Controversy in the Scottish Ballet Troupe – The Arts Desk
Tensions High over Flemish Ballet Merger – The Australian
All Things Cuban Ballet
Cuban Ballet – NPR (All Things Considered)
Cuban audiences respond slowly to ABT – Dance Magazine
Why ABT fell short with Havana audiences – Wall Street Journal
ABT Dancers on their classes in Cuba – New York Times
Differences in class in Cuba vs. ABT – Wall Street Journal
Trying to stay ahead of the trend in music for your classes? If you’re a music-download junkie like I am, you are always looking for new music to use in class or to choreograph to. This article will give you some new resources. Last week we focused on Pop music – by checking out Billboard.com and Radio Disney.
This week, we change genres to mash-ups and remixes.
So what exactly is a mash-up? Well, its a mix of two songs (often from different artists or genres) “mashed” together to create a new song. If you watch the series “Glee” on FOX, you may remember the episode from Season 1 where the club was challenged to come up with a mash-up. Here is the girl’s result which combine’s “Halo” and “Walkin on Sunshine”:
You can find this song and the other Glee mashups on iTunes. 
Halo / Walking On Sunshine (Glee Cast Version) 
Where else can you find the hottest mash-ups and remixes? Go straight to the source: DJs. These guys and gals mix for the hottest clubs and will usually record their own spin on songs. These are a few of our favorites – and they often have their mixes available for download right on their websites.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5654723&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0
Norwegian Recycling – Viva La Viral on Vimeo.
Disclaimer: Of course you will still have to do the usual bad-words check before playing any song in class–
which may also require translation for the world songs, which leads to my next resource:
Next week’s New Music Monday will have another new music resource for remixes and mash-ups!
Looking for past New Music Mondays?
Numbering the walls or corners in your classroom can be helpful for teaching all ages – from pre-schoolers who can learn to jump to “wall 3”, to ballerinas who travel from corner to corner, ballet schools have used a fixed number system for years.
However, each school has a different method for numbering their directions. Keeping them all straight can make your head spin!
So we’ve created a little cheat sheet for you to keep in your back pocket. For teachers of another discipline aside from ballet, you might consider adopting one of these numbering methods in addition to using tradition theater directions (upstage, downstage, etc).
Cechetti
Cechetti starts with numbering the corners of the room first starting with the front right corner and going counter-clockwise (1-4). Then the front or “audience” is labeled 5 and the rest of the walls are numbered counter-clockwise as well.
Russian / Vaganova style
With this school, you start by facing the front and label that “1”. Then go around the room clockwise and label each point, so the front right corner is 2, the right wall is 3 and so on.
RAD Method
With RAD, you begin by numbering the walls first and then the corners, in a clockwise direction.
Teaching Tip: Hang large numbers on your studio walls / corners. Use the numbers in class – such as “let’s travel from corner 4 to corner 2”. Play 4-corners for a special treat for younger dancers. Halfway through the year, take one number down each week. Continue to play the games and use the corner names in class and see if the dancers remember which corner is which.
If you don’t use Twitter, you don’t know what you’re missing! Twitter can be an overwhelming onslaught of mini-messages, but it can also be very useful to a dancer looking for audition updates or an inside look at being a professional dancer.
This Follow Friday, we are taking a look at some dance organizations that have been all a-buzz…here are a few of our favorites:
@NationalDance: National Dance Institute (NDI), a nonprofit, has impacted the lives of more than 2 million public school children through award-winning arts education programs.
@JacobsPillow: Nat’l Historic Landmark & home of America’s longest-running int’l dance festival. Visit the link above to sign up for the Pillow’s eclub for artist & event info
@NYCDA: NYC Dance Alliance continues to inspire and nurture the next generation of pro dancers.
@DanceUK: Dance UK is the national voice of dance.
@DizzyFeetTweet: Dizzy Feet Foundation was founded in 2009 by Nigel Lythgoe, director Adam Shankman, DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba and actress Katie Holmes, among others.
@chicagotap: Building community with rhythm
@DanceNYC: Everything Dance in New York
@DanceU101: THE source for info & advice about college dance programs: career advice, admissions tips, videos, discussion forums and much more!
@YoungArts: The signature national organization that recognizes and supports America’s most talented 17-18 year olds in the visual, literary and performing arts.
And of course, you can find all of our buzz on our Twitter page: www.twitter.com/thedancebuzz
Trying to stay ahead of the trend in pop music? If you’re a music-download junkie like I am, you are always looking for new music to use in class or to keep those finicky teens engaged. This article will hopefully give you some new resources.
Disclaimer: Of course you will still have to do the usual bad-words check before playing any song in class–
which may also require translation for the world songs, which leads to my next resource:
Next week’s New Music Monday will have another new music resource for remixes and mash-ups!
Looking for past New Music Mondays?
The Dance Buzz 