Positive thinking is not about solving problems, in fact it will not solve your problem especially a life threatening one. There's no point telling a person who is suffering that he or she needs to be positive to get well. That’s not empathy; that’s dismissing her feelings of fear, anger and sadness.
Many of us are told that our problems can solved if we think positively. Some of us are even made to feel that it’s our negative thoughts that are making our life miserable. Is this true? Can positive thinking solve problems?
As I've thought further on the truth about positive thinking, I've realized that I cannot dismiss the fact that positive thinking has helped me overcome problems. The positive thoughts and positive changes I have made to my life have worked well for me. For those things that have not come into fruition, I accept that it is probably not right for me.
Perhaps the truth about positive thinking is not about psyching ourselves into believing that saying daily affirmations and ignoring negative feelings is going to solve our problems. Positive thinking is about acknowledging and accepting that there is a problem, understand why we have negative thoughts and making a decision to make positive changes to our life. In other words, positive thinking is not about magically solving problems or overcoming challenges. It is a way to help deal with and overcome them.
Positive thinking won’t heal you or keep you away from dreaded illnesses. Positive thinking can however, help you decide on how you can make your life better in the midst of your problems.
Positive thinking won’t shield you from negative feelings and life’s obstacles. It can however, help you face your problems, make improvements to your life and keep you motivated in achieving your goals.
Positive thinking helps you have clarity in thoughts and the mental stability to tackle your problems.
Positive thinking is not about solving your problem but having positive attitude can help make your life better. Believing in yourself and your capabilities while acknowledging your weaknesses prepares you for life challenges.
There is no doubt that having a positive attitude is healthy. You find a purpose in your life and you feel more fulfilled as you start to take control of your life. And that's a very good thing.
I can still remember losing my home during Hurricane Katrina. I remember returning to Louisiana and being shocked at the devastation and loss of life there. I was fortunate to still have my family and life. Right now, the people of Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, are suffering and so are those who live in the US who are from Haiti - they don't know how their family and friends are doing. The death toll is estimated to be close to 100,000 people - men, women and children.
The biggest thing we can do right now is send our love - but at the end of the day, sending $5 at the least through a donation would add up to so many bigger blessings for these people in such dire need.
Mobile Phone Donations - 2 ways to donate right now:
The Red Cross: Send a text to "90999" and you will automatically donate $10 to the @RedCross (your carrier will bill you)
Yele Haiti: Send a text to "501501" and you will automatically donate $5 to the YELE project run by musician Wyclef Jean, @Wyclef
2. Donations to organizations that help those in need like our friends in Haiti:
Charity Water: They have been working with the people of Haiti already on a project and need our support more than ever follow them on twitter @CharityWater
Partners in Health: They are on the ground already in Haiti providing relief efforts you can follow them on twitter at @pih_org
Architecture for Humanity: They will be helping provide shelter for those in need - which is a huge job for these types of disasters - follow them on twitter at @archforhumanity
Participate in Alyssa Milano's tweet challenge here or visit her on twitter at @Alyssa_Milano
Anything you can do can make a difference. The people of Haiti will be ever grateful to all of us who help them, as the victims of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters were when they received assistance.
At its best, dance is an effortless blending of athleticism and art, but it is rare to find a dancer who has both skills in equal measure. Once upon a time, dancers were selected for their art first and their athleticism second: these days, the priorities seem to have reversed.
In years gone by, choreographers and impresarios valued charisma and artistry above technique. These days, choreographers can't afford to hire on artistry alone. Choreography has become more adventurous and challenging, and technical tricks are expected: there's no point hiring a dancer who can't do them. But as I said, a dancer who is both highly athletic and highly artistic is a rare talent: it's more usual for dancers to have a bias one way or the other. So without noticing it, we have gradually moved to a world where dance companies are full of fantastic athletes instead of fantastic artists.
Dance has gone from being a finely tuned art to an acrobatic contest of tricks. What was once a beautiful expression of music and feelings through movement is now nothing more than a contest to see who can do the most stunts. As a dance teacher/choreographer I find that good training and choreography is being sidelined and replaced by frantic flailing and wild turn combinations that can never be perfected.
