So this project has finally come to an end, and I think that I am actually going to miss it because there are rarely opportunities in high school where are project is dedicated and tailored to your passion. When looking back at the weeks, I truly believe that I have learned so much about life along with new dance moves. The most important lesson I learned was that life is about taking risks and accepting the embarrassment that may come along with it in order to reach something great. This was the point that I was attempting to get across to the audience during my TED Talk, so lets evaluate how well I was able to do that and how my overall presentation was by using the assignment sheet for the categories.
Time: Although I am not sure of the actually time of my presentation, I do believe it was between the required time length of 4 to 5 minutes since it was when I had practiced beforehand.
Visual Component: My visual component was an effective aid in my presentation by only providing pictures and minimal words on each slide.
Content: I feel like I did a good job on content because I showed my product, even though it was not very successful, I explained my process of learning each dance step, and I had a purpose for the audience to take away, which was to take risks even if they may be embarrassing.
Organization: I do believe that my speech flowed well, but I also think that there was room for improvement in this category.
Delivery: I think my overall delivery was very enthusiastic about street dance and refined and poised for the most part. Like organization I think that there is room for improvement in this category.
Looking at my presentation as a whole I would give myself a 26/30.
To end this post I would like to say that I will always be grateful for this opportunity because it gave me the push to start pursuing my passion for street dance!
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
The End, Well Sort Of...
How as it already been 7 weeks!? I guess time really does fly when you are working on a project that you enjoy putting work and long hours into. So these past couple of days I have been working on my TED Talk and practicing my routine, and I must say that I am pleased at how both are coming along. I honestly never thought that I would be able to teach myself as many moves that I had, let alone being able to perform them on a stage! I am most definitely going to continue dancing, and who knows maybe if I put in enough time I might actually become good! Plus being a dancer comes in handy when you are younger because you do not look dumb dancing at parties, you always have a hidden talent to share, and it is just something to do when you are bored. Maybe next year I can post a video of me dancing to show the improvement that I will make!
The TED Talk on the other hand is not something that I am enjoying at the moment because I am still a little scared to street dance on the stage, but I have accepted the fact that I am embarrassing myself a lot. I used the idea of embarrassment to my advantage though by making it the overall theme of my TED Talk. I figured that I might as well make a joke out of my embarrassment.
Okay so enough about my embarrassment, let's get back to dance. Here is the video that I will be dancing along with in my TED Talk...
The full routine is one minute, but I only chose thirty seconds that I feel comfortable performing. The routine involves standard hip-hop moves, tutting, floor work, and a style of hip-hop called house. Also it is taught my favorite dance crew diversity, and in case you do not know who they are here are a few of their routines...
The TED Talk on the other hand is not something that I am enjoying at the moment because I am still a little scared to street dance on the stage, but I have accepted the fact that I am embarrassing myself a lot. I used the idea of embarrassment to my advantage though by making it the overall theme of my TED Talk. I figured that I might as well make a joke out of my embarrassment.
Okay so enough about my embarrassment, let's get back to dance. Here is the video that I will be dancing along with in my TED Talk...
The full routine is one minute, but I only chose thirty seconds that I feel comfortable performing. The routine involves standard hip-hop moves, tutting, floor work, and a style of hip-hop called house. Also it is taught my favorite dance crew diversity, and in case you do not know who they are here are a few of their routines...
Those routines are AMAZING! I still feel inspired every time I watch them! So as this project comes to an end I would really like to thank my teachers for allowing us to work on our passions for seven weeks because it truly has been awesome and I can't wait to continue to improve! Also, even though the project is over I think I may keep up this blogging to have reminders of the progress I make in my dance journey, so until next time, BYEE!
