Keep Austin Artsy

KEEP AUSTIN

ARTSY Fall 2021

Letter from the Editors Hi readers! Welcome to our magazine. We are a team of four freshmen students at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. For the past few months we have been working on broadening our knowledge on the state of fine arts in our hometown of Austin, Texas.

Inside of our magazine, we have four unique feature pieces spanning across topics included in fine arts. Dance, theatre, band, and music. Not only do we have the articles, we also have pages of interactive games, trivia, and informative graphics - created on Adobe software - by our team.

We have created this magazine together since the beginning. From picking out color schemes and fonts, to formatting our final pages, editing each other’s articles, and writing this letter. This was a group effort, and everyone deserves credit.

Every member of this magazine has also interviewed experts on our topics.

Some were interviewed in person (with Covid precautions), over zoom, and even over the phone. We’d like to say a special thank you to these amazing professionals that took the time to talk to us little freshmen, we appreciate it immensely.

And lastly, we give a thank you to the readers. That’s you! Thank you for reading our work and please appreciate the effort and time that has gone into making this magazine fun, educational, and entertaining.

From our editors, Lilah, Amber, Liam, Emmett

TABLE OF

8 12 14 18 Theatre in the midst of a global pandemic

By Lilah Bounds

Films Made in Austin, Texas

By Lilah Bounds

Masks. Music.

By Liam Contreras

Interworkings of Instruments

By Liam Contreras

Title Design and “Meet the Team” by Amber Wang

Pattern by Liam Conteras

CONTENTS

20 24 26 30 Music festivals in Austin

By Emmett Foley

Austin Music Festivals

By Emmett Foley

Behind the scenes of dance

By Amber Wang

Styles of Dance

By Amber Wang

Letter from the Editor and Table of Contents by Lilah Bounds

MEET TH Lilah Bounds Lilah is a freshman at LASA High School.

At school, she is on the dance team and is the photo editor of her Ezine. Lilah has been playing violin for 9 years, and has participated in Region, AYO, and school orchestras, as well as chamber music groups. While her passion is acting, she also reading and playing with her two little brothers. Lilah is excited to have a published magazine and hopes you enjoy reading it!

Liam Contreras Liam is attending his first year at LASA. He plays the saxophone in the LASA raptor band and loves playing and listening to music from all sorts of genres. He enjoys swimming and spending time with his two dogs, Modi and Cuca. He is the Graphics Editor of the team, and hopes you have a good time reading everyone’s articles.

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HE TEAM! Emmett Foley Emmett is a freshman enrolled in LASA high school. He plays the trombone and conducts in the school’s marching band, which has been to UIL region and area, Bands of America finals, and hosts the Capital City marching festival. He also composes and plays music on his own, with ten years of experience on the piano. His role in the magazine is the fact-checker.

Amber Wang Amber is in the class of 2025 at LASA highschool. She is on the LASA Velocity dance team, and has been doing ballet at Ballet Austin since seventh grade. She will be performing in Ballet Austin’s Nutcracker for the first time this year. She has two cats, Percy and Poco, and a hamster named Wall-E. Outside of school and dance, she enjoys baking, reading, and drawing.

Amber is the copy editor of the Ezine, and hopes that you learn and have fun from reading the magazine!

In the midst of a global pandemic, the world has shut down.

So many lives and careers have been compromised, especially those of artists who are either self-employed, or who work free-lance.

Austin was hit hard by covid as a city of entrepreneurs, artists, and small businesses.

Many actors

have been creative with how they’ve dealt with lockdown, most have been deprived of face-to-face interaction with other artists and in acting, working off of others’ energy is a key element.

From starting a community organization that has brought theatre troupes

By Lilah Bounds

n I e f r o t t a s e d h c i i T M m e e th and P a

together, to starring in a recorded, online, one-person show, according to Austin-based actor Marc Pouhe.

“Seeing the world shutdown was beyond my expectation and everyone’s expectations,” Pouhe said. “I was very fortunate though, because I was still able to do zoom productions, which was a brand new median for me and many other actors.”

Pouhe’s resume spans from short films to

Image credit to Mark Pouhe

Shakespeare. As an incredibly versatile acproduction, where the audience could join the tor, the pandemic was not a terrible turn of call, with cameras off, and watch him perform. It events for him. While the pandemic did shut became such a triumph that the show was later off his access to Zach productions, including recorded for streaming purposes.

