Dynamics—soft, sharp, fluid, or full movements—play a big role both in technique and in artistry. Certain exercises, like petit allégro and adagio, are based on a specific dynamic, and during performance, dancers use their own unique understanding of dynamics to enhance their characterization and bring a story to life. Cultivating these skills in class is […]
For many teachers, the counts of a song are the starting place for developing students’ relationship to the music. But not for Omari Wiles, Founding Father of the legendary vogueing house, House of NiNa Oricci, and founder of the Les Ballet AFRIK company. He prefers to start by encouraging dancers to feel the rhythm of a song instead of “drilling a bunch of numbers into their heads,” as he describes it. “When I’m teaching, it’s about understanding the music first, instead of ‘This is what we’re going to do to this music.’”