4 inches from my right split, and more around 7-9 for my left. I also have a bit to go for my center splits, which, if I do one against a wall, my body is 11 inches away from the wall (if that makes sense).


So here are my flexibility goals:


1. Stretch 4-6 days a week.
2. Get right splits by February 15th.
3. Get left splits by March 31st.
4. Get center splits by March 31st.
5. Get oversplits (2" min) by June 1st.


What do you guys think? Leave a comment about your goals for flexibility. 


*Just a note, videos on the blog really slow it down, so I'm going to start taking down videos on posts after a week and replace it with the link so it keeps the blog nice and speedy.