This trend is being perpetuated by competitions and judges who reward kick,turn, leap, jump as I call it, rather than solid technical training and beautiful movement expressed by a person with true knowledge and love of dance. It is much like the new scoring system for skating, which rewards jumps at the expense of artistry. Consequently, skaters are cramming difficult back-to-back jumps in routines where there used to be more of a balance of technique and artistry.
I would personally prefer to try to give students a class and or dance routine that helps to propel them as dancers and people - Letting them experience many styles and forms of dance.
Don't get me wrong. I also love the feel of victory at a highly competitive dance competition. There are valuable lessons that people can take away from that experience. But I do not believe that winning is the most important thing. I hate to see the selling out of such a beautiful art form. And far too many people are dong it and are being rewarded for it.
I look forward to a time when once again dance is appreciated for all that it can be. Beautiful, inspiring, and most of all fun. I look forward to a time when dance will be about the artistry and not the frantic movements of a circus performer. It is up to everyone in the dance community to help restore the art to dance.
As an example of dancing as an art form, I love this video of Margot Fonteyn performing the Rose Adagio from The Sleeping Beauty. A performer who always placed artistry first in every gesture.
You've heard them before, but what do those strange sounding French words such as Fouette or Developpe used in ballet mean?
During my first ballet class as an inquisitive 4 year old, I still can hear the song that was played in class every week to help the class remember our five positions. The jingle began as "Here we have position one, arms are round just like the sun; toes are out, heels are in; that is how we begin". All steps in ballet are based upon these five positions. These arm and leg positions helped the dancers to balance while still looking graceful and combinations begin with one of the basic positions.
The steps became more intricate in time as did the language. As my classes became more intense, I developed an enormous amount of vocabulary in French without even trying.
Classical ballet techniques originally developed in France during the 1600s, hence these steps retain their original French names and are universal in the dance world. King Louis XIV of France loved ballet. He established the first official school of ballet, known today as the Paris Opera Ballet. The names of the steps created by King Louis are still used today.
Many expressions (such as "grande", "variation" or "elevation") have self explanatory meanings as they are used in the English vocabulary. But what do the other terms mean? Many of the expressions used in ballet have a French literal meaning, while others are a variation of the literal meaning. The words in parenthesis are the literal meaning in Modern French.
Alonge (of length) - an extension of arms in arabesque
Assemble (assemble) - rising off the floor, on one leg and landing on two
Barre (bar) - horizontal bar opposite mirrors in studio used for class exercises
Battement (beat) - high or low kick: grand battement or petit battement
Bourre (stuff)- traveling movement with feet moving in tine steps from tight fifth position
Bras (arms) arm movement
Chasse (driven out) - step in which one foot literally chases the other foot out of its position; done in a series
Coupe (cut) - step in which the working foot is immediately replaced by the supporting foot
Demi-plie (half folded) - Half-bend of the knees. All steps of elevation begin and end with a demi-plie
Developpe (developed) - is a movement in which the worg leg is drawn up to the knee of the supporting leg and slowly extended to an open position en l'air and held there with perfect control.
Chappe (escaped) - slipping movement of both feet from a closed to an open position.
Fouette (whipped) - movement of the raised foot as it passes rapidly in front of or behind the supporting foot. One of the most difficult moves, it is most commonly thought of in relation to Swan Lake, where the famous "32 fouettes" is known to every ballet dancer.
Glissade (slip) - gliding the working foot from the fifth position in the required direction.
Pas (not)- simple step or a compound movement which involves a transfer of weight.
Pique (pricked) - executed by stepping directly on the point or demi-pointe of the working foot in any desired direction or position with the other foot raised in the air.
Pirouette (whirl) - complete turn of the body on one foot, on point or demi-pointe.
Plie (folded) - bending of the knee or knees.
Releve (statement) - raising of the body on the points or demi-pointes.
Rond de jambe (round of leg) - a circular movement of the leg.
Sissonne (scissors) - jumping step which begins on two feet and lands on one.
Tendu (stretched) foot reaching out away from the body on the floor.
