Dancers

Dance Styles

Four videos providing overviews of the history, careers, performances, and the foot positions of ballet, modern, and jazz dance.

Dance Vocabulary/Basic Positions

Dancers from Fayette County’s School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCAPA) demonstrate the basic positions of ballet, modern, and jazz dance, with commentary by Rayma Beal of the University of Kentucky.

Suggested Uses:
To build your own knowledge of ballet, modern, and jazz dance.
To introduce students to the differences among these three styles.
Show in conjunction with DanceSense Programs 7 (“Ballet”), 8 (“Modern Dance”), and 9 (“Jazz Dance”).
Show in conjunction with ballet, modern, and jazz performances from the Dance Performances collection.
As background to have students try the dance positions shown for each style.

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Ballet: Helen Starr

This documentary segment profiles ballerina Helen Starr. Along with comments from Starr on her career and her role at the Louisville Ballet, the segment also includes brief performance excerpts.

Suggested Uses:
Show in conjunction with DanceSense Program 7, “Ballet.”
Show before a discussion or exploration of dance careers.
Show in conjunction with DanceSense Program 5, “The Moving Body,” and/or Program 6, “Making Dance.”

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Modern: Art! Art! Barking Dog Dance Company

Anastasia McGlothlin, Alan Lommasson, and Lynn Slaughter, founders of the Louisville-based modern dance company Art! Art! Barking Dog, discuss modern dance. The segment also includes brief performance excerpts.

Suggested Uses:
Show in conjunction with DanceSense Program 8, “Modern Dance.”
Show in conjunction with the modern dance performances “Lucky Day,” “The Graveyard,” and “Hot” from the Dance Performances collection, then analyze and compare.
To preview seeing a live performance by Art! Art! Barking Dog or another modern dance company.

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Jazz/Tap: JazzArts at Western Kentucky University

This documentary segment profiles an annual summer jazz/tap workshop that brings nationally known dancers to teach and perform at Western Kentucky University. The segment includes brief jazz and tap performance excerpts.

Suggested Uses:
To build your own knowledge of jazz and tap dance.
To build students’ knowledge of jazz and tap dance.
Show in conjunction with jazz and/or tap excerpts from the Dance Performances collection.
Show in conjunction with DanceSense Programs 9 (“Jazz Dance”) and 10 (“Tap and Percussive Dance”).

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