Journal #2

Dance is an art. Some show it with passion, others through being forced into. You can only call yourself a dancer if you absolutely love it. Anyone can move their body but not everyone can dance. Being able to move your body gracefully, on the right count and match the right move is a gift. It can come as an unexpected talent or one that you might have made, worked on, practiced until proven perfect. Dance can be statement. I can say I've taken up a few dance lessons of variety of different styles. Experiencing jazz, hip-hop, or ballet. Although I've never stuck to a specific one and improved from there. Until I encountered it through cheer.
Not much people consider cheerleading a sport. Everyone thinks it consists of jumping, flipping and dancing. Little do they know how much effort it takes to make up a 2 minute routine. Perfecting it always the hardest. For everyone to be able to look as if the whole team is one form and it's movement to be a unison step. I myself did not think of it this way at first. MY passion started in the 8th grade after taking a few gymnastics classes. I attended once a week. From when high school started I went for it and attempted to try cheerleading because of its gymnastics background that tied into it. I wanted it for an experience, not knowing what to expect. Never would I have thought I would learn so much. How many new things I had to learn. What really challenged me was it's dancing portion. I was always so difficult for everyone to be on the same level, for everyone to match when doing a dance. People who were to watch us wouldn't think so, but it takes a lot of practice for everyone to get and and match each other. I always encounter problems where I would stick out from the formation cause I wouldn't be able to get a dance move right. That has always been a problem for me, I am so stiff when I dance. I can say I have improved a lot throughout the time I started. That is why I am looking forward to testing out the waters and actually taking a step further and branching out to trying to choreograph the class leader dance.
To come up with a dance is not the easiest thing. I haven't had that experience myself although I helped and seen how the production of it flows. In cheer each move has to be tight, by that meaning every move must be sharp in order for everyone to look the same, from that there are a lot of moves we have to reconsider to whether it is appropriate or not. From there every count must be occupied. Everyone has to move the same in order for the whole thing to flow, if one person forgets a step people might start colliding during transitions in the dance. In every 8 count we usually add in a ripple which seems to be the trickiest things because everyone is doing the same move but in different counts so it gets a little difficult to catch on and stay on your designated count without getting confused and following some in from of you. The dance are always at a fast pace. Cheer music is always that way. That is why is is really important to condition every so often to make sure we wont be too out of breathe in the whole routine because not only do we dance, we also have to do a cheer, maybe a chant or a motion sequence, a few jumps, transitions and tumbling. By still staying sharp, yelling from you diaphragm. Staying on count because if one person screws up so might another and there goes the whole team's score. For the littlest flaws is where judges dock off points. Everything has to flow and hit exactly, if it's not perfect it shows how much you actually practiced and the effort that was put in. Although i think the dance is one of the most important portions because that is where your team can be original, you won't see as much people with the same moves as you of the same cheer in it. That is something you can wow the judges with how you are able to use everyones skills and come up with something amazing, something that'll leave a statement or trademark to the crowd. For them to remember you as as a threat to any other team.
 I have found a bunch of people to help me with my project. All are from cheer, and some I've met through gymnastics, but I guess because I am focusing on my improvement on the dancing portion of my abilities, I asked mainly my two friends Marissa and Dajane who actually were in charge of coming up with all our dances to the routines we performed for competition season in cheer. They are really talented. I have known them for only a year but we are close. I trust them giving me constructive criticism.They will help me with the brainstorming portion of coming up with the choreography of our sophomore leader. We meet up almost everyday after school already for cheer practice so either during the beginning or end of practice is when I will ask them to give me some pointers about the whole dance I'm making. I also asked a few people to help me with a video I am planning to make into showing how I have improved and the steps we come up with in cheer, with that I have asked my friend Eryn for permission in borrowing some footage she actually filmed during our season this year. And Sierra to allow me a copy of a few clips she filmed of me whenever I improved during practice. I have also came across a few youtube tutorials and cheer techniques and dance moves involving the exact music we are using for the leader. I have specific links saved onto my computer.