Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts

20101028

20101024

20101020

look inside NYCB's costume shop

One more post today, if you're craft or dance-oriented you'll enjoy this short video about "recreating a tutu's splendor."

 

You may also like to check out this blog written by the woman who runs the ladies' costume department: Awesomosis!

20101013

20101009

20100925

20100903

Musicals - .FIVE.

Five Things Friday! Five great moments in fantastic motion picture musicals...
(Click on the pictures to watch the clips on YT)
1. Mein Herr from Caberet
2. Hard Knock Life from Annie
3. The Tapioca from Thoroughly Modern Millie
4. Singing in the Rain from Singing in the Rain
5. The Gospel of No Name City from Paint Your Wagon

20100821

Maybe - Song.a.Day


Songs with Great Music Videos 
Part 5/5


I can get behind pretty much any Fosse-inspired music video. But having a catchy song by a Spice Girl is an extra plus!


And a Happy Birthday Eve to Ali!

20100820

five favorite tap routines - .FIVE.

In the spirit of Emily's Five, I thought I'd share five of my favorite tap routines. These are in no particular order:

1. The Nicholas Brothers in Stormy Weather. I remember seeing this when I was a child and thinking either they were not human or the whole routine was magic. Needless to say, both men have had multiple hip replacements!


2. The Challenge in Tap. Starring many of the greatest tap dancers of all time: Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr, Harold Nicholas, Jimmy Slyde, Howard "Sandman" Sims, Bunny Briggs, Steve Condos, Arthur Duncan, and Pat Rico!


3. The B.S. Chorus. This is an old famous tap routine. It was required learning where I took tap as a child/teen.


4. Vera Ellen with some serious technique in Wonder Man! She's so flexible too. Remarkable.


5. Rollerskating in It's Always Fair Weather. Jaw droppingly amazing!



Everyone has five things to share! Submit yours to Dear Blogosphere. Any topic, any theme.

20100817

20100813

five favorite ballet steps - .FIVE.

By Emily (my wonderful older sister!)



1. pas de chat, aka step of the cat.  this step is named for it's likeness to a cat's leap.  this step is fun for children to learn (plus they love the name and I always tell them to try to teach their cat to do it).  for advanced dancers this step can be large or small, at a medium tempo or very fast.  while this step seems simple, a perfect pas de chat is very challenging.  an italian pas de chat is a particularly enjoyable step.

2. sissonne assemble.  these two steps are my favorite way to start a grand allegro. i prefer an assemble battu.
3. saut de basque.  the turning step is an excellent part of an allegro.  a fun and quick step often combined with emboite.
4. waltz turn.  this fairly simple step, though quite tricky when learning, is lovely in ballets like sleeping beauty.  an indulging step that lets you really move freely.
5. pique tour en dedans, aka pique turn.  on a good turning day i love a simple combination of single and double pique turns.  

20091024

Lisa Jane

Lisa and I danced together for several years at Janet's. I remember a few of our chats before ballet class would start. I was about 10, I'd say, and she was 13 or so. She and I would laugh, she would give me fashion advice, and we became pretty good friends. And sometimes we'd get in trouble for talking during barre. She stopped taking at Janet's but then we ran into each other again at Highland. She was a senior -- in dance company, of course -- and I was a freshman. I haven't kept in touch... but I was speechless when I found out that she had passed away. So, here is her obituary.

June 14, 1985 - October 17, 2009

Lisa Layton Okland passed away in Tempe, AZ on October 17, 2009. She was born to Clark and Renda Layton in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 14, 1985. An honors graduate of Highland High School in 2003, Lisa was a student leader and served as Dance Company President. She married her high school sweetheart John Christopher Okland on June 23, 2006 in the Salt Lake City Temple. Lisa graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography. An accomplished dancer, artist, photographer and triathlete, Lisa set a standard of excellence.

Spending time with family was Lisa’s greatest joy. She cherished her role as a wife; her greatest blessing was her loving and supportive husband, Chris. They shared many adventures in the great outdoors from the deserts of the Southwest to the Fjords of Norway, often joined by their dog Ralph and always by Lisa’s camera. Children adored Lisa! She lovingly nurtured many children in her family as an aunt, in her community as a nanny, and abroad as a teacher in Ukraine and Mexico. Sweet, giving, creative, selfless, kind, energetic, fun, thoughtful, and helpful, Lisa rained light and love on our lives. She was a blessing from above. Her grace, beauty and goodwill touched and charmed us. Always expressing appreciation, Lisa was a supreme example of what it means to be grateful.

Lisa choreographed her life with passion using every part of herself: a mind for learning, an eye for composition, an ear for listening, a heart of kindness, a hand outreached, a smile for everyone, and of course . . . a sense of humor.

Indeed Lisa showed us all how to “take life by the hand and dance.”

Lisa is survived by her husband John Christopher Okland, her parents Clark Layton (Christine), Renda Layton (Robert Strong); her grandparents Arthur and Joy Wiscombe, Richard Layton; her brother Jacen; sisters Melissa, Katherine; half sister Elizabeth; and step siblings Brian, Randy, Darren, David, Amy.

In honor of Lisa’s passion for dance and photography and her dedication to the pursuit of higher education, a memorial scholarship fund has been established in her name. Contributions can be made online at www.slc.k12.ut.us/sites/slef/ or mailed to the Salt Lake Education Foundation, Lisa Layton Okland Scholarship 440 East 100 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 12:00 noon, at the Monument Park Stake Center, 1320 South Wasatch Blvd., Salt Lake City, UT. Friends and family may gather Thursday October 22nd from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 West Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, AZ, and Friday, October 23rd from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Larkin Sunset Lawn Mortuary, 2350 East 1300 South, Salt Lake City, UT and from 10:45 am to 11:45 am prior to the services at the Monument Park Stake Center. Interment at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.