Posts in Tag: vernacular jazz

Have you seen that viral video with a crazy girl in a black and white stripy shirt and black skirt, smoking an imaginary cigarette and doing those crazy fast feet moves? Have you wondered what is this dance: jitterbug, shuffle, loose leg, lindy hop?  It's 20s Charleston and Ksenia Parkhatskaya with the undone belt and […]

One of the most common questions from my students in secrets of solo online dance school is how to make the dance more interesting. My advice is to work on contrasts! Contrast can be a quality applied to a single move or a whole dance, as well it is a tool for choreographing and instantly […]

Apprendere la storia della danza jazz, del Lindy hop e delle discipline ad esso correlate, è fondamentale per poter riconoscere, accettare e rispettare la tradizione. Sapere da dove provengono il tap, il solo jazz, lo shag …, quali sono le loro origini e come si sono modificati nel tempo, è nostra responsabilità come ballerini e […]

The history of social dancing in the United States is very rich. Most of us heard of Lindy Hop or swing dancing. Though there were many amazing dance forms in combination with Jazz music, that dominated the cultural landscape in America in the first half of the 20th century. In this blog I will make […]

Jazz dance is an umbrella term collecting many styles. Jazz dance has been constantly evolving, changing with time depending on who, where and to which music it was danced. In this blog we will overview 7 solo jazz dance styles and branches such as Buck and Wing, Strut, Eccentric dance, Charleston, Black Bottom, Broadway Jazz […]

Solo jazz is one of the best ways to help you improve your Lindy Hop. Lindy hop is a partnered dance that gives a lot of freedom to each partner. Even when dancing in close position or in a break away or swing out, there is so much freedom to improvise and express the music […]

The Charleston dance was "The King of dances" in 20th century and had a huge influence on American culture.  In this blog you can find out different ways of how to do the dance, its technique and footwork. Charleston dance history Charleston is a name of the city, dance style, step and song. Scholars attribute […]

Any of us that dance swing surely love the Charleston dance! But so few of us know the history, where the dance originated. Although we all have an image of white rich flapper girls, dancing the charleston, smoking cigarettes and smiling on screen, do we really know who invented the first steps that came to […]

(Solo) Jazz dance is an umbrella term collecting many dancing styles with different history. Let’s clarify a very common and equally most confusing topic of what is the difference between vernacular, authentic, modern and solo jazz dance. This way we can understand the characteristics and history behind each better. To be proficient in any specific […]

If you are a beginner, to improve your turns in solo jazz, first you need to focus on the basic techniques of turns. Preparation and spotting are the 2 most important elements of turning. In this blog you will discover the essential tips for improving your turns. If it doesn’t look easy it is that […]

“Flippant flapper, trim and dapper, naughty, haughty, chic man-trapper. All together now, boys, ‘Has she got IT? Well, I guess. Clara! Clara! Yes! Yes! Yes!’ ” The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio Flappers made huge leaps forward in economic, sexual and political freedoms for women. Colleen Moore, Clara Bow and Louise Brooks were the 3 […]

Solo Jazz dance has gone through many changes over the years, but learning the origins of the classic and popular solo jazz dance steps is key to growing as a jazz dancer. Here I give a brief overview of the history of some of the most popular and still used solo jazz dance steps. Jazz […]

A history of jazz dance and historic perspective helps us acknowledge tradition. Where jazz dance, and it’s related styles of Lindy hop, solo jazz, tap, shag etc. come from and pay respect to its origins and community. When we talk about jazz dance we need to talk about the cultural history of jazz dance, we […]

Discover how to improve your solo jazz dance with 3 essential habits. Learn how to improve and help you refine your solo jazz movement and style. 1. Film yourself, film yourself, film yourself The great Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in their latter years would spend large parts of a studio budget on months of pre-production […]

Whether you are a professional dancer or it’s your hobby to dance solo jazz and swing dance styles, it’s so important to know how to keep your body injury-free. In this blog, I am going to talk about tips and routines to take care of your body before, during and after the dance to jazz […]

If every time before going on stage you feel nervous, have performance anxiety, or are even ready to call the whole thing off, and you want to conquer this feeling, here are my thoughts. The 3 basics I have been performing on stage since the age of 6. Many people around me, my students, colleagues […]

Here are 6 major tips and ideas that will help you work towards a wholesome solo jazz dance choreography rather than create just another combination of some classic jazz steps rearranged in a different way. To make sure that each decision in your choreography is a choice and you are saying something with it it […]

Allow me to share something precious that helps me improve my jazz dancing every day. I took it from my own experience of studying dance every single day since I was 6 years old as well as diving into Jazz culture for the last 8 years. 7 essential tips for learning & growing, finding your voice & style in an improvisation – based Jazz dance forms.

Today I am very excited to launch our new community sharing platform for all members. Jam Circle is a modern, adaptable forum-style website that is designed to serve as a companion to the "Secrets of Solo" online courses, connect our Members with chat and sharing facilities, and provide a place where I can interact and provide direct feedback to you, my awesome members!

Everything we do in solo jazz dances is an improvisation, unless it’s a performance or choreography. We are going to look closer now on how to actually practice it. There is an ocean of things to practice in solo jazz dance styles. Again, limit yourself. Don’t practice everything. Everything means you won't really improve significantly […]

My students very often are interested if I practice solo jazz dance: what, how and how often. I am a solo jazz dancer, that’s my life, love and profession. Oh yes, I practice. It’s the best way to discover things and improve. I practice solo jazz dance physically and mentally. As often as I can. […]

This Jazz Improvisation is the result of 2h musicality training with my husband and musician/ composer - David Duffy and one of the greatest musicians of all times, a pure and endless inspiration Oscar Peterson. David was directing my dance by guiding through the music. Teaching me how to listen to music, what to hear […]

Many people ask me about my dance shoes. Which brand I use, where I buy them... I will tell you my secret. I design my dance shoes myself and have them made in a theatre shoe workshop in St - Petersburg. When I started dancing Swing & Charleston in 2011, I was trying to find […]

Are you ready to push your Charleston dance to the next level? In this extensive videos series I will be breaking down techniques and steps from the legendary Charleston dance of the 1920’s. Each chapter tackles one Charleston topic, showing different patterns, variations and styling within. 9 Chapters, over 40 videos, 2+ hours of content! Learn some of Ksenia’s step variations and get inspired by the immense world of creativity that jazz brings.

Introducing: Membership at KseniaParkhatskaya.com. Due to an overwhelming amount of positive feedback to my performances and classes, I have decided to add Membership options to my website. Members will receive regular Emails with tips, videos, links, discounts and other great offers. Basic membership is free!