Friday, March 29, 2013
More Blogs!!
http://doingthe3.blogspot.com - an aspired snowboarder
http://karaspicture.blogspot.com - an amateur photographer
http://djaayush.blogspot.com - the next great DJ
http://sublimenailsbycara.blogspot.com - an awesome nail art painter
http://erbcinematography.blogspot.com - a dedicated movie director
http://jennak421.blogspot.com - a tumblr theme creator
http://thewebsitetracker.blogspot.com/ - a new computer wiz
http://wissahickoncompliments.blogspot.com - an awesome blogger fighting cyber bullies
http://jennamakesfood.blogspot.com - an inspiring 'chef'
http://karaspicture.blogspot.com - an amateur photographer
http://djaayush.blogspot.com - the next great DJ
http://sublimenailsbycara.blogspot.com - an awesome nail art painter
http://erbcinematography.blogspot.com - a dedicated movie director
http://jennak421.blogspot.com - a tumblr theme creator
http://thewebsitetracker.blogspot.com/ - a new computer wiz
http://wissahickoncompliments.blogspot.com - an awesome blogger fighting cyber bullies
http://jennamakesfood.blogspot.com - an inspiring 'chef'
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Nearing the End
Okay wow, so there is less than a week before these seven weeks are up! Although I truly believe that I have made progress, there is still so much to be accomplished. Okay but before I begin stressing about the upcoming presentation, I will share with all of you the events of this past week.
Since this week was spring break, and my family never travels, like at all, that meant that I had plenty of time at home to work on my dancing. I was practically dancing 24/7, even when my family was staring at me like I was crazy. Sure most of the time it was probably just me jumping up and down, but I still feel as if this extra time really did help me improve. After all 'practice makes perfect', well supposedly, and while I was practicing I realized that I had memorized the entire routine and was able to perform each move decently. I am extremely proud that I got this far because in all honesty, towards the beginning I did have doubts about being able to teach myself dance without any background with it.
Okay so going into specifics, this past week I focused a majority of my time on learning the floorwork part of the routine because I have to say it is quite difficult. It may look very simple, especially since it is only 2 eight count steps, but trust me, its not! I was constantly tripping over my own feet in my attempts to crossover and under my legs. Luckily I had this video tutorial to pause whenever the steps became too difficult.
Along with having plenty of time to practice my dancing, I also had a fair amount of time to watch more professional street dancers. My current favorite crew is Ruff Diamond because of their story. They are 6 self-taught street dancers from a small town in England without any dance studios even close to the town. I feel if they can accomplish that much all by themselves then I should be able to learn this routine. Here is a video of them talking about their story and their incredible performance!
Since this week was spring break, and my family never travels, like at all, that meant that I had plenty of time at home to work on my dancing. I was practically dancing 24/7, even when my family was staring at me like I was crazy. Sure most of the time it was probably just me jumping up and down, but I still feel as if this extra time really did help me improve. After all 'practice makes perfect', well supposedly, and while I was practicing I realized that I had memorized the entire routine and was able to perform each move decently. I am extremely proud that I got this far because in all honesty, towards the beginning I did have doubts about being able to teach myself dance without any background with it.
Okay so going into specifics, this past week I focused a majority of my time on learning the floorwork part of the routine because I have to say it is quite difficult. It may look very simple, especially since it is only 2 eight count steps, but trust me, its not! I was constantly tripping over my own feet in my attempts to crossover and under my legs. Luckily I had this video tutorial to pause whenever the steps became too difficult.
Along with having plenty of time to practice my dancing, I also had a fair amount of time to watch more professional street dancers. My current favorite crew is Ruff Diamond because of their story. They are 6 self-taught street dancers from a small town in England without any dance studios even close to the town. I feel if they can accomplish that much all by themselves then I should be able to learn this routine. Here is a video of them talking about their story and their incredible performance!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Vlog Time!
Okay, so this week has been pretty uneventful, therefore it could be considered a successful week. All it has consisted of is learning the dance move, and then practice, practice, and more practice. I guess then I will not bore you any longer with the details of learning the move, but I will instead expand your knowledge of street dance some more.
Also, instead of just my normal blog this week, I have included a video discussing my inspiration for this topic choice and even one of the dance moves I have learned so far!
Another book I have read:
Torrington, Emma. Street Dance. N.p.: Rosen Group, 2011. Print.
Street dance is a style that is growing in popularity because of the fact that many teachers believe it to be one of the easiest styles to learn. One of the main reasons why it is easiest to learn is because there is no wrong way to perform a move since each movement is individualized. Of course there are a few exceptions such as tutting where your arms and wrists have to stay at ninety degree angles throughout the move. But otherwise you can complete each move whichever way feels most comfortable to you.
