Monthly Archives: February 2012

HDA Recital and Spring Break Information

Posted on by danceathda

The official Spring Break dates have been set!

The studio will be closed beginning Tuesday, April 3rd through Monday, April 9th.  Classes will start back on Tuesday, April 10th!

Reminder: Recital is the weekend of May 19th and 20th and there will be rehearsals that week at Belmont University (a schedule will be released closer to recital time).

HDA will start taking sign ups for the finale. Finale rehearsals will be on the following dates, March 31st, April 14th, and May 5th. Typically, rehearsal times are between the hours of 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. but the actual times will be announced later!

AND there will be NO team rehearsals March 23rd, 24th, 25th.

HDA on KarTV!

Posted on by danceathda

KarTV is a series of dance driven webispodes with kid-friendly content meant to inspire and educate competititon dancers.  Kids Artistic Revue, a competition that we attend and that Andrea Woodward judges for, hosts KarTV.

In this webisode, Andrea talks about her competition tip of the week, correcting sway back! Enjoy :)

 

Also, on the end credits, it says that Brienne Barnett is dancing (which she is an esteemed alumni of HDA) but it’s actually Chrissy Rodefer! She is a senior this year at HDA and has been dancing on the competition team for about 10 years!

For more KarTV videos, click here.

For more information about Kids Artistic Revue, click here.

HDA’s Next Competition Schedule Posted

Posted on by danceathda

Make plans to come support HDA!

The schedule for HDA’s next competition, Nexstar National Talent Competition, has been posted.  The competition will take place March 2-4 at the Tucker Theatre at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University). 

On Friday, March 2, 2012, the competition will last from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. and will include solos and duet/trios.
On Saturday, March 3, 2012, the competition will last from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and will include groups and duet/trios between the ages of 8 and 11.
On Sunday, March 4, 2012, the competition will last from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and will include groups and duet/trios between the ages of 12 and 19. 

HDA is greatly anticipating this next competition and would love YOUR support! Come watch your friends and family represent HDA. Write it on your calendar!
DON’T FORGET that some competitions run faster than the scheduled times, so get there about a half hour earlier than the time given!

For a detailed schedule of the competition, click on the link below.
Nexstar Schedule-Murfreesboro 

If you are looking for a schedule with only HDA’s performance numbers, shoot me an email at danceathda@gmail.com

For directions to MTSU or campus maps, please click on this link below.
MTSU maps and directions

HDA’s Studio Owner Judges for KAR

Posted on by danceathda

Studio Owner, Andrea Woodward, traveled to Baltimore this weekend to judge for Kids Artistic Revue!  Kids Artistic Revue (better known as KAR) is a national talent competition celebrating their 30th competition season.

They have also recently added a convention in which Andrea has had the honor of teaching at this year.  HDA has attended KAR for several years and we are attending their national competition in Panama City, Florida this summer. It is one of the most enjoyable competitions and the competition team looks forward to it each season.

Andrea has been given the opportunity to judge for many different competitions due to her incredible choreography and skill in showcasing her dancers’ talent.  She has won countless choreography awards and awards for her student’s technical ability, including Teacher of the Year at a national competition. We congratulate her on all of her accomplishments, including this one!

Dancer’s Tip of the Week: Leaps

Posted on by danceathda

 
Leaps  are common technical elements that dancers complete. 
Some people are blessed with a natural ability, while others have to work a bit harder.  Here are three tips that I have used in the past to improve my leaps.

#1 USE YOUR PLIE: It is extremely important to use your plie when you take off and when you land.  The last step you take before you leave the ground is in plie.  The deeper you plie, the easier it will be to gain height on your jump.
Also, you MUST plie when landing.  Landing on straight legs can cause serious injury. You can’t remain in the air forever, so you need to bend your knees in order to land.
#2 LOOK UP: Many dancers jump higher when they lift their chin. Looking down keeps you lower to the ground. Try to fix your spot on something up high.
#3 POP YOUR LEGS: Think about popping your legs up at the same time. You never want to feel like one leg is going higher than the other or that only one leg is in the air at a time.  In order to do this, you must use your plie (see #1) and gain speed going into your leap.

I hope this helps!

HDA’s Dance Moms

Posted on by danceathda

Have you ever watched the TV series  Dance Moms?  If so, you understand just how stressed out dancers’ mothers can get.  Are you a dance mom? 

