Entries Tagged 'dance Rhythm Action Games' ↓

When the salsa dancers wrapped up their performance last Wednesday 27 July, at the National Theatre, many in the audience took to the stage, reached out to the dancers that had impressed them and worked their bodies until sweat dripped on the floor.

The night ended with excitement. Latino flavor, a Latin Dance theme night is fast growing. The turn up was good and the dancers were entertaining.

Latin dances by nature are attractive, that is why the performance was full of intimacy and seduction- elements which excited the audience especially the men. they were moved by the way the ladies lost themselves to the dance and the music as they let their well-oiled bodies to “escape” freely from the tiny dresses.

The dominant Latin dance style was Salsa but there were others like Bachata, Tango and Rumba. Most of these dances were short. they left the audience yearning for more. Some of the pros like Sam Ibanda, Georges and Shafic were missing. but dancers like Desire and Edina Namanya who did the Bachata made up for the absentees. The couple put their souls into the dance.

Namanya has an impressive raw emotion though I felt like this time she was using much of her upper body moves and less legwork. Before dancing with Desire, she had done two pieces with Albert Mubiru, but the two were not impressive.The dramatic layer added onto most of the dances made for a lively experience. Some of the dances had live music played with the saxophone and the guitar.

Barbra Upoki and Rogers Masaba doing Tango mimicked typical love scenes from the 90s movies. The couple walked into the restaurant, Masaba took off Upoki’s coat gently, got on his feet, stretched and carried her onto the table. While on top of the table, the two danced provocatively and won admiration. I liked the way the red lights were contrasted with the green lights during this performance.

Esther Apolot’s piece with her partner, in which she was dressed in a wedding gown, was a simple and really beautiful routine full of romance and impressive foot work. The emcee, Edwin Mukulazi cheered up the audience with jokes.

Folkmoot 5K

The Folkmoot 5K Run/Walk and Kids Fun Run at 8 a.m. on July 23 has become one of the festival’s signature events.

The race winds through the Hazelwood section of Waynesville and is relatively flat. Expect more than 200 runners on the course, which is ASATF certified and usually draws top runners from the area. It’s also a great race for beginners.

What makes this race unique, of course, is its association with Folkmoot. The race starts and finishes at the Folkmoot Friendship Center, and so the audience includes dozens of dancers and musicians, festival volunteers, and many of those who work for Folkmoot.

Many of the international dancers taking part in the race do so in interesting costumes. there is also music performed live by international musicians at the finish line, which adds a festive flair to completing the run.

Race day registration is available beginning at 6:30 a.m. for $25. race day registration for the Fun Run is $10. for information about the race call 828.452.2997 or 828.734.6478.

Parade Day

The Folkmoot USA Parade will be held on Friday, July 22, on Main Street in downtown Waynesville.

The parade is one of the highlights of the festival and provides potential ticket-buyers a quick look at the groups that will perform much more elaborate dances at venues throughout Western North Carolina.

The parade also serves as the official start to Folkmoot. Dignitaries gathered on the steps of Haywood County’s Historic Courthouse include Folkmoot Board members and elected officials. there is also a performance by the international band, which is comprised of musicians from all the groups at Folkmoot.

The parade starts at 12:30 p.m., but arrive early for good viewing.

Learn to dance

Folkmoot USA will have two dance workshops taught by international dancers. These events are held at the Folkmoot Friendship Center and cost $10. Children 12 and under are $5.

This year’s workshops are at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 31.

Call 1.877.365.5872 for information.

Family Night

HomeTrust Bank is hosting a family night at the Folkmoot Friendship Center at 7:30 p.m. on July 20.

This performance by two groups is geared toward families with small children and offers patrons the chance to visit the Folkmoot Friendship Center, where all the dancers and musicians live and rehearse for the 10 days of the festival.

Adults are $10, children $5. Free snacks.

Attend a performance

Folkmoot USA holds dozens of ticketed performances throughout Western North Carolina. This is your chance to see the dance groups and the musicians at their finest as they go through several costume changes and perform a variety of dances. for ticket information call 828.452.2997.

i want to take dance lessons (hip hop) and compete with others.
but how much is it?
and like would i start out in like a beginners class(with other beginners?) and then go up form there?
or will i go in the same age group and start with the people that have been there for years and that are really good?

At my studio you dont compete in hip hop until you have over 5 years of experiance and even then you prolly wont get in……….(the competition group)

We have classes based on age groups and most times its a mix of new and old students…so if you prolly wont be the best there……

i believe it goes by levels of expertise (beginner,advanced,etc.)

You will not learn “rhythm” in a ballroom class. The convenient explanation is that they’re dance classes and not music classes, but I’m not buying it. my guess is that dance instructors don’t really know how to teach hearing the beat.

The only time you hear beats counted—counting the “sets of 8” is the best way to learn the beat—is when a teacher counts to start the class dancing. even then you’ll probably only get four beats (with no explanation as to what’s being counted). The teacher will start the music and count a set of 8 over the music like this, “and a five six seven eight.” (Isn’t that how every dance teacher and professional dance choreographer you’ve ever heard started a group dancing?) You will take your first step on the next beat, which is the count 1 of the next set of 8 (waltz, the exception, is in sets of 6). Any other counting a teacher does is probably counting step patterns, not the music. (Although they’re related, there’s a difference between counting music and counting step patterns. I’ll eventually do some posts on this or you can check out Chapter 6, “Counting Step Patterns,” in my book.)

I wish teachers would spend a few minutes in beginners’ classes going over the beat. while counting music for an hour would be boring, educating students for five minutes on how to do it would be helpful. The beat is not like learning step patterns where you can pick up three or four patterns in an hour, which you could use this weekend at a dance. Learning to hear the beat is a more subtle process that’ll mostly be learned on you own, but teachers need to get their students started.

If you don’t have an ear for music or prior music training, which was my sorry situation, learning the beat could be a slow, sometimes frustrating, process (albeit fun—you just listen to music). there are levels. You want to be 100% sure of the beat with all kinds of music, from rumba to rock ‘n roll. And once you hear the beat you want to take it from hearing it in your head (intellectually) to feeling it in your body (visceral, intuitive).

In my book I commiserate a bit about my experience. I had a slow start, in part, because I was in denial about being rhythmically challenged. After a bunch of months, maybe six, I was okay at finding the beat, but I was not 100 percent sure. it was closer to two years before I reached maximum comfort and could stop thinking about it. during this time I also worked on phrasing, which is dancing to the bigger structure in the music; and music identification, which is how to tell the difference between, say, salsa and samba music.

I’m not sure if there’s a class any where in the world dedicated to hearing the beat. so here’s the message: you have to learn it on your own. I’ll go into it more in my next post. You can get a jump on it now by following this link to my free chapter, “Counting Music: Finding the Sets of 8.”

If you’re a dance teacher who spends time teaching students how to hear the beat, what’s your experience?

Tagged as: ballroom dance, ballroom dancing, Counting Music, dance classes, how to hear the beat in music, Rhythm, rhythmically challenged, sets of 8