Research: Philip Cheebs

Phillip Chbeeb has had no formal dance training, but he began dancing when he was 15 years old. At age 16, he found the Marvelous Motion Studio in Houston. He is currently an engineering physics major at Loyola Marymount University.
Born on November 30, 1988, Phillip (nicknamed PacMan) is a dancer residing Los Angeles but was originally from Houston, Texas. In So You Think You Can Dance, he was previously partnered with contemporary dancer Jeanine Mason who turned out to be the winner, until week 5, when Phillip was eliminated. An announcement by executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said that Phillip and the female dancer also eliminated in week 5, Caitlin Kinney, would be going on tour with rest of the crew.
Phillip had previously auditioned for the show during season three, but was cut in Vegas Week. He returned in season four and once again made it to Vegas, but contracted pneumonia and was unable to compete. He later danced on the season finale against Robert Muraine.
Phillip's quote on dancing: "I started dancing around 15 years old, actually, pretty late. Instantly fell in love with hip hop dance and popping, mostly just 'cause it seemed like almost unreal what some of the people could do. It seemed almost unnatural, and I really kind of enjoyed the creativity that was in the art form, so, I jumped into that, and I've just been trying to progress and get better ever since then. For me there wasn't necessarily a performance that stood out as my first performance, 'cause I was just one of those kids that danced at the school dance and just tried to break it down in circles. I think my first battle as a popper, I think was one of the biggest experiences for me, because it was just a funny experience for me. I wore clothes that were way too big for me the entire time, and it was just the first confrontation with the one-on-one battle kind of mentality, trying to out-do the other person, and, I don't know, it was just a crazy experience for me."
I came across Philip Cheebs back when I used to watch America Best Dance Crew and I fell in love with his crew I aM mE, back then I used to go to my hip hop dance classes. One time I was talking to our tutor about a dance seminar he went to in Czech republic. He mentioned that he met Philip Cheebs as he was doing master classes there, I was so fascinated I decided I wanted to go to that seminar. However the only way to get a ticket there is to win it in a dance battle cup which i participated in but never won anything, so far it remained a dream. Anyway Cheebs does contemporary choreography as well as hip hop and I might just take some ideas from his work.

The thing I like about this choreography is that it takes these formation ideas from robotic pop and lock dances where dancers create shapes using their hands and legs making very precise movements.
A good example of popping would be poreotix, their famous for this specific type of dance:

 So its nice to see some hip hop tendencies merge with contemporary dance. This gave loads of inspiration for building my choreography for the final year project.

Research: Sonya Tayeh

Sonya Tayeh is a dance teacher and jazz and contemporary choreographer from Detroit, Michigan best known for being a choreographer on the television series So You Think You Can Dance. I have always been a great fan of SYTYCD and that is where I found out about Tayeh. Her work feels so genuine and from a real place, most of the times she tend to take a dark approach to emotions. But she seems to always push the dancers to emote something so real, I always feel a true stroy when watch any of her choreographies.

This routine literally gives me goosebumps every time. I love it how the dance is so soft, vounerable and broken at the same time. Overall It just felt like physical poetry. I liked the way Nigel Lithgoe talked about the architecture of dance and the poetry of it being melded together in this piece. In 1.22 the extension of the side arabesque and the little break of the shape mid movement and since it seems to come from the core of the body it gave it this exuding emotion of pain. The feet breaking the lines of the legs as opposed to classical ballet extensions that look so graceful, in this routine give it a more expressive feel.

Another routine that I really like by Tayeh is pop drop and roll. It was fun and playful routine themed as geisha dolls, the exaggerated grace to point where it seems almost clumsy, the little bobble head movement in the end, the posy popping moves, straight posture, necks extended to infinity. Just in general a really cool  fun and quirky routine

Research: Contemporary dance

As soon as I had the song for the project I knew that I wanted contemporary choreography. So might as well research it!

Contemporary dance is a dance performance genre that developed during the mid twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in the U.S. and Europe. Although originally informed by and borrowing from classical, modern, and jazz styles, it has since come to incorporate elements from many styles of dance.Due to its technical similarities, it is often perceived to be closely related to modern dance, ballet and other classical concert dance styles.

In terms of the focus of its technique, contemporary dance tends to combine the strong and controlled legwork of ballet with modern dance's stress on the torso, and also employs contract-release, floor work, fall and recovery, and improvisation characteristic of modern dance.Unpredictable changes in rhythm, speed, and direction are often used, as well. It sometimes also incorporates elements of non-western dance cultures such as elements from African dance including bent knees, or movements from the Japanese contemporary dance Butoh.

• Contemporary dance does refuse the classical ballet's leg technique in favor of modern dance's stress on the torso
• Contemporary dance is not necessarily narrative form of art
• Choreography that appears disordered, but nevertheless relies on technique
• Unpredictable changes in rhythm, speed, and direction
• Multiple and simultaneous actions
• Suspension of perspective and symmetry in ballet scenic frame perspective such as front, center, and hierarchies
• Creative freedom
• "Independence between dance and music"
• Dance to be danced, not analyzed

There is usually a choreographer who makes the creative decisions. He/she chooses whether the piece is an abstract or a narrative one. Dancers are selected based on their skill and training. The choreography is determined based on its relation to the music or sounds that is danced to. The role of music in contemporary dance is different from in other genres because it can serve as a backdrop to the piece. The choreographer has control over the costumes and their aesthetic value for the overall composition of the performance and also in regards to how they influence dancers’ movements.