April/May 2011

The last two months have been very busy with training and competition season! I love performing with my team-mates and seeing friends from other studios! I just finished my last competition and soon it's off to the Dance Awards in New York City! I am so excited!

On May 23-23 I attended the Monsters of Hip Hop Convention in Toronto. It was my first time at Monsters and I LOVED it! The faculty consisted of Rhapsody, Nappytabs, Luther Brown, JaQuel Knight and Tony Testa. In addition to the workshop classes, there was also an audition class, a freestyle battle, parent improv battle and a Club Stylz Showcase. Click on the video above to see highlights from the weekend!

There were so many talented and versatile dancers (even the parents rocked it!) - the freestyle battle with advanced room dancers was ridiculous! It was like watching a live taping of America's Best Dance Crew or seeing some of Ushers' dancers perform. I participated in the intermediate freestyle battle and won first place. My team mate Robin was third - yay Robin! The workshop was lots of fun and physically demanding. I was tired after Rhapsody's first class on Saturday morning!!! I feel a lot stronger  and confident in hip hop after attending this workshop - it was a great opportunity to learn from such talented dancers/choreographers.

Meeting Tony Testa was a highlight of the convention for me. He is the co-choreographer of Micheal Jackson's "This Is It" Tour. He performed in the faculty show on Sunday and brought the house down with his choreo to "Bad".  His class choreography was fun to do - he had us be cats, dogs, artists and scared football players all in one piece!

Another highlight was interviewing the funny and talented Tabitha D'Umo of Nappytabs. Click on the link above to see my interview with her! Nappytabs is famous for judging and choreography on "So You Think You Can Dance" but, they also have their own line of hip hop dancewear under the Nappytabs brand, are directors that work with many performing artists and work on other television shows like "Rock the Reception" and "ABDC". It was fun interviewing her even though I was TOTALLY nervous!!!

In the months ahead, I'll be writing about the first ever Dance Awards (the combined JUMP and NUVO Nationals). There will be a crazy amount of talent there.... I can't wait to experience it.  I will also be attending some new summer intensives and will share my experiences with you.

Thanks for checking my blog! See you next time on Move It With Maddie!

February & March News

Wow! What a busy year 2011 has been already!

In January I attended my first NUVO convention in Buffalo, NY. I had a great time taking classes from Kim McSwain, Chebar Williams, Ivan Koumaev, Ray Leeper, Travis Wall and Jessica Hendricks.

The convention is very similar to JUMP but with different faculty.  NUVO is a two-day convention offering ballet, an audition class, hip hop, musical theatre and contemporary. It was amazing to work with such talented choreographers in a small class setting...we had lots of room to travel when doing the combos and because of the smaller class size, we did progressions in jazz and ballet in addition to learning combos. I had so much fun and I was chosen as a "NUVO Break-Out Artist"...yay! I am SO looking forward to the Dance Awards in New York City this summer.

Check out my video from NUVO...the combos were lots of fun - try them yourself!




In February, I went to New York City to audition for the Ailey Extension Summer Intensive. I met the beautiful and talented Paloma Herrera, Principal Ballerina at ABT and Fabrice Herrault, a Master ballet teacher. It was an awesome experience to be in the Alvin Ailey facility and dance in one of their  studios. I wore my lucky #4 for the audition. I was accepted to the summer program but I've decided to attend other events this summer...can't wait to blog about those soon!!

In March, I attended the Buffalo NYCDA convention. It was my first time at NYCDA and it was a great experience. The faculty included Joe Lanteri, Suzi Taylor, Dana Wilson, Andy Pellick, Danny Wallace, Lauren Adams and Scott Jovovich. I LOVED all the combos and was honored to take class with such well-respected teachers. I was happy to be chosen as one of the "NYCDA Outstanding Dancers" in the Junior Class! It was an amazing weekend dancing alongside my friend Taylor and on-stage with Sabra Johnson!






