Dance Rehearsals for MADjam

Over the last couple of weeks we have fully resurrected our Hustle and Cabaret routines for Mid Atlantic Dance Jam, aka MADjam. This event is being held next week and we are gearing up to have clean and powerful presentations of both of our routines.

Dance Rehearsals for MADjam

Over the last couple of weeks we have fully resurrected our Hustle and Cabaret routines for Mid Atlantic Dance Jam, aka MADjam. This event is being held next week and we are gearing up to have clean and powerful presentations of both of our routines.

Remembering the routines

We were able to remember the moves within the first 2 days of our rehearsal but we wanted to continue polishing the movement, the lifts, the transitions and the emotional expression that is part of each routine. It generally feels like an endless process of over-analysing but it really is the secret ingredient to a captivating performance.

Warming up

Many of our rehearsals involve full warm-ups. We usually use a ballet barre, put on the Chopin and get in the zone of warming our bodies up for the marathon/sprint of our routines. We generally start with plies and tendus, we hang out in stretches forward, backwards and sideways until the body accepts it, we incorporate leg swings (cloche) to loosen up our legs and hips and of course we stretch our necks out for the quick spotting turns. After a while, I generally start jogging in place and Anna does petite jumps in place to prepare for her jumps in both of our routines and we generally do push-ups to prepare for our supported lifts.

Emotional Contrast

One of the greatest challenges is demonstrating the different frequency of our routines - they are totally different. Our Hustle routine to Ke$sha's Take It Off is a dark and slithering piece. Its tone should invite the observer to the dark underworld of debauchery. Our Cabaret routine to Tony Bennett's Favorite Things is a light and airy routine. It is meant to make the audience feel positive and joyous. Bringing these contrasting pieces to a clear vision takes constant revision on the emotional quality of our work.

Challenging in different ways

Interestingly enough, each routine is challenging for Anna and me for different reasons. Take It Off fits me like a glove. Its dark tone and aggressive profiling make it easy to embrace a powerful body portrayal. For Anna, the powerful dancing coupled with the marathon/sprint workout of Hustle timing make it a real tour-de-force. Favorite Things, on the flip-side, fits Anna like a glove. Her great ballet training and her good-natured attitude make it easy for her to bring out all the lightness in the piece. For me, it's like Giselle - it must be strong but it can never look strong. It must look easy and weightless, even though the piece never comes down.

I'm looking forward to see if the judges can understand the power of Take It Off and the difficulty of Favorite Things. If we perform them at the level of our rehearsals we hope the audience will be excited by the versatility of both routines individually and in contrast to each other.