This summary focuses on the paper by Worthen-Chaudhari et al. (2019) titled “Partnered, adapted Argentine tango dance for cancer survivors: A feasibility study and pilot study of efficacy.” This article is an explanation of the study that the authors conducted on cancer patients who have undergone chemotherapy treatment. The main concern with these treatments is the neurological effect that they have and the adverse impact on postural control and peripheral neuropathy. To address this issue, practitioners have developed several types of exercises that would train the patients’ muscles. However, Worthen-Chaudhari et al. (2019) offer training based on the Argentine tango dance adapted to address these adversities. Hence, over the course of this study, the authors evaluated the effect of the adapted Argentine Tango on the cancer patient’s neurological function.
Twenty-two cancer patients were enrolled in this study, and each participated in a one-hour dance class twice a week. In total, 16 classes were offered to the participants, and the efficacy of this approach was measured by examining the center of pressure. The results suggest that the adapted Argentinian Tango is a feasible measure for cancer patient survivors to address their postural control difficulties after treatment. The current study by Worthen-Chaudhari et al. (2019) is the first to assess Tango as a community-based exercise practice for cancer survivors, including those with substantial postural control impairments. The hypotheses were proven correct, and the authors provided empirical evidence. A large number of survivors enthusiastically engaged in the 10-week intervention. Second, several measures of postural control improved in participants whose balance function was inadequate at baseline in comparison to established standards. Third, individuals who registered with a companion had a greater rate of attendance. Hence, the adapted Argentine Tango has proven to be an effective measure for addressing postural control in the cancer survivors population.
Analysis
The paper by Worthen-Chaudhari et al. (2019) relates to the view of healthcare from the perspective of the healer as an artist and scientist. This connection is the result of the researchers using art as a way of addressing a medical problem, which is the postural control of cancer survivors. In contrast to the approach they offered, one could use the standard exercises that were designed to help regain postural control. However, the researchers decided to examine the efficiency of an approach that would be more interesting and engaging, which is a dance. This combination of science and art has allowed them to find a more effective way of helping patients, as together with addressing their medical condition; they learned a new skill. This approach shows that healthcare is more than the prescription of medication and requires specialists to use their creative thinking skills to help patients.
This approach exemplifies the cultural-historical response because it allows engaging people in culturally significant activities. Hence, methods similar to the one examined in the study in question help enrich individuals culturally as well as address healthcare concerns. Over the course of history, art and health have been at the forefront of human attention. Despite this, and despite the invested effort and advancement of knowledge and understanding in each domain, it is intriguing that medical professionals frequently find themselves in a challenging situation when they encounter a combination of art and health and their societal value. The relationship between art and health, however, is evident in the way it allows to design of therapies that are more effective than traditional ones. In summary, the combination of art and health allows researchers and practitioners to find better approaches to treatment.
Reference
Worthen-Chaudhari, L., Lamantia, M., Monfort, S., Mysiw, W., Chaudhari, A., & Lustberg, M. (2019). Partnered, adapted argentine tango dance for cancer survivors: A feasibility study and pilot study of efficacy. Clinical Biomechanics, 70, 257-264. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2019.08.010
As we have already stated, the World of Dance is a unique event in the sphere of art that tries to attract the attention of people across the world. At the same time, it is focused on the youth as one of the most active categories of society. Young people prefer to lead an active lifestyle, which means that their participation in events like the World of Dance is part of their culture.
Therefore, regarding the fact that these very people comprise the target audience, there is a need for a specific pricing strategy that will be able to meet this categorys requirements and contribute to the involvement of numerous individuals. These factors introduce the following peculiarities of the pricing strategy. All participants who want to compete and attain success do not have to pay. It is a key aspect of the show, which attracts thousands of people from numerous states.
At the same time, it helps to popularize the event and guarantee a high level of interest to it as many individuals want to try their hands in dancing and become successful. Under these conditions, ticket sales and advertising become the main sources of income for World of Dance. However, there are also several factors that impact these aspects. First, the price of tickets could not be too high as the most active fans of the show should have an opportunity to visit a particular concert.
For this reason, the average price is about $30-50, which remains affordable for the majority of people interested in it (World of Dance). As for advertising, it is obviously a central issue that guarantees stable revenues. The fact is that any popular show attracts the attention of numerous potential investors and sponsors that could use it as a platform to promote their products and attract spectators attention to services these companies or organizations might suggest.
