March 19th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Kelly MacMahon - Hip Hop artist
Hip hop dancing has its origins in both street dance, african and jazz dance. comment on any connections you “discovered” or observed during your 2 sessions with Kelly. Are there similarities to the jazz genre that you can identify? Other comments appreciated as well…
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I really enjoyed the hip hop guest artist. I thought it was a lot of fun and very energizing. The only problem was that it was very fast paced. I could definitely tell a similarity between hip hop and forms of African dance. Both types of dance use very large movements and put a lot of emphasis on the core of the body. (Having stronger abs would have definitely helped with the hip hop dance that we learned in class!). I couldn’t really see much similarity between hip hop dancing and jazz, though. I felt like jazz was a lot more flowy and Kelly MacMahon even said that sometimes the movements in hip hop aren’t very “connected”. There were some parts that were harder to remember because of a seemingly awkward transition, etc. In general, I really enjoyed Kelly as a guest artist. She showed me how much work and effort you have to put in to be a professional hip hop dancer.
March 19th, 2008 at 4:11 pmI really enjoyed having Kelly as a guest artist this past week. It was a lot of fun and it was a change from doing our space projects.I definitely felt a connection and similarity between the hip hop piece and the type of African dancing we did last year. The constant movement and energy needed to perform the pieces was a main aspect that were similar in both genres. In Hip hop we saw that you need to be loose and free with your body but at times it needs to be sharp and energetic, as seen in African dancing. I also could tell the connection between Hip Hop and Street dancing. After watching TV shows on dance crews and street dancers I noticed the high intensity and effort put into each and every single movement. In our piece that Kelly taught us, I found it rather tiring and I was actually a bit sore the next day from the powerful movements used. Not only was there hip hop, but I could sense a bit of jazz in the movement as well. The turns, kicks, and leg placements reminded me of certain jazz pieces that I had done in the past. I thoroughly enjoyed this hip hop experience and I now understand the force, energy, and dedication needed to be a hip hop dancer.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:42 pmI enjoyed having Kelly in class. It was a different experience then many of the other guest artists we’ve had. I could tell there were similarities with other forms of dance, and Hip Hop seems to be more of a combination of many different types of dance, such as is the United States and it’s combiniation of people. How appropriate is it that we experience a mixed dance culture much like our own mixed social culture?
March 24th, 2008 at 7:55 pmLet me tell you, the one thing I noticed pretty quickly in Kelly’s quick classes was the amount of energy I needed just to make it to the end of class. Also, it says a lot that no matter how much effort was put into each movement, it seemed like the phrases took on characteristics of the dancer. So rather than the phrase defining the dancer, I saw the dancer defining the phrase. It takes a lot out of you, but you are the one who defines Hip Hop.
Over the Summer I took a couple of hip hop classes from Kelly. I thought it was really fun and when I didnt have time to take it anymore i was upset. When i walked in the day she was there, I was excited to learn the choreography she was going to teach us. Once we started i felt like i couldnt do it and hip hop wasnt for me, but once i started to get it, it became really fun. I definitely could tell there were parts of the dance that related to street dancing. For example, the very last part of the dance where we are on the ground. As for the turns and even some of the walks, i sensed a little bit of jazz in these movements. I had a great time learning the hip hop piece and I hope Kelly can come teach again!
March 30th, 2008 at 8:25 amKelly’s class was a nice change of pace from our usual jazzy classes. I’m definetely not that great at hip hop yet it’s the type of dance that I have the most fun with. It’s a type of dance where I’m completely out of my element, there’s a lot I can learn about.
I definetly saw hip hop with a stronger connection to African dancing than with jazz. There’s a certain energy that’s more obvious and powerful that I think sometimes gets a little overshadowed in jazz dance.
Dancing hip-hop honestly makes me feel ridiculous, but I’m laughing the whole time. Her class left me sore and tired which I love and hate at the same time…..I would love to have more hip hop workshops in the future!
