What kind of dance lessons will make me a better poser?

[SteelWeaver]

BTW, I LURVE your new avatar!

 

[Vortexx]

Thai chi ?

It is that slowmotion gracefull ritual fighting moves... Very hypnotising to watch and so could your posing routine be!

Supposedly to enhance coordination and find you XI, put if you play the videotape fast forward you find that thai chi is really has elements of hardcore martial arts, which farmers were not allowed to practice so they had to hide their practice in some yoga like gymnastics......

 

[Gladiola]

BTW, I LURVE your new avatar!

Thank you! I'm quite fond of it myself! I was pretty thrilled when I spotted it on a web site - I used to love to watch the Incredible Hulk as a kid. I think it represents me better than a flower - Don't ask me what I was thinking! ! I want those quads!

Don't worry about toe shoes. First, they are VERY expensive, second, they are hard on your feet. But you only go 'on pointe' after you already have lots of experience. You'll just need little slippers.

I took intro ballet at the Peabody conservatory of music (Part of Johns Hopkins University) where a friend of mine is working on her Masters Degree in opera.

I HATED IT - but that was just b/c my teacher was mean & awful. The dancing itself was fun, but NOT good exercise & not even great flexibility training IMO (b/c you don't *hold* any poses--- & supposedly you need to hold a stretch for 15 - 30 seconds to increase flexibility).

My friend had taken ballet at Boston Univ as an undergrad & said the instructor there was GREAT! She would touch each participant to help them be positioned correctly, etc. My instructor barely spoke English (literally, she couldn't get sentences out & sometimes told ppl she just didn't understand them) she never gave individual feedback/correction to anyone but maybe 8 ppl that she knew out of 30 - & usually then she would make fun of them.

Although ppl did tell me I seemed more graceful - my boyfriend & some participants in the fitness classes I teach.

Although you will probably enjoy ballet if you get a good instructor! Just be prepared to shell out some money - for me class (1X per week for 1 hour, 1 semester: 4 mos) was $220, $50 registration fee, $30 for the slippers, $12 for tights, $30 each for leotard & skirt to cover my big behind. She wouldn't allow me to wear 'fitness clothing' - tight shorts & fitted tank top.

I still say that if you want to take dance, ballet is the way to go, but I agree Tai Chi will really help grace - balance as well.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Thanks for the info Gladiola. I think I'm going to give it a whirl - you don't know til you try, right? Probably my instructor won't speak any English either, being that I live in Japan, but I've learnt all the muscle groups' names in Japanese, and they probably use borrowed English or French terms for all the moves anyway.

Oh, I was just kidding about the toe-shoes - I know I don't need them - and anyway, I'd have to have them custom-made!! My feet are about I think a US size 11, bwa ha haa. I'll just tell the teacher I can't buy any of those things here - it's probably true anyway.

Tai chi, or any martial art, is dime-a-dozen here. I guess it's time to get off my lazy arse and go check it out. I know of one group who do it at 6am in a big beautiful park on Sat mornings. I think it's totally free - you just turn up there. I guess they don't have too many problems with hordes of people turning up though, lol.

Yeah, Incredible Hulk was pretty cool - and I want those quads too!