The DVD Corner
This month's selection of films focuses on young dancers. I have found it difficult to rank these DVDs in the usual way, as each one relates to a different age group. Choice in this instance depends on the information in each of these films that will add to your own personal ideas about dance training. The first listing, "The Children of Theatre Street," is an intriguing look at how a state-run system selects and trains ballet dancers. The other two films approach the education of young children from a less authoritarian viewpoint; though dance training is the motivating factor in all these films, socialization, discipline, and aesthetics are the by products of any dance classes.
"The Children of Theatre Street"
Narrator: The late Princess
Grace of Monaco
Earle Mack: Producer
92 minutes: (DVD) 1984
$19.95
Originally, an Oscar nominated film in 1977, this visit to the famed Maryinsky/ Kirov School, home to many dance legends from Anna Pavlova to Mikhail Baryshnikov, casts a spell that fascinates everyone from ballet bunheads to mocking older brothers. The film begins with the heart-breaking selection process, as thousands of children from all over Russia audition for the few available places, and then follows one older student as she prepares for her graduation performance. Conversations with young students and scenes of ballet classes add to the feeling of intimacy. Princess Grace's easily understandable narration gives the viewer nuggets of both ballet and Russian history. Filmed when today's Russia was still the Communist Soviet Union, the superb photography takes the viewer into the city that is once again called St. Petersburg.
Chapter Selections
"Hip Hop Kids"
Learn To Hip-Hop Dance:
Taught by Kidz; Danced by Kidz
M.A.D. Productions
35 minutes: 2005
$19.98
Not the latest moves....but the instructions, both spoken and demonstrated by pleasant teenagers and exuberant boys and girls, are clear. In fact, children as young as eight will be able to follow the exercises and the combinations on their own without an adult's helping hand. It is more dance school hip-hop than street moves, nevertheless, this buoyant DVD will set any youngster with a desire to master this form of dance on his or her way with an introduction to the "lingo" and to the movement isolations that are part of both hip-hop and jazz.
Scene selections make it easy to focus on the set combinations that are of interest to each viewer.
"Creative Movement"
Instructor: Melissa Lowe
90 Minutes: 1993
$19.95
Though the very young children (average age three in this DVD have fun as they clap, sing, and play improvisational games, "Creative Movement" is essentially a tool for teachers. Lowe sets out a series of concepts that she then uses as a base for a variety of games that develop the children's self-awareness, motor skills, balance and co-ordination. The emphasis on musical awareness through rhythmic activity is an added bonus. Scarves, hula-hoops, and beanbags are some of the fun stuff. These "play things" are not uncommon in pre-school classrooms, but Lowe just might give teachers working with children from ages two - eight some new ideas for experimentation.
Chapter selections serve as a short cut.
Check out your libraries, video stores, or contact Kultur and Dance Horizons to see these DVDs. New information should be sent to ERogosin@aol.com