The high popularity of World of Dance and its significant impact on the target audience result in numerous contracts with investors who provide needed sums to support the show and guarantee its existence (Seidman). Under these conditions, due to the sponsors involvement, the World of Dance can introduce comparatively low prices for tickets and guarantee free participation for all individuals who feel they could do it. This well-thought-out pricing strategy results in the increased popularity of the show and helps organizers to preserve the high level of interest.
Another critical aspect of the marketing plan is the creation of an outstanding experience that will attract spectators and guarantee a high level of satisfaction. Regarding the peculiarities of World of Dance, it is crucial to ensure that the event contributes to the appearance of especially strong feelings along with emotions related to belonging to a specific subculture. Thus, the creation of experience includes such elements as creative expression, dancing, emotions, authenticity, openness, and connectivity.
In this regard, the World of Dance should introduce a multidimensional approach to the issue that encompasses all these elements and contributes to the increased levels of satisfaction among admirers of the show. First, the event should introduce and cultivate a unique culture peculiar only to it. At the moment, it is an outstanding adventure that attracts people by its spirit, emotions, and experience that could be gained only here.
It is essential for organizers to preserve this image and engage new participants by emphasizing this very fact. Moreover, dancing is art. For this reason, the strategic plan should include the elaboration of an authentic experience related to feelings that appear when looking at unique performances or unusual movements of dances. The world of Dance should also be ready to demonstrate its openness to people who want to become part of it and enjoy their belonging to this unusual event (Easter).
The next step in the creation of a unique experience is a successful combination of dance and music for spectators to enjoy a unique atmosphere and remain satisfied with the show. That is why organizers should try to combine popular songs with movements that will obviously attract peoples attention. Finally, World of Dance welcomes both skilled and famous dancers and people from YouTube for better competitiveness and amusement (Schaefer). In such a way, fans acquire an opportunity to watch professional dancers along with awkward performances, which is crucial for the atmosphere of the show and the creation of a particular experience.
Altogether, pricing strategy and creation of a unique experience remain basic elements of the marketing plan of the World of Dance. Organizers of the show should consider the peculiarities of the target audience when introducing prices for tickets and encouraging people to take part in the event. Additionally, they should devote much attention to the cultivation of a particular culture for spectators to be able to enjoy their belonging to this adventure. It could also help to create an outstanding experience encompassing dances, music, authenticity, openness, and readiness to cooperate. In such a way, by elaborating on these aspects of the marketing plan, World of Dance will be able to evolve and save its admirers.
This essay focuses on an essay that was written by Alice Walker. The essay focuses on the early part of her life as a child, a teenager and a young adult. During this time, she comes across a lot of challenges that affect her self-esteem, behaviour and relationship with herself and other members of the society.
As a result, her life changes drastically with the changes in her self-consciousness and the manner in which she deals with these encounters. The main aim of this essay therefore is to critically analyze the essay with the help of supporting evidences and apply the lessons learned on real life situation.
Presentation
With the help of her essay, Walker is able to write her own autobiography of her early years of life. She begins the essay by presenting her early years of life. The year is 1947 and she is two and a half years old. Her mother is busy preparing them for the county fair that her father only wants to take three of his eight children. This is because the car that he will use to take the children to the fair only has room for three.
Therefore, the one who look best or impress their father will get the chance. It is therefore the work of Alices mother to prepare all the eight children for her husband to pick the three. As they line up, Alice says, “Take me Daddy…I am the prettiest” (Walker 442). Being the last-born and the prettiest girl, Alice is chosen together with two other children.
As she continues with her essay, Alice also states that she was a bright child in both academic and performing arts. In 1950, she is picked again to give the Easter speech. Unlike the other children who stammer or forget their lines, Alice is fluent and eloquent. She also dresses magnificently and looks beautiful.
People therefore cannot help but comment that, “That girl is a little mess” (Walker 442). As she grows older, she gets to be a tomboy and dress on a cowboy outfit just like her brothers. The go to watch western films together and play cowboy games with his brothers. Here, they pretend as if they are cowboys who are hunting down Indian cattle rustlers.
However, things took a different turn when Alice reached 8 years of age. First, her father buys his brothers BB guns. Since she is a girl, her father cannot buy a gun for her. She therefore had to stick with the bow and arrow. This reduces her ranks in their playing games from a cowboy to an Indian.
Her brothers now shoot at her since she is an outlaw. From the tone of her voice, it is evident that she is not happy with her new character in the games (Walker 443). This is as a result of gender equality where females have always been viewed as a weaker sex in the society.
Alices fate then becomes worse when one of his brothers shoot him with his BB gun. She is shot on the eye and develops a serious injury. Her brothers come up with a lie to cover up the story of the real incident. However, her parents soon find out the truth and by the time that she is taken to the doctor (almost a week later), it is too late to save her eye.
