Muevelo dance contest

On May 26 2010, TVN channel 2 will show the second season of Muévelo. This is the dance contest in which 10 Panamanian schools will show their choreographic skills.

Muévelo means move it and these teams will definitely be showing off their best dance moves.  A relentless panel will be judging them by discipline and dancing skills to know who will be the next champion of the Intercolegial de Coreografías.

Most of the evaluation will depend on the judges, and they’ll focus most likely on the team’s discipline.  The public will have also the opportunity to participate by voting on TVN’s website for their favorite dance team. The two schools with fewer amounts of votes will have to face a challenge against each other. The panel will then decide who is the one that continues in the competition.

Muévelo 2009 judges were:

• Yael Bern: Professional Dancer and choreographer, founder of Tempo Dance Academy.
• Edwin Cedeno: Artistic, scenic and corporative  projection adviser.
• Moyra Brunette: Professional Dancer and choreographer, she belonged to the Venevision International Great Ballet in Caracas Venezuela.

The three finalist schools of Muévelo 2009 were, in third place taking home B/5000 “Bilingue La Academia”, in second place “El Instituto America” and the great champion “San Judas Tadeo,” who took home B/12000 and other awards. The final score was a very close call; the third and second place had a punctuation of 72.10 and 73.40; the first place got a final punctuation of 76.30.

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Many in Panama may not be familiar with the jerkin’ dance movement and that is ok, because it only started early 2008 and started getting traction on 2009. The jerkin’ dance has a basic move which consists in moving the legs in and out to the rhythm. There are a few variations called the reject, the dip and the pindrop among others. The dancers often wear skinny jeans, in order to distance themselves from the hip hop style who favors baggy pants. Wearing skinny jeans while dancing the jerk also emphasizes the leg movement.

The jerkin’ dance is gaining popularity in Panama as it’s often mixed with passa passa and break dancing. In Panama, like in other parts of the world it’s still not widespread, but if you’d like a sample, simply attend discos where dance hall and passa passa music is played, you are bound to see a few dancers swinging their legs or jerkin’. Even popular dance crews in Panama have already started adding jerkin’ moves into their choreographies. The movement also has a few dedicated artists; one example is the duo “New Boyz” who with their hit “You are a Jerk” has boosted the popularity of the movement. Such is the buzz about this brand new type of dance that major recording labels like Arista have signed various groups and are looking seriously at many other jerk groups.

The Teatro Nacional is hosting a dance festival this year! It is the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas 2010 (IV International Stage Arts Festival 2010). Groups and companies from nine different countries including Panama will be presenting the very best in dance for this well waited festival. This event has been organized by la Fundacion Pro Artes Escénicas y Audiovisuales. It all begins on the 17th of March to the 24th of March of this year, so you have plenty of time to prepare for these exciting performances! If you are interested in learning how to do some of these different dances, then feel free to attend the classes that will be given. You can check the groups and dates for the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas in the below link:

http://www.faepanama.org/calendario2010.html

Tickets for the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas will be on sale at boletospanama.com, or you may call at 360-2350. Prices start at $5 for the gallery, $10 for the II stage, $15 for the 1st box, $20 for the balcony, and $25 for the orchestra. For access to all the functions or a full pass, prices start at $60 for the 2nd box, $90 for the 1st box, $120 for the balcony, and $150 for the orchestra. The rest of the events are free! We will be waiting for you at the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas in Panama!

Finding a nice place to eat and dance is never easy, but luckily Panama has a number of places you can definitely enjoy. If you’re visiting the country for the first time, you might want to try the local music and food in one single place, Al Tambor de la Alegria offers all that and more. Located in the heart of Amador, Flamenco Island, you’ll find the restaurant facing the parking lot towards the ocean, it’s very easy to find. If you want to enjoy the main dancing event, I suggest you head on over there 4 PM.

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There are many reasons why you should join a Panama dancing academy. You’ll need the training for when you meet a guy/girl from Panama. Take this example for instance: You are in a dance club in Panama, and you see someone of the opposite sex that interests you. But the problem is that there is a language barrier. You speak English and he/she doesn’t. So, how are you supposed to communicate? Well, one of the most expressive ways of communication is through song and dance! When you are strutting your stuff on the dance floor, you don’t have to talk, so that automatically solves the language problem!

Learning how to Latin dance from a dancing academy allows you to get to know your partner while having fun. I say this because a lot of tourists that arrive in Panama don’t speak Spanish. So when they meet a person from Panama, it is difficult to find out what that person likes to do for fun. Well, one thing you must know about Panamanians is that they love to dance. So taking that someone from Panama to a night club is a good idea! But if you don’t know which dancing academy to go to learn to Latin dance, then don’t worry! There are many schools that you can go to in Panama that can help you with that problem like: Alina’s Dance Academy, Panama Hot Salsa dancing academy, Academia Artiste and many more. These dance schools from Panama will teach you how to move your body like a pro! Learn to dance Salsa, merengue, bachata, rumba, chachachá, tango, típico (tradicional dance from Panama), and many others at a dancing academy!

So if you are new to Panama and you want to make some new friends, then I suggest you start learning the Latin dance moves that bring many people from different countries together at a dancing academy! And once you got your Latin rhythm, you can hit the clubs in Panama!