Those are some of the bare basics of movement in classical ballet. When attending a ballet performance, you may hear those around you discussing the intricate PAS DE DEUX (pronounced pah-duh-duh), which is a dance of two; maybe you heard someone compliment the handsome CAVALIER, who is the male partner of the ballerina. When someone remarks on the seemingly large CORPS DE BALLET (kawr-duh-ba-lay), they are referring to the dancers in a ballet who do not appear as soloists.
Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of some of the French terms used in ballet. Maybe soon, you or your child will be performing a series of dazzling Fouettes to a captivated audience.
A video showing pirouettes and fouettes from Le Corsaire
Krump dancing or krumping is a modern, aggressive, freestyle street dance involving energetic and volatile moves. It includes an often violent flaying of the arms as well as bangs, chest pops, kill-offs, puzzles, stomps and syncs. Krumping can involve physical contact between the dancers, like a mock fight. It has described as hip hop on speed'. It evolved out of a dance form called clown dancing or clowning which started in the South Central Los Angeles' African-American community in the early 1990s.
The original clown dancer was Thomas Johnson who was asked by a co-worker to be a clown at a children's birthday party because of his extrovert personality. He took up the challenge and before long Tommy the Clown was a popular act at kids' birthday parties all over Los Angeles. Part of his act included a dance style which became known as clown dancing, and he would encourage the children to get up and dance with him. As his popularity grew, he formed a group of support dancers called the Hip Hop Clowns who performed with him. Members had to meet his requirements of no drugs, no gangs, do well in school, and so on.
More young people wanted to join the Hip Hop Clowns than Johnson could take on, so he encouraged them to start their own groups. By 2002, Los Angeles had over 60 clown dancing crews. Competition emerged among the dance crews as to who was best and Johnson could see that this could lead to trouble if not managed properly. So he held weekly dance competitions or battles' at his Tommy the Clown Academy. It was here that the word krump' (Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise) was first used, to describe the dancing's intensity. As the popularity of the competitions escalated, Johnson began an event called the Battle Zone, which eventually had to be held at the Los Angeles Forum which holds 18,000 people. Soon Tommy the Clown and his Hip Hop Clowns were traveling all over the world.
Krumping developed as an off-shoot of clown dancing as many of the kids were getting older and no longer wanted to associate with clowns and face paint. While very similar, krumping is the more aggressive of the two forms with its expressions of anger or pent-up emotion and high degree of individuality. Krumping has become the main form of the two dances. It is often graded by degree of difficulty, with the three main levels being Krump, Buckness, and Ampness. There are a number of krumping styles, including dissing (from disrespectful) and sick' movements such as grimey and snaking, as well as beasty, bully, cocky, flashy, goofy (regarded as the least aggressive), jerky, rugged, and tricks.
Krump dancers organize themselves into groups known as families' or fams'. Each group is led by a senior dancer called a Big Homie who acts as a dance instructor, mentor, and de facto sibling to the younger and less experienced Lil' Homies. A hierarchical structure can include levels or names such as baby, boy, child, General, infant, jr., kid, lil', prince, Souljah, tiny, twin, and young. Rankings can differ between families. The Lil' Homies often share the name of the Big Homie. For example, if the Big Homie is called Tight Eyez, other fam' members might be given names like Jr Eyez, Baby Eyez, and Prince Eyez.
Krumping is now part of popular culture. In 2005, David LaChapelle made an 86 minute documentary, Rize', tracing the sub-cultures of clown dancing and krumping. The film includes interviews with both clown dancers and krumpers and shows a dance battle between the two groups. Krumping has become a mainstream dance featuring in popular music videos, television shows such as So You Think You Can Dance and The Simpsons, and movies such as Bring It On: All or Nothing and Stomp the Yard.
"Angels fly because they take themselves lightly" (G.K. Chesterton)
There's something about winter that is somewhat depressing. Remembering lost loved ones during holidays, cold weather, getting colds or flu. I've found that laughter, as the old saying goes, really is the best medicine.
William Fry, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and expert on health and laughter, reports the average kindergarten student laughs 300 times a day. Yet, adults average just 17 laughs a day. Why the difference? Are we too uptight, too tense? Do we take life too seriously? Isn't it time we learned how to relax? We don't stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing. So, if we want to fly like the angels and share in their happiness, we'll have to follow their example and take ourselves lightly.
