54 Pirouettes

At the age of 10, dancer Sophia Lucia broke the world record for pirouettes on March 25,2012 turning in both passé and coupé. Sophia then went and broke the record again on February 16,2013 doing 54 pirouettes all in passé. The first video is here in March of 2012. The second video is her in February of 2013. Enjoy. :)

Blog 6: Second Interview Preperation

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work?

     My mentor is Belinda Maturo, she is the owner of Perfect Pointe School of Dance in Covina.

2. What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. At what age did you start dancing and why did you start to dance?
2. What classes did you take and what do you think was the most fundamental class?
3. How many hours a week would you dance?
4. When did you start to teach and what class/ classes did you teach?
5. What age do you think is the best age for a student who wants to go professional to start to dance and why?
6. What style do you think is the most important and why?

Blog 5: Mentorship and Research Reflection

1. Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship?
    
   I found my mentor actually 2 years ago, when I signed up for dance classes at her studio. So when senior project came along and I decided on dance for my topic, I asked if she would mentor me.

2. What has been the most important article you have read and why?

    The most important article I have read so far is an article I found in Pointe Magazine, entitled "Forward Momentum" by Kristin Lewis. I found this article to be the most helpful because it shows that dance is continuously evolving and if a dancer wants to become a professional they must evolve with it.

Black Swan Pas de Deux

This is one of my favorite Pas de Deux. Don't know what a pas de duex is click here. It is from the ballet Swan Lake and I thought I would share it with you. This variation shows partnering and makes it look so easy. However, partnering is quite difficult because the dancers must move as one and in this case show the chemistry between the characters without talking. I hope you enjoy.  

Blog 4: Interview Preperation

1. Who do you plan to interview? Why?

I will be interviewing Ms. Michelle, a teacher at the dance studio I am mentoring at. She had started dancing at the age of 3 and continued to dance throughout college.

2. You have to ask 5 questions. What additional questions do you plan to ask?

• What age do you think a dancer should start training in order to become a professional? Why?
• What style(s) of dance do you think is the most important for a professional dancer to be trained in? Why?    

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Working EQ

1. Topic: Dancing Professionally 

2.Question to focus on this month:

• What must a dancer do in order to make it as a professional?

3. A link to my Working Bibliography can be found here or on the right hand side of my blog under links.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship

1.https://docs.google.com/document/d/19p7EuzS3IJx7qKEqMXNKrb-GBYBJiRbyPodFrbT-hww/pub

2. Perfect Pointe School of Dance

   Belinda Maturo- School Director

   626-404-2219

3. What is the best age a dancer should start dancing?

   How many hours should a young dancer be training if they want to go professional?

   What is the best way to help a dancer understand and remember choreography?

4. The most important thing I gained from this experience is that not all dancers are the same and you cannot teach them as if they are. When teaching a class you often have to go through the steps multiple times and break it down for each dancer in different ways.

5. My senior topic is still going to be on dance, specifically what it takes to train a professional dancer. My summer mentorship helped me decide on this topic because a lot of the teachers I shadowed were former professional dancers and the dancers in the classes I observed showed a lot of dedication and passion for dance.