AboutKT Expertise I can answer questions dealing with the "how tos" of jazz, ballet, hip hop and lyrical. I can help get over creative blocks with song ideas and inspiration to help create. I can answer choreography questions and techniques to help better your dancing and/or teaching.
Experience I have been dancing for 19 years in the styles of jazz, ballet, hip-hop, and contemporary. I studied at a studio rated one of the top 100 studios in the nation, then moved on to The Ohio State University to study dance. I have been teaching summer dance camps for five years. I've been choreographing solos and group routines at a local studio and for groups in my state for three years. I have also attended numerous conventions and workshops throughout the nation. Through the winter I judge for a dance team circuit in the styles of Pom, Jazz, Lyrical, and Hip-Hop.
Education/Credentials I will soon be graduating with a bachelors degree in early childhood development and a minor in dance education.
Awards and Honors This past year I was given one of only twelve scholarships out of four hundred students from Broadway Dance Center's the Pulse.
Expert: KT Date: 4/6/2008 Subject: I know its never too late but.....
Question I have ALWAYS love the art of dancing. Any type of dancing gets my attention, I took dance all four years in high school.I'm 37 years old and in fairly good shape, now have decide to take classes, right now I'm doing ballet( I have three weeks left out of 10), next will be jazz, I find myself not being flexible at all, kind of hard for me to do leaps and I'm a train wreck when it comes to turning/spinning(I get very dizzy). My teachers says I have a good attitude and don't expect to learn ballet overnight but It seems I'm falling behind the rest of the class, I practice Plies' and Releve's at work, and I practice my turns at the gym's studio.I don't want to get discourage because I really want to learn the art of dancing but I'm starting to feel maybe I be able to achieve this because of my age. My dream is to be part of a group. My question Do you have any advice on my previous mention issues? Any inspirational stories?
Answer Hey Mango...so sorry this took so long to respond some kind of glitch caused me to not receive your question until today! Well you defiantly said it all right..it's never too late to start. And like you are saying, you defiantly can not learn ballet or any other dance form overnight. And as you can imagine it can be hard to break old habits the later in our life we start. Ballet especially, but all dance demands us to train our bodies that are often opposite of what comes natural. And since you are trying to break habits you have had for 37 years you will defiantly struggle a little.
Now flexibility is all about consistency. Unless we are continuing to stretch every day as much as possible the muscles will essentially go back to their natural state. So continue to stretch as much as possible and be sure that it is quality stretching that you are doing every day. Eventually your muscles will be used to the leaping and stretching and you will become more flexible. If possible try to participate in Yoga or Pilates that also focus on many of the ideas dance focuses on.
With regards to the turning, the most important thing you can do first is to get your body used to turning around multiple times. We must know how it feels to be turning before we can perfect the technique. Keep in mind that you want to spot that head towards the front or you will get dizzy really fast. Also be sure that you are pulling up out of the top of your head while being grounded in your supporting straight leg you are turning on. This opposition will keep you going faster and let you be more solid. The more solid you can be with your center and a strong releve the easier it will become to turn.
Now, I hope I've helped a tad with these issues but basically all I can say is to keep going with what you are doing. Learning this art is tough and frustrating but keep it going because it sounds like you have just started dabbling in the field. Martha Graham once said "Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion" SO keep up the hard work, in and out of the dance studio!
