NMM: DJ Earworm - Shine Brighter 2012

Don't miss this year's remix by DJ Earworm - he combined 25 of 2012's pop hits to create one song... and the kicker is that it actually sounds pretty awesome!  The kids seem to like this one a lot.  My pre-teens ask me to play it each week, and the first week it took them a while to actually focus on the steps in warm-up because they were trying to figure out what this song was!

As of this post, I believe you can still download the song on SoundCloud.

If you love mash-ups like this song, check out more mash-ups here.

Ballet Mime

Crossed arms mean love - but be careful -
make those hands into fists and you may
be saying something completely different!

My students and I had a conversation about ballet miming this week:  Did you know dancers are storytellers as well as actors and actresses too?

Ballerinas and ballet dancers even have their own special hand gestures to tell stories - sort of like ballet sign language!

You may already know some common gestures:
- Both hands to the heart for "love"
- Hand cupped by ear for "hear"
- Bowing or curtseying to show loyalty
- Strong motions with fists to show anger

There are some others you might not be as familiar with:
- Tapping the forehead twice for "princess" and three times for "king" or "queen"
- Crossed hands with fists for "death"
- And "dance" is said by circling your arms overhead in 5th position

Here are some links for more ballet mime:

• Ballet Mime Vocab by The Ballet Bag

• Mime Meanings in Ballet by iSport

Learn the conversation between the Swan Queen and the prince from Swan Lake with this fun video from The Royal Ballet:

NMM: The Lucky Ones - Kerli

I am currently loving this song by Kerli "The Lucky Ones".  I've been using it for tap and jazz warm-ups this week and its got a great beat (and no bad words!).


Grab it on iTunes:

January Challenge: What's In Your Bag?

Did anyone ever have any of the bags above? (The first one is a vintage bag from Etsy)

A dance bag is a dancer and dance teacher's most valuable possession.  Back when we used to use CDs instead of iPods, my bag weighed 50 lbs from the giant CD case I lugged around... now it still is pretty hefty, because I filled the empty space with water bottles and props. #notthesharpestpointeinthebag

January's Blog Challenge Mission:

So for the first Blog Challenge of the new year, I want to know:

What's in your dance bag?

Grab this snazzy badge for your post
if you'd like to  be-dazzle your blog!

How to Participate: 

If you have a blog:
1) Take a picture, make a video, write a post or find one that fits the theme (it doesn't have to be a new post if you've already written something that answers the question).

 2) Then make sure you leave a comment below with a link to your post so we can all read it!


Don't have a blog? 
No problem!  Participate by leaving a comment below, tweeting @thedancebuzz or posting to our Facebook wall a picture of your dance bag, or comment with your favorite item in your dance bag.

I'm getting my post ready to go and am looking forward to taking a peek inside of everyone's bag! :)

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!