Anna Pavlova: Russian Ballerina

 

Anna Pavlova was born on January 31, 1881, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Even though her mother, Lyubov Feodorovna, was on a budget she showered her daughter in the beauty of the arts, listening to beautiful music and taking her to see ballets. Since Anna was as young as eight years old she knew she wanted to be on the stage dancing. She wanted to be like the ballerinas she saw at Maryinsky’s Theatre dancing in The Sleeping Beauty.

When Anna was ten she was accepted as a student at St. Petersburg’s Imperial Ballet School. This ballet school was a very intense school that required major physical dedication.  Teachers gave her the foundation of ballet, but Anna added her grace and beauty to her talent to make her an unforgettable dancer.  She danced with bent arms and legs, and bad turnout, much like the ballerinas of the Romanic Ballet era. Anna turned out to not be known for her ballet etiquette but for her dance performances.

Style of the week – Waltz

The romantic Waltz is one of the most popular ballroom dances of all time. Considered by some as the “mother of present day dances” and the “backbone dance” of the ballroom, the Waltz is the basis for many dances. Developed in Germany, the Waltz is popular all over the world. A truly romantic dance, the Waltz is comprised of soft, round, flowing movements.

The Waltz is a smooth dance that travels around the line of dance. Characterized by its “rise and fall” action, the Waltz includes a step, slide, and step in 3/4 time. Dancers should move their shoulders smoothly, parallel with the floor instead of up and down. Dancers must strive to lengthen each step. On the first beat of the music, a step is taken forward on the heel, then onto the ball of the foot with a gradual rise to the toes, continuing on to the second and third beats of the music. At the end of the third beat, the heel is lowered to the floor to the starting position.

There are many different types of waltz dance including, Hesitation, Country Western, Vienesse, American style, Scandinavian, Peruvian, Mexican, Cajan, Venezeulan, and more. Some different waltz steps are hover corte, whisk, natural spin turn, hover telemark, open telemark group, hairpin, oversway, and swing.

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Style of the week – Irish Dance

Irish dance is a type of traditional dance form that originated in Ireland. Irish dance can be divided it to categories. They are social Irish dance and performance Irish dance. Irish social dances include céilí and set dancing. Irish céilí dances are danced in various formations of couples from 2 to 16 people. Irish set dances are danced inquadrilles, or 4 couples arranged in a square formation.Irish performance dance is traditionally known as stepdance, popularized by the famous “Riverdance” show.

Stepdance is known for its rapid leg movements and stationary body and arms. Solo stepdances can be performed in soft shoes or hard shoes.

What is Dance?

People see dance in movies, on TV, and all over. What is dance really? Here’s a little video of what dance is!

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Negative attitude towards dance from TV

I am someone who loves dance obviously, but some people watch different shows on TV and they see a negative dramatize side of dance and they believe that’s all that is. Dance moms for example, Abby Lee the dance studio owner is not only hard on the girls, but she is mean to the mothers.

Style of the Week – India Dance

In India dance is a huge part of their religion. Their gods symbolize dancing as a religious expression. One of India’s gods named Shiva is all about dance. He is the god of creation and destruction but he is also known as the lord of dance.  In one hand he holds a drum, symbolizing the sound of creation and in the other hand is a flame, symbolizing destruction and renewal. But he is not the only god in the India tradition that symbolizes dance, there is also Vishnu. As you can see, India is big on religious dancing, their gods even represent expressing dance through their beliefs.

Not only does dance intertwine with India’s gods, but dancing is a way of worship. The Indian and West African cultures use dance to communicate and worship the gods. The generations pass down old folk dances they have used as worship from generation to generation until the dances themselves become part of the religion.  In India they not only have gods that represent dance, but they also have a way of worship so they all can dance with and for the gods.