Feeling/technique?
Dance & mind
Great corrections
Eating as a dancer
Quotations!
Also read this:
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Feelings vs. technique??Are techniques or feelings more important in dance? The question has been hunting western dance since the very beginning of the classical ballet! In 1728, Paris hosted two famous ballerinas, Marie Camargo and Marie Sallé. Each of them had her "fan club", and there were lengthy discussions which one was the better dancer. Camargo was the technically brilliant, Sallé had the grace and personality. Usually, the independent dance preaches that the expression of feelings is the core of the art. The dancer should be allowed to unfold his/her own feelings. The tradition of classical ballet, however, claims that without strong technique, the feelings become pathetic or uninteresting. After discussing the subject for more than 270 years, can we finally find a conclusion? At least this one: Dance is a religion. Everybody strongly believes in their own theories...
** ** ** ** ** To me, realising how my brain worked during training, has been very important. What I discovered, was that I was hardly thinking at all - my brain felt "blank" during dancing! No wonder I forgot corrections, or lost my consentration... This experience made me realize that till you have worked out what kind of "cerebral type" you are, how your brain works, you will not learn anything during classes! Some are "word-types". They need to describe things with words in order to do them correctly. Thus, thinking "inwards" or "outwards" while doing a pirouette, helps them learn much faster. Some are able to visualize more automatically, and connect what they visualize to their own body. They feel the difference between left and right... Feldenkrais and other techniques may help you connecting to your own body. Anyway, you need to concentrate on your thoughts, throwing away anything that does not belong in a dance class. You need a focus, not only on where your arms and legs, but also on where your brain goes! When you use your brain more consciously, you'll make progress much, much faster. ** ** ** ** ** Receiving a correction is the best thing that can happen to a dancer! It is the sign you are watched in the class (feeling ignored is terrible!), it may prevent injuries, and it is a message from the teacher that you were working so well that you need more things to focus on. There are teachers who do not give a second correction if the last one is forgotten. Remembering is vital, concentration required. I sometimes need to write down corrections after class, at least recapitulate what the teacher has said. I must admit that I do not follow all the corrections all the time, myself... But here they are, and every single one has been helpful once: (You have probably heard many of them before, if you have been dancing for some time.)
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"Food is an important part of a balanced diet." A dancer can not eat too much! The body needs so much nutrition, and cutting down on eating will cause serious problems! The only thing to be aware of, is what you eat. The secret to develop good eating habits, I think is to make sure that the healthy food awakens your appetite... Personally, I use to bring to school a whole loaf of bread, to have slices freshly cut for lunch. Also, I use to bring a lettuce, some tomatoes, avocado and carrots or bananas. Eating should be fun! Every of my slices of bread is a little experiment, with a little load of vegs and lettuce, with some cheese or ham if I feel I can afford it. Bringing so much food every day, may sound quite extreme, but I think the fun outweighes the disadvantages.. One thing I've never been good at, is eating frequently. I sometimes have had days without eating between lunchtime and dinner at 8 o'clock PM. OBS! This is not another piece of advice, it is a warning! Do not copy this! I use to bake my own bread. If you want to try, here is the recipe. Bon Appetite!
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- The dance, more than any other art, lives through the genius of its interpreters. - It is one thing to do your dance on a beach and quite another to collaborate intimately with the sand. - Underwater, all islands connect. - The world is a stage, and life is the dance there performed.
- Art is hidden by its own perfection. - We have come to consider the word technique applicable only to movements that are so showy as to approach acrobatics - leaps, turns, extensions. - A king can be judged by the state of dance during his reign. - It may be possible to do without dancing entirely. Instances have been known of young people passing many, many months successively without being at any ball of any description.
- How can we know the dancer from the dance?
- A silent figure is the dancer, true - The desire of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews,
Dancing is a very crude attempt to get into the rhythm of life.
Not to go back, is somewhat to advance, True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, A dance is measured pace, as a verse is measured speech.
Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?
Music begins to atrophy when it parts too far from dance.
Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are the stuff of which it is made.
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