A pirouette is the most common spinning step in jazz. You need strong arms, a strong core, and strong legs to perform this dance move. There are many different exercises to stretch and strengthen your muscles. The most important muscles to focus on for a pirouette are your glutes muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps, calf muscles, your arms, and your core.
To stretch your glutes muscles, lay on your back and put both feet flat on the floor. Your knees should be pointed towards the ceiling. Lift your right foot and place your ankle just above your left knee, on the bottom of your left quadriceps. Lift your left knee towards your chest as far as you can go, and hold it for 90 seconds to get a good stretch. Repeat for opposite side. To strengthen your glutes, quads and hamstrings, the easiest exercise is to do simple squats. You could also do walking lunges.
For your hamstrings, the best stretch is to lay on your back with your arms at your sides, legs straight, toes pointed, and core solid. With your left leg pointed about an inch off the floor, lift your right knee to your chest. Hold it there for about 20 seconds. Then extend your leg to the ceiling. Keep your leg straight and pull it as far towards your chest as you can. For an added stretch, put as much pressure as you can from your leg to your hands for 10 seconds, and then relax your leg, knee still straight, and pull your leg further towards your chest. Hold your leg for 90 seconds to get a really good stretch. Repeat this process for your left leg.
To stretch your quadriceps, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Go down into a squat position. Place both hands on the floor behind you, and then let your knees fall forward as far as you can go.
For your calf muscles, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Place your right foot in front of you and bend your right knee. Make sure your left heel stays on the ground. Go out as far as you need to to feel the stretch and then repeat for your right leg.
To stretch your arms, cross your right arm in front of your chest, and pull it with your left arm. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat for your left arm. Then lift your right arm above your head, and let you forearm fall to your shoulders. Your elbow should be pointing towards the ceiling. Pull your elbow backwards with your left arm. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat for your left arm. The best way to strengthen your arms is to do a series of arm circles. Extend your arms to your sides so they are 90 degrees with your body. Begin to circle then forward quickly with as much muscle tension as you can use. Keep the circles small for 30 seconds, then medium for 20 seconds, and large for 10 seconds. Repeat this going backwards to get the full effect.
To stretch your core, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Lean to your left, only bending the sides of your core. Place your right arm over your head and reach out as far as you can. Repeat for the left side. For your upper and lower abdominal muscles, lay flat on your stomach. Put your hands on the floor directly under your shoulders and lift your upper body off the floor. Your hips should still be on the floor. Hold this for 90 seconds. To strengthen your core, there are many different crunches you can do. After you have decided which crunches you will do, choose your favourite up-beat song. Do 12 of the first type of crunch, then 12 of the second type of crunch, and so on. Repeat this cycle for the entire song. The crunches are:
Standard Crunch
Table Top Crunch
Butterfly
Side Crunch
Plank Hold
... You can also do leg lifts, where you lay flat on your back and lift your legs up to a 90 degree angle, lift your hips off the ground, let your hips back down, and then slowly bring your legs back down to the floor. Your legs should be in full point during this exercise. You must always remember during any crunch, plank, or leg lift exercise that targets your core, to keep your abdominals working throught the exercise, or your core will not be targeted properly.
Tap dance is a very popular form of dance in modern theatre. It is more about the rhythm made by the feet than about the whole- body movement. Tap dance first began way back in the early to mid 1800's. It was created from a combination of African slave's dance movements, Irish clog dancing, and European jigs. The man who is believed to have first began this dance form by combining these styles was known as "Master Juba". In the later 1800's, tap dancing was further popularized through "blackface" performances in Vaudeville shows. The performers would imitate the black slaves known as 'Levee dancers' in their acts, while using tap dancing to entertain.
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
There were two styles of shoes at this point: hard wooden- soles and soft leather- soles. The hard- soled shoes were used for fast paced dances, also known as "buck-and-wing" dances. The soft- soled shoes were used for more humorous and delicate tap numbers with slow, smooth music, also known as "Sand Dances". Metal taps were added to the soft- sole leather shoes in the early 1900's. Thomas Rice was the first person to perform a tap dance with metal taps on his shoes in a large- scale show in 1928. It then became very popular among black dancers and throughout the 20's and 30's they created new styles and moves. These styles included the Shim Sham Shimmy, created by Leonard Reed, and the black bottom, introduced to the dance scene in 1919 by Perry Bradford. The most famous tap dancer of this era and of all time is Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. He is best known for his "stair dance". This dance came about when he danced up a long flight of stairs to be honoured by the King of England.
Tap dance grew in the early 50's because of famous dancers such as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Their routines were becoming more modern, adding new moves to the dance form. It became more elegant, expressive, and creative. Tap then fell off the scene until the 80's due to the rapid growth of Hollywood's film industry. This is when popular dancers Gregory Hines and Savion Glover brought tap back to the stage. Savion had his first Broadway role in "The Tap Dance Kid" in 1985. He is known as a living legend of tap.