Planning on taking dance classes?

Question

I want to take contemporary dance but in the place I want to go to there isn't that form of dance. Instead, there's jazz, ballet, and hip hop and some others. Should I take jazz? Is that about the same as contemporary?

Answer 1

it would be so hard to chose!  i love to dance and I do ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, and contemporary/modern.  modern is basically the same thing as contemporary if they offer that.  jazz is different then contemporary but it also depends on the style of jazz.  I'd say lyrical is closer to contemporary then jazz if the dance place offers that.  i know ballet doesn't interest everyone but it really helps with any other dance style.  i hope you find a style you like!  you can email me if you have any questions.

Answer 2

oh man, jazz and hiphop is the way to go. with these 2 genres, your footwork will be a lot better in a few months. it really depends on what kind of music you're interested in dancing to, as my opinion is coming from someone who likes hiphop and funk. i think a girl who can dance hiphop is pretty hot haha, thas just me.

Answer 3

Contemporary is basically Modern dance. When I was studying Modern, we incorporate all what the so called Contemporary Dance had incorporated - Centering, Alignment, Gravity, Breath, Contraction, Release, Fall and Recovery, Suspension, Balance and Off-Balance, Tension and Relaxation, Opposition and Emotion;

We also have used and incorporate the different TECHNIQUE used in Contemporary dance -

* Alexander Technique

* Bartenieff Fundamentals

* Body-Mind Centering

* Cunningham technique

* Graham technique

* Contact Improvisation

* Dance Improvisation

* Feldenkrais

* Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis

* Hawkins technique

* Humphrey-Weidman technique, with the influence of José Limón

* Kinesiology

* Klein Technique

* Laban Movement Analysis

* Lester Horton Technique

* Movement ecology

* Pilates

* Release Technique

* Skinner Releasing Technique

* Somatic Movement Studies

* Yoga

It's been about 20 years, and it is still the same as Modern - just a different name. Although there a Post Modern techniques like Somatic Movement Studies that we didn't have in Modern. So in my opinion Contemporary is 99% like Modern. I saw some of the dance in YOU TUBE, and without knowing what they were called, I would have said it was Modern.

Answer 4

if i were you i would take all of them..jazz, ballet, and hip hop and after a couple of classes decide which one you like the most and stick to it or if you decide you like all of them continue with it

Answer 5

take modern cuz it's really similar to contemporary. jazz and ballet would be good classes to take because contemporary is like a cross between ballet and jazz. if you can only take one class, take modern. if you can take more than one, take modern for sure and then ballet and/or jazz. hip hop's tons of fun too if you're interested but it's not like contemporary at all.

good luck!