Tapas Das in Blogs

Letter From the Editor: New Audition Advice Video, Dance Educator Voices, and More!

Last week at our DT+ Teacher Talk, I had the honor of being joined by not one but three very special guests—Dionne Figgins, artistic director of Ballet Tech; Bianca Zumbo Caryl, head coach of the Arizona State University dance team; and Nile H. Russell, director of education for the American Dance Festival—to discuss what audition panelists look for in dancers. If you’re striving to ensure your students’ success during this challenging time (who isn’t?), you’ll be privy to all of their insider tips and advice on the A-to-Z’s of everything audition-related—right from preparation to day-off performance to managing emotions when the outcomes aren’t what is expected. I highly recommend that you watch the full video on-demand here.

Later this month, you’ll also hear from more dance education experts about what makes an effective college audition solo. From displaying a dancer’s strengths while highlighting their individuality and artistry, you’ll discover everything else that could set your high school dancers on the path to college audition success.

You’ll also hear from plenty of exciting and experienced dancers and dance educators in the next few weeks. Frequent Dance Teacher contributor Barry Kerollis reveals why he charges one hourly teaching rate for all the jobs he undertakes, MIT grad Yamilée Toussaint discusses how she’s introducing underserved young girls to STEM through dance, Mackenzie Fey shares what makes her adaptive dance classes at Ballet Academy East so special, and American Ballet Theatre principal Skylar Brandt gives her mentors Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky all the flowers they deserve in our What My Teacher Taught Me column.

And, in honor of Black History Month, our Dance History column pays special tribute to choreographer, dancer, and teacher Donald McKayle, who established a strong foothold for dancers of color by creating work that commented on social injustices, challenged racial norms, and conveyed the Black experience.

With excitement,
Reanne Rodrigues
rrodrigues@dancemedia.com

The post Letter From the Editor: New Audition Advice Video, Dance Educator Voices, and More! appeared first on Dance Teacher.

Next Read: Meet Ellever, Studio Software Built for the Teacher, Focused on the Student »

Tapas Das: Tapas Das, a young entrepreneur of our times started TWIST N TURNS in 2005. A person who is kind, generous, creative and down to earth wanted to start his own one of a kind dance academy. According to him, Dance is a language of movements that involves space, time and the human body. He was born and grew up in Kolkata, the cultural hub of India. Being appreciated in the field of dance all his life, he is extremely talented. He has been dancing since the age of four. Once he finished his high school, he learned jazz/modern and contemporary dance. His horizons were broadened even more when he started dancing Bollywood with Beat Busters for 4 years, which then was the most upcoming dance crew in Kolkata. After that exposure, he studied how to be a dance teacher, which later started helping him impart his knowledge about dance. Thus, in 2005, with the help of family and friends, he started TWIST N TURNS. Starting with a mere number of 40 students, today TWIST N TURNS currently has over 500 students. Over the time Tapas has taught and performed all over the country. He has performed in cities such as Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Jhansi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur etc. He has been an active participant in the Salsa India Congress in the cities of Bangalore and Bombay, and he has also visited various International Salsa Congresses in Europe, namely in Berlin ,Singapore, Hong Kong,Dubai. He is been also trained recently at Broadway Dance Center (New York), Alvin Alley (New York) and Steps on Broadway (New York). He is not only a dancer or teacher. He is a successful choreographer and has coordinated various shows without difficulty in our country. His leadership skills are exceptional, thus he is where he stands today. His aim in life would be to become a dance educator. He wants to share his tremendous knowledge in the right way to the right people. He is also, simultaneously running other brands like Zumba Kolkata, Bollywood Studio ArtistWala.com and India International Dance Institute.