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child she cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth”
Proyección Leyla Salam presents “Apocalipsis”, a show full of mysticism which will take you to the beginning of the final times on earth.

This show will count with the participation of Leyla Salam’s dance team, Arabic Dance Studio Alondra and from Costa Rica the group Noura. With more than 15 dancers and actors on scene you will be taking a sneak peek into evil.

What will our future holds for us? Is the Apocalipsis our end?

Date: October 17, 2009
Place: Ascanio Arosemena Theater (diagonal to the Administration Building next to Balboa’s fire station)
Time: 7:00 pm
COST: $10.00 Pre-sale – $12.00 day of the event
For more information: www.leylasalam.com

Are you good at dance? Do you like dancing Salsa? If both answers are affirmative, then you have the chance to participate in the First Salsa Congress in Panama. This is the first time that an event like this takes place in the country. Panama Hot was given exclusive rights to represent the World Salsa Open. The festival will start on June 26th and will finish on June 29th.

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Breakdance, breaking, b-boying is a street dance style that evolved as part of the hip hop movement among African American and Puerto Rican youths in Manhattan and the South Bronx of New York City during the early 1970s. It is normally danced to electro or hip hop music, often remixed to prolong the breaks, and is a well-known hip hop dance style. Breakdancing involves the elements of toprock, downrock, freezes, and power moves.

Breakdancing may have begun as a building, productive, and a constructive youth culture alternative to the violence of urban street gangs. Today, breakdancing culture is a remarkable discipline somewhere between those of dancers and athletes. Since acceptance and involvement centers on dance skills, breakdancing culture is often free of the common race and gender boundaries of a subculture and has been accepted worldwide.

The past Sunday 5 of April the super event Back 2 Da Scene was carried out in the gymnasium Yuyin Luzcando de Bethania, from 11:00 a.m. This event gets together the best dancers of break dances from Panama and the other provinces of the country. Competitions of 3 versus 3 were carried out, in which 3 of the best dancers of each enrolled group participated; also mini competitions of 1 versus 1 were realized maintaining active the attending public.

There was participation of MC’s/Rappers that animated live to the public with their rhymes. In short, the event filled the expectations of the public who attended hoping that these events repeat more often since it had a very good welcome by the fanatics of this dances.

Dance therapy uses movement to improve mental and physical well-being. It is a recognized form of complementary therapy used in hospitals and comprehensive clinical cancer centers, Down syndrome patient, Cerebral Palsy, and others. Here in Panama City, Panama, Taller de Arte Guilde teaches dance therapy at the Children’s Hospital for kids waiting for a kidney transplant.

Dance Therapy can help patients the following ways:

• Dance develops positive body image
• Dancing improves self-concept and self-esteem
• Dance reduces stress, anxiety, and depression
• Dancing decreases isolation, chronic pain, and body tension
• Dance increases communication skills
• Dancing encourages a sense of well-being

or some cancer patients, dance therapy is an effective form of exercise. However, dance therapy has not been studied enough to know if there are any unique health benefits to cancer patients, or to confirm the effects on prevention and/or recovery of illness.

The benefits of dance therapy come through physical activity are known to increase endorphins, which create a general state of well-being on the body.  And total body movement such as dance enhances the functions of other body systems, such as circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, and muscular systems. Dance therapy not only helps you to stay mentally and physically fit but it also gives you pleasure by creating rhythmic art with your body and express them dancing.

Panama has received visits from many celebrated people in its history and it has had several notable celebrities decide to remain here as residents.  One such notable was the prima ballerina assoluta Dame Margot Fonteyn of the Royal Ballet of Britain.  Dame Margot was born Margaret Hookham in Reigate, Surrey on May 18, 1919.  As a child, she studied at dancing schools in the London area until she made her way to school attached to the Vic-Wells Ballet the precursor of the Royal Ballet.  Dame Margot made her debut in 1934 with the Vic-Wells as a snowflake in “The Nutcracker.”  She initially borrowed her mother´s maiden name and danced as Margot Fontes, but soon modified her stage name to Fonteyn.  In 1935, Dame Margot received her first solo in “The Haunted Ballroom,” a ballet by Ninette de Valois, the founder of the Royal Ballet.

Dame Margot most memorable portrayal came at age 30 in the Sadler´s Wells Ballet production of “Sleeping Beauty” as Princess Aurora, which stunned the audience at the Metropolitan Opera House with her youthful performance.

In 1955, Dame Margot married Dr. Roberto Arias, a Panamanian diplomat to London and a philanderer.  Their marriage was tumultuous due to his frequent infidelities. In May of 1964, Dr. Roberto Arias was elected to the National Assembly, his first foray into active politics.  A year later tragedy struck the Arias family, as a rival Panamanian politician, Alberto Jimenez, shot Dr. Arias on a street corner in a suburb of Panama City.  Dr. Arias was treated for 18 months in British hospitals and spent the rest of his entire life as a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair.

Due to the enormous medical cost amassed by Dr. Arias´s medical care, Dame Margot continued to dance until 1979, her sixtieth year, despite from suffering from an arthritic foot.  She remained loyal to Dr. Roberto Arias until his death in 1989.  The artist that too many represented “Eternal Youth,” and whose blend of refinement and passion redefined 20th-century ballet passed away at age 71 on February 21, 1991 in Patilla Hospital in Panama City.