Tagdance

Capturing Movement w/ Connections Overlayed

Was just introduced to this…

…and through watching this…

…am guessing they used Brekel and for sure they used Houdini.

Dance Video Collection #2

The first collection just got too darn big!  Started another chain.

Shannon referred me to VIBEXX.

Fik-Shun – Holy cow this is nuts.

Detroit’s Soul

Anatomy Trains

facial maridians

I have been a yoga practitioner since 2009 (though not as often as I should). I started because of injuries on my arm aquired while working on a computer. I found this book very helpful in translating the spiritual abstracts of our bodies into recognizable physical muscle patterns that we can trace from head to toe. Meridians are measurable!

http://www.anatomytrains.com/at/introduction/

Dancing Acrobats

The editor kept the tempo timed in there nicely.

Movement Festival (DEMF) 2013 Dancers

First, I saw Jade Zuberi in a circle near the main stage. Although this “So You Think You Can Dance” segment makes him look good… it was even more jaw-dropping to see in person. At first I didn’t think it was him, as I didn’t recognise his moves… but the style and that facial expression are unforgetable.

Also, here’s some videos I found of dancers that I saw at this years Movement in Detroit, dancing at the festival.

Illusion’s energy on the dancefloor was a blast to watch.

Breakdance circle near the Made In Detroit stage.

Flec Mindscape is a contact juggler found a perfect auto-retrieving location at the fest (a brick bowl).

And more interesting characters.
http://youtu.be/HcLSgM1pfr4
http://youtu.be/pqMEafQHUlw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYf6p_ReLXs

Peddle Powered Sound System

There are so many ways to demonstrate efficient uses of energy, and this one speaks volumes (BWAH!)

John and crew has been working on this system for a few months (years?) now. The results are killer. Peddle while charging the batteries for some park, street or beach party. Might be a bit loud for an apartment party… but I think that could work too, as long as you plan on moving out shortly afterwards.

Oliver’s Twisting to Glitch Mob

An old friend of mine contacted me to do some filming, after he returned back from a yoga island in Thailand.

We recorded this.

And now I’m inspired to apply a little bit of this. (To be watched in Fullscreen mode)

Forms (process) from Memo Akten on Vimeo.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

If you enjoyed that, I highly recommend watching his TED talk, which has some a wonderful tale of a misunderstood artist who has become enormously successful, and demonstrates his sense of humor. Feeling impatient? Then skip to 15:00 on the TED Talk.

Thanks to Rick Jayx for reminding me of Ken Robinson.

Dance Application from Oliver

My friend Oliver shared some of his dance audition recordings with me from 2002. I’ve put them online so that more of the world can see these impressive moves.

Dance Video Collection

Keone and Mariel Madrid dance to Bob Marley.

Lil Buck w/ Yo Yo Ma

Robot Boys… being robots (thx to Oliver Twist for referring me to this).

La Preuve Par 4 (AKA: Dubstep Dance France), rock it out In a similar style.

Liquid Pop Collective: For something a little more fluid, here’s some liquid demonstrations. I could swear that one of these clips is from DEMF.

Quixotic Fusion is interacting with projections.

Glitch performing Existence

Marquese Scott (aka NONSTOP) is also known as the “dubstep robot” and his performance remains as one of the most out-of-this-word performances I have seen in recent memory. This video also gained him a spot on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

Genki Sudo – WORLD ORDER”2012″
Japense synchro-dance in business suits

THE NOTORIOUS IBE 2011 “All Battles All” OFFICIAL RECAP | YAK FILMS | BBOY EVENT in Holland
via Jeff Skelton

TURF FEINZ dancing in the rain might not be a head-turner, but I’m sure it was for the drivers who passed by.

Robert Muraine’s So You Think You Can Dance audition

Phillip Chbeeb’s second audition on So You Think You Can Dance

Here’s a link to his first audition.

Bryan Gaynor (robot boy) on So You Think You Can Dance

After so much popping, I need to mention the quick and light footwork of house dance.

This Moonrunners (Toronto) robot dance video isn’t the best quality, but there’s some slick moves in here that are worth linking to.

Can’t close this without linking to the recently famous “Hottest Dance Battle” video, featuring two pole dancing champions.

Anyone care to add to this list? Please share!!

Back from India

Spent the last two weeks at a wedding in India. The travel was quite challenging and many fell ill.  I ended up with a fever that triggered some nasty stabbing neck pains that subsided only days before my return to Vancouver.

While being laid up in a hotel bed, I did manage to catch this amazing performance by Blaize on Channel V’s Footloose show.  My jaw dropped.


