A Working Class Dancer- When should you dance for free?

For a dancer anywhere in the world, there are certain places and opportunities that come along in your career that may sound like a dream come true, only to find out there is little or no compensation. It is dramatically important to ask the choreographer or director contacting you about the compensation before committing to a project. Not balancing your dancers happiness to work with you will lead to resentment, and  them feeling like their time is not respected.

Fair or not, most dancers, like many other artists will inevitable work for free or very little pay in their careers. When you are first starting out, an unpaid apprenticeship or placement in a company with a distinguished choreographer can give you valuable experience and knowledge that could lead you to other jobs; projects with friends that can offer a rehearsal cup of coffee could lead you to creative fulfillment; a voluntary gig at a well-known venue could enhance your resume. All of these are still great gains to your career, the key word to keep in mind is balance, because we all still have bills to pay at the end of the day.

All of the Chace Dance Company dancers have other work outlets where they receive their main income, usually through teaching or managing their own dance studios. This gives all of them a window of a regular salary, and still an oppertunity to be creatively challenged through  company rehearsals. Since this company is still so young and in its planting phase, CDC offers a rotating rehearsal stipend between dancers, a long with endorsements of clothing from TamTam Dancewear, and free classes and workshops. “South Africa is a country with so many more important issues to deal with, there is just no funding available for arts.. Or they invest it in youth dance programs, but where do these dancers go for work there after? Leading company’s to fend for themselves.” It is extremely hard to survive as a dance company in a third world country. Dancers have to work all day every day just to make enough money to survive, and we can’t help but love what we do and only want to do it more. It’s hard to find people with that obsession and passion for their craft, and all dancers have that intanse drive in them.

Having a side job whether it is teaching, waitressing, or secretary work, gives dancers the chance to work on projects and come together as artists. But always make sure when doing so, that the project benefits you as a dancer and a person in some other amazing way as mentioned above. You end up building such great relationships when working together in a creative environment.

If you are interested in becoming a company donor to help keep our talented dance company alive in South Africa. Please see our donations tab on the website on how you can donate. Or simply contact the artist director at TamraLChace@gmail.com

CRASH COURSE- Dance Intensive

This is an awesome two-day crash course for all dancers! Fun non-stop movement and classes all back to back.

Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Contemporary, Creative Movement, and more!

The best part is it’s only R500! You can’t beat that deal… all you have to do is register and pay by May 31st. You can sign up right here at this link: https://fs30.formsite.com/TamraLChace/form3/index.html

Come and dance alongside SA’s best contemporary company, with classes from Artistic Director Tamra Chace and others. Feel free to email with any questions: TamraLChace@gmail.com

WHEN: June 13th & 14th (times and age groups on flyer)

WHERE: Southdowns College Centurion.

HOW MUCH: R500 by May 31st (R700 after).

 

We’ll see you there!!

Improvisation?! Do I Have To…?

HELP! I HAVE TO IMPROVE!

How to dance on the spot at auditions.

It’s the audition of a lifetime, something you have always dreamed of doing, and the judges or director announce there is a section of improve involved! Now what? Whether you are a dance teamer or a ballerina, improving can be intimidating. Suddenly dancers have all this freedom of movement, and they don’t know what to do with it. But if you want to dance professionally or audition for a college program or job, improve skills are a must have.

FEEL THE BEAT

Take time to listen to the music and feel the groove as much as possible before you start your movement. You want to be able to move to any type of music at anytime, the odds are every audition will play something wildly different. Take time to play around on the radio or with your iPod while no one else is around.

In her beginning creative movement class Tamra Chace plays everything from classical, jazz, and rap to country, bluegrass, and alternative music. “I constantly switch up the music and let the student adapt to it and embody it,” says Chace. While dancers tend to match their movement quality with the tempo of the music, Tamra also challenges them to move away from that and change things up, such as moving slow to rap music, and faster, harsher or funky movement to slow music.

FULL BAG OF TRICKS

Though improving shouldn’t mean one trick after another, you want to show off at an audition when you have a mere 15-30 second gap to do so. Make sure to find that balance of connecting movement into your tricks.

WRITE A STORY

Creating a theme or storyline for your improve can help your movement quality and add a new dimension to it. When you improvise try to work with ideas and images in your mind, not just technical steps. You can use this to create a story through your movement rather than just making something up.

Chace will hand out phrases such as “Heartbroken,” “I can’t breathe,” or “I need to pee,” to use as inspirations for their movement. Dancers that take it to interesting places and different levels are the ones that stand out.

MAKE SURE TECHNIQUE COMES FIRST

In an audition setting, some dancers automatically go to hectic sexy commercial moves in an effort to grab the casting directors eye. But most directors aren’t interested in watching you bounce your booty up and down. They want to see that you have a solid technical foundation. Nice clean lines and solid pirouetes are more likely to catch their eye.

GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND INTO THE BEAT

Dancers tend to think too much, and feel too little when improving. Improv comes more easily when you stop your thinking wheels and just relax. If you have a hard time getting out of your head, practice freestyling or improving in a private low-pressure setting. The more practice you have the easier it becomes.

Find a creative movement or improvisation class in your area.

Passion Comes First

Hartbeespoort Dam’s Hottest Dance Studio!

Twenty-three years ago Tamra Chace was a little girl joining her first ballet class. Today she has founded her own studio ‘Chace Dance Studio‘ in the plush Johannesburg suburb of Hartbeespoort. Tamra was a dancer who performed with many choreographers in the greater Philadelphia  and Miami areas during her day. When a life transition lead her to a foreign location, Tamra kept on inspiring dancers of all ages, and started her studio in 2013 with just a mere 4 students.

Chace Dance Studio has now become a thriving business. The school has more than 30 students, ranging from pre’s (4 yrs) to seniors (16 yrs). It offers classes in ballet, Vaganova character, creative movement, contemporary, and more. One of the many amenities that sets this studio apart from any other in Hartbeespoort? CDS will be starting its first competition season both locally and internationally! Soon our waiting room will be chock-a-block with trophies and awards.

Part of the studio’s success is its proximity to Johannesburg and Pretoria. CDS brings instructors from the bigger cities professional dance scene to come and give master classes, or often sends out students to attend other workshop events for many benefitting reasons. Having students commute to workshops has helped build their confidence and performing skills.

With time, and as the school ages and develops, eventually this will feed into the professional contemporary company known as “Chace Dance Company.” Which is a cast of 10 professional dancers in Guateng offering a wide range of performances in the area. (This is not affiliated as a studio, but a completely separate entity).

Despite the iconic growth the studio has had in the area, it will always remain a humble small business. Tamra Chace believes success in dance depends on your passion, and obsession… If you have the passion, the technique will follow… as passion is much more enjoyable to watch on the stage.