My mom has been a dance mom for almost 18 years and she knows that when my sister and I are upset with something going on at dance, she is upset.  Sometimes she needs to vent or wants some advice.  Do you ever feel that way?

I was inspired by Dance Moms to see if there is anything out there for dance moms with this situation.  There is!

Dancemom.com is “the online community and resource specifically by and for parents of children who dance.” It contains dance articles and a discussion board in which dance moms share their experiences. 

Maybe they are experiencing the same things as you are! For example, one of the latest discussions is dance vs. homework.  If you need to vent, or you simply want to learn more about dance from a parent’s perspective, visit the site!

HDA’s 2nd Competition Results: Bravo!

Posted on by danceathda

Petite (8 & under) Duo/Trios:
3rd Place- Crash
4th Place- Small World

Petite Small Groups:
2nd Place- Where’s the Party
3rd Place- U Got the Look
4th Place- Raspberry Beret
Petite Large Groups:
2nd Place- Memorial Day
Petite Lines:
1st Place- Turf War

Junior (9-11) Solos :
1st Place- Beautiful
Performed by Bailey Barber

 Junior Duo/Trios:
2nd Place- He Loves You Not
4th Place- Firework
5th Place- Who’s Laughing Now?

Junior Small Groups:
2nd Place- Calm Under the Waves
3rd Place- So Shady
Junior Large Groups:
1st Place- Strut
3rd Place- New Girls on the Block
Junior Lines:
2nd Place- Mouse Trap

Teen (12-14) Solos:
4th Place- Dangerous
Performed by Corinne Baldwin

Teen Duo/Trios:
4th Place- Teenage Dream

Teen Small Groups:
2nd Place- Killing Me Softly
5th Place- Alter Ego
Teen Large Groups:
1st Place- End of Innocence
4th Place- Narcissist
Teen Lines:
2nd Place- Will Love Reign?
3rd Place- Blind Allegiance

Senior (15-19) Solos:
5th Place-Speechless
Performed by Chrissy Rodefer

Senior Duo/Trios:
4th Place- Control

Senior Small Groups:
2nd Place- Runaway Bride
4th Place- Weightless
Senior Large Groups:
5th Place- A Glimpse of Heaven

Special Awards:

“Cool Chemistry”- Planet Rock
“Costume Award”- Alter Ego
“Choreography Award”- Runaway Bride
“Heart Warmer/Simply Sweet”- Memorial Day
“Standing O!Vation”- Will Love Reign?
“Creative Concept”- He Loves You Not
“Uniquely You”- Lucky Star
“O!Vation Scholarship Winner”- Bailey Barber
FDC AWARD: Beautiful performed by Bailey Barber
HDA did a wonderful job this weekend! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported them!

HDA’s 2nd Competition! BRAVO

Posted on by danceathda

ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!

HDA is competiting at their second competition of the year! The competition is called Bravo, a national dance competition that travels to over 20 cities in the U.S. each year. 
It will take place all day tomorrow (Sunday, February 12th) at the Tucker Theatre on the MTSU campus (Middle Tennessee State University).  Click here for campus maps.

The event is FREE!!
Come out and support Hermitage Dance Academy!

Dancer’s tip of the week: Turnout

Posted on by danceathda

A dancer’s technique is extremely important!  Turnout is a major part of a dancer’s technique.  I personally struggle with turnout, since I do not have impressive natural turnout.  I found a few tips I though I would share to help improve a dancer’s turnout at nextdance.com. 

1 . The “frog” stretch. This is the popular stretch where you lay on your stomach with your knees bent, legs turned out, and feet pressed together. This stretches your inner thighs, which will help enable better turnout, especially in pliè.
2. Stretching your hips.
        – Lay on your back with one leg stretched out away from your head, bend the other leg to your stomach and then twist slightly so that leg is going over your body.  You should feel a stretch on the outside of your hip.
       -  Sit up with your knees bent and your feet on the floor (as if you were about to do sit-ups), and then taking one foot, flexing it, and putting it above your other knee, then pushing the knee of the turned out leg away from you gently.
3.  Always turn out from your hips!!!!  If you turn out from your knees or your ankles while trying to get a perfect first or fifth position, you risk serious injury and lifelong problems, which can ruin a dance career.

For more information, click this link!