In March I also attended JUMP Buffalo with my new studio Elite Danceworx. I love being part of the team at Elite...everyone has made me feel so welcome and part of the team. I am excited about the competition season, dancing in group numbers, my first pointe solo and a contemporary solo choreographed by Nick Lazzarini!!!

As competitions grow close, good luck to everyone with their practices and competitions!!

Before I go...congratulations to one of my mentors, Francisco Gella whose company Nuevo Contemporary School of Dance attended their first YAGP event in New York City. Congratulations to FG and all his dancers on their hard work and success!

January News

In December (27-30th), I had the opportunity to attend a new workshop called ASH (Artists Simply Human) in Philadelphia. It is a contemporary focused workshop offered by Braham Logan Crane.

Braham assembled an amazing faculty consisting of Wes Veldink, Dee Casparay, TOKYO, Tovaris Wilson (Hip Hop), Sascha Radetsky (Ballet), Christopher Huggins (Modern), Melanie LaPatin (Ballroom) and Jim Keith (former Agent, now Manager).  Sonya Tayeh was also scheduled to teach but due to the massive storm on the eastern seaboard, was unable to safely land!

The workshop aims to "connect emerging dancers with working choreographers and directors". It offered small class sizes and four days of instruction. In addition to the opportunity to learn alongside these amazing dance talents, you could participate in a solo competition, parents could attend a Question and Answer session and there was an informative discussion with Jim Keith about the realities of the dance industry.

Check out the videos above to see two class combos. The first is a contemporary class with Wes Weldink and the second a clip from TOKYO's jazz funk class.

It was an amazing week of dance and I was fortunate to be selected as a Demonstrator for future ASH events! I am so honored to be affiliated with this convention and it's organizer Braham. Not only is he a talented choreographer but he gives great recommendations on where to get an authentic Philly Cheese Steak sandwich!

Not only was the dancing great...but so were the sights. Our trip to Philly would not be complete without a visit to the famous "Rocky Steps" at the Museum of Art and the Rocky Statue. My mom and I sang the Rocky tune as we raced up the steps just like Sylvester Stallone in the original movie!

For more information on ASH Productions, visit www.ashproductions.com or Facebook "ARTISTS SIMPLY HUMAN".
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In December, I travelled to Chino, California to train for a day with Francisco Gella, Founder and Creative Director of Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance.  Francisco is the Ballet expert on the Coastal Dance Rage Convention Tour and a very inspiring person.

Nuevo offers Monthly Master Class Series with some of the best choreographers in the industry. They are mandatory classes for his company dancers but the school allows guests to participate too. In December their Guest Instructor was Sonya Tayeh. She put everyone through their paces with a technical warm-up and challenging combos!

For more information regarding the Master Class Series or Nuevo, check out the school Facebook site at "Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance". Thanks to Francisco for permitting me to attend his school and for sharing his knowledge of ballet and physiology...I now have a pretty arabesque! It's easy to love Ballet when you can work with someone like Francisco...ballet is the foundation of all dance genres...so keep practicing!!!

December News

This month, I had the opportunity to attend JUMP Dance Convention in Montreal, Quebec.
The faculty consisted of Katy Spreadbury, Mike Minery, Nick Lazzarini, Doug Caldwell, Lyle Beniga, Teddy Forance and Bobby Newberry.

As always, the JUMP workshop is lots of fun. The faculty are very talented dancers and they each share unique choreography with workshop participants. In each one hour class, we were taught a combination and would run through it adding on counts as more and more dancers were comfortable with the combo.

With Bobby's class we danced to "I Whip My Hair"...we ALL had sore necks after two days of whipping our hair around like "crazy bananas".  Bobby's classes are always fun and he pushes you artistically to find your inner "pussycat doll".  It was "tres chaud!!!"

In Lyle's class we danced to the new Usher track entitled "More" ... I had a blast battling my friend Bailey in a dance-off. His choreography was fun and upbeat...it was my first time taking class with Lyle and I look forward to seeing him again soon!