March 31st, 2008 at 1:03 pmI really liked the hip hop guest artist Kelly. I thought it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the combination she worked with us on. I did definitely see an African style in some moves that we did but however she seemed to have a street dance style to her movement we learned in our two sessions with her. I really liked this because it was so different from everything else we have worked on so far this semester in dance. I liked it because it was so up beat and modern the way she danced. You could see the jazz style that was changed in some of the movements we did in the combination like turn with straight legs I remember and it is just so interesting the same movement in both styles of dance but the different styles that effect it.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:12 pmIt was fun being able to do a different form of dance, but at the same time it felt similar because there were a lot of similarities between hip hop and other dance movements. What was most fun–and most difficult–in hip hop, I think, is that you have to throw your whole body into the movement, just as with African tribal dance. Some movements you could make small (and you had to because of the speed), but otherwise you really had to move. Another similarity is that with both forms of dance you never seem to just stop for a moment. It’s is so fast and it’s such a blood pumper. Honestly, I also saw a connection between hip hop and modern. They didn’t appear very similar, but they felt similar as a dancer. I think that this had to with the fact that both are rather awkward movements. Whiel rehearsing both pieces, we’d giggle and think we look silly. But when we finally tie it all together with music, we think “wow, this looks great, even if it does feel slightly unnatural”
March 31st, 2008 at 6:23 pmI’ve always loved hip hop and although I am not always the best when it actually comes to performing it, it’s still an amazing experience. I love how the premise of this type of dance, isn’t perfection, but rather interpretation. No two people will be able to make the same move, the same mistake in the same way, it’s just not possible, it’s meant to be fun. Hip hop, unlike other dance forms is more aggressive, giving you the ability to experiment with the shape and forms of your arms while still giving a butt load of attitude. It’s self expression of the highest degree. It’s also calming, as awkward as that sounds. Its a dance that frees you of your inhibitions and just lets you be free. Which, if you haven’t judges by my previous blogs, I love freedom.
Plus the teacher was amazing, muchas props!
March 31st, 2008 at 7:24 pmKelly was awesome! Her energy and attitude made the challenge of learning a lot more fun.
What’s funny is that when people think “hip hop” dancing, they wouldn’t normally associate the thought with a jazz dance or the flexibility and balance of ballet. Sure, a lot of the movement is low and “dirty”, but between the steps is what we want to take a closer look at. the triplet steps, ball-changes, and weight-shifting are general steps that we have learned and used in dance class. Also, the techniques we learned to balance when turning are used (spotting, preparing, etc).
The overall concept that Jazz dance and hip hop share is the spontaneity and improvisation. Dances are composed of random movement, yet may also contain patterns.
I personally enjoy hip hop dance. It so full of energy and the moves are very diverse and unique compared to other types of dance. I give props to the dancers who have the endurance and stamina to perform hip hop and actually pull of much of the movements.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:11 pmI really enjoyed having Kelly as a guest artist before spring break. She was really energenetic and easy to approach if you had any questions about the choreagraphy. At first i found it kind of hard to follow because she worked at such a fast pace and hip-hop is a totally different style of dance. As she continued to teach i think it slowly became easier to pick up the moves and i began to see the similarities between hip-hop and jazz. They both used a lot of the same movements and flowed in the same way.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:40 pmThis was a very interesting thing for me to do, being a total ballet girl. Although i struggled, i thought that those few days that we spent with Kelly were very educational and showed me a type of dance that I don’t do often and is something that I really need to work on. The way that Hip Hop is so flirty and is about getting really low and just showing off “your moves” so to speek. I thought that Kelly was very nice and was really funny. She made sure that we were having fun while doing her combination. I couldn’t believe how hard Hip Hop is I was so sore the following days. This showed how much engery and stamina you need to perform peices like that. I would love to have her come back again, this was a great new experience for me at least and although I had some trouble I had a lot of fun!
March 31st, 2008 at 10:53 pmI really liked her! She was really nice, patient and funny with our class and it was a different experience then most of the guest artists we’ve had in the past. I really had a great work out with this dance it made me move a lot harder then I have in previous classes but it was a fun dance routine so I didnt mind sweating a little bit. I loved her ghetto attidue and how she was so fun and easy going and really was willing to help us out with any questions we had. I liked her technique and the effort she had in helping us become better hip hop dancers.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:02 amI really enjoyed having Kelly come and teach us hip hop. She was very approachable, and she was a very good teacher. I liked how she took seemingly complex movements and broke them down into simple phrases that were easier to pick up. Hip hop is definitely a dance that applies to my generation’s culture, and it was fun to have something that I was a little more familiar with. It was so interesting, however, to see that ballet and jazz techniques are directly applied to hip hop technique; it makes you appreciate how necessary the fundamentals of dance are. I would love to have Kelly come back again, she was so much fun! She brought a lot of energy into the studio, and I really enjoyed her class!
