Dance Foundations

Age 8

Dancing became a part of my life when I turned 7 years old. I took a dance camp at my school in 1^st grade and I stayed in it just because we got jelly beans at the end of each class. Soon I decided to go to a studio we went to Allegro Performing Arts Academy when I was 8 and I have been there ever since. Dance allows me to express all my emotions and how I am feeling. Everything is relaxing and I can let go and feel like I’m at home when I’m at the dance studio.

 In the book Life in Motion Misty Copeland talks about her childhood and experience and how she became the world’s first and best African American female principal at the American Ballet Theatre. Misty explains why building a strong base and foundation is important and necessary if you want to strive in the dance world, you always need the basic technique in the long run. “My bar warmup this morning is slow structured yet fragmentary perfectly designed to bring me to center where I can dance freely without the barre, each motion a broken down version of what tonight's solos will be. (Copeland 2).” I used to think that dance was all about the big stuff and like ooh that’s a cool move I want to try it or ooh that’s fun I want to do that.

 When I was younger I never really seemed to focus on the little stuff that could build my base stronger faster so I could do the harder things. “I start with plie’s increasingly deeper bends of the knee which warm up my legs while still allowing them the support that they need I transition to larger movements of the leg, circling them in my ronds de jambe, and bending them in fondus, gradually stretching my hips and knees. I finish with a port de bras, stretching my torso forward and from side to side (Copeland 2).” I don’t nearly think this deeply about a basic simple movement, but now I try to think carefully about every little movement I do and where its base comes from and the correct and proper technique throughout the whole movement. We do basic technique in all our classes daily so while we do this I now apply the little things Misty talks about in her book so I can get the full effect of the exercise and not just doing it for fun.  

My question for you is do you work as hard as you possibly can to improve yourself and the basic's of the activity, or do you slack off time and time again?

Copeland, Misty, and Charisse Jones. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina. New York: Touchstone, Published by Simon and Schuster, 2014. Print.