She had developed a glob of white scar tissue on the spot where she was shot by her brothers BB gun. In addition, the eye cannot see at all. She becomes even more terrified when she hears the doctor saying, “If one is blind, the other will likely become blind too” (Walker 443).
The white globe and being blind on one eye seems to affect the character and self-esteem of Alice. All through her life, Alice had used her beauty to gain her happiness. It is due to the fact that she was pretty that she was chosen by her father to go to the fair. It is also due to her beauty that she was the best student in class and recited the Easter Sunday speech at ease.
Now that she only has one eye and a white globe, she cannot stare at people. She separates herself from her other siblings and children. This is because, whenever she wants to interact with them, they normally comment on her eye. This really hurts her feelings. To make the matters worse, they have to move into a new county.
The school that she goes to was once a prison and had an electric chair; this affects her thoughts and gives her nightmares. She is however forced to go back to her old church school where other children still make fun of her. One of them calls her, “…the one eyed bitch” (Walker 443). At school, she begins to perform poorly. It is only one teacher who understands her and treats her with respect.
During this time, her mother becomes very ill and she is afraid that she might die. In addition, her cousin comes to visit but since she has a low self-esteem, she hides. During all this time, Alice keeps on asking her family members if she had changed. They always tell her that she has not changed (Walker 443).
However, when she is 14 years old, the white globe is removed from her eye. She is therefore able to stare at people again. She becomes a bright student in class and manages to get the love of his dreams. Towards the end of her essay, it is evident that she is a successful woman in life. She is even able to see the beauty of the desert before she completely goes blind.
Her main fear is that her daughter, Rebecca will recent her for her disability but to her surprise, she stares at her on night and tell her, “Mommy, there is a world in your eye” (Walker 443). At this point, she realises that she has been resenting herself for all the wrong reasons. She is however glad that her daughter is not embarrassed by her physical disability.
Analysis and significance of the Essay
This essay presents how a small factor occurrence can change the life of an individual. There are many people who have been living normal lives but as a result of an injury, sickness or accidents, their lives have changed and their dreams have been shattered. This comes about as a result of a change in their lifestyles, character, self-esteem and relationship with other individuals.
Alices life changed once she got an injury on her eye. Her beauty, which was her advantage in life, was shattered. When she used to pray at night, she did not pray for sight but for beauty (Walker 443). This therefore shows how much she valued her beauty. The same theory applies to individuals who value a specific part of their life and lose it. A good example is Magic Johnson of the LA Lakers.
He was diagnosed with the HIV virus at the peak of his career. As a result, he had a difficult time accepting this fact. This made him retire from professional basketball. However, when he accepted his status and publicly announced it, he gained public support. He came back to the game and was chosen as an All Star player in 1996. It is therefore essential to believe in yourself no matter what.
Work Cited
Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. Michigan: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983. Print
The article called “Beyond Description: Writing beneath the Surface” presented by Deborah Jowitt raises a complex question concerning the role of descriptive writing in the criticism of that art of dance. According to Jowitt, in order to describe a dance properly the writer is to possess a variety of different skills allowing them to select appropriate metaphors, apply correct judgment, draw clever comparisons, and present dance from the point of view interesting for the readers.
The author of the article points out that the work of a writer describing such abstract action as dance is complicated by the fact that dance is rather difficult to depict on paper. While dance is a combination of athletic excellence, physical skills, movement, music, costume and shapes, it also includes a very strong emotional component, which is very difficult to pick up for a writer. Besides, each dance has its contents, since dance is a kind of storytelling where movement is employed to replace words. This way, the writer describing a certain dance is to transform into words the emotions turned into movement, which may not only be frustrating and confusing for the writer, but also differ from the emotional representation meant by the choreographers.
Another important aspect of the writing describing the art of dance mentioned by Jowitt is its target audience which includes several different groups of readers. The typical readers of descriptive and critical writing about dance are art critics, art appreciators, average spectators, and dance professionals such as choreographers and dancers. While average spectators wish to read vivid descriptions filled with emotional metaphors and comparisons, dance professionals view their art differently. Choreographers, for example, express the desire to read rather distanced reviews of their work, they want dance to be studied and examined similarly to film and art. This means that dance professionals want to be linked to modern trends in art, compared to other artists, and viewed in a more profound way intellectually. This demonstrates that for the professionals dance is not only a beautiful show or a way to express emotions, but a study, a complex of elements, notions and forms that needs to be accurately appreciated and mentioned.
