Summer Playlist 2017

Happy (End of) Summer!  Keep the summer vibes going as we move towards fall and update your playlists with fun summer tunes!  Here is a list of songs I've mixed into my classes to keep them feeling updated. Most links open in iTunes store - The Dance Buzz is an iTunes affiliate.  All opinions are my own.

Is This Love (LVNDSCAPE & Bolier Remix) - Bob Marley: Instant beach vibes remixed into a good 3-minute warm-up song. (Link to YouTube)

Believer (Kaskade Remix) - Imagine Dragons:  A fun twist on this summer hit.

Thunder - Imagine Dragons: Another one from Imagine Dragons, love this song right now

Someone Who Can Dance - Icona Pop: Another good steady beat for warm-ups

Most Girls - Hailee Steinfeld:  My middle school classes love this song

LovE is LovE is LovE (Benji Schwimmer Edit) - LeAnn Rimes:  Great message, fun song - have been using it for leaps and turns class (link to YouTube)

Celebrate (feat. AJR) - Ingrid Michaelson:  A nice laid-back summer tune

Told You So - Paramore:  Have been using this for tap warm ups in my senior classes. Has a good steady beat.

Switch (feat. Anitta) - Iggy Azalea:  Would be fun for a tap, jazz or hip hop combo.

Location - Khalid:  A nice groove for cool down and slower warm-ups.  I also used it in tap with my seniors for a nice mellow

Enjoy!

Summer Playlist Updates!

Hope you're all having a great summer!

Need some refreshments for your class playlists? Look no further - here are a few tunes to change up your playlist.  I'm teaching mostly tap this summer, so my playlist tends to lean in that direction, but most of these songs could easily crossover into jazz / children's hip hop / contemporary.

CHILDREN / TWEENS

- Call It Whatever (Bella Thorne)
- Really Don't Care (Demi Lovato)
- Dar Um Jeito/We Will Find A Way (Avicii / Santana) - the theme to the World Cup, a really good upbeat song
- Can You Do This (Aloe Blacc) -  I've been using this as part of an improv combination - on the chorus we trade 8's in tap class
- Classic (MKTO)

TEENS 

- Love Runs Out (One Republic) - its been all over the radio stations, but I love using this in tap class for warm-ups
- Basically I (Robert DeLong) - good warm-up / across the floor song
- On Top Of The World (Imagine Dragons) - a happy little song that makes me smile
- Luck (American Authors)
- Sing (Ed Sheeran)
- Problem (Ariana Grande) - another Top 40 rounds out my summer playlist update

See music player below to hear clips:



The Dance Buzz is an iTunes affiliate.

Halloween Playlist

Looking for some new songs to add to your Halloween playlist?  Here are some suggestions to spice up your playlist.

All links open in iTunes - The Dance Buzz is an iTunes affiliate

Tap

Superstition - Stevie Wonder - classic with a moderate tempo

Love Potion No. 9 - The Clovers

Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones

Devil With the Blue Dress On - Mitch Ryder - keeps those toes a-tapping

Headless Horseman - Kay Starr - tells the story of the Headless Horseman in a cheery sort of way

Little Demon - Screamin' Jay Hawkins- a fun 50's rock-sounding tune

Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical

Howl - Florence + The Machine

I Put a Spell On You - From "Hocus Pocus" soundtrack, or Nina Simone, and the cover by She & Him is particularly haunting

Howlin' for You - The Black Keys - we've been using this for across the floor combinations in my jazz classes this week - works good for turns and battements

Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell on You) - Aqualung - a melancholy melody in 3/4 time

Other Fun Songs

Dinner With Drac, Pt 1 - John Zacherle

What's A Girl To Do - Bat For Lashes - basically the plot to Twilight summed up in a song

Grim Grinning Ghosts Remix - (link opens to YouTube - couldn't find a link) could maybe use this for hip hop?

And of course, you have to add The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) - Ylvis just for fun!

Looking for more ideas?

Pumpkin-inspired creative movement and our Halloween playlist from 2011.

Summer Music!

Me doing some beach dancing in Maine!

Hello all - hope everyone's summer is going good.. as we move into August, here's a list of the songs that have been getting the heaviest rotation on my summer dance playlists!


 

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Ballet Class - I like to use Sunny Choi's tunes during our stretch to keep things fresh - links open in YouTube since her covers aren't available on iTunes
22 (Taylor Swift Cover) - Sunny Choi
I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor Swift cover) - Sunny Choi
Just Give Me A Reason (P!nk Cover) - Sunny Choi

Stretch / Lyrical Class
All I Want - Kodaline - nice and slow for stretching
Pompeii - Bastille
Gone Gone Gone - Philip Phillips
Red Hands - Walk Off The Earth

Tap Class
Wake Me Up - Avicii - love this one!
You Make Me Feel So Young - Michael Buble - my favorite off his newest album
Wild - Royal Teeth
Mountain Sound - Of Monsters & Men
I Love It (Radio edit) - Icona Pop

Jazz Class
People Like Us - Kelly Clarkson
Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me) - Anna Kendrick
Treasure - Bruno Mars
Blurred Lines (clean) - Robin Thicke


The Dance Buzz is an iTunes affiliate.

Most Popular Posts of 2012

Jump for joy - here are the most-read posts from 2012!

Pinspiration  

Do you find Pinterest as addicting as I do?  Here are the most popular "Pinspiration" posts from this year:

   

Athletic Dancers, April Pinspiration:  Leaps & Jumps, Performance Pinspiration

Music

How to Find Clean Hip Hop Music for Kids 

I guess my teachers aren't the only ones struggling to find clean hip hop music!

How to Get a Clean Music Edit Using GarageBand
My second video tutorial on music editing shows how to do a simple edit using Garageband.