A Christmas Carol, he made the most of his Pouhe’s one-person show is called Thurgood. lockdown by acting in a one-person show.

The play travels through time from when the “Because it was a former supreme actors and students have been deprived of one person show, court justice face-to-face interaction with other artists the only interThurgood Marand in acting, working off of others’ eneraction I had was shall was very gy is a key element.” with the camera.” young, through Pouhe said. “So his time as a jusit was basically me, just telling the story, havtice. He was a civil rights activist, a lawyer, and is ing to find the motivation, you know, through best known for having the Supreme Court deimagination.” clare segregated public schools unconstitutional Pouhe’s one person show turned out to be a in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). huge success; it started by just being a zoom

Over the course of quarantine, the Black Lives Matter movement has risen and become a huge part of the theatre industry.

“We have to start appreciating and understanding that there are basically 50% of Americans whose stories just haven’t been told.” Pouhe said.

Pouhe is very active and passionate about representation in theatre. He says that some progress has been made over the course of the past two years. More black, latino, and LGBTQ actors, directors, and producers are being recognized and given more opportunities. That doesn’t mean to say that the industry doesn’t have room to grow.

“That’s not to pat ourselves on the back, that’s to say we need to keep improving, making

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those changes, and telling the stories for those unheard voices,” Pouhe said.

Before the pandemic hit, Pouhe had just finished performing as Scrooge in Zach Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol. By the end of March, Zach theatre’s classes and productions shut down.

As a teacher of multiple of Zach’s education classes, Nat Miller, the director of education at Austin’s Zach Theatre witnessed first-hand what the lockdown has brought down onto the theatre industry. “I don’t like being online. I think theatre is about live interaction,”, Miller said when asked about his opinion on acting from home.

When quarantine started back in the spring of 2020, all of Zach’s classes immediately moved

online, to zoom. Miller said that the number of students went down as the class sign-up window opened again.

When asked about the state of classes now, Miller said that “People are back in person wearing masks and parents definitely want their kids around other kids so we’re back in person mostly and I have less classes than I normally would but yes things are hopefully starting to return back to normal.”.

Although Zach is getting closer to where it was before the pandemic, Miller mentions that the future of Zach’s education classes might lean towards a mixed program. “Yeah we’d like to have a sort of hybrid, a mix but I think that the in-person is just doing much better than the hybrid.”

Now that vaccinations are being taken more seriously, and theatres are requiring masks, productions are moving in person. This is a big and exciting step for the theatre industry in Austin. Not only are productions starting in person, classes are also starting to partially move away from Zoom.

Sharron Bower Anderson, an actress based in Austin, started an organization called ATX Theatre. The website, created and managed

by Anderson, Photo credits to Zach Theatre is a community where lots of theatre companies in Austin can post listings and performance dates. When asked about how she did during quarantine, Anderson responded saying that she, and other theatre companies kept a document logging everything that they did during quarantine. The covid safety protocols they were taking, to what performances they were doing.

Keeping the sense of community during these troubling times was really important to Anderson.

She continues to run ATX Theatre in the hopes that she will help more Austinite thespians find their way.

Anderson, Pouhe, and Miller are optimistic to where theatre is heading in the next few months, and even years. Although, the general consensus is that they would like things to start moving. Even if the industry starts moving towards a hybrid model, not fully in person.

“There will always be some sort of theatre in the future,” Miller said.

DID YOU KNOW? Films made in Austin, Texas By Lilah Bounds

Texas Chainsaw Massacre While the real crimes of Ed Gein did influence the film, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not a true story.

Did you know, that the directors and producers originally wanted the movie to have a PG rating?!

Boyhood

Did you know that it was shot over the course of 12 years? The dircetor of Boyhood, Richard Linklater, started filming the movie without a full, complete script. Boyhood was filmed in Austin, San Marcos, Houston, and Alpine, Texas.

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Photo Credit to Madison Movie and Imdb

Spy Kids

Most of the filming was in our town of Austin, Texas with the exception of the theme park in the second movie being filmed at Six Flags, and the Island of Lost Dreams being Big Bend National Park, in Texas. Did you know that the director of Spy Kids, Robert Rodriguez, also filmed the movie Sharkboy and Lavagirl?

