Taking jazz dance classes will have many positive impacts on your life and I’d like to share a few points in this blog. Jazz dance is a fun and engaging way to start dancing or to learn a new style and dance technique. It’ll improve your physical fitness with a visible influence on your posture which often results in better self confidence. Jazz dance can also enhance your mental well-being because movement is medicine for the body & soul. Jazz dance is all about coming together and sharing the joy of feeling the beat in a group, so it’ll offer you a dance community to share your growth with. This inevitably leads to developing your social skills. If you sometimes struggle to express yourself with words, jazz dance can give you an outlet to express yourself in the universal language of dance. Here are 5 reasons to get into Jazz Dance:
- Legacy & Culture
What once started as a hobby has developed into a full blown addiction and a way of life – jazz. I have dedicated my life to jazz dance in practise, research and performance – it all comes down to all that jazz. When I’m not listening to jazz music, I’m reading a book about an influential jazz dance developer or watching a Bob Fosse movie. Jazz culture is all around you, have you noticed it?
- FUN – find your dance community
Jazz dance is about embodying the rhythm through movement expression. I still enjoy every moment when a group of people are trying to find their common groove together, whether it’s at the traffic lights to cross the street or in a dance studio. Like the father of jazz dance, Jack Cole, said “Jazz is urban folklore”. People coming together and finding a rhythm that enables them to move together is the best fun you can have!
- Posture
Lines, pelvis placement and grace. Movement is medicine and doing jazz dance regularly will help you to understand your lines and how to use them to your advantage. No matter your body type, shape or form, jazz dance is inclusive in its nature. It’s a melting pot between different cultures, represented by different kinds of people. It’s about how you carry yourself and with that, how you will connect to the world around you. Understanding how to place your pelvis and how to activate your powerhouse is the foundation for posture and that’s what the “bar” in jazz dance class is for. Follow this blog to learn more about what actually happens in a jazz dance class.
- Sensuality
Jazz dance will guide you towards an elegance you’ve only seen in old Hollywood movies. By understanding how to articulate your movement and changing the dynamics in between the moves and gestures you can cast a glance of a lifetime. It’s all about the how and when to do it. Just like in the beautiful movies of the golden era of Hollywood film, jazz dance is about communicating a story. There’s always something to communicate and with practicing jazz dance you will learn how to communicate with grace and precision.
- Dance technique
How to move with the agility of a feline? Leave it to the creator of the Mattox-technique, Matt Mattox, to show us exactly how and with which exercises one can achieve the ability to move like a cat. With a strong jazz dance technique other disciplines will feel easier, but you have to master a dance technique first. And because jazz dance is so versatile, it’s easy to branch out after mastering this rich technique.
The language of dance is french because its terminology is still in the french language which indicates how influential the country has been to dance in general. For jazz dance in particular, there have been many things developing and celebrating its culture from the cabarets to the heels style. Why I keep falling deeper and deeper in love with the culture of jazz is its rich history that’s like an onion, everytime you manage to understand one of its layers it’ll reveal another one as gracefully as a cabaret dancer can.
I have a triple diploma in jazz dance and that’s why I can call myself a jazz dance specialist. All three of the diplomas are from one of its promised lands, France. This blog is about sharing my passion and knowledge for the art of jazz dance.
If you have any questions or would like to share opinions, please follow me on social media or come take my classes to feel what it’s all about at the #DanceYourHeartOutSessions
With All That Jazz,
Wilma-Emilia Kuosa
