Category: Uncategorized

Samba

 

 

KDB222 World Dance | Latin- American dance, Samba

On to the second last stop on this journey, Samba. Here in this class we are looking at Brazilian dance Samba, what is Samba? In the lectures, our lecturer explained Samba is a generic term that includes a close range of both music and dance styles and is Brazils most popular dance rhythm. It was first seen in Europe in 1905, but the people lost interest in the maxixe during the first World War. A form of Samba outside of brazil worldwide was seen in Hollywood’s film “Flying down in Rio” which featured Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing as a couple for the first time. Because of this, Samba was now being seen in Hollywood films featuring Portuguese born Brazilian dancers, Carmen Miranda.

I was genuinely excited for this class because I love the Brazilian culture, especially the dance side of things. Overall, I found the movements itself didn’t really challenge me as much, although some people, including myself, have already done a class with Rachel a year ago in O-week. Because of this, I was able to reflect and remember back to the class. And instead of thinking about the technique of the movement, I was able to just dance and feel how the movements sat within my body. In samba, just like the Tajihian (Polynesian class) dance the hips are an important aspect of the style. I guess I found it challenging a little bit because I don’t really have any hips, so I had to keep exaggerating the movements to keep true with the form of style and boy did I wake up with sore hips the next day. Another thing I noticed, one the exercises was to walk but alternating one leg bent and the other straight whilst swinging the hips side to side. Beforehand I had torn a calf muscle in one leg, so this exercise was hard to dance and perform with in the particular style because of the weight placement and jutting of the leg. I believe if I wasn’t injured I could get the movements and stylization right in my body and enjoy feeling the music through my body. Overall, I enjoyed the experience immensely and would love to bring a partner to a samba class. I’m hoping in the near future when my calf is healed, I am to go to some Brazilian festivals.

Here below is a video of partner dancing

 

 

 

 

Merengue

KDB222 World Dance | Salsa & Merengue

Lucky Last but not least, our destination for this flight is none other than Salsa and Meringue. The term salsa has been used to cover a vast range of music and dance styles. The birth place of salsa descended from the African slaves and Spanish colonists. Because of grouping, slaves were able to retain their dancing, singing and drumming through ceremonies in secret up until the twentieth century. These traditions influenced popular music and dance, in particular an Afro-Cuban style called “Son”, where salsa is descended from. Again, I was very excited for this part of world dance, purely because I love the vibrant music and attitude salsa can bring, especially this class. In the class we did learn a sequence of movement where weight placement and timing was crucial aspect to the style. I found this a little difficult because you had to co-ordinate the timing, change of weight placement and also the adding style on top, eventually I got to learn the steps properly and be comfortable enough to add arms and shoulders. We eventually moved on to partner dancing which I enjoyed, it was really fun to learn both parts of the man and female roles. It was interesting I found because you had to listen to your partners body language and also still be spatially aware of others around you Slsand your own body. It was hard to get the timing of the movement at first and being able co-ordinate the sequence steps with your partner because you had to be in sync, if one of you falters then you both end up being late and having to catch up with the music.

Here below is videos of partner dancing as a female.

 

Here is another video of a partner dance we learnt in class….

 

With my partner (Amy) and I, we both found it really easy to dance with each other, we are friends and have been dancing together for a while. This helped greatly because we were able to tune into each others body language and we were able to have fun with one another without the awkwardness and judgement if we stuff up the movement sequence. It was hilarious when I was the male role because I am much shorter than her and she was so used to leading all the time, it was a clash at times of who was the dominant role. In the end we eventually settled in the roles and were able to have fun with the steps. Overall, I enjoyed learning Merengue and partner dance immensely, it was challenging at times to get the co-ordination of the steps all together, but I believe with more practice I will be able to master the steps properly! With that being said, we come to our destination, thank you for coming on this journey with me. Signing off, Joyanne Dunn.

 

 

 

 

Chinese Dance

 KDB 222 World Dance | Chinese Dance

Ribbon Dancing

 

The next place we are stopping at is China. Before this year I have never taken a Chinese Ribbon dance class, so I was pretty stoked and curious as to learn how. So, what is Chinese ribbon dancing you ask? From what Hsin-Ju Ely has discussed, it’s one of the most famous traditional Chinese dances. It originated from the story of how someone tried to kill the emperor, but a man named “Hsiang po” saved his life by blocking the sword with his sleeve. In gratitude, the people held short ribbons in their hands in honor of his act of bravery. I found this pretty inspiring of how the story of Hsiang po has been passed down for thousands of generations and is still being taught to this day through ribbon dancing. When first learning, I found ribbon dancing really fun and exciting, I felt my inner child coming out and wanting to just play and experiment with the ribbons, so it was hard to focus in class sometimes and keep that focus on what Hsin-Ju Ely was teaching. 

                                         Here below is a variation of the basic foundations learnt. 

 

 As to the ribbons itself, it surprised me that there was even a specific way to hold them in order to get the maximum movement. The movement had to come from the sharp flick of the wrist in order to get the ribbon flying as high as it could go. I found this odd in a way because usually when I dance I am using all the parts of my body to fullest extent, but in Ribbon dancing the main focus of the movement is in the action of the wrist. Without the correct wrist technique, the ribbon couldn’t create the specific shape needed. So, in a way it was sort of a relief not having to use my entire body but unfortunately it didn’t save my sore arms the next day. In the second class we were taught a simple variation, here below is a video of a more modern take of Chinese Ribbon Dancing. (With permission, performed by Hsin-Ju Ely). 

