Dance Update

BA Ballet Education Graduation show is over and well done: Notice and some pictures here.

In June: Performing at The Place.

I am also very honoured and happy to have been given the opportunity to be part of The Karsavina Project - a project hopefully to become more and more popular amongst dancers and teachers. Tamara Karsavina, as a founding member of the Royal Academy of Dance, devised a syllabus specifically for dance teachers who would train there. Based on her own experience as a ballet dancer and a student at the Imperial Ballet School (now Vaganova Academy) in St Petersbourg, the syllabus contains elements of various styles and schools of ballet and is therefore invaluable also from a historical perspective. This syllabus has been passed on from Karsavina herself to selected teachers who have taught it at the RAD since. The Karsavina syllabus is the Royal Academy of Dance's possession and copyrighted.


There is an endeavour at the moment to record the syllabus in other, more tangible ways as well (video, notation, interviews): "The Karsavina Project". Find it on facebook with more explanations and lots of pictures from the filming session!

Tamara Karsavina, circa 1915

"I am dying in m dream" by Ni Wen

I am dying in my dream from NI on Vimeo.

Change of mind

I finished my BA dissertation and bound it, title:

I feel differently but I don't know why: A phenomenological study of ballet and contemporary dance classes.

Thanks to all those who have emailed me about their experiences, talked to me, and contributed in these ways.

Some pending ideas for next year - Dance in London, teach ballet in China, teach ballet in Europe, continue studying??

February news

Today, I went to the first audition for next year.
I doubt I do things physically that people would pay for.
But I wonder to what extend this is a pre-requisite for some success.

Tips for next time: Do take paracetamol. Do not wear anything hinting at pyjamas-like clothing, even if I think it reflects my character. Be fitter. I think most other things I did right.
It took me a very expensive travel ticket to London and several hours closing eyes to recover from a headache I got during the day. Also, rethinking options. I can predict what kind of people I will encounter at more auditions. Still, I must go through - it is a way of contextualising myself in the dance world and that's the process to finding my way.

On the other hand, it also seems that I am not doing a real thing. I am not really preparing to teach, and I am not really dancing. Not able to focus on either one, trying to combine both.
I wonder how things develop. I was never that happy to return to London before.

Igor Moiseyev Company

AND MANY MORE ON YOUTUBE!

Resources Character Dance Polish Court

Something I found just now, on the search - just to quickly share.
Relevant also for teaching and dancing RAD Grade 6 for instance:

lowiczanka.wordpress.com...

"(...) Which leads us back to Poland. No, the Polka is not a national dance of Poland. Poland’s national dances are: The Krakowiak, the Mazur (Mazurka), Polonez (Polonaise), theKujawiak, and the Oberek. These dances, which originated in the Polish countryside, were so popular that they found their way to the royal court, and were even incorporated into classical works by composers like Chopin."

"(...) The Mazur originated in the Mazowsze region of central Poland in the 16th century, and by the 17th century was danced in villages throughout Poland.

With its quick 3/4 tempo…accented on the 2nd or 3rd beat, and intricate steps…heel clicking, slides, and running steps, it soon found its way to the Polish Court.
As a result, you will often find the Mazur danced in different ways to different types of music, from the delicate Mazur of the peasants (in regional folk costumes), to the military style Mazur of the Uhlans(soldiers in uniform, ladies in ball gowns).

The Mazur also found its way into operas, like this one from the Polish Opera Halka by famed composer Stanisław Moniuszko. It is an example of a military Mazur. (The costumes are Kontusze.)"



Polonez (Polonaise):

"The Polonez, or Poland Dance of 18th century nobility, has its roots in the 17th century walking dance Chodzony, which traditionally opened up balls and weddings in country villages throughout Poland.

Danced to a slow 3/4 tempo, the partners do not face each other, but rather walk to the music around the ballroom… forward, back, side, often bowing, but always maintaining a formal, stately posture.
While the Polonez may be danced wearing a folk costume from any of Poland’s ethnographic regions, it is usually performed with the dancers dressed in Kontusze, the costume of the Polish Nobility of the 17th century."

PINA

PINA - Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost from neueroadmovies on Vimeo.

Wim Wenders Site

London has this beautiful rain again, from morning until night
drop drop drop swing the body