[V] Footloose 8th October 11 PART-2 by solution24

Digital Hands Unleashed in Samsung Galaxy SII’s Ad

Any example of dance driving visual effects catches my interest, and this specific video has me giddily bouncing around in my seat with each viewing.

via Fubiz video.

After some searching for “hand dance”, I found this video. with over 6 million views, I’m surprised I didn’t come across it sooner.

Google’s Dance Logo

Google’s front-page tribute to Martha Graham‘s 117th birthday was animated by Ryan J Woodward. A few months back I had posted a link to his animated dance film “Thought of You“. I’m glad Google gave me an excuse to mention this fantastically inspiring short again.

The Christian Science Monitor has quoted Martha Graham saying,

I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It’s permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable.

Again, I can’t stress enough… if you haven’t seen his “Thought of You” short film, check it out here.

Flowing Curves in “Thought of You”

“Thought of You”, created by Ryan Woodward provided me with an inspiring dose to add to my breakfast this morning. He also has some beautiful figure sketches on his website that I recommend taking the time to see.

Thought of You from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

Dancing In the Rain

This video with some pop and lock dance stylins, at a street corner, is making it’s way across the internet like wildfire.

Dancing With No Guidelines

Thanks to Jin Lemon for that link.

In a semi-related link, here’s a Ted Talk by Ken Robinson. Specifically, I was intrigued by his story of the girl who “…had to move to think.”

West Coast Swing – Michael and Jen

Michael Kielbasa & Jennifer Deluca win 1st at America’s Classic. So much flexibility in the technique. So smooth. Ok, going to watch this for a 3rd time before I jump off the internet.

Night Out In Capitol Hill

Friday morning was an early morning, despite having gone to bed at 3:30am. Toy Story 3 was good. Simple & sweet… as expected. I have yet to be disappointed.  Thank you Pixar.

Friday night I was determined to go out dancing.  Though I’d prefer not to go dancing alone…  well…  it was time to use my car for some downtown exploration. I took a 90 minute nap in the evening and then head towards downtown.

I ended up on Capitol Hill (where I took a picture so I would remember where I parked).

I walked around for a little while, stopping into an art gallery that was hosting an art show opening. The hip-hop tunes and crowd standing outside were what caught my attention.  Familiar artsy crowd and nice beats. I spent a little time there before continuing on.

I walked all the way up the hill before asking someone where The Baltic Room was.  He told me that it was, “back down at the bottom of the hill…   and one more street up.”  Doh!  I was on the wrong street.

On the way back down the hill I met “J”. Our conversation was priceless. We ended up walking around talking for over an hour, before being led back to The Baltic Room. I bought a round of drinks and we hit the dance floor. Later in the night some guys showed up that had some great dance moves.  The floor was packed and everyone was going nuts till 2am.

My head was distracted earlier in the night, but the dancing brought me back into the moment.  Even got some dance tips, which included, “I love your style… but you should slow down. Focus on every other beat.”  Slow down.  Such a nice coincidence that brings me around, full circle. So much time spent locked into the details, missing the bigger picture.  Somewhere during the last 3 years I tripped off my path.

Simplicity, patience, positive intentions & determination.  These core elements, in the right balance, are amazingly powerful. Keeping things simple has always helped me see the bigger picture, but only when I am patient. Determination has helped me work through the hardest challenges, but if I’m not patient, then I tend to lose my intension.  Seems complicated… but it’s simple…   SLOW DOWN (again).  I did it 7 years ago when you decided to move into a creative field, but then I got pulled into the world of tech support. At least this time, I remember how…    and it’s working.

“Slowing down”, is why I’m here. Only through slowing down can we see the big picture. My eyes are open… as is my heart.  I’m aware of my intentions and there are no more excuses to hold me back. I have bought myself some time, so I must use it wisely. I know what I will be doing and, most importantly, I know HOW and WHY.

I have been aware that something was missing and I have been searching for what it might be.  Lost in all the overlapping challenges, with no break. The funny part is that it was me that was missing. A wise man once said, “You can’t save the world till you find yourself.”  How true…   how very, very true.

Now I understand why so many artists take long vacations between jobs. Unfortunately, my situation never allowed for it…  till now.

I remember you…   you are Jeremy, right? Glad you stayed in touch, I’m looking forward to seeing what you will build out of this chaos.

This posts seems a little too emotional for a “Night Out” posting…  but it was a hell of a night. It’s been a hell of a week.  Shit… it’s been a hell of an hour!!  However, if you’re read this far then I should reward you with something a little lighter… especially considering how AWESOMENESS the night was. The most interesting part…  I present to you, the tree biting girl! One night only.