April 1st, 2008 at 11:22 amI really enjoyed the hip hop guest artist. I think that it is always nice to take a break from what we are doing in class and integrate other styles of dance. I think one of the major connections between each of these types of dance is the “feel” of the piece. Like Kelly said on one of the last moves, it doesn’t matter if you forget all of the steps, as long as you put your heart into it, be confident, and finish strong. This makes the dance more meaningful for the dancer as well as for the audience to watch. This was an especially helpful lesson for me because I often could not keep up with the fast-paced choreography. In order to effectively dance, we must be efficient and put effort into our dance. I think that Kelly did a really good job motivating us and getting us excited about the choreography. Hip hop is fun because every dancer has their own interpretation of the movement and it inspires dancers to put their own “flavor” into the movement.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:24 amShe was really encouraging and very nice. I’m not that good at hip hop, or picking up whole routines quickly, but Kelly made it fun and not stressful. I also loved learning hip hop moves, even if I can’t do them as well as she can. She also had a way of saying things that made me want to do the dance (to the best of my ability). And I am proud to say that I “saved it” every time, even if that was the only part of the dance I got right. And learning hip hop was great, because it’s a type of dance that people our age relate to. I like jazz and ballet, but hip hop has an attitude that is just fun. I would like to do hip hop again, and perhaps even get Kelly back.
April 1st, 2008 at 3:06 pmI can definitely see a connection to jazz in particular because there are much fewer restrictions than in ballet or tap. There was also a feeling of defiance of normal body movements through certain turns, which (although uncomfortable) was a breath of fresh air. I definitely liked her personality and attitude. I had a lot of fun with her.
April 1st, 2008 at 5:49 pmI absolutely loved having Kelly come in an teach us some sweet hip hop moves. I, for one, am not the most hip hop person in the world, so it was a little bit frustrating at first, but once I let go, I had a lot of fun. Kelly was very encouraging and energetic througout the whole class, which made it extremely easy to let loose and really throw myself into the movement. THere were times I felt lost and like she was going a bit fast though. Compared to today’s guest artist (Kristin I think was her name?) I feel like Kelly could maybe slow down a bit to make sure we understand.
There were definitely some similarities and differences between hip hop and the jazz genre that we studied. There were some movements in which you had to be extremely sharp in hip hop, but there were also some movements where you just had to go with the flow. This reminded me a lot about the jazz unit, because jazz had a lot of flowing and intense movements.
I was extremely impressed with Kelly’s passion for dancing. It really helped me get in my groove, if you know what I’m sayin. Hip hop isn’t really my thing…I try hard, but it doesn’t really work. I had fun learning the hip hop choreography and I hope that she comes back next year for future dance students.
April 1st, 2008 at 6:26 pmI really had fun in the two days we had learned from Kelly. She was fun and energetic and I appreciated her style of hip hop. The fast pace of the combination we learned was challenging but so much fun. Through out those two days I have noticed the connection between hip hop and jazz. In every movement there is a fast pace to the steps but if slowed down it is easy to see how it could also be a jazz step. There are many unique movements in hip hop that may seem unnatural which separates itself from jazz for example the popping and the locking but Kelly also incorporated a type of turn in the combination we learned and it was a basic turn but also could be used in a jazz combination. Kelly made it so much fun to learn hip hop and hopefully she can come and teach us again.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:53 pmI am not really familiar with hip hop. Most of my dance experience has been with ballet, so it was quite interesting to take class with Kelly. I enjoyed the change of pace from the usual kinds of dance I tend to gravitate towards. For me, it was really a challenge to loosen up and just be less cerebral about the movement; this is an area that i need to work on. The routine was very fun. Once i memorized the steps, I was eventually able to just go with the movement and experience. I was surprised at how much of a work out the routine was. I definitely was sore for a couple days after taking her class. I would love to take another hip hop class in the future!
