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Rambert Grades Adds 5 Solos by Top Contemporary Choreographers

Rambert Grades has some new choreography for students to learn. The training organization, which provides syllabi and examinations in contemporary dance worldwide, recently added a collection of solos with a focus on storytelling for dancers to perform in their exams. The pieces come from four top choreographers: Matthew Bourne, known for contemporary takes on classic story ballets; Vidya Patel, who blends classical Indian and contemporary dance; Will Tuckett, who’s worked across ballet, opera, and theater; and choreographer Kate Prince’s ZooNation, which creates full-length narratives that incorporate hip hop and physical theater.

There’s a new work for each level, from Grade 1 through Grade 5 (ages 7-plus). The Grade 1 solo draws on excerpts from ZooNation’s Some Like It Hip Hop, giving students an opportunity to learn about the foundations of hip hop. For Grade 2, Tuckett has created a new solo, to Carnival of the Animals, that teaches students about exploring space and dynamics. In Grade 3, dancers get to express their individuality as a quirky character from Bourne’s The Car Man. Patel’s new creation, Poem Without Words, for Grade 4, asks students to embody natural elements with a mix of kathak and contemporary movement. And the Grade 5 solo is an adapted excerpt from Bourne’s iconic Swan Lake, challenging dancers’ physicality.

Student demonstrating Grade 2’s Carnival of the Animals. Photo by Jack Thomson, courtesy Rambert Grades.

With more than 600 teachers using the Rambert Grades syllabi in 38 countries, this addition brings professional-level contemporary choreography to a vast array of young dancers. As Bourne said in a press release, “It’s a unique opportunity for students to connect their training to what they see on world-class stages and truly experience the joy of storytelling through movement.”

The post Rambert Grades Adds 5 Solos by Top Contemporary Choreographers appeared first on Dance Teacher.

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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.