Hey folks! It's  smilingsammi here buried under the rubble known as finals. Sorry I haven't been posting much. School has been absolutely MURDERING me but as summer comes along, I'll be making more time to staying connected to all you homies, dancerfur fam.

To the point: I was browsing videos on utube and came across an old viral sensation by OK GO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA

I remember watching this video a long time ago when I was in early high school and wow-ing at the sense of visual hierarchy and optical illusions. The video was incredibly smart and artistic that played with space and movement. It didn't matter that you couldn't see all of the treadmills, it looked really cool!

We find these elements today in dance choreography. A great example of this is from Academy of Villian's performance at HipHop International.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuIv7NuG0iM

I know I shared this video before but I"m doing it again because it has some amazing elements. What makes this performance so incredible is the fact of how they can illustrate an image to the viewer, something not one person could do on their own with the concepts they are tackling. This is what is so pleasing about their performance, and then at the very end they leave with you, something to associate them and their crew name by. A face, constructed by its dancers.

Using elements of design and color, subtle things like dressing in black with all white gloves or coloring your forearms red while leaving everything black; plays with our eyes. This is where artistic choice on a subtle level comes into play, where you want your viewer to draw attention to.

This, combined with a dance choreography, can make a completely different piece than if you all dressed in casual clothing that were different. This brings control, this brings clarity and unity, and it helps us put together the image.

THIS is also why, when lockers (Locking, a type of dance) wears stripes, it looks great because it also works on an optical illusion level. Rolling their wrists at fast paces while having a checkered outfit shift in space.

As a dancer, you are an illustrator, a traditional artist. Think of yourself as someone who creates images or story to the viewer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl8t.....FABD2D5C2B070F <-Dtrix and Robert's SYTYCD performance.

In contemporary choreo, they stress the importance of having lines and drawing through space. This is also amazing for the emotion and story the two create, their chemistry together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ZT.....FABD2D5C2B070F

As a dancer you are also a writer, bringing new meaning and light to a song. You interpret music differently than another person does, even doing the exact opposite motion of what the song suggests will shed a new light. You visualize and depict a moment in time, space, feeling and emotion.

So now, every time you dance, try thinking of it not just being about the moves and looking cool, but combining a story to make your viewer feel something. Food for thought! These are where amazing concepts begin, and sometimes emerge into something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PyMXcwY2sY

So that's my little spiel for the moment. Hope you all gained something from it! If there's any amazing videos or dance that have any of these things, please do share and talk about it below! Sorry if my writing is a little bit sloppy, it's 9AM and I have had like no sleep haha...

Bruu out~