April 1st, 2008 at 11:12 pmTo add to my comment:
April 1st, 2008 at 11:16 pmI could really see the connection between hip hop and African dance. A lot of the pops and isolations were sort of similar to some of the movement we did last year with the African dance guest artist. It also had same verve that the African movement had. Unlike more structured forms of dance, hip hop is far more elemental and free, just like the tribal movement.
I really enjoyed kelly teaching us Hip Hop. I have taken classes from her before and she definitly brings good energy! I can totaly see how the African culture ties into hip hop, and in my opinion, this type of dance is my favorite. Overall, Kelly was a good expereince
April 9th, 2008 at 8:17 amThe jazz dance style is definitely prevalent in hip-hop dancing. Some of the differences include using more levels and isolations with different body parts. I enjoyed having a hip hop instructor in class. I think it was definitely out of many peoples boxes. It challenged many people to try something new as well. I think something that needs to be understood about hip hop is that it puts you out of your element. No one is used to moving in that way. Hip-hop dancers who are successful in their careers are ones that are not afraid to put themselves out there. Theres no need to be embarassed while dancing this particular style. Many dancers do get embarassed but they should take it as an opportunity to learn something new.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:44 amI enjoyed working with our guest artist in hip hop. I love how its so different from what we are used to doing in class. Its always a big change, so it gets really exciting. I think its really cool because I can really notice that there are a lot of similarities between jazz dance and african dance. They are both tied together, then you get the energetic movement of hip hop. This type of dance is really fun and gets you moving for sure.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:37 pmI absolutly loved learning hip/hop. I always thought I was fairly good at “shaking it” but I realized after a few days its alot harder than it looks. A real hip/hop dancer has to focus on the tiniest things to make the biggest difference. Also the moves are incredibly fast and sometimes challenging. The instructor helped us realized that some of the moves are more illusions, and are for the audiences pleasure. Those moves seemed to be the hardest but it was still fun to try!
May 13th, 2008 at 8:50 pmI really enjoyed Kelly’s hip hop class. I feel its a more relaxed environment that does take work but you can also enjoy at the same time. When watching a hip hop performer you wouldn’t expect all the little movements in order for it too make up the piece of dance but that’s what makes it all up. I really enjoy the difference of choreography that was brought to the class room.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:32 amI enjoyed having Kelly as a guest artist, as I took dance from her for 2 years. There is a definite relation between hip hop, jazz, and traditional African that I noticed in our 2 days together. What I’ve noticed about all 3 forms is that they make full use of the whole body throughout every moment and there’s a certain, yet constant intensity that permeates through all of the movement. Hip hop seems to incorporate the constant energy from traditional African dancing, and it also seems to incorporate the non-repetitive movement from jazz. It’s very interesting, if you think about it…
Either way, it was nice to catch up with Kelly. ^_^
May 20th, 2008 at 2:54 amI thought Kelly’s dance was really fun and challenging. I am not used to that style of dance, but I think her choreography was not too difficult for everyone to grasp. I can definately see the connections to jazz and African dance in hip hop; Muntu Dance Company showed us a couple of years ago that hip hop stems from African dance’s contractions and quick, ryhthmic movement. I really enjoyed the couple of days Kelly taught us and loved that I was sore after the first day- that’s always a sign that the dance is challenging enough!
May 20th, 2008 at 8:34 pmI really liked Kelly! her dance was challenging, but not so much that I couldn’t catch on. I’ve never really learned hip hop from a teacher, and it was so much fun! Breaking away from our traditional jazz stuff was a really nice change of pace. The music she picked was really good to, the tempo with the movement worked really well. Her energy and simple comments really helped to learn her choreography. This is definitely not my strongest form of movement, but it was so fun to do I found myself really trying to learn it, and not just letting the movement slip through my fingers. I was working so hard the two days, that I woke up the next morning so sore. I really had fun with her, if I was going to be there next year I would want to learn a whole dance from her!
May 28th, 2008 at 9:07 amkelly was awesome! I really liked kelly because it was a very different from the stuff that we normally do and it made everyone go outside of there comfort zone and try something new. Kelly is also an amazing teacher. She was really patient with us and always asked if we had questions. I have taken class with her at bataille and it was really nice to take class with her again. It also got our heart rates up and it was a very good work out. I hope that she comes back next year cuz i have a great time!!
May 29th, 2008 at 9:35 pm