What Makes A Great Dancer?

When you are looking at an art form like dance, great can be considered subjective. There are elements that can place someone as a great dancer, but a great dancer starts with great passion This passion makes the artist someone that dances because they have to, not because they are good at it.

A great dancer has mastered technique. Fundamental technique is critical to longevity of a great dancer. Dancers need to work their craft every day. Whether they are stretching and working on turnout and flexibility at home or if they are in class gaining the technique needed from hard work, dancers are always thinking about their next step. They are the ones that are the most likely to get caught dancing in the middle of the grocery aisles.

A great dancer has a large dance vocabulary. Dancers also need to have range. Unless you have the perfect body and the perfect feet to join a ballet company as an adult, a dancer in California is generally going to need to be versed, trained, and a master at multiple kinds of dance. Serious dancers make sure that ballet is a part of their training constantly. Ballet builds strength, core, balance and aesthetics that bleed over into all of the other dance forms.

A great dancer is ready for a commercial career. For a career in commercial dance, especially in California, dancers also need extensive training in hip hop. Hip hop is the newest dance form and has the most originality. The best way to gain a well-rounded hip hop training is to find a home base to learn how to dance and then branch out to master classes regularly so you can gain insight to different types of hip hop.

A great dancer is physically fit. More training is never bad. It is always important to stay on top of your dance and to practice every day. A portion of your day should also be spent on cardio training so you can build the stamina to handle the workout a full length performance requires. A dancer's body is their instrument, so they need to have a proper diet and a proper workout routine. The dance training itself is largely not what should be the core workout routine.

A great dancer is fluid. Creativity plays a large role in dance as well. Dancers need to watch what they look like, they need to be able to spend time creating as well as learning choreography. Their movements need to be continuous and graceful. Fluidity from one move to the next is key to a great performance.

A great dancer has rhythm. Dancers tell stories through combining their bodies with music. They have to feel it and it has to be believable.

Encore High School is a dance high school in Southern California that has ane extensive training facility for dancers. Dancers make up about 23% of the total population where they are able to round out their performance education to include circus acrobatics, singing, and acting on top of their fundamental dance training. Dancers perform in multiple shows across Southern California. Advanced dancers have toured worldwide from this program and have been awarded dance management contracts and university scholarships upon graduation. There are ten dance instructors on staff with varying backgrounds from Joffrey to Disney to College training and worldwide tours.

Encore offers transportation from the Inland Empire (15 and 215 freeways) and has options for students to attend two to three days per week for dance training and complete academics online or traditional seat based programs where students attend five days a week.

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Petey the Pirate is the author of this blog for Encore Education Corporation. Part of Encore Education Corporation is Encore High School, a free public arts regional high school in Southern California grades 7 - 12. Encore's Dance arts program is currently taking applications for the fall 2020 enrollment. www.encorehighschool.com. Where arts and academics grow together. WASC Accredtied. Copyright 2020.