Mackenzie1

Domenica Mackenzie
November 3rd, 2014
Paper 2 Final Draft
Jam It Out
Greetings fellow college dancers! Are you currently looking for a way to continue
feeding your passions for dance? Well, if so, I have some great news for you! Theres this little
hole in the wall dance studio in West Palm Beach Florida that is simply the bees knees. Its
called Megajam Dance Company. They provide classes to dancers with varying levels of
experience ranging from novice to expert. Not to mention, the pricing per class is fairly
inexpensive which is great for us broke college kids.
Since the studio is relatively unknown to the greater public, there isnt really a problem
with stuck u bratty children who take up activities because theyre bored or want to make
themselves seem cooler. The only way to really find out about this studio is to know a dancer, a
staff member/choreographer, or just stumble across it. Nevertheless, everyone at the studio is
extremely welcoming and treats everyone like family. If you do decide to join, youll fall right
into place with other dancers and see that youve found a second home.
Methods:
I was a dancer at Megajam Dance Company for about 7 years. I took a plethora of
different styled classes, but I will be focusing on Pointe, Hip hop, Swing, and the competition
team. I choose to focus on these because theyre personal favorites and encompass a wide variety
of dance techniques and teaching styles. Having gone to the studio and taken these classes

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myself, I can say that Im qualified to present information about the studio. I plan to put the
activity theory to use when conducting this analysis.
Pointe:
Pointe is essentially advanced ballet. The title Pointe was obtained because the dancers
gracefully move about on the points of their toes. Peersonally, I enjoy pointe because it feels as if
Im floating. Pointe is such a beautiful and elegant dance and it makes me feel like Im shooting
beams of radiance from my body onto anyone who watches. Im simply amazed at how pointe
looks so delicate and lovely, yet requires such strength and endurance.
A person can only be as good as their instructor, correct? Well, if thats the case, thank
goodness Megajam has Christian Antonio as a Pointe instructor. Christian has about 15 years of
experience with this style and has worked with famous ballerinas such as Misty Copeland and
Polina Seminova. Every instructor has their own way of going about teaching and setting rules.
Christian happens to be a stickler for his few rules. Those rules happen to be stay in dress code at
all times (pink pointe shoes, pink tights, black leotard, tight ballet but with no hair falling
anywhere in your face, and no makeup or skin markings of any kind), always be on time, and
never say that something cannot be done. The punishment for breaking these rules is Christian
kicking you out of the class. If you get kicked out too many times then you become un-enrolled
in the class. Christian is a phenomenal teacher, but he doesnt play any games.
Christian is Megajams only instructor for this style, so the classes he teaches range from
beginner ballet courses to expert pointe classes. Each class usually consists of himself, his
assistant Damien, and about 16 dancers (8 males and 8 females). Each dancer has a partner of the
opposite sex for when he goes over or incorporates pas de deux. The class consists of Christian

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meticulously going over the routine with his dancers before having Damien take over and
watching his dancers to see what exactly needs to be worked on. Sometimes his classes can be
pretty intense and straining, but the experience youll gain makes it so worth it.
Hip Hop:
Hip hop is generally street style dances such as popping, locking, and breaking set into
rhythmic movements. Hip hop is one of the more upbeat and energetic styles of dance making it
one of the more popular styles. Being that its such a popular style, Megajam has 3 instructors to
teach dancers with different experience and skill levels. Anderson Price teaches the basic level
classes to dancers just beginning the style. The woman who teaches the intermediate level
dancers is Jacklyn Woods. Finally Miss Jasmine Porter is the instructor for the advanced hip hop
class.
Ive never actually taken one of Andersons classes, but I have aided him in his teaching
process and I must say that his class is a great place to begin your career as a hip hop dancer. He
has about 20 dancers in his class at a time and theres usually one or two dancers from their
intermediate or the advanced class helping him out. Anderson is very mellow and extremely
patient with all of his dancers.
Jacklyn Woods is a very strange mixture of intense and laid back. By this I mean that
there isnt too much that shell get on you for, but her class is pretty fast paced. Theres about
25-30 dancers in her studio at any given time. She goes about teaching by showing everyone a
breakdown of the moves twice, then showing them the dance while the class follows along a few
more times, and then making each dancer show her the moves on their own before going over the

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dance again. The advanced instructor, Jasmine, Likes to watch these little solo moments to
recruit dancers for her class.
Speaking of Jasmine, her class is actually just full on intense. Shes about as strict and as
tough as a ballet instructor. That may be a little discouraging, but trust me when I say that is you
have enough skill to be picked to be in her class then its nothing that you cant handle. Her class
has about 10 dancers in it and they are all chosen based of their skills, attitude, and
determination. Jasmine usually goes about teaching by marking through the routine once, going
through the moves a few times at normal pace, and then leaves the dancers to show her what they
can do. She doesnt do this to see what needs to be worked on or whos messing up. Jasmine
does this to see who will keep going.
Swing:
Swing dance is fluid movements to the swinging style of jazz music. Its a very lively
style of dance that usually involves partners being lifted, spun, and flipped. Even though the style
of swing is so energized, it isnt too popular. That being said, Megajam only offers one class and
its taught by the lovely duo of Dominique Vasquez and Richard Tabitha. They are the most laid
back people I have ever met. Their approach to teaching this wonderfully gleeful style of dance
is to calmly go over individual steps with each set of partners until they get the gist of what
theyre supposed to be doing after marking through the routine themselves. There are 8 dancers
in their class (4 couples) which enables them to have this one on one time with their dancers.
That, in turn, really helps with improving on technical skills and the overall fluidness of the
dance routine.

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Competition Team:
Being on the competition team is pretty different from just dancing in the studio. In the
studio, youre mostly working on improving yourself as a dancer and your technical skills, but
on a team there is more of a sense of community. Magajams dance team consists of 30 dancers
(18 females and 12 males). The only genre that has a competition team at this point is hip hop,
but they are working on creating one for Contemporary dance as well.
The competition team is run by none other than the advanced hip hop instructor Jasmine
Porter. The team practices twice a week and attends a mandatory conditioning session once a
month. To get on the team you must already be taking classes at the studio, audition for Jasmine,
and then make it through choreography. If you can do that then youve got a secure spot on the
team. The team does travel around to different parts of Florida and sometimes goes out of state to
compete. Since that can get pricey, the team usually hold fundraisers to lower the traveling
expenses.
Come Join Us:
If any of what I have said has even slightly peaked your interest, you should give
Megajam a try. You dont have to have any formal training, just a want to learn to dance. There
are classes every day of the week and everyone is welcome to come in and experience a free trial
class for every style offered. For more information or if you have any questions, contact the
owner Kelly Hood by email at megajamdancecowpb@gmail.com.