Expressing your feelings through dance - part 1

How to express your feelings trough dance?

“I feel that the essence of dance is the expression of man – the landscape of his soul. I hope that every dance I do reveals something of myself or some wonderful thing a human can be. ~Martha Graham

I've been asking myself this question many times, mostly because of people who was dancing in a formation with me, or people who I've been teaching dancing and had big issues with expressing their emotions while dancing. They were trying to smile while chacha or samba but it always looked so artificial and they were looking like people forced to dance with this fake and weird smile on their faces. Even worst in rumba when you have to show the audience a passionate love to your partner who often is your archenemy. For me it was hard to explain becouse i've never had a problem with that. Finally, one day I understood what all this thing is about. 

it is choosing who you want to be! Or in more detailed way what you want to show in your choreography. 

But what does it mean?

 First and one of the most important things in dancing for me is that I can be whoever I want.!

Always while creating my choreography by me or my choreographer i have to create my personality. It may sound weird but it has to be done to make your choreography and dance convincing and worth watching on the scene. You have to prove that your dance is better than the others. It has to be original and personal at the same time to make it looks real. 

Your personality and character have to match the dance. for example you cannot smile dancing paso-doble (The theme of this dance is resembles fighting in the arena of bullfighters with bulls - corrida. One partner acts as a toreador (Spanish torero), and the second partner plays the role of a red rag or bull.) But you can imagine yourself as a beautiful Spanish girl who wants to seduce her partner by her beauty and win the fight. Clever, feisty and seductive woman who with her look shows her advantage over a man is not so obvious and builds a show that the viewer wants to watch until the end.

Our task is to create your personality or your history for a given dance. In rumba, a woman with a broken heart can't stop loving her partner who is not sure for his feelings to her.

Summing up, creating a character and his detailed features that we want to show in the dance is extremely important because it helps us to make a convincing and touching show.

Photos were taken while dancing paso-doble.

Château de Chantilly

When I was in France as jeune fille au pair,  the host familly took me ones to Chantilly (a town situated about 50 kilometers  north of Paris) to see a beautiful castle. I was impressed by the building and the garden behind. I remember that day. the temperature was 30 degrees celsius but it was worth to walk around and admire that beautiful architecture.

After the walk we entered this beautiful castle and we were visiting museum inside. With the headphones and the mp3 they gave me i could listen about every room in this castle and it was about 20 of them. I've learned that in this castle  Molière's play, Les Précieuses ridicules, received its first performance  in 1659.

Inside the rooms were georgeus! In two of them every wall was filled by masterpieces and in the middle there was some amazing sculptures. Inside the castle it was cold and the family didn't want to go out that fast and they geve me the time to take a lot of pictures. 

This place is one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen. If you will visit the Picardy I advise you to discover this amazing place and let me know if you like that. :)

How dance can influence your life 💃🕺

Finally my cup of tea! 

Today i'm going to convince you that choosing dancing as an extra activity can really help you in your every day life.

 Every dance style is great! You just have to choose which one fits you the most. If you're energetic and don't have too much experience in dancing, don't be afraid in having your first steps in Zumba! You'll see that even the easiest steps can bring you so much fun. If you like rap music and every loud-bit song makes your head bouncing - hip-hop is definitely your style! You can also choose dancehall which has similar steps but you can learn more sexy and latino moves. That's your possibilities if you want to start your solo dance adventure, but if you have a partner there are also so many possibilities for you. Try latino, salsa or enjoy some balroom dances like waltz, tango, foxtrot or quickstep. 

..but why dance?

1. Health 

Thanks to the wide range of movements and the speed of their exercise, the dance supports the proper functioning of the heart. Many people feel better thanks to training because dance has a great effect on our health. While exercising, we use our muscles so it can often be replaced by a gym outing, and if we want to lose weight this is the best cardio I know.

2. Self-confidence

Doing your steps behind the mirror can let you correct your body moves. While you're focusing on how your body looks like in some positions you starting to like your shapes. The more you exercise, the more your body looks closer to your dream ideal, which arouses not only the feeling of confidence in your own body, but also the confidence of expressing yourself (not only in movement but also in the general sense). 

3. FUN!

Smiling and laughing while dancing is completely natural! This is because dance allows us to have fun - regardless of age, which distinguishes it from other forms of exercise. Therefore, people of all ages can dance, which is why everyone can get health benefits from the dance.

What is more..

One of the studies in the journal International Journal of Neuroscience showed that dance-based movement therapy not only improves depression, but also immunizes the psyche by regulating the level of serotonin and dopamine in the body. Considering the fact that dance is a social activity, it helps to get rid of the feeling of loneliness, which often accompanies people suffering from depression, as well as elderly people who live alone.

I'm pretty sure that i convinced you enough to sign up to some dance classes enjoy this great experience! :D 

Did you ever tried some dance style? Or maybe you're a professional dancer? Let me know in comments! ;) 

Fat Thursday - favorite Polish day 🍩

This week, when I was preparing to go out, I heard on the radio the headline of a broadcast or an interview titled Fat Thursday - a favorite Polish holiday!I started to wonder where this holiday came from and suddenly I was reminded of Mardi Gras- the French equivalent of our favorite day of the year when the calories we consume do not fatten us a bit.

Well, in France this is Tuesday - the last day before the beginning of Lent. Those who decide to put away sweets for the next 40 days, wanting to enjoy the last day of sweet freedom, eat much more sweets than usual. (As a result, they are probably so full of sweets that they are not able to look at them for the next week.)

After some reasearch and found that celebrating this day started in ancient Romans. They celebrated a "fat day" which was established to welcome spring and say goodbye to winter. The feast was based on eating greasy dishes, dancing, drinking wine and biting donuts, which did not have much in common with modern ones. They were hard, fairly round buns made from a dough resembling a bread dough - without yeast.

In Poland, the habit of eating donuts on a fat Thursday in today's version appeared only around the sixteenth century. However, they differed from those we eat today. In the past, in the middle of the cake was hidden an almond or a  small peanut, and the one who turned up for such a "happy" donut, had to enjoy the affulence and prosperity.

In Poland, over half of the poplations eat 3 to 5 donuts that day. About 15% eat more than 5, and the tradition say that the more you eat, the more happiness you will bring another year. So use this one day and do not think about calories, but about a happy future! :)