Along with being one of the easiest styles to learn, street dance is a great form of expression. It is possible to street dance to a range a music from hip hop to classical, unlike other styles of dance. Just in case you might not believe me that street dancing is possible during classical music, here is an example...
Also, instead of just my normal blog this week, I have included a video discussing my inspiration for this topic choice and even one of the dance moves I have learned so far!
Another book I have read:
Torrington, Emma. Street Dance. N.p.: Rosen Group, 2011. Print.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Some More Progress
Okay, so I have been working on this project for around four weeks now and it is beginning to become very difficult to learn moves. During the first few weeks I had been learning the basics, which obviously were not that hard to do because, well, they are the basics after all. Now I have the task of teaching myself a more advanced dance move from videos on YouTube, and me just put it out there that it is insanely difficult to teach yourself a dance move because they is no one there to see your errors and help correct them. So I am left staring at myself in a mirror trying the figure out why my movements do not match the person in the YouTube video. Thankfully since I have been repeating this process for a fair amount of time, I am starting to develop an effective way to learn these dance moves within a weeks time...
1. Find a YouTube video with the max HD possible (helps to see the moves clearer)
2. Watch video over and over & take notes (notes help me to remember each step, especially if they occur extremely fast)
3. Begin practicing move in front of mirror & make corrections (finish with this step when I feel comfortable executing the move)
4. Take a video of myself doing the move & find errors (video shows how would look performing the move in front of an audience)
5. Go back to step 3 until I believe that I have done the move well
On a happier note, instead of discussing the hardships of learning street dance I will share more about some street dancers and street crews that I find inspirational. The first being street troupe Diversity. Diversity is a British group made up of nine individuals including three sets of brothers and three others. The group is mainly know for winning Britain's Got Talent in 2009 and famously beating Susan Boyle. Since winning the show they have sold-out three tours around the U.K. and Ireland, being the first street dance group to ever headline their own tour. They also have made two DVD's, helped create the reality show Got To Dance, and have become celebrities all over the U.K. and Ireland. Diversity changed the entire dance scene across the pond by making it relatable to all people, and this opened the way for more dancers to do what they love for a living such as groups like Prodiji, duos such as Chris & Wes, and individuals like Akai. I hope that sometime in the future dance will be prominent in America, but until then I will continue to be inspired by the dancers of Britain!
1. Find a YouTube video with the max HD possible (helps to see the moves clearer)
2. Watch video over and over & take notes (notes help me to remember each step, especially if they occur extremely fast)
3. Begin practicing move in front of mirror & make corrections (finish with this step when I feel comfortable executing the move)
4. Take a video of myself doing the move & find errors (video shows how would look performing the move in front of an audience)
5. Go back to step 3 until I believe that I have done the move well
On a happier note, instead of discussing the hardships of learning street dance I will share more about some street dancers and street crews that I find inspirational. The first being street troupe Diversity. Diversity is a British group made up of nine individuals including three sets of brothers and three others. The group is mainly know for winning Britain's Got Talent in 2009 and famously beating Susan Boyle. Since winning the show they have sold-out three tours around the U.K. and Ireland, being the first street dance group to ever headline their own tour. They also have made two DVD's, helped create the reality show Got To Dance, and have become celebrities all over the U.K. and Ireland. Diversity changed the entire dance scene across the pond by making it relatable to all people, and this opened the way for more dancers to do what they love for a living such as groups like Prodiji, duos such as Chris & Wes, and individuals like Akai. I hope that sometime in the future dance will be prominent in America, but until then I will continue to be inspired by the dancers of Britain!
Friday, March 1, 2013
History and the First Moves Learned
Before I start rambling about this week's adventure of learning street dance, let me start by explaining more about what street dance actually is. Many people assume that this style of dance is a crew or individual literally dancing in the street, or just another term for hip-hop, but it is much more than just that. In fact street dance is term used to describe any dance style that has personality and has evolved. That means styles such as tap, clogging, jazz, and to some extents ballet can be considered street dance if routines in that style are performed with a lot of originality. I was just as surprised as you most likely are about this information, but now since you are a little bit more educated on street dance, lets get into the events of this past week.
