As a dancer you probably know well the feeling of aching muscles. But in my opinion, not all muscle aches are bad…
Of course injuries fall into the “bad” category, but often there are the “good” aches and pains that carry with them the satisfaction of hard work and accomplishment.
Today, my aches are good…the result of 7 hours of full-on dancing yesterday, and a reminder of the fabulous West Coast Dance Explosion workshops I attended at Urban Dance Centre in Sydney.
West Coast Dance Explosion (WCDE) is the #1 U.S. dance convention founded by two internationally recognised dancers, choreographers and educators. Although the main presence of WCDE remains in the US (where there are competitions as well as workshops), since its inception in 1996, co-directors John Crutchman and Alan Sherfield have launched their creation into the international arena. WCDE is currently bringing the challenging fun and inspirational classes from the USA’s finest choreographers and teachers, to dancers “down under” as part of the Australian 2008 Tour.
The workshop I attended yesterday (Tuesday May 27th), was the first of 4 being conducted in the Sydney area.
The day started with a warm-up and jazz/lyrical class with Alan and John. The class seemed to fly by! I loved the choreography – beautiful lines, interesting dynamics and plenty of opportunity to express the dancer within. I can’t remember what music we danced to, but despite the slower pace compared to the rest of the day, it didn’t take long before the mirrors were completely steamed up and the sweat started to pour out.
Now for a little about the teachers…well as already covered, they are the founders of WCDE, but besides that, both have had their own distinguished careers.
First, here is a brief bio for John Crutchman, taken from the faculty archives of the DMA National Convention.
John Crutchman has a vast experience performing in Broadway musicals as well as movies, television and commercials. His dynamic performances have been seen on stage in: Guys and Dolls, Cats 1st National Tour, Bob Fosses’ Dancin’, A Chorus Line (as Mike), and La Cage aux Follies. He is no stranger to behind the scenes work. John has assisted Debbie Allen as choreographer for 5 Academy Awards TV programs. John’s favorite accomplishment in his career, executive director of West Coast Dance Explosion.
From the same DMA Convention Faculty archives, here is a brief bio for Alan Sherfield.
Alan Sherfield has devoted much of his time to being the artistic director of West Coast Dance Explosion, since its inception. When he’s not out on tour with WCDE, he is busy teaching his powerful, high-energy style of jazz at conventions and workshops worldwide. His choreography has been featured on cruise lines, TV specials and videos, as well as stage productions in Las Vegas and Miami. Some of his performing credits include: Cats, The Dirty Dancing Concert Tour, and Las Vegas shows such as Siegfried & Roy and Abracadabra. Alan also choreographed and performed in the group “FUZION” - which won the $100,000 grand prize on television’s Star Search.
Next up was a hip hop class with choreography by Donyelle Jones and Dominic Sandoval; two amazing dancers whose talent was made public on So You Think You Can Dance. With Grayboy agency along as a guest, the class doubled as an informal audition. This piece to Chris Brown’s “Wall to wall” was all about attitude and style, not just steps…a chance to find your own groove and infuse the moves with your personality. Keep it low; feel the music; and you’re good to go.
The following class, Jazz Funk with Donyelle, was packed full of fast, funky moves that squeezed the sweat out…several shirts were changed after this one! Donyelle moves so well! There was a great energy amongst the 40ish dancers while learning Donyelle’s choreography – it was SOOO fast, with many intricacies, but that just pumped everyone up more. The music for this one was “Church” by T-Pain (off the Step Up 2 Soundtrack) – if you know it you’ll have an idea of how fast this was. Loved it!
I mentioned previously about Donyelle being from So You Think You Can Dance. Anyone who watched would remember her straight away, but if you need a reminder she was top 4 of Season 2 (US), and was Benji’s partner until everyone got swapped around. For a little more info about Donyelle’s other achievements, check out the brief profile on Wikipedia.
After Donyelle, Eddie Strachan was up with a fun and liberating Musical Theatre class. Eddie was engaging, interactive, and had a very positive philosophy about dancing. He gave good advice in saying that you’ve got to completely abandon any concerns about what you look like and just go for it…be prepared to look ugly and awkward! The choreography Eddie taught us was flamboyant, dynamic, over-the-top and cheesy…and that’s if it’s done well! But more than moves, Eddie’s class taught us about expression, and fully committing to the character or essence you are trying to capture when performing…meaning that particularly when it comes to musical theatre, leave your self-consciousness at the door.
This point was evident in a demo by a couple of dancers in the class - including Australian So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 Dancer, Graeme Isaako, and renowned choreographer Michael Boyd (who was also part of SYTYCD, right up to the end of the audition rounds)…this proved how amazing bizarre, quirky moves can look when the dancers commit to the story/character in a genuine way.
Eddie was interviewed on the topic of “expression” for an article entitled “Best Face Forward” that was written and posted on DanceSpirit.com earlier this year. The article quotes Eddie, saying “your expression adds another dimension to the performance,” and that “no matter what type of dance you’re doing, you’re trying to portray something—a character or an emotion.”
Wrapping things up was Dominic Sandoval with a slower-paced Hip Hop routine (but then almost everything seemed slow after Donyelle’s Jazz Funk class). Unfortunately I had to leave before the end of the class but for the time I was there, I found Dominic to be a really good teacher. He was full of personality and a great choreographic talent as well as dancer.
Mastery of the choreography required a lot of isolation and body control, along with the ability to change between fluid and staccato movements in an instant…it looked so awesome when Dominic demonstrated.
As with Donyelle, Dominic was on the US So You Think You Can Dance – but he was Season 3 (the year after Donyelle), and made it to Top 8. He originally partnered the eventual winner Sabra (hey I just realised that they both were partners to the eventual winners of their season!)…but more so than that, would most likely be remembered for his quirks and cheeky personality.
For more info about Dominic’s background before SYTYCD, check out the BuddyTV profile. Also, here is a link to an interview conducted the week after his elimination from the show.
and…below is video tribute for Dominic’s time on SYTYCD…sometimes it’s fun to reminisce, don’t you think?!
…and then…later that night, I went to another 2 classes back home…needless to say, I slept well…and have a few “good” aches I willingly endure today.
Dance, and the WCDE dancers rock!
Tags: Alan Sherfield, choreographers, dance, dance teachers, Dance workshops, dancers, dancing, Dominic Sandoval, Donyelle Jones, Eddie Strachan, expression in dance, Graeme Isaako, hip hop, jazz funk, John Crutchman, Michael Boyd, musical theatre, So You Think You Can Dance, Urban Dance Centre, WCDE, West Coast Dance Explosion
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