Benefits of Laughter
1. When you make fun of yourself, you take away the power of other people to make fun of you.
2. Laughter dissolves tension, stress, anxiety, irritation, anger, grief, and depression. Like crying, laughter lowers inhibitions, allowing the release of pent-up emotions.
3. Medical researches have found that laughter boosts the immune system. The study of how behavior and the brain affect the immune system is called psychoneuroimmunology. Though still in its infancy, this science is rapidly gaining much attention as mankind strives to understand the mind-body relationship.
4. Laughter reduces pain by releasing endorphins that are more potent than equivalent amounts of morphine.
5. Humor helps integrate both hemispheres of our brain, for the left hemisphere is used to decipher the verbal content of a joke while the right hemisphere interprets whether it is funny or not.
6. Laughter adds spice to life; it is to life what salt is to a hard-boiled egg.
7. Develop your sense of humor and you will find you are more productive, a better communicator, and a superior team player.
8. Everyone loves someone who can make them laugh. The more you share your sense of humor, the more friends you will have.
9. Humor brings the balance we need to get through the turbulence of life comfortably.
10. A sense of humor can help you accept the inevitable, rise to any challenge, handle the unexpected with ease, and come out of any difficulty smiling.
Ways to Laugh More Often
Watch a funny movie or TV show. Go to a comedy club. Read the funny pages. Seek out funny people. Share a good joke or a funny story. Check out your bookstore’s humor section. Host game night with friends. Play with a pet. Go to a “laughter yoga” class. Goof around with children. Do something silly. Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke). If you are visiting someone in the hospital, why not bring funny greeting cards and humorous books instead of flowers to brighten his/her day?
Many people love both the US version of Dancing with the Stars and the British show that inspired it - Strictly Come Dancing. Have you ever noticed a difference in the way that dances may be performed but can't quite understand why? Here is an explanation of American and International ballroom dancing.
Contemporary ballroom dancing comes in two major styles, American style and international style. American style was developed by the major U.S. studio chains, Arthur Murray and Fred Astaire, and by the independent U.S. studios. International style was developed by the British, particularly through the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and the International Dance Teachers' Association (IDTA). While most of the world uses international style exclusively, both styles are popular in North America.
Similarly latin also comes in an international and an American style. American ballroom is also called Smooth or American Smooth, and American Latin is called Rhythm or American Rhythm. International style dancing is also called Modern.
Historically, American style ballroom was developing on the west side of the Atlantic during the same period as English style ballroom was developing near the east side of the Atlantic. There was probably some cross fertilization, but there was also a lot of independent development. Competition seems to have started to dominate the development of English style fairly early (1920s), while American style was more rooted in social dancing as taught by the Murray studios and a desire to emulate the stage and screen dancing as epitomized in Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire movies. You can generally trace many open American style foxtrot figures to things that Fred and Ginger did in various choreographic sequences in their movies, for example. In fact, because of those movies, there was probably more influence of American style on English style than vice versa. It wasn't until the 1950s and 1960s that English style really started catching on internationally, and came to be called International style (and later, Standard). Between then and now, there has probably been more influence of International style on American than vice versa, but it's been influence on an established style, not a derivation.
Difference in Dances
Although there are style differences between international and American style (which will be discussed a bit further down), the most visible difference is the fact that each style teaches different dances. Here is a comparison of which dance is taught in which style:
American Style ballroom is what most people in the US mean when they say "Ballroom Dancing." International Style in the United States is considered by some to be mostly for competition, it is often done at parties and in social settings as well. The simple basic figures and flexible choreography of American Style make it easy to dance with different partners, leading to its tremendous popularity. The character of the dances are a cross between the elegance of International Style and the exuberance of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Although many dances have the same names as International Style, they are not the same—the music is a different tempo and many figures are different. For example: in Smooth (American Style Ballroom), partners can release their arm hold, allowing spins, dips, or even break apart altogether and do side-by-side or interactive moves that are not permitted in International Standard. It's similar to International showdancing, but without the lifts.
The different ballroom dances can be characterized as follows:
Slow Waltz is counted in ¾ time, and has a classic swooping rise and fall. This is the Standard dance usually learned first.