Dance Class

In case anyone’s curious about how my dance classes are going. I’m having a ball. 😛  Knee slapper…  eh?
I wonder often ‘What if?’ I had started sooner, though I don’t regret.

The next few weeks we are having a festival.  Themed nights, once every week.  Here’s a sample:

Dance Class from Jeremy Szabo on Vimeo.

 

Everything’s feeling right and I noticed that it stays that way, when my intentions are pure and proven.  I takes a hell of a lot of balance and although I think I stumble sometimes, if I relax and just “do” instead of trying too hard to be perfect…   it all goes smoothly…     though life’s curveballs are a bit tricky.

oh yeah… and…

LOVE YOU, MOM!!!

Here’s some motivation for those of you thinking about doing some ballroom dance.  Certainly inspires me.

Now for some killer West Coast Swing action.

Dance Practice Party

So, I started learning Ceroc about 3 weeks ago. It’s basically a modification of modern jive. It’s a hell of a lot of fun and easy to learn. Not intimidating for beginners (like me). However, after three classes, I was a little concerned with the footwork. There really isn’t any. This can be good or bad, depending how you look at it. It’s good, because it’s easier and you can makeup your own style. The focus in Ceroc is the moves. Notice that I capitalized it, that’s because it’s trademarked.

Here’s a video of Ceroc in action. Note: After about $25 and two two hour lessons, you could be doing this. Again, it’s easy and fun.

Anyhow, my goal was to learn more traditional dances styles. I’ve already spent too much of my life, on the dance floor, swinging my arms around like a fool. I’ve been trying to move that dancing to lower parts of my body. That’s what brings me to the private lessons. Last week I met up at one of Vancouver’s premier dance studios for a free consultation. The consultation included 15 minutes of lessons and a little chat about why I’m doing it, what I want to get out of it, etc.

This past Wednesday was my first official 45 minute private lesson. If you have not taking dance lessons before, I cannot stress what a difference it makes to have a little one on one time with a dance instructer (keep sly comments to yourself). You focus on the core steps and you have someone there to make sure you don’t learn incorrectly. Biggest problem I had with big classes, is there’s a lot of potential to learn it wrong, and there’s one thing that’s harding than learning… and that’s unlearning. If you are unsure about certain steps, they discourage you from practicing on your own. My teacher simply said, “You’ll know when you’re ready to practice certain steps on your own.” Again, don’t want to have to spend time unlearning incorrect form.

Today was my first dance party, which was preceded by a 45 minute group lesson. They really do stick to the basics, but this really helps in getting your muscles trained for autopilot. In the group class, it was similar to the style of Ceroc classes, where you’re constantly rotating partners. Anyhow…  now the dance party!

So basically all the beginner and intermediate students get together for some dancing. Shy guys like myself are put in a situation where you must ask or be asked to dance. I didn’t shake with fear and I wasn’t pouring with sweat…   well, yes I was, but it was the dancing, I swear! I want to get the most out of this, so I made sure I didn’t cower in a corner somewhere. Luckily, there were plenty of teachers there to come by and pull me onto the floor. I asked two people to dance, but I could swear that one of them dozed off while I went through my basic steps. Naw, everyone was pretty cool. Didn’t take too long before I could actually put a little sway into my waltz. I tried getting a little fancy with swing, but quickly noticed myself getting a little lost in the steps when I did. Stay focused! Baby steps, Jeremy.

What basic steps did I learn?  Foxtrot, waltz, cha-cha-cha, single & triple swing, ramba and tango.  I’m happy to say that I didn’t step on any toes. I have some slick dance shoes that are basically black sneakers w/ dance bottoms. Love sliding around on them. Best sliding I’ve had since… well… since we used to poor bottled water on the ground to loosen up the rave goo.

Speaking of “rave”, I think one of the instructors used to “party”. We had some good talks about music and DJing.  Speaking of DJing, I think I’m finally getting my gear and library shipped out to Vancouver.

But I digress.

I’m addicted. I couldn’t wipe the grin off of my face the whole night. I guess I did well, considering every one’s surprise when I said I had one lesson. Though, I’d hate to think what they expected a beginner to be like. OH… I know…  I have rhythm. Yay me!

What do I really want to learn? Well, the thing I always loved about swing (other than the swinging) were the steps I saw… which I guess they call the “lindy hop”? Oh my goodness. So many different types of swing. Checkout the footwork and acrobatics.

My heart beateth.

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