Second American Pastime

Have you ever heard that tap dancing is also known as ‘Second American Pastime’?  According to buzzle.com,

“No one knows who, when and how it was created”

When I first read this about tap dancing, I didn’t know what it meant. But, I read it over again and really thought about how I tap EVERYWHERE. In school, in the grocery store, even when I’m in the car! Everywhere. Also, I thought about the first word of the phrase; ‘Second’.

This is might be a little off topic, but- What could be the first ‘American Pastime’ be? And also, do you agree with what I think about the ‘Second American Pastime’? Why or why not?

Being Prepared for Ballet Class

When you are stretching for ballet class, it is best to stretch before class begins. Most classic classes will start at the barre without any “stretching time”. If teachers did this, there would be less time for working on technique.

But, some people prefer not to stretch before class starts, because they like how barre work is their stretch. I can go both ways with this: it is good to be prepared for class, but it is also important to take advantage of the combinations at the barre for your stretch. This was found on another dance.about.com article:

“Leg stretches are important for ballet dancers. Stretching the muscles of the legs, especially the quadriceps, hamstrings and calves, will improve flexibility as well as help to prevent injury. The following leg stretches are performed on the floor, but are easily adaptable to the barre.”

Do you prefer to stretch before class, or use the barre for your stretch?

Why is Ballet so Important?

Ballet is one of my favorite styles of dance because I like working at the barre. But, it is also one of my favorites for another reason- Ballet is the base of all dance styles! Think about it, how would you know how to have your shoulders down while turning? Ballet! And how would you know how to turn your legs and feet out? Ballet! I found THIS at dance.about.com:

“Ballet serves as a backbone for many other styles of dance, as many other dance genres are based on ballet. Ballet is based on techniques that have been developed over centuries. Ballet uses music and dance to tell stories. Ballet dancers have the ability to transport an audience to another world.”

Have you noticed that what you do in ballet helps with all other dance styles? If so, what is it?

What to Wear to Ballet Class

When I go to ballet class, I believe that it is important to be dressed appropriately. But not all girls are. This can be a distraction to you as a dancer, and sometimes the teacher because they might not be able to see your correct posture and technique clearly.  At dance.about.com, I found this:

“Women and girls:
A simple leotard and a pair of tights is the best thing to wear to class. Leotards are available in several colors and designs, including sleeveless, short sleeved and long sleeved. Young dancers delight in wearing small skirts and tutus over their leotards, but most teachers discourage them in older classes.”

            Is this what you usually wear to class? Do you believe that it is important to dress appropriately?  Does your ballet teacher have a strict dress code on what you should wear?

Choosing a Dance Studio

                When choosing a dance studio, there are a lot of things that you have to think about! Well first of all, you should check out the place to see if it is a well-run business. If the schedule is all out of sorts and there is clutter everywhere, this might not be the best place to invest your time and money into. Also, the teachers/instructors should be nice and well-trained. They should not be mean or rude to the students, and they should have been dancing for a long time, and have had experience teaching multiple age levels. Another thing that should be considered is how large the classes are and how the students treat each other. Mean students can make people have a bad experience with taking dance classes. Choose wisely!

For more information, visit http://www.nrde.org/choosingadancest.html

Fearlessness in Ballet

I have read an article on the famous dancer, Gillian Murphy. As I was reading the article, I came across a paragraph about her fearlessness in ballet. I found this at Dance.about.com:

“Murphy has said that her fearlessness in ballet may have evolved from playing soccer as a young child, as well as belly-flopping off the diving board. She also enjoyed other physical activities such as swimming and running.”

            I believe that it is important to participate in other activities when you are a ballet dancer. It gives you more confidence and it makes you connect with the different sports. In other words, if you are a ballet dancer, and there is a sport that you really like, you should find similarities between the two sports. This is important because it makes you think more about how all sports can be the same.

            Do you think that sports can have similarities? If you are a ballet dancer, do you participate other sports/activities? If so, do you think that your additional sport(s) help in ballet?

Using the Internet to Find Research

I have recently read in an article called The Growth of the Web, that 39% of what we are doing online is looking up information, and each person spends 3.1 hours a week doing it. I was surprised at how many people refer to the internet for reliable information than reference books.  At http://pewresearch.org/pubs/677/in-search-of-solutions, I found:

“The internet is a go-to source. In general, more people turn to the internet (at home, work, libraries or other places) than any other source of information and support, including experts and family members. There was some variance in the results, depending on the type of problem people faced. Experts mattered most when people faced health problems; government agencies topped the list when information about specific programs was the concern.”

What kinds of websites do we use for research? How do we know that the information we are getting is true? Do we check multiple websites to make sure that the information we get is true?