Tango is known for quick, sharp snaps and dramatic pauses. It is much more stylized than Argentine Tango, from which it was derived, although it is still passionate. It alternates between slow, stalking motion and explosive speed. The American style has a more Paso-Dobleish or Argentine Tangoish interpretation.
Slow Foxtrot is the Standard dance many find the most challenging, and most rewarding. It is smooth, playful, and very slow. Like American Foxtrot, it is done to Big Band music in 4/4 time, but its basic timing is slow-quick-quick and the speed is much slower.
Quickstep is a high-speed version of the Slow Foxtrot. It's done to Swing-type music and is very energetic and vivacious. Advanced figures include hops, skips, and jumps—even incorporating Jitterbug variations!
Viennese Waltz is about twice the speed of Waltz. The international style is faster than the American style, and very simple. There are only a few figures in the dance, since partners never release their arm hold. Although the speed can make the dance challenging. The American style is very different, but mostly because of the fact that it is not limited to 5 figures and allow open moves.
Foxtrot is a great social dance: it’s fun, not hard to learn, and easy to lead and follow. Traditionally danced to Big Band music, it is smooth and sexy. Its basic timing is slow-slow-quick-quick. The American Foxtrot is upbeat and sprightly, more like the Quickstep than the Slow Foxtrot, looking like an old Fred and Ginger movie. Some jazziness and showdancy quality is added that is not appropriate (or even possible) in international style.
The different latin dances can be characterized as follows:
Cha-Cha is a fast and flirtatious dance that was created by replacing the "slow" in Rumba with a quick "side-close-side" (cha-cha-cha).
Samba is super sexy with a pulsing "1 a-2" beat and fluid hip action. American Samba features simpler figures than International Samba, but the same music and technique.
Rumba is the only slow International Latin dance, and is slower than American Rumba, but faster than Bolero. It is sensual and passionate. Its basic timing is slow-quick-quick, like American Style, but nearly all of the figures are different and the "slow" comes on beat 2 of the music instead of beat 1.
Paso Doble portrays a bullfight. The man depicts the matador, while the female portrays the flowing and snapping cape. There are only a few songs to which Paso Doble is danced, and they all have the musical highlights in the same place. Thus this dance is usually completely choreographed from start to finish, and designed so that each musical highlight corresponds to a dramatic pose or drop.
Jive is a tight, precise, extremely fast version of East Coast Swing. Its basic timing is rock step, triple-step, triple-step, and it features swift flicks and kicks and lots of spins.
Bolero is a very slow dance compared to the Rumba. It is swooping and graceful, making it a bit reminiscent of Smooth dances.
East Coast Swing is the basis of many of the other Swings. Its basic timing is "triple-step, triple-step, rock-step.". Despite its name, it is the most common Swing and is danced all over the country. Swing does appear more "grounded" than Jive.
Mambo is similar to Salsa (very fast!). The basic timing is quick-quick-slow.
Salsa has recently grown to be one of most popular club dances. It is fast, sexy, and features a lot of improvisation. It is extremely popular in clubs around the world.
Merengue is a Club dance that is done to really fast Latin music. It consists of very simple steps organized into sets of 8, and features a characteristic hip swing and graceful arm flourishes.
Telling the Difference
If you're watching ballroom dancing and wondering how to distinguish between International and American styles, here are two points to look out for that may help. What dance positions are used is probably the easiest way to tell apart the Standard and Smooth dances. International Standard is danced almost exclusively in closed dance positions while American Smooth allows more open work where the partners can separate from each other and dance in open positions.
The Latin and Rhythm dances tend to be a bit harder to tell apart. The dancers' leg action is probably the best clue as to which style they're dancing here. In American Rhythm, the dancers will use a bent leg action allowing them to delay their change of weight on the step, so you will frequently see them with bent legs. However, in International Latin, the dancers usually have the look of two straight legs which comes from the faster change of weight on the step.
6 Dances from the Pros on DWTS(Season 3) - Jive, Mambo, Paso Doble, Rumba, Samba and Tango.
Semi-retired Ballet/Ballroom dancer/choreographer/part-time instructor and studio owner who finds inspiration in expressing myself through writing poetry and random thoughts about life.
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