 

What surprised me the most was how similar Chinese Ribbon Dancing was to Ballet, if you take away the ribbon the movement steps have the same basic structure. Movement wise, in this case I didn’t really find Ribbon dancing challenging because I already had the technique from ballet which helped as a foundation for all other genres. All I really had to think about was directing the ribbon in a specific way and tapping into the performance side as well. Overall I enjoyed ribbon dance immensely and would love to experiment more in the future in a group variation perhaps.  

 

 

FUN FACT: Red is traditionally the color of happiness and luck in Chinese culture.

 

Bollywood Dance

 KDB222 World Dance | Bollywood 

Bollywood Dancing

Next stop, Indian dancing. This has been the most enjoyable genre so far with its upbeat music and energetic movements, the combination of both creates a joyous energy and positive vibes all around. Even more so because everyone in the class is a beginner and are still able to laugh at ourselves and have fun when we forget movements or stuff up. When learning the specific movements, I found I struggled picking up the movements quickly due to not being able to come to the very first dance lesson because of sickness. I wasn’t used to the style of Bollywood and getting it comfortable with settling in my body. I believe if I had another class I would feel more comfortable and confident in performing the short dance we learnt. I found this very interesting because Bollywood and Hiphop are two completely different genres, but I found when I performed a certain step I discovered it had the same foundations as Hiphop. Both can have hard hitting, explosive qualities with intricate hand gestures. I tried to use my own body knowledge of hiphop to create a connection with Bollywood dancing, which helped a great deal in the end when I channeled my focus in that sort of perspective.

                  Here below is a video of Asha Sha performing a Modern Bollywood Dance

At the very start of the practical class, Asha Shah had explained too us it was very important to perform each of the movements to fullest you could do with specific facial expressions. Just like ballet, they have specific movements, hand gestures and facial expressions that is symbolic of a story or an emotion. Adding all the different layers creates a certain meaning but as a learner if you do the movements or gestures wrong, it is considered okay because people who have been professionally trained in Bollywood dance can understand you’re learning and take no offense. It was really great to understand and learn about the Indian culture through the eyes of dance. Before this unit, the only knowledge I had of Indian dancing was referenced to the movie ‘Slum Dog Millionaire’. In the lecture I learnt that there are actually two types of Bollywood dancing, the traditional Bharatanayam- a telling the story of the Lord Shiva a Hindu, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Goddess Parvathi and Goddess Laxmi and other Hindu diety. The other is the Modern Bollywood where the style components are heavily influenced from other Indian folk dances. Looking back to the dance I learnt in class, I can definitely see how it was a Modern Bollywood dance in comparison to watching a more traditional style. Learning about Indian’s culture through dance has indefinitely helped broaden my knowledge of Bollywood dance even further and I am thankful for this experience. 

 Here below is a certificate for my leave of absence for the first Bollywood class.

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Polynesian Dance

KDB222 World Dance | Entry 1

 A lovely teacher by the name of Waiana Tagata from Heilani came and taught us about the different styles, such as the Ori Tahiti: Tahitian Dance and the Hawaiian Dance: Hula. I learnt that dance was a proud part of their cultural heritage and is often used for storytelling through pedestrian movements. The first thing we learnt about Tahitian dancing are, the hips are the center of attention. Just like a duck swimming. The hips in this case represent the feet where they are doing all the work whilst the upper half of the body is nice and still. In general, I found this challenging to control my upper body because I am so used to having my muscles tense. Whereas in Tahitian Dancing you have to relax your muscles and still maintain the raw energy for all the fast, little movements whilst having stillness on the upper half.

For this unit, we as a class are taking a wild adventure around the world through the eyes of dance in different cultures. Our first stop, Polynesian Dance. A lovely teacher by the name of Waiana Tagata from Heilani came and taught us about the different styles, such as the Ori Tahiti: Tahitian Dance and the Hawaiian Dance: Hula. I learnt that dance was a proud part of their cultural heritage and is often used for storytelling through pedestrian movements. The first thing we learnt about Tahitian dancing are, the hips are the center of attention. Just like a duck swimming. The hips in this case represent the feet where they are doing all the work whilst the upper half of the body is nice and still. In general, I found this challenging to control my upper body because I am so used to having my muscles tense and prepared for the next movement phrase. Whereas in Tahitian Dancing you have to let go and relax the bottom half of your body whilst having the ability to control for all the fast, little movements creating the allusion that the upper half of the body is nice and calm as a pond. Eventually after some practice and confidence, I was able to relax and have fun and enjoy myself with the movement. I was surprised to learn Hula and Tahitian dance technique may be similar but the differences define their style. Tahitian dancing is more about the side to side motions and using the best ability range your hips can extend to, which I found was easy and a lot of fun to try until I the next day I woke up with sore hips. Hula dancing is based more on the circular isolations of your hips.  

 

 Here below is a Video of Mrs. Tagata dancing the traditional drum dance called Tamure Tamure.

 

 

I guess I wasn’t surprised how the women and the men are portrayed in the culture of Polynesia. In their culture, the men would be the strong protectors of the tribe and the women looked after the children and their husbands. This is reflected quite clearly in the dances we learnt in relation to the dancing roles. Typically, a man’s stance is very strong and powerful with their movements whereas the women’s movements are all graceful and flowy like. After watching

 

Another style we learnt was a Hawaiian Dance: Hula, both the ancient (Hula Kahiko) and the Modern style (Hula Auana). I was surprised to learn that Hula wasn’t about the fake grass skirts, coconut bras and easy slow wave motions of the hands. Hula like other dance styles and genres since the 21st century have been modernized but has unfortunately been stereotyped to this thanks to Elvis Presley with his films, helping commercialize Hawaii globally. It makes me grateful that I am able to learn about the Polynesian culture through dance, being able to join and experience myself.

*Here below is a photo of a traditional Tahitian outfit worn by the women in the tribe*