Dance teachers can sometimes be treated a bit like DJs. “People always want fresh music from you,” says teaching artist Bailey Randolph. She feels pressure to always keep an ear out for new songs—and she’s happy to oblige. Whether she’s watching TV, riding on the subway, or just walking down the street, the Shazam app […]
Whether she’s choreographing for major artists like Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Hudson or performing on major stages with Beyoncé or Janet Jackson, music is a driving force for Candace Brown. A teacher of street jazz at studios including Broadway Dance Center and Millennium Dance Complex, Brown says that she’s “a fan of all types of […]
Kenichi Kasamatsu has taught worldwide, from New York City’s Broadway Dance Center and at workshops all across America to studios on the other side of the globe in Thailand (where he was born and raised), China, and Japan. However, his sense of musicality, he says, started to evolve three years ago when we were all […]
Whether you’re dancing at Radio City Music Hall with a full orchestra or in a dance studio with a small speaker, precision-style choreography is tied to the music. Timing is crucial. Often, as a precision dancer, you’re balancing multiple things at once: A bevel, an arm, and a head can all switch on one count, […]
Mike Esperanza is not just a choreographer. He’s a composer, filmmaker, graphic designer, photographer and artist. The thread that ties all his passions together? Music. Though Esperanza is now a sought-after choreographer, he didn’t take his first dance class until his junior year of college. Back then he was a music major, playing multiple instruments, […]