So my week began by searching world wide web for a simple eight count tutting move, and after an hour or so I found the perfect tutorial ...
With the video found, I began to learn the moves. I have to say that it was extremely difficult to pick up choreography off the bat, especially if since I have never had a dance lesson in my life. I am almost positive that if someone had witnessed me practicing the first few steps, they could have thought that I was having a seizure. No joke. Also since tutting involves keeping your arms and hands at ninety degree angles, it could have appeared as if I was doing an awful version of the robot. But then I guess I never expected to be fantastic dancer at the beginning so I should have anticipated looking like a complete fool at first.
After drilling the moves into my head, I decided to get my sister's opinion on my progress so far because I figured that she would be the only one out of my family to give an honest opinion. So I played some music and moved through the small amount of steps I had learned. The first words out of her mouth were that I looked dumb, but then she added that it wasn't that bad and that it could have been much worse. I consider that to be a pretty amazing compliment coming from my sister!
Overall my week started off a little rocky, but then again that was to be expected, and luckily the week concluded with my sister's "compliment" showing that there is hope for me!
A book I read:
So my week began by searching world wide web for a simple eight count tutting move, and after an hour or so I found the perfect tutorial ...
With the video found, I began to learn the moves. I have to say that it was extremely difficult to pick up choreography off the bat, especially if since I have never had a dance lesson in my life. I am almost positive that if someone had witnessed me practicing the first few steps, they could have thought that I was having a seizure. No joke. Also since tutting involves keeping your arms and hands at ninety degree angles, it could have appeared as if I was doing an awful version of the robot. But then I guess I never expected to be fantastic dancer at the beginning so I should have anticipated looking like a complete fool at first.
After drilling the moves into my head, I decided to get my sister's opinion on my progress so far because I figured that she would be the only one out of my family to give an honest opinion. So I played some music and moved through the small amount of steps I had learned. The first words out of her mouth were that I looked dumb, but then she added that it wasn't that bad and that it could have been much worse. I consider that to be a pretty amazing compliment coming from my sister!
Overall my week started off a little rocky, but then again that was to be expected, and luckily the week concluded with my sister's "compliment" showing that there is hope for me!
A book I read:
Gogerly, Liz. Street Dance. N.p.: Lerner Pub Group, 2011. Print. On The Radar: Dance.
Some Other Interests!
Here are some other blog that you are may be interested in looking at:
http://pressforpaint.blogspot.com - Struggles of learning how to spray paint are demonstrated here
http://donnasgeniusproject.blogspot.com - the process of recreating the famous "American Gothic" painting
http://carolinelearns2sign.blogspot.com - a blogger striving to be able to communicate in an entirely new language: sign language
http://www.aslin7weeks.blogspot.com - the blogger who is also learning sign language with the author of the blog above
http://heylookiwroteabook.blogspot.com - a beginner author's attempt to write a story about the very entertaining main character, Charlie
http://designsbyjennyd.blogspot.com - learning how to create articles of clothing (P.S. this person might be making clothes for me to wear dancing!)
http://pressforpaint.blogspot.com - Struggles of learning how to spray paint are demonstrated here
http://donnasgeniusproject.blogspot.com - the process of recreating the famous "American Gothic" painting
http://carolinelearns2sign.blogspot.com - a blogger striving to be able to communicate in an entirely new language: sign language
http://www.aslin7weeks.blogspot.com - the blogger who is also learning sign language with the author of the blog above
http://heylookiwroteabook.blogspot.com - a beginner author's attempt to write a story about the very entertaining main character, Charlie
http://designsbyjennyd.blogspot.com - learning how to create articles of clothing (P.S. this person might be making clothes for me to wear dancing!)
Thursday, February 21, 2013
How I Developed This Insane Idea
One day I was on YouTube watching interviews of the British boyband One Direction when I stumbled upon a video of a dance troupe from Britain called Diversity. The group was performing a routine on Britain's Got Talent that made me laugh and drop my jaw to the floor. I was amazed! Before watching the video, I hadn't thought that dance could be anything besides ballerina's performing in recitals. This is when I became hooked and found myself watching video after video of other street dance crews such as Antics, Ruff Diamond, Iconic Boyz, and K.I.
