My name is Alicia Andrew and I am 24 years old. I have recently completed a Foundation Degree in Dance at London Metropolitan University which focused on Ballet, Contemporary and Afro-Caribbean dance techniques. I hope to obtain my full honours degree in Professional Practice at Middlesex University. I am hoping to use this work based learning course In order to establish myself as a professional and experienced dance practitioner as well as build on projects that I feel will benefit the dance industry and myself as a practitioner. I would like to create a project that will bring a new approach to the traditional form of a dance school within a community. I would love for students/young dancers to be able to acknowledge their own capabilities and allow them to grow as dancers and creative artists at the same time. I also want to highlight Afro-Caribbean dance techniques within mainstream dance as I feel it is a dance form that has space to grow here in the UK. I still wish to continue teaching in various schools, community centres and Programmes whilst on the course and hope that I can continue to establish myself as a capable choreographer through work such as EPK’S, Promo Videos which I have recently started to be involved in. I am currently working for the national organisation ADAD to gain further experience and awareness of other aspects of the dance industry.
Hi I’m Emily, fellow BAPPer. I was there on the same induction day as you - we shared my booklet's! Ha! Glad you’re getting your head around the IT , I am slowly realising just what you can do. You could try messaging me back.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really great you are committed to raising awareness of the African culture through dance in schools and I hope you are successful. I was introduced to African dance through a workshop at the National Youth Dance Finals in 2006 and I found it amazing fun! I loved the rhythms and beats from the drums and really felt I could let go and enjoy myself - it was also a killer for the thighs! I throughly enjoyed the workshop we did, it was a shame I didn't get to explore it more.
A lot of people don’t realise that the beat and core rhythms that form the basis of African – Caribbean dance also form the basis of dance forms such as the Charleston, Swing and Black Bottom as the slaves brought those rhythms with them from Africa to America.
I think it’s fascinating to learn to use the body in a different way from conventional dance and a wonderful way to learn about diverse cultures. I think it's great that we can learn from different cultures and get to enjoy them through the aspect of dance.
Wherever I am on holiday I always join in the dance lessons on the beach – I had great fun in Jamaica trying reggae – actually think I got the hang of the moves by the end of the fortnight. Being classically ballet trained it was a whole new concept of how to use my body.
Perhaps you could try to include some links to African Dance sites within your blog to help promote your workshops ?
Good Luck.
Hi Alicia. I've been reading all your blogs today and I love how passionate you are about dance and educating people. So many people fall into dance education so I find it really refreshing to hear some discuss it with such vision and intensity.
ReplyDeleteHi! to both you Emily and Mark.
ReplyDeleteEmily thanks again for the booklet share lol, very cramped conditions that day but we got through it!! I really wish there was a way to get alerts about blog comments on my phone because its somehow taken me quite a while to realize i even had any but i must say, when i saw them i was very happy indeed.
Emily, its so great to hear you've experienced the african-caribbean side of dance. Sometimes i find that it's harder to talk about, beacause it's not as main stream as other dance forms although many other forms share or are derived from the same characteristics. The thighs!! tell me about it you need some crazy leg strength, even to get through an hours session.The whole idea of fusing African -Caribbean dance with other forms such as Ballet,Contemporary and even Street just fascinates me and its something i cant wait to explore further, hopefully once i get my YouTube channel up and running ill be able to show you guys what i can create.
Thank you for the advice about uploading links to African dance sites, it's something i hadn't thought of but i realize how useful and educational it could be, so im going to get onto that definately! I will keep you posted on how things develop.
Mark, reading your comment means a lot. I am really passionate about what i do and where i want to be in regards to teaching and promoting dance within communities. I hope that you continue to follow me, so you can see where my passion takes me.
Good luck to you both, i look forward to following you. (Fellow Bapp'er)
ReplyDeleteGood clear statement about what you are up to - and works well with your blog photo. Obviously a dance genre others would like to hear more about - how does it relate to the London scene of dance which is very cosmopolitan in nature?
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