dance

Catch Up

~ Lifelongdancestudent ~ Leave a comment

Happy Easter!

On Thursday we had a catch up tap class, as the final class of term was cancelled. My colleagues were going to be in a board meeting when I’d be due back from the class so I wasn’t too worried about rushing back this time 🙂

There were 5 of us this time plus our teacher and we had a really nice, laid back class! (Made me think twice about returning to the busy evening slot after Easter 😭)

We learnt a really cool timestep which reminds me a bit of the Shim Sham, although I think the only similarity is the pickups…but still! We did this on the right side and the left to the music from The Pink Panther. Our teacher was just going to leave us with the one side and move on to our routine, but we wanted more! Yes, we were very demanding this week.

Then we went on to finish off the routine we’d been learning over the 5 weeks to George Ezra’s What You Waiting For’. Despite missing 2 weeks out of the 5, I remembered the start and picked up the rest pretty well! This didn’t happen last year when I was stressed out of my mind, sleep deprived by noisy neighbours and topped up on caffeine! I’m really noticing the difference in memory recall and brain power since moving house.

Afterwards we hung around and chatted for a while. There was debate over whether a certain step was the Manhattan or the Cincinnati. Tap is quite fluid and not as formal as ballet, so different people call steps different things! Helpful, right?

I filled our teacher in on MOVE IT 2018 and the Stomp and Syncopated Ladies workshops and she was asking which tap people were there etc, i.e. Tap Attack, London Tap Jam etc. There is a quite a big tap scene and lots of people know each other or know of each other. Turns out she had once auditioned for Stomp!

One of the girls was talking about going to see The Tap Pack at the Peacock Theatre in London in May. I’ve had this on my radar, but I’m taking my mum to see 42nd Street in May and my SO and I hope to visit the London Tap Jam in Hoxton at the end of May, so I think I’ll have to give it a miss!

Anyway, we were chatting away when I suddenly realised I needed to GET BACK TO WORK! Oops. The rest of the group tend to stay on for a practice time that two class members had arranged, or don’t need to be anywhere immediately after the class, so no one else was in a hurry to leave…

Anyway, my work colleagues were in a meeting when I got back to my desk about 15 minutes later than usual so I didn’t feel like anyone was clock watching when I returned (not that they really do) and had my shower. (Anyway, I usually make up the time by staying late either that day or the day before).

Enjoy the long Easter weekend (if you have one) and remember to stretch!

Love this!

So Stagey

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Tap was cancelled last week but I actually didn’t mind because I was quite tired anyway, but at the same time it was a shame to not tap for two weeks. Actually, MOVE IT 2018 made up for it so I really only went one week without tapping!

This week our teacher is running a catch up class, so I’ll be going along to that tomorrow lunchtime, armed with new top and microfibre sweat towel, both bargains I picked up from Decathlon which has just opened nearby 🙂

Sooo glad I have a week off work next week! However, I will still be dancing. Not tap, as that class will be taking a break over Easter. Being the keen person that I am, I have only gone and signed up to take part in OMG So Stagey CATS WORKSHOP at Pineapple Studios! Cats is my favourite musical ever and I must have seen it at the theatre least 6 times. So when I got a newsletter through from Pineapple and saw that a recent cast member was running this workshop, I was like “I’M THERE!”

It’s next Sunday afternoon and I will fill you in on the goss afterwards. Not sure if we need to dress up…

MOVE IT 2018

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Yesterday I went to day one of MOVE IT 2018 at ExCel in London’s Docklands! The exhibition hall was packed with excitable young people, dance students, enthusiasts and others. There were tons of stands with everything from theatre schools and dancewear to hair braiding, sports massage and stage makeup. The main stage was the showcase for various performance colleges, such as London Studio Centre, and there was also a cool Freestyle stage in the middle of the hall. There was also a fitness area with exercise classes, plus a new area with roller skating rink!

