Teaching Tools

Dance and the Alexander Technique: Exploring the Missing Link
by Rebecca Nettl-Fiol and Luc Vanier
University of Illinois Press, 2011
179 pages
 
In a Nutshell: A comprehensive guide to the Alexander Technique, with movement explorations and an accompanying DVD.
 

New York City dancers know where to go when they’re looking for a technically sound class. "What I teach is placement––don’t make your body do something it isn’t capable of," says Lisa Lockwood, former dancer with American Ballet Theatre and original cast member of Phantom of the Opera who trained under Maggie Black. "It’s not about muscling it," she says. “Line up the bones and let gravity do half the work." Because of her healthy approach to ballet, dancers in her intermediate classes vary, from professionals recovering from injury to students striving for cleaner technique.

There's a distinct signature in Danny Buraczeski’s movement. Sure, it’s classic jazz, but the torso twisting, sometimes angular, often musically syncopated details provide his own spin on a foundational technique. "Jazz dancers are essentially stylists," says the Broadway dancer turned JAZZDANCE company founder, who is now a professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “As a teacher, what elements of style do you have to offer your students? That’s the key to jazz technique itself."
 

At the Movies with Narushchen 
by Jamie Narushchen 
JAN Records, 2011
 
In a nutshell: CD for ballet class featuring classic film score melodies
 

When rhythm tappers step into a Broadway open call, they can easily grasp the steps, but stylistically, they’re in a whole new world. “In an audition, you have to turn it on and sell it,” says Broadway tour veteran Lainie Munro, who has choreographed everything from musicals to TV, and most recently, a “Fashion’s Night Out” event for shoe designer extraodinaire Christian Louboutin. “There’s a whole new carriage in the upper body and arms, and you have to use your face.”
 

1. True or False: Isadora Duncan grew up in Paris.
 
2. Though she studied ballet in her youth, how did Duncan claim she learned to dance?
 
3. Why did she move to Europe in 1899?
 
4. What event sparked America’s fascination with Greekculture and provided Duncan with inspiration for her trademark look?
 
5. Duncan wore _____ costumes and created movement based on _____, _____, _____ and _____.
 

Fundamentals of Theatrical Design
by Karen Brewster and Melissa Shafer
Allworth Press, 2011
 
In a Nutshell: A thorough textbook that defines elements of design with exercises to implement them into your own productions.
 

For a ballet teacher, facing a room packed with competitive dancers can be nerve-wracking. One age group can cross a wide range in technical levels and skill sets, and a jazz-focused student may find the repetition of barre work tedious. “Most of these kids at conventions don’t have the intention of being ballet dancers,” says Duncan Cooper, who teaches at New York City Dance Alliance, is on faculty at Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet School and directs Moving People Dance Schools in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In a nutshell: Original music selected by ballroom dance royalty Melanie LaPatin.
 

When you’re sitting in the dark theater of an Abraham.In.Motion performance, you just don’t know what will pour out of the speakers––an R&B beat, a classical étude, an electronic pulse. “Music was my entryway into dance. It’s really my first love,” says Kyle Abraham, artistic director/choreographer and a self-proclaimed music junkie who admits to purchasing at least two CDs a week. “When I create movement, it’s coming from the music. Sure there’s technique, but I’m really just dancing.”