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Learn how to do top jazz dance moves and dance routines from popular movies and Broadway shows with choreographer Liz Piccoli in these Howcast dance videos.
East Coast Swing is a fun and flashy dance that’s great for all levels of experience. Learn how to east coast swing dance with Howcast’s free video tutorials!
Transcript Getting lady to the sweetheart position in East Coast Swing. So we’re going to take this, you’re going to have to end up right to right. We’re going to take it from an under arm turn with a hand change, but somehow you’re going to have to get right to right. So as we …
Transcript The elbow turn in East Coast Swing comes from a closed position. It looks like this. Triple step, triple step, rock step, grab the elbow, turn around, rock step, grab the elbow, turn around, rock step, and you’re back into closed position. What we’re doing here is a type of tuck turn. We’re going …
Transcript The east coast swing barrel role; It is going to come off of your underarm turn with a hand change. So, we are going to go, triple step, triple step, rock step. You are going to end up right to right. You are going to do some kind of underarm with a hand change, …
Transcript The Bowtie, or also known as the cross arm slide in East Coast Swing looks like this. Triple step, triple step, rock step, triple, triple step, rock step, triple step, triple step, rock step. So what you’re going to do is take your basic triple step, triple step, rock step. You’re going to lift …
Transcript The East Coast Swing under arm turn with a hand change comes from open position, looks like this. Triple step, triple step, rock step, triple step, triple step, rock step. So what we’ve done is a basic under arm turn from the open position. We’ve gone triple step, triple step, rock step. Same prep …
Transcript The wrap in, wrap out in East Coast Swing starts from an open position. What’s going to happen is your left hand is going to go up, your right hand is going to go down. So we’ll show it to you first. We’re going to go, triple, triple step, rock step, wrap her up, …
Transcript The left side pass in East Coast Swing. We call it a left side pass because she passes by my left side, but she does not go underneath an arm. You can do this from closed position or you can do it from open position. We’ll show you both, but first from open. We …
Transcript The under arm turn in East Coast Swing. So, it looks like this. We’re going to start from what we call an open position. That’s a two hand hold. We’re going to go triple step, triple step, rock step, triple step, triple step, rock step. So what you’re going to do is take your …
Transcript The she-he turn, or she turns, he turns for East Coast Swing. We start from the open position, much like you would do for an under arm turn. We’re going to go triple step, triple step, same step on the rock step that you would do for the under arm turn, rock step. She …
Transcript East Coast Swing, one of the first styles of swing taught at ballroom studios here in America. What we’re going to start off with is your triple steps. I’m going to start left, Nicola is going to start right. We’re going to go step, together, step, then to the other side, step, together, step. …
Transcript All right, let me show you what a stag leap looks like. Let’s break it down. So, you prep for the stag lead. Set right, left. Nice turn to opposition. The right leg brushes through first into a front attitude. The arms lift up. The back leg is going to push off the floor, …
Transcript So, what is jazz funk dance? Well, as jazz and dance progresses, choreographers and, you know, just people on the street want to try to fuse things together and transform them in their own way. So jazz funk originated, um, as an expression or a fusion of hip hop and jazz coming together as …
Transcript Alright. Now, I’d like to teach you what a chaine leap is. We start again in a nice fondu tondu. Big tombe. Tombe is important, because it helps you with power and strength and control. Then you do a down chaine. So it’s a parallel chaine. Our knees are bent. Body is pulled up. …
Transcript Alright, here are a couple of my favorite old school jazz funk moves. The first one is a little rock step. Let’s do the lower body first. Up, up, down, down, up, up, down, down, up, up, down, down. The upper body rocks it out with the shoulders. Let’s put it together. And we’re …
Transcript Hi, my name is Liz Piccoli and I am an SDC Associate Director/Choreographer and today I’m here as jazz expert to talk to you a little bit about myself and my experience. I grew up in my mothers very small dance studio in Elmer, New Jersey and she would take me up to New …
Transcript Here are some arm styling coordination exercises. We’re gonna start out in a nice deep second position and plie, arms go in, elbows down, up and open. Reverse. Up, down, open and out. Then I alternate them. One arm up, both elbows down, other arm up, extend both arms out. Reverse. One arm up, …
Transcript Now I’m going to demonstrate a calypso leap. You start out in fondu tendu into a nice kick and an attitude. Let me break that down for you. The arms first, so through first and then stretch all the way back into a while you’re in the air. The position of the leap looks …
Transcript I’ll begin by telling a little story about how I used to come up to New York City when I was seven years old and I would take dance class with one of the greatest jazz masters on Earth. His name is Luigi. Luigi had a studio at that point in Carnegie Hall and …
Transcript So how to find a good jazz dance competition. Most competitions that are out there do have a jazz division which is fairly strong. I think a good way to pick a good jazz dance competition would be to look at their panel of judges and see if they have a jazz background in …
Transcript Alright, now I am going to teach you a short combination that is going to make you look exactly like Christina Aguilera in “Burlesque.” This one’s a lot of fun, so let’s get our “Burlesque” ensemble on. Alright. You’re gonna step with your right; our arms are gonna roll and snap. Then, left, roll, …
Transcript Alright, I’d like to show you what a pas de bourrée looks like. You’re right leg starts from the side, we’re doing a pas de bourrée. Back, side, front. And back, step side, step front. It’s a three step movement. One more time. One, two, three. One two, three. We want to go up, …
Transcript Picking jazz music to dance to is a very personal thing. I would like to share a little bit with you about how I do it. I remember growing up in South Jersey, but I would always go to visit my grandfather down in Florida. He was a huge big band man, he was …
