hip hop ballerina

Today I went to my sister's friend's recital. It was amazing- much more impressive than where I dance. I almost switched there at the beginning of the year but I couldn't bear to leave my teachers. However, after seeing this studio's show, I know I'm definitely not at the right place. Where I dance now, there are probably less than 25 dancers and they are all at least four years younger than me. Because of the age differences and lack of students, even the most advanced classes are still fairly basic and I feel like I'm not being challenged anymore. This other studio has easily over a hundred dancers of all ages and abilities and they offer much more classes than my current studio does.

The problem once again comes down to my teachers. I adore them and they've done so much for me and all of the other dancers at my studio. There's one teacher in particular that I'm fairly close to and is the main reason I didn't switch last year. I especially don't want it to end badly with her. What's the best way to tell her, my other teachers, and the studio owner that I'm leaving? Also, when's the best time to tell them? I'm taking classes with them this summer and wouldn't be switching until the fall. How much notice should I give them? I don't want to do it right away and make the whole summer awkward but I'd feel bad telling them on my last day or something like that. I'm just not sure what the proper etiquette in this situation is so any tips would be awesome- thanks!

I take dance at a small recreational studio. Back in January, my hip hop teacher quit and started teaching somewhere else nearby. I (along with about half the class) went with her to the new studio. However, I continued taking my other classes (ballet, pre-pointe, jazz, and tap) at the old studio because they only had beginner level classes at the time. I've found that I like the new place much better and after the other studio's recital, I'm going to start taking the rest of my classes there (they're planning on offering advanced ones this summer).

Here's the problem: dress rehearsal for my old studio's recital is at the same time as class at my new studio. Neither would want me to skip their thing for the other studio's. Normally I would pick rehearsal over class but my teacher's really big on us not skipping class without good reason (she knows I still dance at the other place but I'm not sure how she would feel about me skipping her class for them) and rehearsals at the old studio are always *really* unorganized and unproductive. There's one other girl who's in the same situation I am and she told me yesterday that she's going to class and not rehearsal.

I really have no idea which to pick. What would you do in this situation? Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

whenever we do chaines turns across the floor i always get really dizzy and loose my balance. my teacher told me to try spotting but i just can't do it. are there any exercises i can do outside of class to help my spotting?

there's this guy at school i like (i'm a sophmore, he's a freshman) and he just got an ipod touch over the weekend. what i was thinking of doing is asking him if i can see it to see what kind of music he has on it (at my school, if you bring your ipod to school (which he does) tons of people ask to see your music so that's a pretty normal thing) and instead going to contacts and putting my name and cell number and then "call me sometime :)" in it and then just leave contacts up on the screen and hand it back to him (that way he sees it).

i'm usually really shy and i'm trying to make an effort to be bolder, but is something like that too much? i don't really know if he likes me or not. i mean we talk sometimes but it might just be because we have some friends in common and stuff like that.

guys: would you like it if a girl did something like this?

thanks!

so i was watch tv a little bit ago and there was this target commercial on. it was like two girls in a dorm or something. anyways, i was wondering if anyone knew what the song was that was playing in it. thanks!

well i used to really be into acting and i would take lessons and stuff when i was in middle school. i quit in eighth grade though because i didn't have the time/money for lessons because of dance and there wasn't a drama program at my school. we do however have one at my high school. i went to see their production of macbeth and it really inspired me to get back into it. anyways, auditions for the fall play are in september and i think i wanna do it. is there anything i can do by myself over the summer to improve? or just audition tips in general would be greatly appreciated too. also, i know every school is different but how do school play auditions usually work? what should i expect? thanks!

i'm going to be a sophmore in the fall if that makes a difference (although i don't think it will)

i bought my ipod touch back before the january updates. i still haven't bought the update yet and now i heard that there's another update coming out. seeing as the first is $20 and the new one will be $10, i'm wondering if i'll have to pay $30 if i want both or if i just wait til the $10 one comes out it'll put the stuff from the first update on it too. will it even let me get the second if i don't have the first? hopefully this makes sense to everyone but yeah, i was just wondering if anyone knew anything about the updates... thanks!

this summer i'm taking a ballet/jazz/modern combo-type class and i'm wondering what i should wear to it. i'm pretty sure it's like a half hour of ballet, a half hour of jazz, and then a half hour of modern and i won't have time to change inbetween each one except for shoes. i know i need ballet slippers for ballet and jazz shoes for jazz. modern is barefoot right? which is another thing... does that mean i shouldn't wear tights since i wouldn't want to slip on them during modern? haha i think i'm over thinking this. thanks for any help!

well i'm a hip hop dancer and i just recently got a job student teaching one of the younger classes. instead of getting paid for it, they might just give me hip hop lessons for free. so i'm considering asking my parents if they'll use the money they used to spend on hip hop lessons for a ballet/jazz/tap combo-type class that, for all three together, costs a little bit more than the hip hop class i take now. so my question is, will ballet help my hip hop? i know it is the foundation of all dance and stuff but i'm wondering if it really will help me improve. so if any of you have experience with that, i'd love to hear about it. thx! also, will jazz or tap help too? just wondering. this is definitely something i want to do especially because i want to improve as a dancer overall so i think taking lessons in other styles will be helpful. thanks! (i'm 15 by the way if that makes a difference)

haha yeah pretty much self explanatory but just wondering when it comes out on dvd or if it's out already cuz i didn't get to see it when it was in theaters.