Austin Film : SCENE 1 TAKE 1

Photo courtesy of danrednermusic.com

Masked Music

How the Austin Music Scene has Adapted to Covid-19

Liam Contreras, Editor

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Austin is known as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” and many people across the globe come here to experience the raw joy and passion from local musicians. However over the past few years, the music scene has been forced to adapt to life under Covid-19 and the many obstacles it brought with it. Three different musicians, or music industry professionals were interviewed in order to understand the views and experiences musicians have had over the past few years.

learning. ... So I have about 60 weekly students, and everyone was coming by the house,” Redner said, “I actually thought I was gonna lose some students, but I didn’t lose anybody.”

While people stopped attending classes in person, many people used self-quar-

were working from home. Everybody was kind of like, well, I guess it's time for me to get a guitar and learn how to play.” Bell said.

Sales have been up for many instruments during the pandemic. In fact, Redner shares that piano sales, in particular, have been doing quite well.

“Piano sales during COVID for the last year and a half were at the highest point that it’s been since the 1950s.

So in the 1950s, it was big because the smaller upright was invented. It was called the upright piano because it Dan Redner practicing the piano. Musicians need to practice to keep their skills at peak wasn’t quite as large proformance | Photo from danrednermusic.com With the arrival of up against your the pandemic, many antine as a chance to try new instruwall, and it really changed the piano people found they had much more ments and experiences. Chris Bell, a industry in the 1950s,” Redner said. time on their hands, and to spend their Luthier, or guitar maker, and a local free time many have turned to music.

Austin musician, has seen an upward Despite the wonders the pandemic trend in guitar sales over the past few has done for the music lessons and the Dan Redner, a years. sale of instruments, it would be wrong pianist and to ignore piano teachthe damage er for ages 3 COVID-19 and up, has has done to experienced the live music - Dan Redner, Austin Musican and Educator this first hand economy. Live in his transimusicians tion to online have been going through a particularly learning.

“So I've sold just as many guitars, rough time with a significant number and I've had just as much work. But of people having stopped attending live “When it first hit, I was a little nerif I was going to speak more broadly music venues. vous about the transition to online about the industry itself, it sounds to me like more and more people were “A lot of those live gigs are gone, and finding time to play guitar, and they I’ve been making guitars like I said for were buying new guitars because they five years, but my primary job was be-

I actually thought I was gonna lose some students, but I didn’t lose anybody.

ing a performer, and playing live gigs.

That has almost all but evaporated.”

Bell said.

Many jazz clubs in town have also been forced to shut down, leaving jazz musicians in a vulnerable position.

Brant Bingamon, an Austin musician who plays with two bands, PocketFishRmen and FontanellesTX, took some time to write some new songs for his bands.

songs during the pandemic … and released them along with two others we already had in the can. That record, We Are Masters of These Levels, came out on Saustex Records in the spring.

Incidentally, FontanellesTX used the pandemic time to learn and record an album’s worth of new songs too. So both bands took advantage of the downtime,” said Bingamon.

The music really is better than other places. It’s more creative, it’s more original, and it’s played better than most other places.

“So the Elephant room, which is the famed Jazz club in town. ... they were one of the last bars in town to actually reopen.

- Brant Bingamon, Austin Musician They opened for a week Not only did Bingamon and they got a couple use this time as a chance cases of COVID with a bartender and “After COVID hit, I started writing to write and learn new songs for both some other people. So they closed back some songs for us. I’d been wanting to bands, he stayed active and practiced down, so that's one of the venues for do it, or meaning to do it, for years but with his bands during the pandemic. jazz musicians in this town, and it's then usually we would be practicing been closed.” Redner said. for a show. Now all of a sudden, there “Both of them stopped practicing However, some musicians saw and were no more shows. So I knew it was after COVID really hit in the spring of used this break as a chance to improve the perfect time to write some songs,” 2020,” Bingamon said, and then addand work on their music. For example, Bingamon said. “We learned nine new ed, “FontanellesTX got back into pracChris Bell’s workshop. This is where Bell makes all his guitars | Photo by Chris Bell

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ticing pretty quick, after just a couple of months, when we decided that it was apparently safe enough if we did it outside. Me and my partner, Adrienne, who is also in the band, have a large backyard and live in a neighborhood where the neighbors don’t mind if you make a little noise.”

educators around the world. Then, when Redner switched back to in person, he tried to make it a safe, productive place to learn and practice music.

and I still am having little kids wash their hands when they get here.”

Bell has also taken such precautions in his business, and has set up a system for his customers in his own backyard.

Through their experience in the pandemic they may have found a greater appreciation of trying to find things in their life that bring them joy

“I don’t have people stop by the shop anymore.