Jowitt mentions different approaches towards the art of dance from the side of critics during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, when the tendency to psychoanalyze art gradually was replaced by the dramatic and emotional descriptions. The author also states that descriptive writing is not supposed to recreate dance on paper, neither should it be a detailed description of every motion of the dancer’s body. In her article Jowitt presents examples of dance descriptions attempted by a number of different critics and expresses her own opinion and perception of what it right and wrong in this complex occupation. The author also explores her own works written decades ago searching for the notions of ideas and description in them. Jowitt characterizes the approaches of each critic she cites and expresses her ideas about them. In a variety of styles of descriptive writing about the art of dance Jowitt searches for the ones that would be the most suitable for the expression of movement, emotional and symbolic contents of the dance, and professional perception and effort.
In the end of the article the author states that observation is the key to success for a writer, because it provides the writers with ideas that fit the ecosystem of art where all the categories and influences are interconnected.
A dance school is an institution that students interested in dancing can learn more about ballet, including rehearsal. Different dance schools provide a variety of dancing styles. In order to launch a new dance school in the US, it would be necessary to analyze the market. This would include in-depth assessment of various dance schools in the U.S. market, together with products and services offered. The U.S. dance schools offer a variety of classes in hip-hop, tap, jazz and musical theatre dance.
Julliard School
Based in New York, Julliard is a private dance school managed by President Joseph Polisi. Julliard School has approximately eight hundred colleges, which offers a variety of dances. Since its establishment in 1905, the institution has managed to offer training services to over 800 students in music, drama and dance across the US. Researches indicate that Julliard School admission rate for students has increased from 7.6% in the year 2007 to 8.0% in 2009.
However, in 2011 Julliard School admitted 5.6% of applicants. The institution has various collections including orchestras, chamber music, and jazz. Julliard School is focused on raising $300,000,000 to enable it sustain the market as regards to performing arts in the new decade.
Julliard advertises its services and products in various media for rising awareness, including journals such as those published by Random House and Norton. The New York Public Library also advertises services offered by Julliard School. Nevertheless, the institution has its website that assist in advertising services at the global level. The adverts of this organization normally target undergraduate and graduate students.
Ballet San Jose
Ballet San Jose is a dance organization that is currently situated in California, US. The institution was established with an aim of providing San Jose region with professional skills in dancing that is, in a way that honours the vision of various artists. The ballet offered by this school also aims at meeting the artistic standards, as well as fulfilling cultural requirements of the society it serves.
The advert made by this institution normally targets a wider audience. By the year 2007, Ballet San Jose had over 100 traditional and contemporary dances (Giddens 78). Directed by Dennis Nahat, the institution has dancers from various countries, including the U.S., Japan, Canada, Vietnam, and France, among others.
Presently, Ballet San Jose has over 450 students. The organization has for long targeted children at risk and young audiences. It advertises its services and products through various media such as New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle. In addition, a number of its advertisements are done via its official website.
Roland Dupree Dance Academy
Ronald Dupree Dance Academy is situated in Hollywood, US. It has attracted dancers across the world owing to the school’s variety of instructors from various fields including film, television and stage. In partnership with Mary Jean, Roland succeeded to open Dupree Casting that specializes in movie and television dancing.
Currently, Roland Dupree Dance Academy has invested in child acting facility referred to as the Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts. Ronald Dupree Dance Academy generally advertises its events and services through the New York Times since they believe it is the most effective medium of advertisement.
Strength and weakness
Although newspaper and journals are commonly used as mediums of advertisement, they are currently phased out by the internet. Many organizations are presently finding it more resourceful to advertise their services via websites since many customers are now accessing it (Dave 12).
One of the strengths of advertising services through the media is that they create awareness in the public hence increasing the profitability of the organization. One of the weaknesses is that advertising can be ineffective in case the correct medium is not used. This would amount to losses through the costs of advertising.
Works Cited
Dave, Evans. Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, 2010. Print.
Giddens, Anthony. The Consequences of Modernity. Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2009. Print.
The interrelation between dancing and writing is considered to be unobvious, mainly because they pertain to different types of activity – physical and mental. For the same reason, those studying dancing also overlook the potential of expressing themselves on paper, which is a useful way of mastering this art. Writing might help students to learn thinking and expressing their ideas through words in a clear and understandable manner, to channel their sensorial experience and share it with other people.
These skills are employed by people of all trades, and there is a shift in this approach as more and more professors arrange classes that include writing as an integral part of the practice. Four articles, reviewed here will present the examples of integration of writing into dancing, how dancers and professors use it in rehearsals and studying process, why dancing can be considered equal to academic writing, and how notation systems changed throughout history.