I was really pleased to see London Tap Jam there promoting their event and tapping away at their stand.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took part in the following workshops:

Percussive Hands & Feet with Adam Buckley of STOMP

This was a class with a lot of stomping, stamping and clapping with one of the performers from the hit West End show STOMP! It was so much fun creating a rhythm using our hands and feet, and sometimes it was a bit like rubbing your tummy with one hand and patting your head with the other, but it was great! Loved it.

Tap Workshop with Syncopated Ladies

Yay! Another workshop with Maud Arnold… But this time with the addition of her sister Chloe! We did a warm up and then they taught us a routine to NERD’s (Pharrell Williams) Lemons, which they had recently performed on the Ellen DeGeneres show! OMG

It was fast, sassy and fun, plus we had to find a partner and dance towards and away from them, plus alternate with improv! Well, my partner ended up being a lady I recognised from Tap Festival UK (and she was wearing the sweatshirt)! That was also good because she was an adult – there were loads of teens there! It was great to have another go at Improvisation. Doing it in pairs made it less scary, and we did a group improv at the end, which was fun.

Finally we did a group photo, which I’m told will be shared on Instagram at some point, so I’ll look out for it. I managed to get on stage with the Syncopated sisters, and Chloe had her hand on my back, so that made my day!

My SO managed to capture some footage for me… Enjoy! 😁

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Tomoz

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Sadly I didn’t make it to Tap this lunchtime, but fear not, tomorrow I’m off to MOVE IT 2018!

I will be doing the following workshops while I’m there:

13.45 Percussive Hands & Feet with Stomp OR Tap Workshop with London Studio Centre

15.30 Tap with Chloe and Maud Arnold of the Syncopated Ladies

Now, I had originally said I was doing the Tap workshop with London Studio Centre, but I got that confused when booking with a Musical Theatre Tap workshop taking place at 10.30 in the morning and double booked the 13.45 slot – oops! So I think I’m gonna go with Percussive Hands and Feet to pick up a new skill which will help with my tap massively.

I will share all about the day (with pics) over the weekend!

I’ve also started a Tap Notebook. I love notebooks and writing and tap, so it was bound to happen! Here I am jotting down all the terms, tips, corrections, steps to practice and other relevant stuff from my tap learning. I got the idea from a Dancer’s Journal that I bought at Bloch over a year ago. It’s lovely, but unfortunately I found it too structured to fill out with what I’m doing. I think it’s more suited to full time dance students. If you don’t fit the mould, make your own!

What You Waiting for?

~ Lifelongdancestudent ~ 4 Comments

_20180308_162106.JPGHad my tap class this lunchtime, and all the way there I was wondering if I’d be paired up to practice with the theatre lady. Silly, right? She’s a nice lady, but as I was saying the other day, her style of tap is very different to how we’re learning and I got a bit lost when she was showing me her version of the timestep two weeks ago.

Speaking of getting lost, in this block of classes we’re dancing to George Ezra’s What you Waiting For. Unfortunately I had to miss last week’s class due to the Beast from the East (i.e. the snow) so I had missed a week of routine. However, some of the other students were saying they had to miss last week and couldn’t remember anything from the week before. I remembered the first section and then tried to pick up the next bit. It’s really not that complicated, but I couldn’t for the life of me do it. I knew what to do, but when the music came on, nah. Too quick, brain wouldn’t keep up! (R scuff-L heel-R spank-spring onto R toe & L-toe, then repeat on the left).

I have been focussing recently on not worrying  about getting things wrong, even repeatedly. I love learning and realise I am a bit achievement-driven as a person, so I’ve been trying to calm that down a bit lately and just ‘be’. Today was one of those days of getting it wrong repeatedly, perhaps more pronounced because I was in the front row and conscious our teacher could see me! I just went with it, and it was a good thing. Thankfully we got to film our teacher doing the routine a bit slower so we can practice at home (or the supermarket LOL).

Prior to working on our routine, we did some other fun things:

Six-beat Riff – like the 5, but with an(other) extra heel. We then did it double time to music! It was quite hard to stay on the beat of the music, but it helps to keep the movement smaller. It should look like you’re just out for a stroll!