After watching all of these crews, I most definitely became inspired and I decided that I wanted to learn how to street dance. There was just one problem. I am a blonde, catholic, 5'3" teenage girl with absolutely no dance experience whatsoever, with the exception of bar and bat mitzvahs of course. Now you are probably asking yourself, what on earth is this girl thinking? To be honest I am asking myself that same question at this moment. The only answer that I can come up with is that dance is something I enjoy very much and I find myself doing it whenever any catchy song starts playing. I also know that at the end of this I will be no where close to being an amazing street dancer, but I do believe that if I put in enough work and practice then I will at least have a few moves under my belt.
My main goal for these seven weeks is to learn an entire routine that would include tutting and possibly floor-work. To break up the routine, I will learn a few steps each week for the first six weeks, then in the final week I will practice over and over again to attempt at perfecting the routine. Overall, the routine will be 48 counts, which is 6 sets of 8 count moves.
Week 1: This week will most likely be the most difficult because I am putting together the routine from moves I have seen on YouTube and attempting to learn the two sets of 8 count moves. I plan on spending all week practicing these moves over and over again until there are drilled into my memory. I will be learning these steps from videos on YouTube because I will be able to learn the steps visually and most importantly be able to pause the video at any moment. Being able to pause the video will be essential to this process because I have a strong feeling that I will not have the ability to pick up the steps right off the bat.
Week 2 through Week 6: These weeks will consist of, like the first week, learning 2 sets of 8 count moves. Also, I will be continuing to practice the moves that I have learned during previous weeks.
Week 7: I will be spending this entire week practicing the routine over and over again in attempts to perform it to the best of my ability.
Overall my main goal at the end of these 7 weeks is to prove to everyone that it is possible to learn how to do something out of your comfort zone within a short period of time as long as it is something that you are passionate about and are willing to spend the time to practice it. Also, I plan on having my routine look somewhat close to an actually street dancer, which will only occur if I spend enough time working on it.
I will leave you all with these videos to watch and hopefully they can inspire you as they did me! Or if your just looking for something cool to watch that works too.
After watching all of these crews, I most definitely became inspired and I decided that I wanted to learn how to street dance. There was just one problem. I am a blonde, catholic, 5'3" teenage girl with absolutely no dance experience whatsoever, with the exception of bar and bat mitzvahs of course. Now you are probably asking yourself, what on earth is this girl thinking? To be honest I am asking myself that same question at this moment. The only answer that I can come up with is that dance is something I enjoy very much and I find myself doing it whenever any catchy song starts playing. I also know that at the end of this I will be no where close to being an amazing street dancer, but I do believe that if I put in enough work and practice then I will at least have a few moves under my belt.
My main goal for these seven weeks is to learn an entire routine that would include tutting and possibly floor-work. To break up the routine, I will learn a few steps each week for the first six weeks, then in the final week I will practice over and over again to attempt at perfecting the routine. Overall, the routine will be 48 counts, which is 6 sets of 8 count moves.
Week 1: This week will most likely be the most difficult because I am putting together the routine from moves I have seen on YouTube and attempting to learn the two sets of 8 count moves. I plan on spending all week practicing these moves over and over again until there are drilled into my memory. I will be learning these steps from videos on YouTube because I will be able to learn the steps visually and most importantly be able to pause the video at any moment. Being able to pause the video will be essential to this process because I have a strong feeling that I will not have the ability to pick up the steps right off the bat.
Week 2 through Week 6: These weeks will consist of, like the first week, learning 2 sets of 8 count moves. Also, I will be continuing to practice the moves that I have learned during previous weeks.
Week 7: I will be spending this entire week practicing the routine over and over again in attempts to perform it to the best of my ability.
Overall my main goal at the end of these 7 weeks is to prove to everyone that it is possible to learn how to do something out of your comfort zone within a short period of time as long as it is something that you are passionate about and are willing to spend the time to practice it. Also, I plan on having my routine look somewhat close to an actually street dancer, which will only occur if I spend enough time working on it.
I will leave you all with these videos to watch and hopefully they can inspire you as they did me! Or if your just looking for something cool to watch that works too.
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