Dance Writing as a Part of Creative Process
The article “Rethinking Dance Writing” by Alys Longley gives an account of rehearsals of the dance project “The Little Peeling Cottage.” It is a vivid example of how writing can be used in the creative process both by a writer and a performer. Longley formed a duo with her collaborator Val Smith, where she was a performance writer and Smith was a performance dancer. According to Longley, “the logics of writing and dancing spilled into each other, engaging in a mode of precarious, creative and tangential translation” (2). While preparing the performance, Smith started improvising, and Longley watched her and made notes of gestures, associations, and surroundings, thus translating the actions into texts. Afterward, she read the notes aloud to her partner and the dancer repeated her improvisation following the text she listened to. For the duo writing became a method of dramaturgical process, it served as a link between two creators, where one expressed herself in bodily movements, and the other processed them into written words and speech. After that she built on the gathered ideas, the dancer again added what she heard into her actions, and that was how the exchange worked to compose a new project, through an “open improvisation between text and movement” (3). Longley admits that dance is more vulnerable than words because the latter reduces its many-folded subtle nature to an object and renders it still.
Apart from being a means for shaping the performance, the writings made in the rehearsal process contributed to the artist’s book. As stated in the article, “in the tradition of artists’ books, it is common practice to reuse an existing book form as part of the creation of a work’s specific logic” (8). Eventually, the writing did not only feed the creative process but later on was used as an element of the performance, enhancing the experience of spectators, possibly developing more new treatments for the dance and a rich concept of the production.
Dance Writing as a Part of Studying Process
Vida L. Midgelow explains how he introduced creative writing to dancing classes in his article “Sensualities: Experiencing/Dancing/Writing” published in the journal New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 10.1. He states that the purpose of the research was “seeking to find ways to articulate improvisation practices in relation to performance documentation” (10).
During the practice students were supposed to describe their feelings, ideas, surroundings, and circumstances during the improvisation tracing the flow of thoughts to different body parts and muscles, their sensations at every stage, and the movements resulting from all of the above. At first, the task was accomplished orally, and after that in the form of letters, where students addressed their practice as a person. The results revealed a number of specific themes in students’ works, the most common writing is related to actions, then physical sensations and choreographic patterns. Another recurring subject was memories and associations from the improvisation and other texts.
As a result, students were given a chance to take a deeper look at themselves, follow the motives behind their moves, note how their bodies react to the external stimulus, or, on the contrary, concentrate and ignore the outer circumstances. In the end, all of that gives room for learning and experimenting with their creative and physical abilities. Though the act of writing and naming such subtle processes might restrict the initial idea, hinder capturing the essence, and reduce the number of possible treatments, still, it can provoke in the reader their associations and new renderings. Bigelow concludes that “the act of writing, rereading and replaying writing/dancing enables a meta-experience of experience – a noting at the moment, and in reflection, the nature of a thing” (13).
Dance as an Academic Discipline
Donna Davenport in her article “Dance is Academic” published in the Journal of Dance Education focuses on the fact that dance as a college discipline is often underestimated. Everyone understands and appreciates the benefits of physical training and the value of artistic self-expression. However, according to Davenport, the academic side of dance is hardly acknowledged by wide audiences, which might be harmful to the students.
The author claims that “in dance courses you develop verbal language that reinforces your body’s knowledge” (34). In 1926 the first dance major included such subjects as history, science, and philosophy as part of the curriculum. Expressing complex concepts in movements equals speaking without words, and it can be observed when people watching the performance react to it, share their thoughts and feelings. This silent communication is made through the mind-body connection, and in its essence does not differ much from writing. Thus, students majoring in dance should not be viewed as those who have chosen an easy path, only because a great part of the labor behind a dance remains unseen.
Dance Writing in History
In the article “Folding the Moment – Writing Dance: A Few Sketches on Recording Dance Through Time” Andreja Kopač explores the attempts to fix and save dance throughout history. From the very beginning, she clearly states that “the area of contemporary dance contains all too many factors to allow that dance be recorded in a single, unified way, since every time we would opt for one way of recording it, another one, for this or another reason more important than the first, would immediately appear, and so on” (47). The art of tracing the language of movements started with choreology, which was a system of recording dance steps in ballet.
It followed the development of ballet from Italy and France to Russia until the second half of the 18th century. Later a new notation system developed by Vladimir Stepanov marked the peak of classical ballet and was even used in ballet schools in Europe, but in the end, it did not become a unified method for dance writing. The beginning of the 20th century brought to life technologies like photography and film which also coincided with the appearance of modernism.