- Chris Bell, Austin Lutheir and Musican Maybe that’ll Bingamon’s older change. But what band, Pocket I do is I have peoFishRmen, however took a little longer “I was online for 15 months before ple kind of meet me out, and we wear to get back to practicing and working I went back in person”, Redner said, masks. I exchange the instrument, or on the band.

“Obviously during the spike I was getif they want to come by and try out ting a little hesitant again. I was wiping a guitar, we find a day where it’s nice “Pocket FishRmen took more time off down the piano more, cleaning spaces, outside, and I set up a guitar and an than Fontanelles. I think it was several amp on the back porch,” Bell said. months before we started practicing again. … We started getting togethOverall the pandemic has forced er every Thursday like usual, many to adapt, and has hurt many but we all wore masks. Even people's ways of life. However, with that, our guitar the Austin music scene has player got COVID in continued to persevere, the winter of 2020 and produce the music and he might have it is so well known for. exposed the rest And perhaps during of us because we these months of were supposed isolation people to practice the have learned to day before he cherish the music realized he which surrounds was sick, but them. the practice got called off.

“Through their … Anyway, experience in the we got through pandemic they COVID just fine may have found and the rest of us a greater appreciahave never gotten tion of trying to find it. But we’ve been things in their life that practicing with masks bring them joy,” Bell said. regularly.” Bingamon said.

Similarly, Redner also adapted to the pandemic, and took the precaution of moving his lessons online like many

The beginings of a guitar Chris Bell is making.

Bell makes all sorts of guitars and sells them to his clients. | Photo by Chris Bell

The Inner Workings of Instruments Graphics by Liam Contreras

Brass, despite being a such a large and diverse section of instruments, all have the same concept behind them. For a brass instrument you must vibrate your lips to make the sound. Hold your lips together tightly and blow to make a buzzing noise. If you do this into a brass instrument you can make all kinds of sounds.

Examples of brass instruments include trumpets, tubas, and trombones.

Contrary to other woodwinds, the flute actually involves no wood. There is not a reed that vibrates to make the sound, but rather it’s air itself that vibrates. Blows your air across the embouchure hole and the air will split at the edge of the hole. The vibrations that this causes makes sound.

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Single reed instruments have a base mouthpeice and a wooden reed attached to the bottom of the mouthpiece. When air is pushed it goes through a small gap inbetween the reed and the mouthpiece.

This causes the reed to vibrate and create sounds.

Examples of single reed instruments include saxophones and clairinets.

Double reed instruments as the name suggests have two reeds. These two reeds are held togther by wire and form a small tube.

When air is pushed between the two reeds they virbrate against eachother making sound.

Examples of double reed instruments include bassons and oboes.w

Austin’s Famous Festivals

By Emmett Foley

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Austin has always been well-known for music festivals. Musicians and music lovers come from all over the country to attend festivals like ACL and SXSW. They have always

with COVID-19 ravaging the country and the lockdown forcing people to stay home, Austin’s live music industry has stayed strong.

Music isn’t just for professionals. Anyone can learn to play an instrument, and with technology always improving, it’s only getting easier. Andrew been core to Austin’s unique Duplantis, bassist in the band environment and culture. Even

Son Volt, talks about how technology can provide resources to musicians. “These days you can go onto YouTube and you can find just about any song you want to learn,” said Duplantis. “There’s all these resources to just get those basics going. But the most important thing after all of that stuff is just to play with people.”

Joining a band is a popular way to play music professionally, and as Duplantis mentions, also makes it more engaging. “You can sit in your room and learn a hundred songs and be really good at it, but it’s not until you get together with a drummer and a bass player and play together when the music really happens

here in Austin, we’re all kind of working together, putting on shows together.”

Austin is rapidly growing, and this only attracts more musicians.

“I’ve had friends that have moved and a lot of the time, they end up coming back.” said Duplantis. “It is a special place. It’s grown so much. A lot of the old timers will

and that’s where you truly learn how to play,” said Duplantis.

Duplantis is based in Austin, and enjoys the live music scene here. “One of the coolest things about Austin is that we try to be friends,” he said. “It isn’t like rivalries. In some cities I’ve heard that it’s more like the bands are competing with each other. But

kind of be grumpy about it, but, if a city isn’t growing, then that means it’s either stagnant or it’s dying.”

The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians(HAAM), is an organization dedicated to providing health insurance and economic support to local musicians in Austin, and also hosts a live music festival called HAAM Day. Rikki Hardy, employee at HAAM, discusses HAAM’s effect on Austin’s music scene. “To be blunt, I think HAAM has helped/ is helping to save Austin music.”

