I am beyond excited about the PULSE Tour that starts TODAY, in Orlando, the first city! I'm looking forward to representing the Pulse as an Elite Protege, to dancing with other proteges, learning from the amazing faculty and to meeting lots of dancers who share my passion for dance!
If you can't make it to one of this seasons 13 tour cities, check out the NEW Pulse Instructional DVD at shop.thepulseontour.com. There are thirty combinations in intermediate, advanced and professional levels by ten faculty! Hope to see you at a city soon!
The season is already off to a busy start. I've attended two conventions and several Master Classes through OIP Dance.
The first convention was JUMP Miami. Despite the tropical storms, the talent was hot (pun!) and there we many amazing dancers from the Miami area. I was honored to be chosen as Teen VIP and competed a new solo, choreographed by the talented Chantal Aguirre. It was a great weekend with classes by Katy Spreadbury, Mike Minery, Bobby Newberry, Kenny Wormold, Mia Michaels, Andrew Winghart, Benoit Swan-Pouffer, Teddy Forance and Nick Lazzarini. Spoiler alert: you're going to LOVE Andrew Wingharts' combo this year.......Thank you for such an amazing weekend to kick off the dance year. Always nice to see Hector, Sam and Gil too!
Although the classes were awesome, the best part of the weekend was being reunited with my bestie JQ and Nana!
The second convention I attended was JUMP Toronto - all the Toronto studios were out in full force. It was nice to see former team-mates and local dance friends again. Good luck to everyone this season!
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I also attended several master classes offered by OIP Dance Center. I took class with Rhapsody James, Luther Brown, Tatiana Parker and Teddy Forance.
OIP is like the "Millenium" or "Broadway Dance Centre" equivalent in Toronto. Check the OIP facebook page or www.oipdance.com for daily class schedules and upcoming master classes. There are classes from beginner to advanced levels. Their mission is "to see young people make a difference in the Canadian dance and entertainment industry. We're here to help them make it happen with passion, soul and sheer inspiration".
This month OIP celebrates its 7 year anniversary! Congratulations to Danny Davalos and everyone at OIP on this milestone. It's great that Toronto dancers have opportunities to take class with master teachers in Toronto and not have to travel to New York or Los Angeles for class!
Fall is a great time to take classes from dancers and choreographers who may be in town since many studios bring them in-house to offer classes to their students prior to starting competition choreography. Keep a keen eye out for opportunities in your area to train with someone new and support the local dance community.
Below are highlights from three of the classes:
Tatiana Parker is from Toronto but is now living and working in Los Angeles. She recently finished touring with Niki Minaj and is taking the hip hop world by storm. You may remember Tatiana from her appearance on SYTYCD Canada, season 2 Top 20 and as a faculty member of OIP. I love when Tatiana is home to visit - she always makes time for a few classes at OIP. Her classes are so much fun and its great to see other dancers turn out who love Tatiana as well....like Peter DS who you can see above killing Rhapsody's class! Tatiana is a great teacher and always supportive of dancers with her "whoos and ayyys"...love her so much!
As many of you know if you follow my blog...I am a huge Teddy Forance fan. He is super talented and is equally as kind...traits he has undoubtedly learned from his amazing family. Following JUMP Toronto, he stayed in the area to teach master classes at various studios and I was fortunate to take class with him at OIP and Art and Soul Dance Company.
Teddy's been busy with more than JUMP and Shaping Sound on his plate...catch "Movement One" a dance documentary that follows Teddy and 19 other dancers as they create a 30-minute dance production in 8 days. It was directed by Jon Arpino and is available on amazon.com November 2012. If you can't wait until then, check out the facebook page "Movement One" for updates!
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And now it's time to promote some of my talented friends. They've been busy too...dancing, creating and sharing their gifts.
First up is Juliette Irons....my first ever blog interview guest! Many of you may know she is from Canada but lives and works in Los Angeles. She recently launched her own company called "Art uncensored". Look out world; it's going to be crazy good.
Here's her new Reel...check me out at 0:49!
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Next is my friend Jeff Lapes. I met Jeff last year at Generation IV where he is on faculty. He taught at Gen IV 2012 and at the NYCDA 2012 Summer Intensive as well. He is an amazing hip-hop teacher and was formerly on faculty with WCDE convention. He is offering a four-day dance workshop December 27-30th in New Jersey called "Rock The House" 2012. This is the second year it is offered and more information can be found at www.rockthehousedance.com.
Faculty will consist of Jeff Lapes, Chaz Buzan, Jason Jonas, Teddy Forance, Talia Favia, Will Wingfield & Monique Borromeo, Noel Bajandas, Dha'Sean Serrano and Alicia Monaco. It's going to be an amazing four days! Hope to see you there.
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Last but not least, big congratulations go to Eryn Waltman (aka Mrs. Eryn Waltman-Spergel) who was married in September. But not only did she just get married, her company CONTEUR performed this summer at the ACE Awards in New York City AND she launched CONTEUR The Academy, a two-year, full-time post-secondary training program! Only Eryn could juggle so much with all the professionalism and heart you would expect from her.
In a review of the ACE Awards by Dance Informa magazine, they said:
"Eryn Waltman’s In Flux was the most technically pure work of the night and definitely one of my personal favorites because of that. The women in plum biketards and the men in all black personified the cleanliness of line and clarity of focus that most dancers strive for. The effortless movement (especially the partnering) worked within a contemporary ballet vocabulary. The dancers were grounded and still managed to stay sleek with Waltman’s virtuosic choreography. I felt she especially stood out for her floor work, which was able to bolt the dancers across the space with slides and lunges that still remained connected to the precision of the work."
Congratulations Eryn!!!!!
Eryn's vision with Conteur Academy is to "offer a program in which elite dancers continue to grow technically, hone their skills and remain tuned for professional opportunities...The Academy’s program is intended to enhance the training experience of those seeking a career in performance, teaching or choreography".
During the first year, the focus is on the technical foundation of dance training. The program is 30 hours per week in ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, floor barre, pilates and yoga. In the second year, they "expand the horizons into choreographic and improvisation opportunities as well as portfolio building".
Upon completion of the program students receive a certificate of completion and have opportunities to perform in an annual performance(s), in addition to auditioning for the Conteur Professional Company.
It's an amazing program for post-secondary training and the first of its kind in Canada. Good Luck to Eryn, her faculty and to the class of 2014!
********************************************************************************* Thanks for visiting my blog and check back soon for an update on the first PULSE city. Until then, happy dancing and a little inspiration....
Did you spot me at 0:58 and 1:30?????