Paddle & Roll – So as opposed to doing a regular paddle (heel dig-pickup-ball-heel down & repeat other side) we began with a heel drop, say on the left, and to change to the other foot after the paddle, we did R heel-L heel-R heel in an almost rocking motion). I like!

Elevation – we did a very energetic step (L drop-R side shuffle-L pickup-Land on R-change-change, repeat on other side). Was absolutely SWEATING!

Lots of good stuff to take away this week, and I must watch the video and practice loads where I can 🙂

Hope it’s been a good (dance) week for you! What will you be working on this weekend? Or are you just going to chill out and ‘be’?

Closed Third

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This afternoon during a quick break at work I did a bit of work on the ‘closed third’. This is where you (try to) create three sounds: toe-heel-toe but rather than picking up the foot again (a la open third), you end with a flat foot. I even filmed it this time! It’s a bit hit and miss as you’ll see below 😂

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The Beast

~ Lifelongdancestudent ~ 2 Comments

snowy streetSadly I’m missing my lunchtime tap class today because the UK has been experiencing wintry weather from Siberia, dubbed the ‘beast from the east’. Rather than join the chaos of road, rail and tube travel, plus this ‘Storm Emma’ that is about to take hold later today, I just decided to stay put and work from home, seeing as I can. Still, I do love a snowy scene!

This weekend we’re off to Birmingham (yes, another weekend away) to watch the World Indoor Athletics Championships at the NIA! Hopefully.

I’ve been practising the first part of our tap routine that we learnt last week, which strangely enough, I have been able to remember! All of it! I actually think the quick-fire method of learning at Tap Dance Festival UK a few weeks ago might have something to do with it because you’re forced you to pick things up quickly and not think about it but just do it.

Dance Bag

Added to this I’m also trying to clear my schedule, slow down, make life a bit simpler and have the head space to remember things like routines! I’ve had my finger in too many pies lately, so I decided to make a list of all the things I’m doing or am involved in (work, commuting, my soap biz, HR studies, dancing, blogging, church, redecorating…) and then see what I can cut out, reduce or change. So far I’ve closed a blog (on Interior Design), am only doing one dance class a week rather than 2 back-to-back, and I’ve decided not to pursue Interior Design as a career (however, I will be going to a one off Interior Design Experience Day in May, where a delicious lunch will be provided ;-))

Anyone else have the tendency to over-commit? Too many classes? Too many ideas?

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Always helps 🙂

 

Renewed

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Some dance-related post through the door!

But I’m not going to give in and buy anything because I’ve spent enough money lately and I have enough dancewear for what I’m doing at the moment. Rhythm tap really doesn’t require leotards or a lot of specialist stuff besides tap shoes and a smile 😀

This week I’m back to Thursday lunchtime tap class with a renewed vigour after a fantastic weekend of tap in Salford!

Tap Dance Festival UK Winter Intensive 2018

~ Lifelongdancestudent ~ 1 Comment

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Wow, what a weekend! Now that I’m back from Manchester and have had 12 hours’ sleep I can tell you all about my experience of the 2nd ever Tap Festival UK Winter Intensive.

Friday

My SO and I drove up to Salford (Greater Manchester) on Friday, reaching our accommodation in the afternoon. After a rest and a bite to eat, we went to the Festival venue Pendleton College for the Professional Showcase at 7pm. We were all made to wait in the small canteen area until the start, but in the meantime there was a presentation to the amazing Jo Scanlan of Tap Attack and a short tap performance by her very talented son.

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Next, we were shown through to the Eccleston Theatre where the Apartment 33 ‘Where Dreams Are Made’ Professional Show was taking place. Written and presented by Maud Arnold, and choreographed by her sister Chloe, the show featured some of the weekend’s faculty members, and shared the story of how tap dancers were able to relocate to Chloe and Maud’s actual Apartment 33 in New York to be able to “pursue their tap dance goals and dreams”. The score included Alicia Keys, John Legend, Beyonce and Rihanna, among others, and the dance was a fantastic blend of tap, crump, contemporary and more. My favourite performance was pocket-rocket Robin Passmore tapping furiously to Destiny’s Child’s Survivor. So good! The Syncopated Ladies’ routine to Beyonce’s Formation was also a big crowd pleaser. Unfortunately, I had someone’s huge hair in my eyeline, but I managed to move a seat along so that I could actually see the performers’ feet!