Hardy said. “Without HAAM, there are so many musicians 22 | Keep Austin Artsy | Fall 2021

who would choose to not live in Austin.”

Hardy is very proud of HAAM, and says the members receiving aid are too. “We also have the blessing of our members being PROUD to be members.

Folks don’t always think about the time and dedication that goes into being a musician.

It’s so much more than the 90 minute performance that you get to see.

-Rikki Hardy

Sometimes when people receive charity care, they are embarrassed, but most musicians in Austin see their HAAM membership as a badge of honor and a sign of community,” said Hardy.

The Live Music Capital of the World is only getting larger. Musicians are moving to Austin more than ever. There are lots of opportunities attracting them, like HAAM, a good music community, and just to play live at all the different venues this city offers. Austin already is a special place, but even amidst the pandemic, it will continue to grow.

= 10,000 yearly attendee

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es

Behind

Jennifer Hart, fourth from left, discussing choreography with dancers. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Hart

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“

Dance is such a p and celebration an community.

-Jennifer Hart, chore

the Curtain

By Amber Wang

Stunning is a word that comes to mind when people see a performance by a skilled dancer, no matter how brief. What is not short is the decade of training and tenacity put in by the dancer, the teacher, the choreographer, and many other people behind the scenes.

Ballet is an art form that has been around for centuries, and one that is constantly evolving and morphing into other dance styles. ​​People might underestimate the effort that goes into creating choreography and polishing technique when they see the seemingly effortless performances on stage.

Even in tough times like the Covid-19 pandemic, dancers and teachers have kept pushing through. Jennifer Hart, artistic director and choreographer of Performa dance and teacher at Ballet Austin, was teaching remotely for over a year during the pandemic.

“We were on Zoom and we all had to learn how to have a lot of grit and have a lot of patience and to accept that things were going to be difficult and that we just had to keep powering through and keep trying to improve and work hard even with the conditions we had,” Hart said.

Covid-19 has also been a source of discouragement for many dancers, because they were unable to perform to a live audience, according to NyaTinio Mitchell, a 17-year-old dancer in training at Ballet Austin.

perfect expression of joy nd being together in a

“

eographer

“At times it can feel like, ‘ok we’re doing class, and we’re doing class, and we’re doing class and there’s no reason why we’re doing class,’ and it can be hard but you just have to remember what you’re doing this for and for me, personally, those 5 minutes that you’re on stage sharing your art form with the audience is what makes it all worth it,” Mitchell said.

Many serious dancers in training turn to alternate forms of education, to be able to balance the workload of school and dance.

“I do online school, so that I can have more time to do extra training and take extra classes and have time for extra rehearsal if I need to. I had to sacrifice having a normal teenage, high school experience and sometimes that has been really hard but I think it’s worth it in the end because it’s for what I love,” Mitchell said.

Dance is very athletically and mentally grueling. 82% of dancers have suffered at least one injury, and it can be discouraging.

“I have suffered a couple of major injuries and whenever you’re dealing with that it can be really hard to remind yourself of why you do it in the first place,” Mitchell said.

Most dancers like Mitchell are dancing for the prospect of a future career, which can be very different from what one would expect, according to William Piner, academy director of Ballet Austin.

“Even when you are a professional, in the company, and you’re doing that, 90% of your time is still spent in that process, in class, in rehearsal, learning choreography, all of that preparation,” Piner said.

Nya Mitchell dancing as Clara in Ballet Austin’s Nutcracker.

Photo courtesy of Nya Mitchell. for the legs, like I made a ten count phrase for the legs and a seven count phrase for the arms and I have them put those steps together several times in a row and what ends up happening is the arms end up being different with different leg scenarios,” Hart said.

It’s still important to maintain the harmony between the music To learn choreography, it has to be created, Hart explained. When it comes to choreography, there is a and the movement. Otherwise, the choreography is choppy. lot of room for creativity.

“The best choreographers, the music becomes very alive and the “One thing I’ve done in the past is I made a phrase dance becomes very alive,” Hart said.

Many choreographers put a prominent story or meaning into their work, and many have turned their strong emotions during the pandemic into art.

“I think a lot of people have wanted to make very heavy, dark, sad, depressing works to show how sad, dark, lonely, and depressed they were and for myself, I thought I want to find a way to bring joy to the world. I really don’t have an interest in doing sad things, ” Hart said.

