Middle School Tryouts for 2020-2021 Season

To: All WBD Middle School Tryout Participants (Current 4th-7th Graders)

Re: 2020-2021 Competition Season

Please complete and submit one Google Registration Form per dancer (not one per family). For virtual tryouts this year, dancers are to wear all black, have hair tied neatly back or in a bun. No jewelry; no gum. Dancers should confidently introduce themselves (name, school & grade going into this fall) at the beginning of their videos. Immediately after introductions, dancers are to perform all five tryout routines (Ballet/Jazz/Kick/Hip-Hop/*Pom) from **memory before showing the judges any extra skills they want to include (walkover, handspring, calypso, etc.). **Dancers are not allowed to watch YouTube videos during tryouts. Video submissions should be emailed to westbenddanceteam@gmail.com. on or before Friday, May 29, 2020. If you get a message that the attachment is too large, please upload your video to Google Drive and then send the sharing link in an email to westbenddanceteam@gmail.com. GOOD LUCK & THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN WEST BEND DANCE! *Poms must be used during the pom tryout routine. If you need to borrow a set of poms, please call Mrs. Nienow (262-483-9488) to set up a date/time to checkout poms.

The Ballet Technique Exercise/Routine that will be included in this year's tryout was already posted on April 5. I'm including links (below for both the extended and condensed versions) for these as well.

For the Hip-Hop portion of this year's tryouts, we will be using the first five 8-counts of the NDA Virtual Tryout Hip-Hop Routine (links included below). The entire hip-hop routine consists of nine 8-counts, but you will be performing for us judges the first five 8-counts followed by your own four 8-counts of hip-hop choreography which must include (at least): one floor trick (knee slide/collapse/kick out/spin on your knee/etc.), foot work (toe-heal variations/ gliding/criss-cross/etc.), one hip-hop style jump (see Google Images for ideas), one freeze/stall/pose (shoulder/elbow/forearm/turtle/etc.), and one tumbling trick (kip up/forearm cartwheel get up/headspring/rubberband [advanced skill]/gymnastics skill/etc.).

The Jazz Tryout Routine requires dancers to have knowledge of the following ballet terms/execution of the skills: FIVE BASIC POSITIONS OF THE FEET (turned out), PLIÉ [plee-AY], ATTITUDE TURN, ROND DE JAMBE [rawn duh zhahnb] “round of the leg”, PIQUÉ TURN [pee-KAY], CHAÎNÉS [sheh-NAY] “chains”, SAUTÉ [soh-TAY] “jump”, CHASSÉ [sha-SAY] “chase”, and TEMPS DE FLÉCHE [tahn duh flesh].

For the Pom Tryout Routine, we [judges] will be looking for sharpness, technique, rhythm & timing, knowledge of routine, showmanship/stage presence, facials (not just smiling), confidence, power & quality of movement, energy, and ...that you're having fun!

The Kick Tryout Routine requires dancers to demonstrate the following: straight/tall body (your body doesn't bend forward above the waist), pointed toes, strong, straight supporting/base leg...do not bend supporting knee, your support heel stays on the floor. In addition to these, judges will watch for: foot closure, head position, shoulder position, posture, hip alignment, control, leg extension, height of kick, and confidence. Be sure to always take time to warm up and stretch before working on perfecting your kick technique/form!

Keep on Dancing,

Mrs. Nienow & Mrs. Reisdorf

Dance Tryout Links:

BALLET TECHNIQUE EXERCISES~

HIP-HOP ROUTINE~

JAZZ TRYOUT ROUTINE~

POM TRYOUT ROUTINE~

KICK TRYOUT ROUTINE~

ALL FIVE TRYOUT ROUTINES (IN THIS ORDER...Ballet/Jazz/Kick/Hip-Hop/Pom)~