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What Is Pom Dancing?

POM DANCE

POM is a form of dance combining cheer motion and dance technique. Pom classes are great for both dancers and gymnasts. All while using pom poms. 

What is POM? 

In pom your dancer will work on the fundamental basics of cheer. Students work on cheer motions and jumps, as well as dance technique including: turns, jumps, leaps and level-appropriate Pom choreography. Pom uses sharp and precise movements, which in turn will help to improve the student’s overall arm and body placement.

Routines contain hip-hop, jazz and gymnastics elements.

What is the difference from cheer? 

Pom is more focused on the dance elements while cheer has group stunting as well as a vocal element. 

Cheerleading squads include dance, stunts, and tumbling into their routines, performing throughout a sporting event, and often on the sidelines. A POM squad or Drill squad uses pom poms in dance routines and often performs during halftime shows, along with some cheer elements.

What skills are developed in POM?

Students are trained in dance technique, POM movement terminology, balance skills,  precision, synchronization, strength, and flexibility. Above all they will grow in the form of team work, and the bond of working towards a common goal. 

Key Movements

Some of the key movements you’ll see in pom that are derived cheerleading include clasp, T-motion, high-V, touchdowns, L’s, Half T’s, and more.

Different movements can occur in POM dance, depending on the dance type.

  • Hip Hop: running man, whipping, dabbing, Nae Nae
  • Tap(Less common POM Style): time step, shuffle, heel drops, ball change
  • Jazz: spirit fingers, step ball change, parallel turns, stag leap, split leap/jete, and fan kicks
  • Contemporary: death drop, parallel, contraction, levels, inversion

 

    The style of hip-hop dance, like hip-hop itself, is sometimes a bit hard to define. Lots of styles have developed in and around the genre, and many people have very strong opinions on what is and isn’t a part of the style.

FUNDAMENTALS

As hip-hop developed as a musical form through natural variations made by new artists and DJs, a language arose with it. The fundamentals of hip-hop became the pillars of it’s migration as a distinct music form in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. These four recognized fundamentals–emceeing (rapping), deejaying (spinning), graffiti, and breakdancing–became the essential pillars of the genre.

FROM THE STREETS

One of the most recognizable components of hip hop it’s origin in black and Latin neighborhoods, particularly the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s. The music and art found there was something spontaneous and generated by human interaction rather than codified rules and academic processes. “Street dances’” were just that, parties and groups of people developing moves together to the emerging beat-based music of the era.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Because it developed massive popularity outside of academic settings, hip-hop music and the style of dance soon saw a reaction from the music industry. More stylized forms of commercial dance, like jazz-funk, started appearing in music videos and television. These commercial styles helped propel hip-hop dance into the mainstream.

WHAT REALLY IS HIP HOP?

Hip Hop isn’t just just one unique style, like krumping, breaking, or popping and locking. It’s a mix of all of those styles and many more. It’s an approach to choreography that is in tune with the beats and grooves of the music without being limited by specific characteristics. Hip-hop is a world of moves and styles which have been built into the choreographer’s tool belt. It’s a celebration from the birth of street dancing all the way to full domination of hip-hop in commercial and artistic spaces everywhere. It’s a visual language of hip-hop culture. To put it simply, hip-hop dance is a world of movement and visual styles that are now forever associated with hip-hop music and can be used by any choreographer and dancer as a celebration.

FAMOUS HIP HOP DANCERS

Michael Jackson

He is highly regarded as the King of Pop, however, a lot of his dance moves find their origin in hip-hop dance. He married hip-hop dance styles with funk, soul and electric boogaloo to create a unique blend of pop, and hip-hop worthy dance. His style is revered worldwide for its uniqueness and fashion.

Les Twins

The Les Twins are identical brothers of French descent. They are recognized internationally for their new style hip-hop talents. They have won several hip-hop awards including the World of Dance in 2010. They’ve been highlighted on BET, Good Morning America, the Ellen DeGeneres Show and have worked with people like Beyoncé, Kanye West and Timberland.

Parris Goebel

Emmy Award winning Choreographer, Dancer, Singer, Director, and Actress. She is the founder and main choreographer of the Dance Studio “The Palace Dance Studio”, which has produced group ‘The Royal Family’. Which has won World Hip Hop Dance Championship three times in a row, becoming the first group in history to achieve it. She has worked with the likes of Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, Ciara, and many more.

