Friday, August 29, 2008

More of Moore

By request to see more of David Moore's choreography and more complete choreography at that I am including these two videos. I also would like to thank all of those who have switched classes, whether by choice or not. I have read through some of the assignments that have been turned in and have been impressed by your thoughts and observations. Your suggestions will certainly help innovate this blog. I hope that you enjoy these clips. Don't forget Nutcracker auditions will be on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 8 am in the auditorium. I will give extra credit for those who audition from my class. The stipulation is that if you are offered a part, you must follow through with it. Just an FYI-powerschool for my class is not current, I am having glitches with it. I will update that as soon as I can! Thanks for all that you do, it has been a wonderful start to the school year!





Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Band Featured on DCI website

The CGUHS band was recently featured in the Casa Grande Dispatch. Because of their staff affiliations with Drum Corp International veterans, they have also been featured on the DCI webpage as well. Check out the link on the side bar.

Please check out the links on the sidebar, we will be adding and updating features on this blog to make it more comprehensive to the arts. Recent additions include more music pages, choir, technical theater and art links.

Mrs. Lee's classes, don't forget your assignment is due on Friday of this week. It may be typed or handwritten, but it must be legible.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Hip Hop Fridays in dance class




Let me introduce you to David Moore. David Moore is a choreographer out of Los Angeles who has been featured on shows such as America's Best Dance Crew and has choreographed for several celebrities. I had the opportunity to meet David and take a class with him at the Phatgrooves4U clinic I took a week before school started. He was very down to earth and easy to learn from, no matter how difficult the choreography. If you would like to see more videos check him out on youtube. He has about 40 videos of his choreography posted. This is just an overview. If you would like further information on David Moore, check out his website on myspace.com\djmoore.

Today was hip-hop Friday in my dance classes. Most of my classes were very accepting of the choreography and the music I was using. One of my classes began complaining that they wanted something harder or faster. Once we got going they realized that it wasn't as easy as it looked and that the whole process of learning, memorizing and executing choreography. The execution of the choreography was not quite the caliber that they thought it was but I know that will improve with time.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Willie Covan


"Poetry in Motion"Willie Covan, in his day, was as well-known as Bill " Bojangles" Robinson or Buck & Bubbles, but this dancer hung up his tap shoes as a performer just before vaudeville surrendered to talking (and singing and dancing) movies. He went to Hollywood where he opened a dance studio and became MGM's resident choreographer and dance coach to Eleanor Powell (who insisted that MGM hire him), Ann Miller, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.
Covan is our historic artist of the week in my tap class. I love the history behind the arts as much as I love the art. It never ceases to amaze me how history influences the arts. Covan like many other tap artists endured the segregation that existed but found the arts to be a place where those boundaries were broken among the artists. Covan became a performer at the age of 6 and toured until the age of 12. After touring, Covan started the "Four Covans" which toured, and choreographed and taught classes.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Welcome to this blog


I have always loved the arts, especially dance. I am fortunate enough to teach what I love at a local high school. I am designing this blog with my students in mind. Like my students I will be making discoveries about my own processes as an artist and will be sharing them here. In addition, I will be sharing photos, videos, websites and other links related to what we are covering in my classes as well as information about upcoming auditions and performances. If you have a link or website you would like to see featured, or have a request or question, please feel free to post it in the comments. My hope is that no matter where in the arts your passion is, or if your a beginner to advanced, this website will be a helpful resource for you. I know that I will enjoy developing this site!


Sincerely,

The Dance Teacher