1. By: Jenna Mellor

2. Dance is an art form that involves movement of
the body. It is not possible to say when this form
of art originated; however, it started thousands
of years ago. Dance may be participatory, social,
preformed, ceremonial, or competitive. It is an
important part of ceremonies, rituals,
celebrations, and entertainment. Choreography
may be preformed solo, with a partner, or with a
group; either way, each dance tells a story.
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3. There are many styles of dance that fill up my
week to a great extent. Altogether, I dance
around 14 to 15 hours per week. The types of
dance that I do are ballet, pointe, character,
jazz, lyrical, and musical theatre. Each style is
different in its own, unique way; this is why I
love it so much.
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4. Ballet was discovered in the late 15th century.
Ballet involves a lot of technique, elegance, and
grace. In order to be able to reach a high extent
in this form of dance, you need to have an
immense amount of strength; mainly in your
upper body. Every move in ballet has a French
name such as saute, échappé, relevé, pirouette,
and many more.
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5. There are three different types of ballet including
Classical, Neoclassical, and Contemporary. Classical
involves high technique, everything turned out, feet
must be pointed when lifted off the floor, and when
your leg isn’t bent, it is completely stretched. Also,
posture, alignment, and placement are required.
Neoclassical ballet is less rigid than Classical. There
are more extreme tempos and technicality. As well,
spacing is more modern and complex. Contemporary
is influenced by Classical and Modern ballet. It
involves floor work and turned in legs. Sometimes it
is danced in pointe shoes.
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6. En pointe means “on the tip of the toes”. This means
that pointe dancers are dancing on the tip of their
toes for extended periods of time. It is a part of
Classical ballet and the end result is to look
weightless. Even though men are capable of dancing
En pointe, it is more commonly preformed by women.
Dancing this style requires strength in the foot,
ankle, knee, and abdomen. To dance En pointe, you
should probably be twelve years old because starting
any age younger may result in injuries due to
continuous bone growth in the foot.
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7. Character is a subdivision of Classical ballet. It
uses movements and music that have been
altered for theatre. Hungarian, Russian, Polish,
Italian, and Spanish are all different forms of
Character. This form of dance is preformed in
black or tan coloured shoes with a suede hole
and small heel.
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8. Jazz is a fun, upbeat, and energetic form of
dance. It shows a dancer’s style and originality.
Jazz consists of unique moves, complicated
footwork, and big jumps and turns. In order to
excel in jazz, it helps to have a strong
background in ballet. To dance this style, you
need to have strength and flexibility. Some basic
moves is jazz are chaines (shenays), piques
(peekays), pirouettes (peerowets), jetes
(jetays), and turning jumps.
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9. Lyrical means having an expressive and musical
quality; expressing spontaneous and direct
feeling; expressing deep, personal emotions or
observations. Lyrical includes technique from
ballet, contemporary, and jazz. This style of
dance is expressive and it conveys musicality
and emotion through movement. The
choreography is very dramatic, each move is
connected to another and is continuous and
flows well.
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10. Musical theatre is a combination of music, songs,
dialogue, and dance. Each musical creates a
story. This form of dance is very fun, energetic,
and there are catchy songs within each dance.
Musical theatre is a mode of dramatic art.
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11. In conclusion, I love preforming dance for so
many reasons. It has provided me with the
elegance, grace, flexibility, and strength. Also, it
has improved my level of fitness immensely. I
have progressed to a great extent due to the
value of my teachers and my dance school;
Vanleena. Towards the end of each year, I get to
compete against other dance schools. As well, I
get to preform in various festivals. All in all, I
love to dance so much and I cannot imagine my
life without it.
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12. *

13. * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballet#History
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_pointe
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_dance
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_dance
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrical_dance
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_theatre
* http://www.dance.about.com/od/typesofdanc
e/p/Jazz.htm
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14. * SYTYCD picture by ? @
http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/downloa
d/20017139/
* Ballerina by ? @
http://www.lubbockarts.org/ballet.htm
* Lyrical dancer by ? @ http://www.nsad.ca/nsad-
programs.html
* Lyrical dancer #2 by ?
@http://www.straubdance.com/classes.htm
* Jazz dancer by ? @ http://www.shop4it.biz/s~q-
professional_jazz_dancer.aspx
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15. * Ballet shoes by ? @ http://www.shop4it.biz/s~q-
ballet_shoes.aspx
* Pointe shoes by ? @
http://thedanceconsultancy.com/en-pointe-dance-
and-choreography-blog/bid/35226/Welcome-to-En-
Pointe-the-Blog-of-The-Dance-Consultancy
* Character shoes by ? @
http://www.bridalshoesuk.co.uk/acatalog/Tap_and
_Character_Shoes.html
* Music note by ? @
http://www.birthdayinabox.com/party-
supplies/productdetail.asp?prodsku=11660
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