Business

Most popular posts for Studio Owners:

Can we please take a short break
from winter and have summer for a week?

Everything Else

How to Take Dance Photos on the Beach
Some shots from my summer vacation and a tutorial on how to take photos on the beach proved to be on the of the most popular posts this year.

Rock Star Camp
5 days of dancing, crafts and game ideas!


Can't wait to see where 2013 takes us - what would you like to see more of?  Leave a comment!

How To Find Clean Hip Hop Music for Kids

Over the past ten years, hip hop classes at our studio have exploded in popularity. We offer hip hop starting with age six through adult.  I know it can be a struggle to find fun, age-appropriate hip hop music when the majority of the songs on the radio are about sex, drinking or profanity.

Looking over the playlist selection on this blog, I noticed that I am slacking in the hip hop department.  While I teach a variety of genres, hip hop is most definitely not one of them.  I can shim sham all day and pirouette with the best of them, but I cannot pop or lock (although it doesn't stop me from trying!).

Luckily, I have a bunch of great hip hop instructors at my studio who do try to find age-appropriate music that their students love.

Here are their suggestions for finding appropriate music for class (links open in iTunes - The Dance Buzz is a proud iTunes affiliate):

1.  Go 'Old School' for the younger classes!
To my dismay, apparently the following songs are now considered "old school" by one of my hip hop teachers (she's 20-something).  In any case - look to the past for some fun hip hop songs (although I still recommend checking out the lyrics on older tunes):
Shake It - Aaron Carter
Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas
U Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) - Michael Jackson

2.  Look for young hip hop artists
Ke$ha and Kanye are all grown up and rapping about grown-up subjects.  Instead, look for pint-size rappers whose parent won't let them use four-letter words in their lyrics.  The Disney tween stars and starlets also fall under this category.

Suggested Artists:  Lil' Romeo, Willow Smith, China Anne McClain (A.N.T. Farm), Keke Palmer
Lip Gloss - Lil' Mama
My Baby - Lil' Romeo
Countdown - Victorious
We Belong to the Music (feat. Miley Cyrus) - Timbaland

Love Playlists for Jazz & Hip Hop

And we have come upon our last Valentine's playlist!  Click here for previous weeks (tap, children, lyrical).

This week's playlist is everything else I found that didn't fit under certain heading - mostly for jazz or hip hop, with a little classical ballet mixed in at the end!

I hope you've enjoyed this little series... have a great Valentine's Day!



Using a blog reader or can't see the playlist app?  Click read more for the full playlists and suggested uses.

New Music Monday: Halloween Playlist

Tired of the playing the Kidz Bop version of "The Monster Mash"* or "Who Let The Ghosts Out"* for your halloween class yet?  Here's a fresh group of creepy and spooky songs just in time for the spooky season!

* Here's the link to that album in case you're not tired of it!


PRESCHOOLERS
Boogie Monster - Recess Monkey - your kids won't be able to sit still when this song starts playing
Harry's Haunted Halloween Circus - Ralph's World
Looking for Dracula - Charlotte Diamond
Dressing Up - The Wiggles

LXD & Coke Zero

Have you seen the Coke Zero and League of Extraordinary Dancers campaign for a new dance move?

It's still running so there's some time left to enter, but what's also great is they provide some nice dance tracks for you to use in your submission videos AND they are free to download!


The ones that I've listened to would be great to use for hip hop class - plus all the songs are more than 3 minutes long!  I've only listened to a few tracks all the way through and while there are no swear words, you might want to listen to the content to make sure its appropriate for your age group.

To get to the songs, click on How To Participate and select your track and click "Download".

Full Disclosure: Coke or LXD did not pay me to write this!

Dance News - August 10, 2010

Will Choreography Die with the Choreographers? | BBC Radio 3

Making a Living With Hip Hop Dance | The Philadelphia Inquirer

Dance in Unusual Places | Telegraph UK <-- GREAT photos!

Choreographer's Roots: Napoleon & Tabitha D'umo

In our Choreographer's Roots feature, we take a quick look back at where they started to help understand where they are today. We've been on a SYTYCD kick lately, so today we'll look at Napoleon and Tabitha, or "NappyTabs" as they are affectionately known.
See other Choreographer's Roots posts here

The husband and wife team are often credited with developing the style of hip hop dance known as "lyrical hip hop", but they started with humble beginnings until their paths met!

Napoleon:
> Grew up in California where he learned breaking, locking & popping
> Joined the military and was stationed in Germany for a while
> Attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, studying dance (including jazz & modern) and molecular biology!

Tabitha:
> Grew up in New Jersey
> Took jazz classes and was a cheerleader, but loved watching hip hop videos
> Attended the University of Nevada for communications, where she met Napoleon

NappyTabs:
> Began teaching hip hop classes together at the Las Vegas Athletic club
> Joined the dance company "Culture Shock" (future members of Jabbawockeez) and danced, choreographed and eventually became Artistic Directors
> Married in 1998 and moved to Los Angeles and started teaching at The Edge Performing Arts Center (where they still teach today!)
> Worked as back-up dancers for Beyonce, Missy Elliot, Toni Braxton, Timbaland and more
> Choreographed for NBA and NFL dance & cheer teams
> Joined Monsters of Hip Hop and teach master classes
> Assistant Directed Christina Aguelera's and Ricky Martin's tours
> Tabitha created a fitness DVD "Drop it with Dance"
> They have been supervising choreographers for ABDC and have choreographed for SYTYCD, where their choreography "Bleeding Love" was nominated for an Emmy

Now they have started their own clothing line (NappyTabs) for hip hop dancers, started working with Circque du Soleil, and Dancing with the Stars and continue to expand their brand.

Sources: Dance Plug, Wikipedia, Twitter,