The life of a professional dancer is extremely busy, physically demanding and strict. It requires a lot of upper and lower body strength, stamina and agility, along with good time management and the perfect balance of proper diet and exercise. However, different styles of dance vary in requirements for the dancer. For example, some styles may require more technicality and flexibility, where others may require more strength and expression. The following essay will provide information on the life of a professional dancer, a particular style of dance known as liquid, including an analysis on a liquid routine and an interview with a professional liquid dancer, Lachlan Hooker.
There is a vast difference between being able to dance, and being a dancer. A majority of dancers begin their training between the early ages of five and eight years old. Female dancers generally begin their dance training before male dancers, as some people think of dancing as a female based sport, but in the dance industry, no gender is anymore superior to the other. A dancer’s career normally takes off around the age of seventeen, as this is the age where most professional dance companies allow them to audition. Although a dancer may be professional, in the world of dance, the training never stops. If anything, it gets harder.
The dance style of liquid is slowly becoming a more popular form of dance. Derived from rave dancing, with elements of hip hop and popping, Liquid combines a series of flowing movements of the hands and body, and then contrasts the flow with jerky isolations and sharp popping movements. Liquid dance requires a lot of patience and determination, as it is one of the hardest dance styles to master. Movements such as the hand flow, waves, levers, traces, threads and rails are all characteristics of the liquid style. The genres of music most associated with liquid dance are techno, trance and rave.
Lachlan Hooker, a sixteen year old dancer from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, has been dancing seriously for only two years. Although the time he has been dancing is only short, Lachlan has been lucky enough to train with some of Australia’s best hip hop and liquid dancers. In a recent interview* Lachlan stated:
“I have trained in many different places. Star Performance Studios, at Dance Skool where I am currently, in school classes and in public whenever I can. I have trained with some of Australia's best REAL dancers; Blue Eyez Blaze, DJ M and Liquid Rush.â€
In early, 2010, Lachlan joined Dance Skool. After six months of training in various styles such as popping, liquid, hip hop and krumping, Lachlan was asked to begin teaching classes in liquid, and in July 2010, began being paid to dance with Dance Skool.
“I don’t like using the term ‘professional’; because that implies that I do it for money, which goes against my overall philosophy of dancing. I like to think that I don't dance for money, I get money for dancing.â€
Even though Lachlan doesn’t like to think of himself as ‘a professional dancer’, his career has certainly begun, as he is now making an income from not only dancing, but also teaching. Lachlan will continue to progress through extensive training and teaching, for many years to come.
Liquid Rush recently performed a liquid piece, entitled ‘Total Integration feat. Da Twin’.** The movement components used within the piece include levels, tempo and direction, as well as the choreographic device of repetition. An example of tempo can be seen at the change from his more robotic movements, into the actual liquid dancing. The robotic movements are slow and jerky, but the tempo speeds up as he moves into his liquid technique. Repetition can be seen in many places throughout the routine, especially through the use of the hand wave.
The movement quality of sustain is used at the beginning of the piece. Rush moves very slowly, and switches between positions. Swinging and percussive movements are also seen in the first few sections of the piece, when he starts to make the dance jerky, and repetitive.
The dynamics used within this performance are very noticeable. He uses very sharp and strong movements at the beginning of the routine, and then switches into flowing, waterlike movements, which show a great deal of control in his dancing.
This performance includes no props, and just a basic light plot. It was performed in a car park, so the lights are fluorescent white, and just bright enough to provide enough light for the dancer to be seen without trouble.
The piece is named after the song it is being performed to, which is ‘Total Intagration feat. Da Twin’. It is an upbeat, trance style song, bordering the lines of dubstep due to its heavy bass lines. No voice or sound effects are used within the piece.
Rush’s costume is quite interesting. He is wearing a dress shirt, jeans, grey sneakers and a hat, but he wears a fake moustache and fake eyebrows on his face. This adds to the mysteriousness of the piece.
As he is performing this piece in a car park, the set is very basic. Cement pillars are behind him on his left and right, and they are joined by a black fence. In the background you can see that this design is repeated.
In conclusion, professional dance is one of the hardest, most demanding industries in the world. It requires a lot of commitment, strength and of course, passion. A professional dancer must be able to show themselves through the movements they are doing, and be able to portray different characters, emotions and physical technique through their performance career.
Liquid dancing is beginning to make its way into extreme popularity, and will be seen as a major form of dance in the near future.
This is an essay my friend wrote for her school assignment. Now I know there are a few things that could be said, but she has already handed it in so it would be in vein. It is mainly about liquid dancing as a whole, but it goes into me as a dancer, and also says some stuff about one of Liquid Rush's clips.
Author
Topic: Liquid Lachlan (Read 1039 times)