What dance are you dancing right now?

[AmyRose]

Thanks for the warm welcome Allegro and thanks for posting that c2w?.

All dancers are influenced by someone or another. I'm sure kids in the street were moonwalking before MJ made it mainstream. I have to say, Janet Jackson had more influence on me than MJ when I was young, probably due to Tina Landon's choreography.

This is from 1984 from Fosse on MJ:

"I think he's terrific," says Director-Choreographer Bob Fosse. "Clean, neat, fast, with a sensuality that comes through. Maybe he's more a synthesizer than an innovator, but it's never the steps that are most important. It's the style. That's what Michael has."

More at:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... -5,00.html

[AmyRose]

...

[Allegro]

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My existence has thrived and still thrives in triple meter.
Yes, I believe so, really.

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Scott Joplin | Bethena | a concert waltz


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Ein Wiener Walzer, a Viennese waltz | Adiemus | Karl Jenkins, composer


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Vladimir Jurowski on Viennese Waltz | Glyndebourne | 2003

[AmyRose]

Beautiful tempo, Allegro.

Informally, I've learned the box step before. That's about the extent of my waltzing resume. Needless to say, I won't be taking the stage anytime soon for a ballroom showcase.

Now....Tap on the other hand, is my forte. So that's what I'm most comfortable doing today.

This is my favorite scene in the movie Tap because it features so many tap dancing legends such as: Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr., Howard 'Sandman' Sims, Harold Nicholas, Bunny Briggs, amongst others.

Special recognition to the man playing the piano.... Henry LeTang

I took a few classes at his studio in Vegas in my late teens. And just like in the movie, he would play his piano during the tap combos. He would also teach us the steps on an individual basis, say 10 8-counts or so, then put it to his music. So it was like you were getting your own private lesson with the great one. He was a genuinely nice man and the 'hoofing' added another dimension onto my bazillion years of tap experience. (Hell, his warm-ups were routines! Damn he was good!)

"We ain't got no legs?" Wanna bet?

[Allegro]

So it was like you were getting your own private lesson with the great one [LeTang]. He was a genuinely nice man and the 'hoofing' added another dimension onto my bazillion years of tap experience. (Hell, his warm-ups were routines! Damn he was good!

Oh, AmyRose, the clip from TAP and your words brought up good memories. At one time, there was a group of fierce dancers with whom I associated, one of whom might have been a good enough hoofer to have been coached by LeTang, and I’m thinking that’s when I first heard his name.

The thing about dance in general is I’ve always thought it was the most exhausting art form. What dancers go through physically from childhood into adult performances is mostly unknowable to the general population; not to speak of the female body with its feelings and physical care that only females know most about. But, watching dancers in solo and in a troupe has been inspirational and joyful to me because I so love movements of the human body in dance. Which brings me to Gregory and Mikhail.

Remember White Nights (1985) with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines? I must revisit that film, because, since 2001, I’ve developed a fascination for geopolitics as I never thought I would.


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Gregory | White Nights | tap sequence

[AmyRose]

Allegro,

Coincidentally, I was just watching that White Nights scene the other night after posting here! I don't recall the movie but I remember the duo. I was looking up other Baryshnikov videos too, like this beautiful piece from 1968 (I love Elena's big smile during the entire performance! She shines!). I'll have to look for the movie as well. Thanks.

I think I could write a novel here about all my dance history and its trials and tribulations. (I just tried a semi-short version, but there isn't one and I went on and on - so I deleted it.) Allegro, you're correct about the wear and tear on the body. I was lucky that I only had to endure tendinitis on the side of my foot at age 17 that went away and a non dance-related ankle sprain. Also, I think I saved myself a few years because a principal dancer, I was not. I didn't have the right body type, nor expertise for it. So I didn't spend the countless hours on pointe. See: Amanda Schull from the movie Centerstage. She developed back and knee injuries in her mid-20's and is now retired. Plus, I stopped all the rigorous 3+ hours a day of jazz/ballet/hiphop/modern classes back in '03. No matter how much I loved it and thought it was the safest place in the world to be, I doubt I could have kept it up. There's more to it than that. But I'll just leave it at that. Vegas was a place where my dreams were made and unmade at many different times. Being a highly sensitive and private person that I am, it took its toll.

Within the corporate fascist city and its enticing addictions (gambling, liquor, sex industry, etc) lives a very vibrant community of performing artists (of all shapes and sizes, colors, creed, and sexual orientation) that I had the pleasure of being a part of, if only for a short while. Something I will always treasure:



Now I'm sad after listening to that. So on a lighter note , here's my favorite Prima Ballerina: Polina Semionova. She dances from the heart and really brings to life this piece of music. I love watching this video (pssst...Check out the right leg turn-out at .42 - ouch!).

[compared2what?]

[compared2what?]

[Allegro]

Oh, gasp, oooo, wince, oooo, ouch, peeking through fingers at Seminova’s turn-out at mark 42 in the video. She and her movements are exquisite! Thank you for reintroducing her, AmyRose. Every so often, I delete entire sections of hundreds of bookmarks because I assume information and videos will be available whenever I want them. Now, Seminova is back into the frontal lobes and thusly bookmarked. Okay, I’m going to watch her again. brb

No matter how much I loved it and thought it was the safest place in the world to be, I doubt I could have kept it up.