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After the show was a Q&A with the panel of Suzanne Clandon (founder of Tap Dance Festival UK), Maud Arnold (Syncopated Ladies), Robin Passmore, Vikas Arun, Linsey O’Neal, Josh Nixon. There were some good questions from the audience such as “did you ever feel like giving up?” and lots of advice on pursuing your dreams in the performing arts. You have to be a go-getter!

Saturday

Saturday morning my SO dropped me back at Pendleton College and went off to run and then go and see friends near Stockport. I went in with my dance bag, a bit apprehensive because last night seemed to be all teenagers, which made me wonder if there would be ANY ADULTS in the classes on Saturday. I went into the ‘holding area’ as per last night and found some adults (phew!). There turned out to be quite a few there for classes thankfully! I had received an email in the week to say that the classes were geared towards teens, so adults were welcome to attend the ‘Teachers’ Studio’ classes free of charge. I thought I might do that for the final class of the morning, but I didn’t in the end!

Before going to any classes, we were in the sports hall for the AFRO FUNK warm up with Maud. Ok, it was only about 20 minutes long, and I heard someone say “I’ve got a stitch!” Yep. That’s Afro Funk! It’s kind of Dancehall style winding and grinding and body isolations. Lots of fun, a real laugh, but OH BOY does it wear you out.

After this we were shown by the respective people where to go for our class levels. I was in the Beginners/Advanced Beginners (0-3 years experience), and we had a very nice studio with mirrors.

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10.00-10.55 Tap Attack (Jo Scanlan)

This was a really fun class where we did some warm up exercises at the mirror and across the floor (including travelling on one leg – wow that burns) and then learnt a short routine. I was breaking in my Jason Samuels Smith tap shoes, and they were fab! That was actually my second time learning with the Guinness World Record holder Jo – the first time was at MOVE IT 2017 in London.

11.00-11.55 Technique (Robin Passmore)

A proper tap drills class with a proper drill sergeant! Some people find drills tiresome, but I love it. As was explained to us, that is how you get better and cleaner. Watching Robin on stage the night before, she stood out as someone who was really on it and exceptionally precise, so I was looking forward to learning from her. Her demonstrations were amazing and we were just standing there with our mouths open! We worked on crawls, shuffles in all directions, paddles, riffs, pick-ups, pull-backs AND I had my first ever go at wings! Very exciting. Couldn’t get the sound, but at least I know what I should be doing. Now go home and practice!

12.00-12.55 Choreography (Vikas Arun)

Vikas explained at the beginning that we were going to find the class too difficult. Um, what? But then he said that there was no point him flying all the way from the US and us paying for a class that was too easy. Very true. We were there to be challenged! He also said please ask questions or say if you don’t get something, otherwise he’ll move on.

Now, I thought it was going to be a class where you were encouraged to come up with a bit of your own choreography (have to say I wasn’t especially up for that on a Saturday morning, and was considering beforehand running along to the Teacher’s Studio with Jo Scanlan), but we were actually learning choreography.

We learnt a really cool routine, and I think it moved a little faster than I’m used to, but he threw in useful tips about weight placement and height, which helped me with one particularly tricky step (toe-heel-f-lap, toe-heel-f-lap). He also said, as had been said throughout the morning that it is better to try and get that one thing right than to just do it fast but get it wrong. Some other sound bites I picked up were ‘don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t do it wrong‘ and ‘learn the drums’. My intention was to either learn drums or learn to tap, and I went with tap. I should do both!

It was such an amazing day and I’m so glad I went! It was scary to go on my own, but it was fantastic and got me out of my comfort zone…again!

If you have the chance to go to any sort of dance festival or intensive, go for it!