So, You Want To Dance With Justin Timberlake...
By Carolyn Lubecker, N2Arts Correspondent
How to become a professional dancer
 

realize that HipHop may be a student’s first choice to study.  However, most choreographers like Tina Landon, Liz Imperio, and Jamie King are trained dancers.  While they are looking for the HipHop vibe, they choreograph using a lot of true dance techniques and they look for versatility in their dancers. Since ballet is the basis of most forms of dance, I tell my students that they will never be a great modern or jazz dancer without also studying ballet.  And while HipHop is a dance form within itself, ballet training certainly would not hurt a dancer interested in breaking into HipHop.

This is the deal.  Ballet lays the foundation for everything done in dance.  It sets up the discipline needed.  It also builds a strong center.  Turns, extensions, leaps, and speed all come from a strong center.  Once you have an understanding of where all the steps originate, you are better able to execute them properly.  Ballet is based on repetition, with each step building on the one before.  Dance technique is learned in an order that allows you to progress.  This ability to learn and memorize translates into other styles of dance and is what choreographers look for.  Also, the terminology has literal meanings which help you to understand the nature of the step.  Most jazz and modern terminology come from ballet.

HipHop is a relatively new form of dance.  It’s also known as funk, street, popping, locking or break dancing.  HipHop is more of a vibe than actual steps.  The terminology of HipHop also varies from teacher to teacher.  It doesn’t involve much true technique. 

While most people do not fit the stereotypical body of a ballet dancer, you do not need that body type to succeed professionally in other types of dance.  Look at Mia Michaels, who has choreographed for Michael Jackson.  She definitely doesn’t have a ‘dancer’s body,’ yet she is one of the most successful choreographers working today. 

Currently dance is everywhere - from TV commercials (think GAP), to videos, to Broadway, to movies.  Many of the dancers in LA are young, between the ages of 18-23.  A lot of them get discovered at dance conventions.  Dance conventions are a great way to study with a variety of successful professionals, all in one weekend.  All of the people I’ve mentioned in the article are on staff with one or more conventions. There truly is room for everyone who has the passion and talent.  So if you want to dance, get out there and start taking classes.  The more styles and teachers you study with, the more employable you will be.

Carolyn Lubecker graduated from Northwestern with a BA in English. For the past 16 years she has been the owner and director of Dancing Feet Dance Studio. She is married and has 3 children. She can reached by email at Idance82@msn.com.