I've Never Danced Like This Before

    For the next two weeks, we have a guest director for a dance show called Inlet. It is a contemporary style of dance that defies boundaries and focuses on an individual dancer's body, not what traditional dance styles have taught.  Dance technique can be very specific and doesn't always take into account that not all bodies work and move the same. I'm not in the dance show because I couldn't audition because of Commedia. But Bill, the director and choreographer of the show who is from Inlet Dance Company, has been teaching some of our Jazz III classes. 

    Apparently, the basis of all movement in this style comes from moving the pelvis. We did exercises criss-cross applesauce on the ground that focused on moving our pelvis forward and back, side to side, and up and down. Then we added leg movements by spreading legs out on the floor and moving our pelvis up, then to the side. It is incredibly interesting, and my hip-flexors are very sore. I also learned that while dancers use their back muscles constantly, if you use your pelvis and abs to move, you will use muscles on the front of your body, and put little to no strain on your back. Another really interesting thing I learned last class was that centrifugal force and where your arms are while turning have a very real relationship. One I never thought of. If you spin around really fast and let your arms raise up naturally, that is the level your arms should be at while turning. It especially helps with fouettés, a certain kind of turn that relies on centrifugal force when you really think about it. I just never really thought about it. 

    The last piece of advice he gave today in class was some I will keep with me. He described dance like how there are different genres of music, you have to sing them all differently but one is never more superior than the other. Different genres of dance are like those different genres of music, the technique changes with every genre. And if you cannot adapt, if you cannot prove that you can change genres in auditions. You won't be hired for contemporary dance if you can't get rid of your classical ballet training in that specific audition.