Together they finally proved all the existing systems inefficient and put an end to the efforts to find a universal way of coding dance. This moment in history gave space to innovative ways of writing, particularly “the (auto)biographical recording of dance material in the form of sketches, notes, and other entirely arbitrary self-referential writings” (52). The author concludes that even if there is no single acknowledged system for writing, all of them are crucial for the survival of dance.
Conclusion
The four articles emphasize the interrelated nature of dancing and writing and the importance of this approach in mastering the art of dance. Davenport argues the academic nature of dance, as it is a highly intellectual activity similar to writing. Longley and Midgelow show ways of employing writing in rehearsals and class practices, which help dancers develop their body language. This “Dear Practice experiment” struck me most, and made me think about making something similar on our campus, for example, undergraduate writing contest. Though dance can be recorded on video as well as music, it will be a copy, not the original art.
It is the privilege of the written word to render dance accessible to wider audiences, even to people with visual impairments who can read or hear the writing of the performance. In essence, dance in writing translates sensorial experience with the help of a method that can exist through time and space and thus save it, leave room for reinterpretation, recreation, and new meanings.
Works Cited
Davenport, Donna. “Dance is Academic.” Journal of Dance Education, vol. 17, no. 1, 2017, pp. 34-36.
Kopač, Andreja. “Folding the Moment – Writing Dance: A Few Sketches on Recording Dance Through Time.” Maska, vol. 28, no. 159-160, 2013, pp. 46-53.
Longley, Alys. “Rethinking Dance Writing.” Dance Dialogues: Conversations Across Cultures, Artforms, and Practices, 2008.
Midgelow, Vida. “Sensualities: Experiencing/Dancing/Writing.” New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, vol. 10, no. 1, 2012, pp. 3-17.
Art is an inseparable aspect of any successful society. For a long time now, artists have passed down information in designs, carvings, architecture and drawings. Art is a vital instrument of passing information on feelings, emotions and opinions.
Studying art in school for students has the following benefits.
Personal Expression in Various Media
Students who have studied art find it easy and even fun to say what they feel wherever and whenever they want to. They, for instance, know what pictures communicate what message, what choice of words to use during parties as opposed to sorrowful times.
Understanding History
Where come from is as important as where we are and where we are going too. Studying art gives a student the best opportunity to understand the past, the present and even forecast the future analyzing the evolution of art designs.
Design and Computer Graphics
Most work today is done using computer soft wares and applications. It is however important to keep in mind that the basics of computer graphics and the mechanisms of drawing them do not differ from the actual artwork of Designing, Drawing and sculpting. By studying art in school therefore, students have a competitive advantage in the design market.
Professional Benefits
Whatever profession students choose, they will find art very invaluable. Art is the medium that bridges language barriers between different nationalities and cultures of the world. A South Korean for example may not understand English language that is in use in a Marketing campaigns for Nike but will recognize them on seeing the Logo.
Architectural Designers
Architecture is a field that incorporates Art, creativity, design and engineering mechanics. For architectures to come up with great masterpieces they have to combine the mechanics of construction and the creativity of Art. A student who has learned art in school will find it more of fun than work to design buildings and wonderful structures.
Personal Relaxation and Enrichment
The pressures of life can be too much especially in the fast-moving twenty first century. Taking time to draw or design structures, sing or dance brings some peace of mind.
Benefits of Studying Dance in School
Dance is a cultural aspect of most societies. Societies enjoy it as a social and relaxation activity. Most cultures have specific dance styles that they hold as cultural and artistic values and even share them with people from pother part s of the world. Accompanied by music, dance can be the ultimate source of entertainment and/or profession for some people working as choreographers. Studying dance in school will be of great benefit to students. Some benefits will include the following.
Staying Fit
Learning to dance involves physical movements, which make students, and dancers fit. These exercises for instance help to cut weight and make them flexible.
Increasing Students’ Creativity
Creativity is very important for an all rounded person. Learning to dance improves students’ creative abilities leading better performance in school and even professionally.
Enhancing Social Skills
Dancing with a partner enhances communication skills, which is an important aspect in Human relations. This prepares students for interactions in later stages of their life, making them more sociable and interactive with other members of society (Dils, 2001).
Improving Confidence
We learn confidence in dancing lessons for example to come up with a new dance move and try it out requires confidence. This enables students to be better entrepreneurs and leaders in future. Confidence is an advantage for people in business and art or the music industry (Willett and Meir, 2003).
Posture and Better Coordination
How we stand, walk and move around sends a message to those people around us. By learning to dance, students improve their posture and help make a better impression on others while having fun at the same time.