Transcript Jazz dance originated in the 1800’s with the African Americans who were brought over to America on the slave ships. And it was, you know, an expression of their emotion and their physicality. They started using isolations and body movements that were indicative of their culture. From them, New Orleans developed this great jazz …
Transcript Now I like to show you a brief combination from all that jazz. Another wonderful Fosse choreography, jazz choreography. Alright, here we go. We’re gonna start in a nice deep cliche, leg is turned out. Your in a cliche. 1, 2, 3, 4 you do a slow head roll to the right on 5, …
Transcript Now, I’m going to break down a triple turn for you. You can also do a quad or five or six turns, but let’s start out with a triple. Ball-change, parallel prep, then you’re going to push up into the passé, and you’re going to do three rotations in consecutive order. The arm is …
Transcript Now I’m going to demonstrate some jazz turns for you. We’re going to go over the sutanu, a sutanu pique turn, and chaine turn. Let’s start with a sutanu. You start in a nice fondu tendu, right leg is stretched, left leg is in a fondu. Sutanu is like a corkscrew. You step out, …
Transcript Now I’m gonna teach you the triplet step. Nice and easy, and this is a great exercise to do for young dancers across the floor. Starts out to the side, you’re taking three steps moving forward, starting with the right, arms are pressing up and down. Step up on your toe, up on your …
Transcript Lyrical jazz dance is a personal expression to the music. It incorporates elements of technique and traditional jazz but is much more expressive and intuitive. Often you are creating a dramatic pattern or you’re creating something that is personal to you in a way. Good lyrical choreographers such as Lea Michele and Travis Wall, …
Transcript All right I’m gonna show you a jazz advanced combo that I like to do across the floor. It goes like this. Your gonna start with your right foot, on you right foot left leg extended. Cross on the one turned out. You’re gonna do a drag on the two. You’re gonna do a …
Transcript Now I’m going to show you a passé. There’s two versions. You can either do a turned-out version or a parallel. Passé looks like this. The baby toe is connected to right underneath the kneecap and the knee is turned out to the side. The other leg, just like that. Knee nice and turned …
Transcript I’m going to break down a couple of basic jazz dance terms for you. The first one is a pirouette. Here we go. You start with the preparation. Arms are in a nice L position, you step back with your right leg, ball, change, nice deep plié into the ground, you push off your …
Transcript Another great Jazz move is the Jazz drag step. I’ll show you what it looks like. And you’re going to start out with your right foot extended. Then go up on your releve, drag and cross over on the step. And that’s a drag step. Let me break it down a little bit with …
Transcript Now I’d like to show you what a sashay looks like. Sashays are great to prep for leaps, and it’s a great way to teach children how to plie into the floor, and use the floor and your feet as a traveling step. Here’s how to break it down. Let me show you what …
Transcript The grand battement is a big kick, and I’m going to teach you a couple of exercises that help to strengthen the battement. First one, you’re going to start in first position, arms lifted, and tendu right, flex it, tendu, close back in first. Then we’re going to do one degajé, which means disengage …
Transcript All right very key element to the Jazz technique is the isolations. I´m going to teach you how to isolate three parts of your body right now: the head, the shoulders and the hips. Start in neutral, then you go in first, open, second, open, nice deep plié, that’s your stance to start these …
Transcript Alright, a very traditional jazz old school move is the hitch kick. Let me show you what it looks like. You can also do it on the other side. Some people are righties, some people are lefties. Let me break it down. So you start with the tombe, which is a nice lunge, and …
Transcript Now I’m gonna demonstrate a ball-change-cross. Arms pressed up, we step out. Ball-change-cross, ball-change-cross. Let me break that down for you. You’re gonna step out with your right leg, arms lifted, up on the ball of your toe. That’s why they call it a ball. I’ve seen a lot of these done incorrectly and …
Transcript Alright, now this is a contraction. A very traditional jazz move. Contraction. You’re making a C shape with your core. Your shoulders are pressed down. And open. You can also incorporate an expansion with a contraction. So this is a contraction and then an expansion is chest open and limp in towards the sky. …
Transcript Now, I’m going to show you what an axel turn looks like. Starting in fondu tendu, and chaines, axel. Let me break that down for you. Starting in fondu tondu, first position, tendu devant, fondu or melt, the left supporting leg. Chaines in parallel position. You start with a tombe. Nice big lunge. Then …
Transcript Okay. Now I’m going to demonstrate what a hip walk looks like. Arms pressed back. Up on your toes. And we rock, hip, hip, hip, hip. So that’s a stylized jazz walk. And now I’m going to break it down and explain exactly how it’s done. Your arms are going to be pressed back …
Transcript Okay, now let me show you how to do a fan kick properly. Start with a fendu tendu and you go tombe, shan, fan kick. Fan kicks can be on releve in either force start with a fendu or with a stretched leg. You can do them with a pique as well. Let me …
Transcript OK, now let me break down a very easy jazz step for you. Beginner, basic, pivot step. OK, you’re going to step on the right and pivot, and step on the right, and pivot. This is a great step to teach kids how to weight change. You can also do it on the left. …
Transcript Now I’m going to show you a jazz layout. I think jazz layouts are one of the most beautiful steps in jazz, and they’re not done that often anymore. So you guys should definitely start bringing the jazz layout back. Here’s how it’s done. You’re going to step on your left foot in a …
Transcript This is a short jazz combo of steps that you can use. We’re going to start out with a ball change. The arm is going to extend out to the right and ball change the weight, cross with the right leg, reverse to the left. Ball, change, cross. Very nice. Let’s repeat that one …
