“The dancer believes that his art has something to say which cannot be

expressed in any other way than by dancing.....there are times when the simple

dignity of movement can fulfill the function of a volume of words. There are

movements which impinge on the nerves with a strength that is incomparable,

for movement has power to stir the senses and emotions, unique in itself.

This is the dancer’s justification for being, and his reason for searching

further for deeper aspects of his art.”

-- Doris Humphrey, 1937.



Alright, I am not a dancer per sey. I am just a girl who takes dance classes because I love it and can't live without it. I love dance, I live dance. I know I cannot be a professional dancer, but that doesn't stop me from taking classes and trying my best to push myself farther and farther and being passionate about it. I will use this page as my shrine to the ritual that can bring humans closest to demi-deification; the art of dance. Whenever I can think of something to post here I will. Perhaps later if I get my scanner working <**frowns at the scanner collecting dust and doing nothing else**> I will put up some pictures of my pretty pointe shoes. :)

For now, I will offer whatever I can to the altar of dance; including myself.


I feel I should explain why this page has so little content for a subject I am so passionate about. The fact is that I cannot fully explain something that cannot be put into words, so I will not try. I will however, put up anything I find of interest related to dance. This page may not be of any interest to a lot of dancers since most are a lot more advanced than I am and there is nothing I could tell them that they didn't know already, and I do not participate in dance competitions. People who do not know much about dance and/or are beginners or are considering starting dancing may possibly find an interest in this page. This page is geared more towards those people.

I take classes in ballet, pointe, jazz and hip hop.

(** If any of you are looking at this page because you're doing a project on dance and are trying to find information to plagerize I suggest going somewhere else as this is mostly my opinions and any facts in here are things I pull out of my fuzzy memory and am not sure just how accurate they are; so copying stuff from here could make your paper wrong and get you in a lot of trouble. So to save time trouble and frustration I suggest looking somewhere else.**)

• Ballet is one of the most well known forms of dance, but ironically is very misunderstood. I believe the art of ballet is roughly 400 years old (but don't quote me on that). It is very physically demanding and definitely not for wimps. Click here for some ballet terms and definitions.

• Pointe is a part of ballet. Pointe work is when the ballerinas (only the female dancers) dance in special shoes that allow them to stand directly on their toes (and it hurts like HELL! Trust me.) Pointe dancing developed gradually, and was created as more than just an interesting technique, it is also a crucial dramatic element in a lot of ballets. Here is a link to a great article on the history and development of pointe shoes and pointe technique at www.dancer.com

• Jazz, despite the name is not danced to jazz or blues music (I don't think you *can* dance to that type of music, can you? *shrug*). Jazz dancing is usually danced to "pop" or "dance" music. Though there are dozens of different types of jazz; like Spanish jazz, lyrical jazz, etc., each emphasizing a different style.

• Yes, hip hop is actually a dance style. Hip hop is, well...how do I explain this? Hip hop is danced to hip hop music. Remember the Fly Girls? That kind of style. It's very common in music videos today. Hip hop is a lot of fun. It's not quite so demanding on skill; you don't have to be really flexible or have a whole lot of strength or technique. Hip hop is mostly about energy and attitude.

Dance Movies


Here are some dance movies I have personally seen and recommend. Dance movies presently are unfortunately few and far in between, but as I see more I will list the good ones.








Center Stage


In theatres now. Go see it on the big screen. The dancing was spectacular. We are treated to scenes with classical and modern ballet, salsa, and jazz. You don't have to be a fan of dancing to enjoy it. When I went to this movie I was probably the only one in the theatre who had any dance experience, but everyone there seemed to enjoy it; even the young teenage guys who were dragged there by their girlfriends.

The movie is about young dancers who have auditioned and made it into one of the toughest ballet schools around. They have a few months to train, and then have a performance which will determine their fate. Only three women and three men will be accepted into the company out of all the classes. The movie touches on the difficulty of breaking into the dancing world, love triangles and passion for who you are and what you do. The characters are typical: the naive innocent girl-next-door, the bad girl with an attitude, the womanizing star, the teacher's pet, the stage mom, the gay friend, and the demanding teacher; but they were pulled off relatively well considering the script. The fact is that dance movies are not easy to write for, and Hollywood doesn't know quite how to write them just yet. Still, all in all, it was decent, and fun. It would be a rather average movie as far as writing or plot goes, excludign the fabulous dancing.

The plot is rather predictable, as is some of the dialogue, but it wasn't unbearable to watch. I was actually expecting a lot worse, and was pleasantly surprised. The cast is made up of fabulous dancers who are making their acting debut, and although the characters were typical, the acting wasn't that bad, and was more prefferable to seeing a top notch actor like Robert DeNiro in the film, but then having a double do all the dancing. It was nice to be able to see the dancers throughout the film, and new fresh faces. As I said earlier, the dancing was fabulous, and I was quite impressed by the way the dancing was filmed. Filming dance is always difficult, but the camera was well choreographed and was able to give the audience a feeling as if you were right there, instead of the common distant far away filming where the dancers' faces are nothing but white dots. There was just the right amount of closeups at the right times without sacrificing the dancer's body movement, and the camera was even hand held at times to follow some dancers doing inhumanly high jumps while keeping them close in the frame.

This movie is well worth the ticket price. It will make you want to get up and move. As I was exiting the theatre, a girl who was walking infront of me made a grand arm gesture and remarked to her friend "I feel like dancing now!".









White Nights


This movie was made in 1985 and stars the world famous Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, and Isabella Rosellini. The story is about a famous Russian ballet dancer (Baryshnikov) who after several years of bringing his country fame in the ballet world, defected to America to dance there. One day he is on a plane which is forced to land in Soviet territory. His identity is discovered and he is taken prisoner and forced to become a dancer for the Bolshoi (a world famous and widely respected Russian ballet company) again. He now has to face everything that he left behind, all the people he betrayed. He is taken to an apartment to stay with an American tap dancer (Hines) who has defected from his own country after marrying a Russian woman (Rosellini). Baryshnikov's character wishes to escape, but he finds he can't get to the American embassy without help from the American. Though both stubborn, they have to form a trust if they are to make their escape.

The movie is at some times very slow, but the dancing, as can be expected from Baryshnikov, is breathtaking. You'll want to rewind the dancing scenes and watch them again. The acting from the whole cast was very good, despite the scripts weaknesses. The script made good attempts at creating suspense, but was not able to keep it up cosistently through the movie. However, the movie gives a view into an area of the dancing world few people are aware of. Baryshnikov himself refuses to watch the movie, as he says it hits too close to home. Baryshnikov, like his character, also defected in real life.

I recommend renting this movie. It's thought provoking and has some really great scenes.

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