In Doug's class, we danced to Katy Perry's "Firework" and did a lyrical combination. In his classes he focuses on happy, positive messages for all dancers. He knows how to spot technical dancers but he gives just as much attention to younger dancers who may be at their first workshop. He focuses on spirituality and talks to his class like we're friends. He is an approachable, inspirational person who always makes you smile...even while you're dancing!

In Teddy's classes, on day one he taught us six techniques for improv. This was really interesting since many dancers are not comfortable with improving. The techniques helped to break down inhibitions many have by providing a 'concept' to follow. Each improv concept aimed to make your mind and body work within the concept and provide purpose to movement .  On Day 2, we did a contemporary combo that was challenging and fun...I loved it.

In Katy and Nick's classes, we focused on technique. We did center work with Katy and jazz progressions with Nick. On Day two with Nick, we did a musical theatre combo to a track from "Shrek The Musical".

In Mike Minery's class, we did some technique work and a short combination. Many dancers opted to not take his class...I think this is a huge mistake! Not only is it disrespectful to the choreographer, it is important to train in all genres of dance. In today's dance world, you need to be versatile and it is important to learn from as many masters as possible. Even if tap is not your strong suit...you can still learn something from taking a class. How else will you ever get better?

Check out my movie of class highlights.  JUMP is an awesome experience and I highly recommend you attend one of their tour dates. Go to www.jumptour.com for more information.

I also had the opportunity to interview Katy Spreadbury and Mike Minery. They are both very highly regarded dancers and nice people. I asked them questions about conventions and how important they feel it is to be versatile. Please click on the videos to see the interviews.

Merry Christmas to all my dance friends, to my dance teachers and to the dance professionals who have given me amazing experiences! Thanks for making 2010 a great year. I can't wait to share with you everything in 2011!

"Move it" with Ivan and Juliette

In November, I had the opportunity to attend day two of a two-day "Impact" Workshop hosted by Juliette Irons. Some of you may know Juliette from her appearance on "So You Think You Can Dance" Canada Season Two. She is originally from St. Catharines, Ontario but currently lives in Los Angeles. She teaches at Millenium Dance Complex and is on faculty with "Move". I asked her questions about her unique style and view of music and dance.

Her contemporary choreography was comprised of unique, quirky movements that coincided with accents in the music. She focused less on 'technique' and more on 'musicality'. This was an interesting change as it allowed me to emulate her style of dance more easily. I learned to listen to the subtleties in the music and that not every accent in the music has to be hit or be hit hard.

At Impact, I also took two hip-hop classes from Ivan Koumaev. Ivan appeared on several seasons of SYTYCD, made top 6 of Season Six and is on faculty with JUMP, NUVO and ihollywood dance.

I've taken class from Ivan before but at Impact due to the smaller class size, I was able to watch him more closely as he danced. He has a fluidity to his movements almost as if he skates across the dance floor. We danced to a "Maroon Five" song and the choreography was a lot of fun. Ivan was able to break down his movements so that they were easy to pick up.

Click on the link to see choreography highlights from the weekend!



I asked Ivan how he selects music...he said for kids my age; he likes to pick something we can easily recognize. It certainly helped to pick up choreography since we knew the song, liked the song and were given something fun to dance. Although I loved learning Ivan's choreography, the important lesson I took away from his class was how cool it is to be humble. Ivan sees many kids and attends many conventions...yet he took the time to sit in on our classes when he wasn't teaching, cheer us on and support me with my idea for a blog.




Thanks to both Juliette and Ivan for being my first interview subjects!

Impact was a great workshop and offered classes with Tokyo, Jillian Meyers and Eryn Waltman as well.

I wish I could post Jillian's choreography but she specifically requested it not get posted to youtube. You should check out her videos though...she is an amazing dancer and great choreographer.

Eryn Waltman did a cool lyrical combination where we had to pretend we were old, looking back on our life when we could move our bodies more freely. I really liked the combo because you had to have good technique to pull it off and musicality.

Impact offered hip hop, lyrical, contemporary and jazz. Can't wait for the next workshop....