Avoiding Early Aging
Growing old is associated with many diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Ballroom dancing helps stay out of the curve. Once students have learned how to dance, they will find it fun and this brings them a lot of joy, as they grow old.
Dancing Brings Happiness
Dancing well is a great achievement. Just realizing that on e dances well makes them happier and improves their personal self-image. It makes one happier with themselves and increases attractiveness and vitality.
Benefits of Learning Good Nutrition in School
Nutrition is a very vital part of a human’s life because it starts right from birth all the way to death. Our culture and upbringing determine what we eat and drink. We, therefore, are careful enough to choose only that food that is beneficial to our health. Many junk foods have no immediate side effects but their harm to our health is very detrimental. Studying good nutrition in school is, therefore, as important as studying the effects of bad nutrition. Students will have the following benefits by learning good nutrition in school.
Maintaining Healthy Weight
Learning good nutrition will enable students to know the difference between healthy eating and unhealthy eating in order to keep the right healthy levels of weight. Being obese is not a very good thing and most people try as much as possible to avoid it. This is only possible through healthy eating, which we learn in good nutrition.
Preventing Diseases
Most diseases these days are associated with bad nutrition. Such diseases as Cancer, Bacterial skin infections, High blood pressure and diabetes are because of bad nutrition. Learning good nutrition in school will help students keep these ailments at bay. This comes through learning what foods are best for the young growing generation to keep them healthy both now and in the future (Curley and Mark, 1999).
Avoiding Stress
By learning good nutrition in school, students will avoid the negative effects associated with bad nutrition, eating disorders and the effects of taking drugs all the time. It is everyone’s joy to stay fit, healthy and consequently happy. This comes easy by learning the simple rules of good nutrition in school.. It will in addition help keep calm and improve student’s ability to cope with the stresses of life both in school, in their families and professionally.
Keeping Normal Body Functions
Such functions as blood pressure, sugar levels and PH in body tissues are very vital for healthy living. Learning good nutrition in school helps students to check these levels and live happier healthier lives.
Healthier Future Generations
Once the present generations stay healthy, then they will pass onto their children and children’s children healthy nutrition practices. Above all, good nutrition will ensure strong immune systems, healthy pregnancies and consequently healthy babies in future.
References
Curley, S. & Mark, T. (1999). The Natural Guide to Good Health. Lafayette, Louisiana: Supreme Publishing.
Dils, A. (2001). Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader. New York: Wesleyan University Press.
Willett, C. & Meir, J. (2003). Rebuilding the Food Pyramid. Scientific American, 288 (1): 64–71.
In Hinduism, there are three major deity figures which are Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They are often viewed in the Indian temples and presented with offerings, in the vital form of worship referred to as “Darshan”1. It requires the worshipper to make eye contact with the deity in order to receive blessings.
Today we are looking at the Shiva Nataraja, which is one of three major deities in Hinduism. This paper looks at the relevance of the image of Shiva to the Hindu culture, and the disparity between its presence in a temple and display in a museum of art, away from the culture that identifies with it.
Description
The sculpture of Shiva Nataraja is displayed at Denver Art Museum. Like other Indian figures, Shiva has a slender frame that is characterized by precision of posture, and sharpness, as well as, its relation to dance. Shiva, The King of Dancers, is dancing at the center of a circle of fire that represents the universe surrounded by gods2.
The dance is referred to as “Anandatandwa, and it represents the cosmic cycles “such as the daily rhythm of life, which entails birth and death”3. The god has his left leg raised across his body, and his right leg firmly on the ground, but bent at the knee.
“Shiva is also holding a flame in his left upper arm, a drum in his right upper arm, and gesticulating with the lower arms”4. The dwarf at the foot appears to be staring at Shiva, who is heavily decorated with jewelry on his neck, wrists, and ankles5. The image of Shiva also has a hole at the bottom to make it easier to carry as shown in figure 2. The image of Shiva, as observed in the museum, is shown in figure 1 at the end of the paper.
Background
The bronze sculpture of Shiva, the demon god, was first presented to his worshippers in the period between the ninth and thirteenth centuries6. During this time, the Chola ruled over Tamilnadu and other parts of southern India. The Chola kings and queens fostered schools for the design and construction of exceptional bronze sculptures to serve as Hindu gods and goddesses known to them as “utsavamurtis”7.
Initially, the deities could only be viewed by the noble people such as monarchs and priests, but they were later presented to the population for worship8. The design of the sculpture was precise, with the sculptors taking their time to bring out all the details including the “peak of the flames, the face of the dwarf at the right foot of the Shiva, and the elements defined by each hand”9.