 

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Mini History of Jazz Dancing

 

WHAT IS JAZZ?

When you hear the word Jazz what do you think of? 

Better yet, when you hear about jazz as a style of dance what comes to mind? 

Do you think of the Charleston? Or does your mind go straight to broadway? 

The evolution of jazz dance spans over history, and takes on many forms. 

Jazz began as a social style of dance at the turn of the century when African American dancers began blending traditional style African steps with European movement.

With that combination it allowed dancers to create a conversation with the musicians and their instruments. Like jazz music, jazz dance was centered around improving and a call and response between the dancers and musicians. 

No matter where and when jazz always has had a performative feel.

Here are some steps every beginner should know:

Ball Change: A quick transfer of weight from one foot to the other.

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Jazz Square: A four step movement in which the dancer steps across, back, and to the front. Creating a square pattern with feet on the floor.

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Chassé: Step out in any direction in píle, then jump and chase the first leg. Like a gallop.

 

A list of some famous jazz dancers throughout history:

Bob Fosse: June 23, 1927- September 23, 1987

An actor, choreographer, dancer, director, and screenwriter. 

He was known for his distinct style with his use of the pelvis, arm, and hard isolations, and rounding of the shoulders. He gave jazz a new dimension. Winning 8 Tony Awards for choreography. Some of his major works include ‘Chicago’, ‘Kiss Me Kate’, ‘Pippin’, and ‘Cabaret’. 

Jack Cole: April 27, 1911- February 17, 1974

A dancer, choreographer, and theater director.

He is considered as the “father of jazz” technique. He combined jazz with modern steps. 

Jack choreographed Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friends’. ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’, and ‘Les Girl’.

This opened the floodgates to new talent and modifications to the dance form. 

Jerome Robbins: October 11, 1918- July 29, 1998 

Theater producer, director, and dance choreographer. 

He was a world renowned choreographer, know for his contribution to ballet, theater, movies, and television musicals.

His works include: ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Funny Girl’, ‘West Side Story’, and many more.

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Learn More About Tap Dancing 

Since it first appeared in the public, tap dancing immediately enchanted the public in the North America, becoming a vital part of mainstream musical culture.

This style of dance can ingrain itself into any type of genre in the modern day. Traditionally tap is separated into two distinct styles – Jazz/Rhythm dance that is focused on musicality and tradition of tap dance, and Broadway that is used by stage performers who weave the dance into the theater stories.

Tap dance is based in indigenous American dance genre that evolved over a period of some three hundred\ years. Initially a fusion of British and West African musical and step-dance traditions in America, tap emerged in the southern United States in the 1700s. The Irish jig and West African gioube (sacred and secular stepping dances) mutated into the American jig and juba. 

Common tap steps include the shuffle, shuffle ball change , leap shuffle, hop shuffle, flap, flap ball change, running flaps, flap heel, cramproll, buffalo, and Maxi Ford.

Many of these steps also have single, double, and triple versions.

Tap dancing can also be done with an a cappella method, in which no music is provided and dancers create their own “music” through the sounds of their taps.

When it comes to the shoe itself in the earliest years of tap dancing, tap shoes often had wooden soles, but most tap shoes since have had leather soles. Depending on manufacturer and model, tap characteristics can vary considerably. For example, some taps have relatively low weight and small footprint whereas others may be thicker and fill out the edge of the shoe more, making them heavier as a result.

Here of some of the major players in the world of tap! 

A popular duo was “Buck and Bubbles,” which consisted of John “Bubbles” Sublett tapping and Ford “Buck” Washington playing a piano. The duo performed Class Act, a routine in which the performers wore tuxedos, effectively distinguishing them from the older minstrel show concept of tap dancers as “grinning-and-dancing clowns

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson: Well versed in buck and wing dancing along with Irish Step dancing. Bojangles joined the Vaudeville circuit in 1902 in a duo with George W. Cooper. The act quickly became famous, headlining events across the country, and touring England as well. In 1908, Robinson began dancing solo, which was extremely rare for a black man at that time. Despite the barriers created in society, he had tremendous success. He went on to have a leading role in many films, including the Shirley Temple movies.

Along with many other amazing tap artists such as;  Savion Glover, Gregory Hines, Fred Astaire, The Nicholas Brothers, Ann Miller, Vera Ellen, Lady Di (Dianne Walker), and the list goes on.