September 16th, 2009 by soullldiva

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” said Patrick Swayze, as Johnny Castle in the now cult classic Dirty Dancing, a movie I saw myself 4 times in the theater.

Dirty Dancing was considered, at the time, a low budget B movie, and not b-for-Blockbuster. But a blockbuster it became, hitting America in the face with fantastic bump-and-grind dancing that was born out of blues, soul and the R&B classics. It was re-released in the theaters at least once, spawned a less popular sequel (how could it be as popular? No Patrick!) and a stage version that sold out performances all over the world.

The dance sequences were choreographed by the fab Kenny Ortega (later famous for High School Musical), and I would say is respnsible for the “early wave” of this huge dance craze we are having right now. Damn right. After stopping dance when I was little, I wanted to return after I saw this move (or at least shake my thing out on the dance floor in the underage clubs).

I bring this up not only because of the dancing, but because of Johnny Castle himself. Patrick Swayze died earlier this week due to complications from pancreatic cancer. We have lost a true artist and a fantastic man. May he dirty dance straight into heaven and continue to inspire us.

September 9th, 2009 by soullldiva

First of all, Alvin Ailey gave us so many beautiful dance pieces in his time.  I think I heard of “Revelations” before I really even understood about dancers vs. choreographers.  I knew this was an important piece.

I looked up Horton Technique (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Horton) recently and discovered that Alvin was influenced by this interesting technique. It certainly takes muscle!

Here’s a juicy peek at “Revelations”; you can see some of that technique in it. But most of all, just be swept away by the majesty!

September 2nd, 2009 by soullldiva

Pretty, pretty, so pretty.  Had a hard day?  Maybe a hard week?  Come home, click on the link for the dance video below.  Guaranteed to relax the heck out of you with Sting playing Bach on classical guitar and beautiful Italian Prima Ballerina Alessandra Ferri.  Sigh. Sometimes the beauty of dance just calms the heart and soul.