Performa’s piece, Bluegrass Junction, was a showcase of positivity and pure joy.

“Dance is such a perfect expression of joy and celebration and being together in a community,” Hart said.

Nya M it covid- chell dancin 19. Ph g in B oto co o urtesy ston during of Nya Mitch ell.

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Dance not only brings joy to the audience, but to everybody involved in producing the dance.

“The best part about dancing is when you get to perform because there’s nothing quite like being on stage in front of an audience and sharing the art form with everyone,” Mitchell said.

The performance aspect of dance is beloved by most, but it is only a small fragment of being a dancer.

“You also have to love the grit that it takes, and being in class day in and day out and understanding that you’re never going to achieve perfection but working towards it nonetheless,” Mitchell said.

Hard work is required in ballet, and many people have mental strategies to push themselves to improve.

“The way I see it is I am pushing myself to be the best version of myself,” Mitchell said. “I try to be just one percent better than I was the day before, even if it’s super small.”

Most child and teenage dancers do not go on to be professional dancers, but the lessons that dance teaches are incredibly valuable.

“It teaches you determination and how to keep going even if things necessarily aren’t always super easy or going the way you’d like them to go, it teaches you how to work hard,” Mitchell said.

However, as students, professional experience can be eye opening for the future and it keeps students interested and motivated.

“Getting to be around professionals and seeing how they work and their process

William Piner, closest to camera, teaching an audition class in 2019.

Photo courtesy of William Piner. and just being in the room with them is that need to happen,” Mitchell said. super surreal sometimes like wow, this “Having a more diverse community and is what I want to do,” Mitchell said. hiring more BIPOC dancers is really important, as well as sharing more nonWhile the world of dance is typically eurocentric stories.” joyful for most dancers, there are a lot of people in power who use their power There’s a huge expectation when it to abuse their dancers. comes to dancers, body proportion and size being one of them.

“Being kind is very important and not all choreographers have that intention “There’s another issue with body type, of being nice to their dancers and there’s and I think the ballet world could be a lot of stories of people being pretty a lot more accepting of different body harsh and saying pretty negative things types because every person is unique to their dancers,” Hart said. “And they and no two people are going to look the might get good results on the stage, but same so I think looking for a sort of, at what cost?” outdated ideal ballerina body type is not necessary,” Mitchell said.

Ballet is a centuries long art form, and it’s an ongoing battle to fix the problems The skill and determination of dancers, that have been carried on for years. teachers, choreographers, directors, and everybody involved in the process of “I also think that we’re at a time where dance is showcased effortlessly through there’s a new generation of dancers and breathtaking performances, and it is directors and choreographers that are important to acknowledge the hard work willing and ready to make the changes to achieve perfection.

Styles of Dance so YOU Interested in being a dancer? Here are a few basic styles you are start with, as well as studios located in Austin, Texas that you can train at!

Contemporary Contemporary dance originated in Europe and America, made with aspects from ballet, jazz, modern, and more. Contemporary dance is very free and emotional. The movements are fluid and they rely a lot on the music. Contemporary is very good for people who want to express deep emotions through movements.

You can take contemporary dance lessons at Balance Dance Studios and Alisa’s Dance Academy!

HipHop Hip-Hop dance was inspired by African dancing, and became popular through street dancing. It’s a very unique style, and is most commonly performed to hiphop music and mash-ups of songs. Body movements correspond sharply to beats, and it requires a lot of energy. Hip-Hop is perfect for people looking to let loose and be in a room with good vibes and energy.

You can take Hip-Hop classses at Ballet Austin and Synergy Dance Studio!

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U can Dance in Style!

Graphics and text by Amber Wang

Ballet

Ballet is one of the oldest styles of dance, dating back to the 1500s. Originating in Italy as a courtroom dance for the rich, it has blossomed into a storytelling art form.

It is one of the strictest forms of dance, and has many specific rules on placement, positions, and movement pathways. Ballet is great for somebody who enjoys to strive for perfection and be meticulous.

You can take ballet lessons at Ballet Austin and Austin School of Classical Ballet!

Jazz Jazz dance was inspired by African ritual and celebratory dances. It implements ballet technique, modern dance, and includes a lot of isolations and sharp movements to beats and lyrics. You will enjoy jazz dance if you love to be sassy, upbeat, and showing off tricks.

You can take jazz lessons at Dance Xplosion and Dance Institute!

Thank you f

for reading!

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