just had a few questions about being a graphic designer for a living... is it a practical job? does it supply you with enough money to pay bills, support a family, etc? is it hard to get a decent job as a graphic designer assuming you have the college degree and skills needed? what should you major in to increase your chances of getting the job? what kind of things, specifically, will you do?

thanks!

well i've been a hiphop dancer/bgirl for the past year (i'm 14). over the summer i got moved up to an advanced class. my dance teacher has a dance company that we sometimes get to perform with. anyways, the company is about 45 mins to an hour from where i live so she's trying to start a company in my town for the dancers here. she says it'll kinda be like a junior company because we don't have as much experience and we're younger than her other dancers but we'll still perform with her company and stuff. to get into the junior company we had to get picked by the teacher that we were advanced enough to handle it.

anyways, my question is: what exactly is a dance company (i have a very general idea but thats it)? how do you normally get into one? is it usually hard to get into? just wondering since i decided to do it and wanted to know if it was a big deal or if it was just another class.

thx!

i know i've been asking questions about lyrical dancing a lot lately but i really need to end all the confusion i'm getting from answers to other questions i've asked. are these videos of lyrical dancing? if not, what kind of dance are they? (and by the way, none of these videos are of me, they're just ones i found)

1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcmebOEwCOE

2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nhu9GnL0yw&mode=re...

3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cixKL1c7W_0&mode=re...

so thanks if you can tell me what type of dance these videos are of. i think they are of lyrical but i am not sure.

and whatever type of dance it is, i know they don't offer it at any of the studios near where i live so does anyone know of any good websites where i can learn it? i know you can't learn a dance properly online without a teacher, but it's better than nothing in my opinion. and anyone who does this this type of dance, any tips would be great! thanks!

I'm 14 and am considering starting ballet this fall. i was just wondering how long it generally takes to be able to go on pointe. i'm not very flexible but i've been stretching a lot latley for my hiphop class that i take. so hopefully that will be less of a problem soon. i work really hard and pay attention in dance class. i am totally dedicated when it comes to dance so thats not a problem. i'm pretty strong i guess for a girl (but i don't know how strong my toes are... probably not very) and i don't weigh much at all so i don't have too much to support. so how long do you think it will be before i can go on pointe? and how will i know when i'm ready? and also just what are some tips for starting ballet in general? thanks!

earlier today i read that contemporary and lyrical dancing are the same things. is this true? also what about modern. i have heard that it is the same thing as contemporary. is that true? i have also heard that modern is the same as ballet. is that true? what exactly is modern dancing. the thing is they are offering modern dance classes at the studio i go to and i was wondering if it was the same as contemporary. i want to learn contemporary and wanted to know if i should sign up for modern if they are the same thing. and even if they aren't i would like to know what modern is to see if i would like to sign up. thats also why i asked the question about lyrical. i think they might be offering lyrical (i can't remember) and if it was the same as contemporary i was going to sign up. are there any other names for contemporary i should know about to look for on class signup lists? thanks!

I need help with my headspins, turtles, windmills, and airchairs. I'll do headspins first. Right now i can only practice on carpet... is it possible to learn them that way? my record is 1/3 of a spin and then i fell down. thats the other problem i have, i always fall after i tap, even if i just go1/8 of a spin. Ok now turtles. I got the freeze down, but when i try to spin (i go CW) my left arm always slips out from under me and i can't get it back. same thing when i try to walk my turtles. i think i do my spining turtles wrong though. Windmills next. once again i have to practice on carpet so maybe thats the problem but i have trouble with collapsing (and pretty much everything after that lol). i just can't get very far when it comes to mils. Now airchairs. i need serious help with these. i think its mostly a strength problem but i just can't keep my head off the ground or get my feet in the air (i think these are the hardest for me of the 4). so thanks for any help with any of the 4!

i'm wondering if i should start ballet. i'm 14 and have been doing hiphop dance and breaking for the past year. dance sign ups at the studio i go to are coming up and i'm thinking about signing up for ballet. i'm still going to be doing hiphop (and so far they still don't have any breaking classes, it's just something i do on my own). they're trying to get a new teacher for the older kids 'cause the teacher they have now is mostly for younger kids. also there aren't any kids my age that do ballet (the next oldest is 10), but i think that would be good because i'm a beginner. so yeah, i just wanna know what you "ballerinas" think. like is ballet fun? do you think a hiphop dancer would like it? is it too late for me to start? what should i know about ballet if i do sign up? so thanks for your help. i don't really know much about ballet. i'm still not sure if i even want to do it. i have to think about it for a while. i just figured i'd ask this to help me make me decision. thanks!