Dance History , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , inspirational dancing
Maya Plisetskaya is one of the most gifted dancers of all time, so if you had to pick one to beat the odds on longevity, you’d be hard pressed to find a better candidate. She has had a huge influence on ballet with her unique style, charisma, and dramatic as well as technical […]
Continue readingDance History , dance videos , social dancing
British dancers not doubt get a kick out of the fact that what is slang for a four letter activity to them is the name of a dance to us. Three dances to be specific: Collegiate Shag, St Louis Shag, and Carolina Shag. The first two are more closely related to each other but […]
Continue readingcompetitive dance , dance videos , dancing in the golden years , inspirational dancing , social dancing
When I write about older dancers I usually try to find dancers still wowing us in their 80s and 90s. Today I’m going to feature Charlie Womble and Jackie McGee, even though they’re only in their 60s. The reason is that I want to talk about the ease that comes with experience. You’ve heard the […]
Continue readingdance videos , inspirational dancing
What is it about real masters that makes their dancing so irresistible to watch? It’s not that they make it look easy. It’s that they make it look effortless. Some dancers have it and some don’t, but the difference is striking. Ruby Keeler was a prolific movie star who made a ton of musicals in […]
Continue readingDance History , dance videos , political dance
Emma Goldman is credited with the title quote, and it’s one of my favorites. I think she was simply saying that she’s not going to fight for a joyless society, a point that is so easily forgotten when the focus is on struggle. But music and dance have also been used throughout history to make […]
Continue readingI get asked this question by at least 70% of the people who ask me about dance lessons. The truth is it’s impossible to answer because everyone learns at a different rate. It might take one person an hour to learn what another could take a month to finally understand. It also depends A LOT […]
Continue readingOK, I know not everyone is fascinated by brain science like I am, but are you just a little bit curious about what happens to your brain when you dance? If so, take a peek at this enlightening little video. [embedplusvideo height=”507″ width=”640″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/14kVUHT” standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/liCDpfufPp0?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=liCDpfufPp0&width=640&height=507&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep8958″ /] By LaurieAnn Lepoff Like this post? Use […]
Continue readingConnecting Socially , Dance History , dance videos , leading and following , music for dance , teaching dance
Blues dancing has been around for decades in one form or another. It’s one of my favorite dances because it is so open to interpretation that it can look drastically different from one dancer to another. As long as the character of the dance remains intimate and, well, bluesy, you can trade on pretty much […]
Continue readingchildren dancing , dance videos , dancing in the streets
My dance studio is in Oakland and I live in Oakland. Our city gets a lot of bad press but we Oaklanders love our city. Yes, we have crime, on the streets and in our government, but we also have great food, great dancing, outstanding architecture, the Art Murmur, cultural diversity, and amazing kids. The […]
Continue readingabout LaurieAnn , dance videos , dancing animals
I met my dancing cow in a session with the fabulous hypnotherapist Christine Bartlett. I had just entered an airplane, stowed my luggage, and sat down. Sitting next to me was a six foot tall black and white Guernsey cow reading a newspaper. One of my father’s favorite movies being “Harvey” with Jimmy […]
Continue readingdance videos , dancing animals
Warning: another animal dance video. If you don’t like to see people dancing with animals, skip this one. This video did go viral, so you may have seen it already. Some animals really do have a sense of rhythm and actually choose to dance when motivated by music, just like humans. See https://www.stepsontoes.com/2013/04/319/. Sometimes the […]
Continue readingchildren dancing , dance videos , inspirational dancing
I know, I know, I promised no more Evian dance blogs, but they’re just so beautifully done! When a company features dance as the ultimate expression of joy, they deserve to by honored in a dance blog. This one isn’t as much fun as the dancing babies, but it’s still beautifully animated and a ton […]
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