A new book

Table of Contents

Chapter One: What is dance?

Chapter Three: Staying Fit

Chapter Two: Competitions

Chapter Four: Hair and Clothing

Chapter Five: Supplies

Chapter Six: Practices

Introduction

Many people dance even if they don't take any dance classes. People dance at wedding's, party's, and so many more places. Dance is considered a sport and a art. Though many people disagree, studies have shown that dance is a sport.

Chapter One: What is Dance?

Dance is an incredible sport and art.You can let everything go in movement. A definition of dance is an artist and athlete who creates movement with emotion. Dance started in India and Egypt around 3300 B.C. Other styles like ballet began to originate. Around the 1500s ballet began in Italy. The first ever recorded ballerina was Pierina Legnani, and Italian who was considered a supreme leading ballerina. After ballet came pointe. It's a ballet shoe with soles made of leather, with wooden blocks at the end so you can go up in your toes. Pointe came out in the early 1800s. Following pointe came tap. They are shoes with metal on the back so you can make noise. It became very popular in 1845 but started in the early 1800s. After tap jazz dance came. Bob Fosse was inspired by how the Egyptians would dance so sharp. He then named the style jazz. A style of dance with sharp and sassy movements. In modern day times its very fast and aggressive. Jazz came out in the mid 1800s. While some people like fast movements others like soft and flowey movements. This is called lyrical. This came out around the early 1970s. Some people like Jimmy Peters describe it as a "Dream Ballet" Following lyrical came hip hop. A style that involves funk and harsh steps. This came out around the time lyrical did. Other styles like contemporary and musical theater originated from these core styles. But if ballet never existed these other styles would not of been made. Dance originated from ballet.

Chapter Two: Competitions

Most studios participate in competitions. This is a good way for other people to see your dances and show how much time and effort you have put into your routines. At competitions there is a set of judges. They are usually famous or professional dancers. There is also a announcer and music runner. These crew members make it possible for competitions to run. At competitions you perform your dances and the judges will critique you. They record the video of you dancing and put the judges voice on there so while you go back to your studio you can listen to the critiques and you can fix them. Then they score you. At awards they do something called a "adjudication". A adjudication is an award that everyone gets that's based on their score. From least to greatest is gold, high gold, platinum, and diamond. Some competitions will do double platinum, or double diamond. This is a fair way because some people might not place in the overalls. In the overalls it varies on how many people were in the category. If it was a small category they might only do a top five or top three. If it's larger they usually will do a top twenty, fifteen, or top ten.Now this does sound like a basic competition but it's more than that. You get to hang out with our friends, travel, and support other people. Competitions aren't about who wins it's about having fun.

Chapter Three: Staying Fit

Staying fit is very important in the dance world. If you don't stay fit your stamina will drop and you will tend to get sloppy and tired while your doing your dances. Eating fruits, vegetables, and protein are very good foods to be eating, so you can get your energy higher. Drinking a lot of water is also very important. If you don't drink enough water you can get sick or dehydrated. Keeping energy high is very important because dances can range from two to three minutes long. You will need as much energy and stamina as you can get.

Chapter Four: Hair, Clothing, and makeup

Many studios have different rules about how you hair, makeup, and clothing have to be. For most dance studios a slicked back bun is all you need for hair. Some teachers might allow you to wear a ponytail. Using hairspray and bobby pins will help your hair stay in through out practice. For competition the dance teachers will choose what hair style they want you to have. One of the most popular hair styles is a low bun. For clothing wearing a leotard and light pink tights is the proper clothing for ballet. The tights help you see if your muscles are working properly. For other classes wearing shorts and any other athletic clothing is fine. For competitions you have costumes. The costumes go with the style and song of your dance. They can also have rhinestones and other jewels added to them if needed. Makeup adds special affects to the dance. Studios will pick out a brand that they like and pick out everything they want you to wear. Then they will have you order it. Usually they will only pick out eye shadow, lipstick, blush, and fake eyelashes. Most studios will have you get your own foundation because of the different colors of skin. Even though you don't need makeup it looks beautiful on stage.

Chapter Five : Supplies

Having the proper supplies like shoes is very important. Some shoes you might need are, ballet shoes, jazz shoes, tap shoes, hip hop shoes, turning shoes, and there's a lot of other kind of shoes you might need. Some dancers might not wear them and dance barefoot. All in all it depends on what your dance teacher thinks. Other materials you might need are, yoga blocks, therapy bands, weights, balance boards, foot stretcher, turning board, and there are many other stretching materials. These materials can help you stretch so you don't pull a muscle. For competitions having a dream duffel is very helpful. A dream duffel is a large bag with a rod at the top so you can hang out your costumes. You can take the rod down when you are done using it. It also has pockets one is a cooler and the other is for storage. In the bottom is has a big large bag so you can store your costumes. There is also sections in the bag were you can put stuff. You can also decorate it by putting patches on it that says your name and studio. Another feature that is cool is that it comes with a stool so you can sit down and get ready. Online you can order stuff for it like a curtain, mirror, and many more cool things you can order. Another thing you need for dance is a bag to store all of your stuff in. This will make sure that you won't loose anything. Having theses supplies are very important to have and will make you prepared for competition and class.