Blackburn Dance Club

10/30/2022

Blackburn Dance Club had a busy weekend! Here are some pictures from our Just Dance contest and the cookie decorating! Big thanks to CAB for collaborating with us! More pictures from our performance to come.

04/29/2022

These pictures are extremely late, but here are our pictures from the Starry Night Formal! Blackburn Dance Club had saw an opportunity to flash mob, and did just that! It was a lot of fun!

03/09/2020

03/09/2020

02/29/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #30: Take Away from These 30 Days
Alas, this journey has come to an end, but what can we learn from all of this? Here’s what I learned:

As far as ballet is concerned, all dancers are depicted as white skinny women. Male, black, and overweight ballet dancers are the most oppressed dancers in the history of the United States. There is also extraordinary evidence showing how all dancers come in all varieties of shapes, sizes, races, and mental and physical abilities.

In conclusion, there are social justice issues concerning dance in the U.S., but there are also extreme lengths of magic connected with dance. Dancers are always stereotyped and put into a box every day, and they may get hurt mentally, emotionally, and/or physically, but it will never interfere with their connection to dance.

Thank you for your attention to this 30 Day Social Media Challenge. If you are interested in joining Blackburn Dance Club and are a student at Blackburn, please do not hesitate to message us. As for community members, we hope to make a change to allow them to join us.
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm

02/28/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #29: Timeline Dancing
Sometimes it’s easy to wonder when and where certain dances come from, and many dance groups like to show off their knowledge by timeline dancing. Today is very similar to Day #27, but instead of showing original sources of different dances, this shows a group of dancers who learned different dances in history.
Article of the Day: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-of-dance-8d7aec49-434b-4fad-ad62-9f6f55d5688e

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-0MHT3b6s0
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm

02/27/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #28: “People who dance only dance.”
Many people believe that dancers do not have a life and only dance. When dancers dance, they understand that one of the goals they should hold in life is enjoying the time they have, so they do not limit themselves to only dancing. Every dancer has their own style on the stage, so they also have their own style off the stage. Read about what dancers might do off the stage in their everyday lives, including another fun article with some crazy dancer pictures.
Article of the Day: https://www.danceinforma.com/2014/01/07/dancers-lives-stage/
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/periods-genres/ballet/dancers-among-us-ballet-stars-their-spare-time/dancers-among-us-29/

Sometimes, dancers just need a day off. Beware in this video; don’t watch if you’re hungry. These dancers take a break and go to the ice-cream shop!
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-EJnHbI-rY
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm

02/26/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #27: Some History of Dancing
We have discussed how James Brown and Misty Copeland have made history, but there are thousands more historical moments of dancers’ lives from the ancient times to today. Here is an article showing some of dance history’s greatest moments.
Article of the Day: https://ultimatediscocruise.com/news/celebrating-other-firsts-from-the-dance-fever-dispatch

Have you ever traveled through 110 years of dancing in less than five minutes? Well I didn’t think it was possible, either.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8QEvFgwZpU
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm

02/25/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #26: “People of color are not ballerinas.”
Of course, another ballet stereotype as if there are no variances of people in the field. -_- We’ve already discussed how male dancers are depicted as gay/girly (Day #3 and #5), and overweight ballet dancers are not supposed to dance (Day #10), but apparently, that wasn’t all that the world has against ballet dancers. As many are aware, people of color are still oppressed in many cases today, and one of those ways that we don't usually think about, but is still a prominently oppressed area, is ballet.

Our first article discusses how people of color have been dying their ballet shoes to their skin tone until 2017 when Gaynor Minden opened a ballet shoe company with various skin tones, and people of color also struggle with finding tights in their skin tone as well. This article discusses the beginning of the era of proper shoe colors. As for the second article, this is just an overview of how there is such a small number of people of color in this field.
Articles of the Day: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/apr/01/pointe-shoes-black-ballet-ballerinas-dancers
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/sep/04/black-ballet-dancers

Misty Copeland is this century’s most famous black dancer, and for many more to come. She was the first black dancer to reach the principal rating, or highest rating in her studio, as a dancer. Despite her late start as a ballet dancer at 13, she has made it into the history books of ballet.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_EYyeVhXo0

As we discovered on Day #13 and more today, people of color are commonly not seen as ballet dancers, but companies like Ballet Black and the American Ballet Theatre strive to change this problem. Here is one of their many performances.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxHe5vlaDlY

Resources used: https://national.ballet.ca/Explore/Learn-About-Ballet/FAQ
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm

02/24/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #25: Some “Firsts” in Dancing
Starting to dance might feel a little scary at first, but that is only normal with anything we try. Today is a day to look at tips that could help us learn better.

Article of the Day: https://www.danceadvantage.net/learn-choreography-quickly/

The first video shows you how to improve as a dancer, and the second one might be your first easy tutorial as a dancer. And remember, if it’s too hard or too easy of a dance tutorial, there’s always more to look up!
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bySVm-KqiYg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujREEgxEP7g
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm

02/23/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #23: Dancing for Different Religions
There is so much to learn about dancing in different religions, and I definitely learned quite a bit in researching about this topic. The Article of the Day shows us a wonderful ceremony of the Presbyterian denomination of Christianity, and it shows the importance of dance in Christianity.
Article of the Day:
https://www.dance-teacher.com/sacred-dancers-talk-role-dance-religious-worship-2392812927.html

This video performance shows a small fraction of the diversity of religion in India. The four most followed religions in India are performing in this order: Sikhism, Islamic, Hinduism, and Christianity. I was able to discover the order of the dance through the symbols, common clothing, dancing techniques and Sikhism flags, and hand gestures. The India Flag at the end shows how all religions in India bring them together as a country, and what better way to bring people together than through dance? (I personally really enjoy Sikhism dancing!)
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAyRb3YV8qA

As for our second video, Muslim Amirah Sackett breaks her own stereotypes as she breakdances.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6cz3kaw81w

Resources used: https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/postures-and-gestures
https://youtu.be/78sb2MRlh-4
http://trebeki.info/en/the-indian-culture-traditions-religions-festivals-music-dance-clothing-food-movies/
http://censusindia.gov.in/Census_And_You/religion.aspx
https://understandquran.com/seen-hands-can-dua/
https://www.allaboutsikhs.com/index.php/introduction/the-sikh-flag-nishan-sahib
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm

02/22/2020

**********STAY TUNED**********
This is a 30 Day Challenge that we have designed as a way to destroy dancing stereotypes (denoted by quotations), discover the benefits and memories of being part of a dance crew, and hopefully inspire new membership and awareness of Blackburn Dance Club.
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Day #24: “Dancing is too expensive.”
In my personal experience, I grew up in a family where we could not afford dance lessons. However, I still consider myself a relatively decent hip-hop dancer. How can that be? With today’s resources, anybody can do anything. There are millions of how-to videos in so many areas of the Internet, and I learned to dance by watching Youtube videos. Some might think that is crazy, but it’s actually extremely common, and I’m here to prove that anyone can do it. By simply looking up ‘I learned to dance in Days,’ millions of sources show how so many people recorded their transformation into a dancer.
Articles of the Day: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/karen-cheng-dance-in-a-year_n_3574266
https://www.sweetyhigh.com/read/girl-learns-to-dance-using-youtube

The second video in particular surprised me because I have been trying to learn these moves for years, but can never seem to pull them off. Amazing!
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-aJj5qitbI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHtaURVMgJ0
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| BLACKBURN DANCE CLUB |
Please contact us for questions! Message us for a location if interested.
Meeting Times: Mondays from 6pm-8pm and Thursdays from 8pm-10pm