I’m pretty sure I understand what you’re saying, and your quote encourages this pianist’s routinely philosophical mode. Funnily enough, and about three hours ago, I began reading this thread from the first page, reviewing each link, and the explanations that I had yet put into words were noted quite nicely and succinctly by c2w?—of course. You may notice that unfortunately some links go to eewwtoob dead ends.

I do believe in the dictum that when you free your mind, your ass will follow. The price of liberty does sometimes entail at least appearing to conform to the routines of capitalism successfully enough to remain free. Otherwise, you may end up drifting toward a world of darker enchantment where your freedom might easily get lost in the murk, leaving you unaware that you are now really just dancing in someone else's nightmare. And even if you do get out, it might not be so easy to distinguish the boundary between dancing and slavery. [See Original Comment]

In another conversation yet begun, c2w? might well write the words piano performance and slavery. I would, easily.

And, with that, let me go find a good dancer to put right here.

Rudolf Nureyev


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Nureyev tap dances


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Nureyev with Miss Piggy

[AmyRose]

Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed Miss Polina too, Allegro! She was really in the zone. There was a movie I saw a while ago (I can't remember the name of it). But the dancer made the point that once you aren't thinking the steps anymore, the dance dances you. And I feel she really possesses that quality in her number.

I really liked Nureyev and his top hat and cane tap routine! Kudos for attempting a style so opposite of ballet. I'm always a fan of versatility.

I had a rough time when I was in my early teens switching from tap to ballet. No matter how straight I thought my legs were at the barre, my strict disciplinarian Russian ballet teacher would always come over and tweek my every move. She even called me out on the first day of ballet class and asked me if I tapped a lot. We hadn't even started class yet! I was just standing at the barre in first position. I knew I was in for a rough ride! But I needed it. Ballet is like the dictatorship of dance: Prepare for a pirouette, arms in 4th. Pirouette, arms in middle 5th. There is no putting your own funkylicious flavor to it. I always preferred the funky flavors myself. But there's a limit to how much expression you can bring to the table in ballet. That's why I would see a lot of strictly ballerinas struggle in other dance styles and many times looking rather disjointed and stiff (there's always exceptions to the norm, ofcourse). But ballet will always be a necessary evil and the foundation that can enhance everything else. It's the strictest of styles with the strictest of teachers, as it should be. Mucho respeto siempre.

Sorry. I probably have more stories when it comes to dance with every video. But I'll shut up for now.....except, one more thing. Miss Piggy does adagio better than I could ever dream of doing! Go Piggy!

Oh, and one last thing, I promise . C2w was spot-on and eloquent as always with her analysis of the industry. Thanks for bringing it back to the forefront. It deserves a repeat. Even HMW could probably add his interpretation of some keyword hijackings and language theft that's been going on with regard to exotic dancers vs professional dancers in LV that I've noticed for a while now. Ok, nevermind all that. On with the show:

One of the most popular divas ever and one of my favorites, just like her mother. I love the song Life is a Cabaret the most. But I cannot help it....Everytime I watch this, I yearn to perform it (*biting my lip, resisting the temptation of telling another story):

Mein Herr Cabaret (sorry, the video won't play here. Have to go to youtube)

And for the storms brewing around here (NC) lately:

[Allegro]

AmyR,
Once, I took ballet along with friends, who were also university music students, and I’m guessing we thought we might ought to get some exercise rather than just playing our instruments for hours a day. Since those ballet courses, I’ve not ever taken for granted the bottoms of my feet, toes, ankles, legs, knees, oh, and a spine, too, and everything else that connects them all. What was cool though, and the only thing I could say with any confidence that I had in common with ballet dancers was, after classes, my toes pointed out to the sides. I walked like Charlie Chaplin in those silent movies of yesteryear.

Here’s a tribute, not to Mr. Chaplin, but to that all-mesmerizing three-quarter time and the waltz, too.

Fred and Ginger | Waltz in Swing Time

[norton ash]

The acronym rave! When I have too many abbrevs-acronyms to deal with in my work (the TBRHSC and TBDHU should contact the LHIN before proceeding with the MOHLTC)... I crank the Ibiza mix, put my arms in the air and chant the letters.

The border collie digs it like crazy. He wags his tail and barks along. Home offices rule.

[Allegro]

^^^ I got it! And you gave me the first lesson for my chair bound acronym rave! Little did I know that besides me a whole lot of people confess fatigue in worlds of the TBRHSC and TBDHU should contact the LHIN before proceeding with the MOHLTC.

So, pull it up to your laptop. Here’s a show produced with just a few capitalized nonsensical ‘words’ that mean something or nothing until they do. Only thing is the music isn’t exactly your Ibiza mix; then again, maybe the Mozart violin concerto, well, just a little of it is rave-able. Let me know. I put the vid here as a tribute to you, one of the wittiest guys around these parts.

Acronym Overload

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YOUTUBE NOTES. This is an animated anecdote of acronyms that I never actually anticipated animating until after ample amounts of applause from amigos and acquaintances that are apparently able to appreciate artful angles of actuality aside from all absurdities that are allegedly applicable to the appropriate affair. I almost always use all Adobe applications.

[norton ash]

Aw, you're very nice, Allegro. But the compliment is simply troppo.

I love the stuff you post! You have terrific taste.

[Allegro]

Here’s a dance I’m not likely to dance any time soon,
needless to say, though I thought the movements and
music too beautiful not to have been part of our
viewing and listening pleasures.

Peacock Dance