Traveling pushes me out of my comfort-zone, forces me to
take risks, to explore new places and to practice new languages. Dancing does
these same things and generates the same rewards – great memories, new friends,
and rich experiences.
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| Pineapple Dance Studios, London, UK. |
So it makes perfect sense to me to combine these two great
things – travel and dance – into a great day at the renowned Pineapple Dance
Studios in London!
Pineapple is on Langley Street, in Covent Garden of central London and is easily accessible from the Piccadilly Line of the Underground. I first heard about Pineapple Dance Studios from my fellow dance teacher colleagues at Strathcona High School, back in Edmonton. The Scona
Dance Co. regularly takes dance trips to London and this active studio is
always one of their main stops. It’s not hard to see why. They have dance
classes in “over 40 different styles” and more than “260 classes per week”!
I was really craving a jazz class, since I’m getting my
weekly ballet fix in France. I decided to start the day off in Studio 2 with
Sol Dans Company’s Performance and Technique class. Sol Dans is “the UK’s
premier contemporary jazz dance company” and they teach open classes at
Pineapple on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Tuesday class was specified as an intermediate
level class and it was super exciting for me to get back to jazz dance.
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| Studio 2: a very busy place! |
The class was team-taught by two Sol Dans members, Amy
and Laura, and their positivity, warmth, energy and humor kept the class moving
at quick, up-beat pace. After a swift but thorough warm-up, we launched right
into choreography – a fun, sassy, flirty piece set to the Tanner Patrick cover
of “All About the Bass”. Almost an entire hour out of the 90 minute class was
devoted to breaking down and running the combo and resulted in us learning a
substantial chunk of choreography – 1 min. 15 seconds long!
I really enjoyed the variety of the jumps and turns in
the piece and I had fun playing with the balance between the technique and
style. My favorite section was also the most challenging: a sustained attitude
turn into an inside pencil turn, to a quick prep into a double pirouette with
the right arm extending straight up during the turn. Tricky, yes, but also a
great way to experiment with the physics of turning by switching-up the
placement of the arms.
Sol Dans class was the perfect introduction to Pineapple
Dance Studios and everything an intermediate dancer could want from a jazz
class: great music, supportive ensemble, technically and stylistically
challenging, and just so much fun!
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| Resting and refueling at the Perfect Blend Cafe. |
My brain and body demanded a break to rest and refuel
before I dove into another class, so I hung out in the Perfect Blend Café on
the second floor. It was so nice to sit and just take in the sounds and
ambience of the studio: students and teachers chanting the counts of a piece
like a mantra (“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 AND 8!”), the short snippets of music and
the satisfying sound of a large ensemble of dancers finally landing the jump
sequence together. These sounds are the heartbeat of any dance center and they
make even new places feel familiar.
I returned to Studio 2 at 1PM for Theatre Jazz, a musical
theatre-style class. It was a whirlwind of warming-up, stretching, conditioning,
kicking technique and choreography packed into one hour. And it was also
literally packed with dancers of all ages, including a group of students on a
dance trip from Norway. The choreography was set to a short snippet of “Buenos
Aires” from Evita. It was a quick,
fun, character-driven dance with an emphasis on storytelling through facial
expressions, Latin-dance inspired arms and fast footwork.
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| Just one of the many bulletin boards advertising classes and workshops. So much variety! |
After all that traveling and dancing,
I was sure tired physically but I felt great after spending the day at that
bustling hub of dance in London. The variety of classes to choose
from really can’t be beat; it’s a real kid-in-a-candy-store
sense of possibility. I will definitely take more classes at Pineapple next
time I’m London. The front desk staff was so friendly
and helpful with maps and directions of the area and they and the dancers I met
and chatted with while waiting made me feel welcome. It’s a traveling dancer’s ideal!
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| Young Dancer by Enzo Plazzotta. |
I spent some time afterwards wandering around the Covent
Garden area and admired Enzo Plazzotta’s Young Dancer statue across the street
from the Royal Opera House. It seemed fitting, on a day where I got to meet
some great new people and be inspired and challenged by them, that I met up
with that lovely little dancer abroad. All her hopes and dreams are quietly captured
in her bronze features and her thoughtful presence no doubt inspires other
young dancers who visit her.
Dance and travel truly work hand in hand. They both make
me step outside what I’m used to, both geographically and technically, and both
reward me with new experiences to reflect on and share.
And they’re both just plain fun! A day of travel and
dance is truly an exceptional day!
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| Two dancers abroad! |
For
more information about Pineapple Dance Studios and Sol Dans Company, check out
their websites:
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