Elements of the image
According to the museum label, this statue of Shiva Nataraja is from the Chola dynasty. 10 Considering the long process involved in the creation of bronze idols, the Shiva Nataraja is exceptionally beautiful. Its construction was similar to that of making the bronze Buddha. The process is called lost wax casting.11It involves the construction of the first sculpture from clay, which is then dried before heating it in a kiln to remove the wax.
After they are certain that all the wax has melted, the clay sculpture is dipped in hot melted bronze. After it has dried, the clay is removed and the bronze sculpture polished. Once the image is ready, a ceremony is performed. This involves carrying the statue onto the street for people to perform a “Darshan”12.
Alternatively, the statue can be displayed in the temple for worshippers to present their offerings in the form flowers or covering it with a white scarf13.
Even though the image of Shiva is in a museum instead of a temple, people still take their time to visit the Denver Art Museum to view the image. Viewers sit in front of the image and spend hours staring at the four armed bronze Shiva dancing as they meditate14.
Other people just enjoy the beauty of native art. Viewers are provided with various information about the image including its name as “God Shiva, Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), its place of origin, (South India, Tamil Nadu), the era in which it was first developed (1100, Chola dynasty), the material used for its construction (bronze), and the gallery in which it is part of (Dora Porter Mason Collection donated in 1947)15.
On the image, a Shiva is proposing a dance position in a fire circle. He has multiple hands sticking out from his body and we can clearly see that some of them are holding objects. And Shiva is standing on a baby looking figure, which is the demon-the bad guy. He has a mermaid looking figure in his hair, which decided as the reference of “Gengi River”.16
This information is presented in figure 3 shown at the end of this paper. The image of Shiva, King of dancers is just under 37 inches high. It was donated to the Denver Art museum by the Dora Porter Mason Collection in 1947 and received by the then director, Dr. Otto Karl Bach. Dr, Bach had an astute appreciation for Asian art, and remained director for thirty years in the period between 1944 and 197417.
Impact of the image
The idol of Shiva Nataraja, which was originally found in South India, is currently placed on the fifth floor of the Denver Art Museum. It is the largest image of Shiva that is available on display, which provides its viewers with insight and awe as it portrays the culture of Hinduism.
The sculpture has a rich symbolism that portrays the religious elements of south India that serves to “remind the dutiful Hindu that life is a spiritual process that is eternally subject to change”18. The image has the ability to draw a viewer with its multiple arms that seem to be entangled in its body, in addition to the beating drum, which creates the impression of a rhythmic sound signifying change and imbalance of the material world19.
The image of Shiva is displayed in the Denver art Museum as part of the Asian art collection along with other images from China, India, Japan, and other parts of south Asia. Most of the art collection was donated by the countries where the art was most valued as a representation of Asian artists and artisans.
The images are open for viewing on any day of the week, except Sunday. The placement of the sculpture in a Naudi, as shown in figure 4, was aimed at providing viewers with the impression that the statues are in the temple. 20However, this effect is not achieved since the image of a god is more valuable in a temple where Hindus can make their offerings; something that cannot be achieved in a museum21.
By displaying the statue in a museum, art enthusiasts can appreciate the art of various cultures especially the numerous forms of worship that are practiced in Asia. It will also help to expose the Indian culture for scholars to study it.
But without the environment, this sculpture lost the meaning to being a bronzed Buddha because they never created mean to be in the museum. They meant to be meditated in the temple, or offered and “Darshan” on the street in order to achieve the practice and devotion of the Shiva.
Conclusion
The sculpture of Shiva has a vital religious purpose in Hinduism. The mannerisms of Shiva portray him as rejecting darkness and ignorance in his dance, which Hindus believe to resemble the spray of the sacred River Ganges22. Such implications of the image can only be observed if the image remains with the people in a temple, where the worshippers can relate to it at a spiritual level23.
This effect cannot be obtained from the image of Shiva in the museum. The Museum has provided an appealing environment (Nauda) for the deity, where it is placed on orange stone, with light coming from the front such that it produces an equally entangled shadow on its background. However, the effect of the sculpture in the museum is not as significant as when it is in a temple.
The museum has made an effort to preserve its original purpose though it would be better placed with worshippers in a temple, rather than scholars in a museum.
Locking the idol of Shiva in a museum prevents worshipers from presenting their offerings, which are made in front of the deity statues. Keeping the statue in the museum has resulted in the loss of its original meaning, which comprised a street festival, “Darshan”, and offerings.
Images taken from the museum
Figure 1: sculpture of Shiva, king of dancers, in Denver Art Museum.Figure 2: Showing the hole at the bottom that makes it easy to carry.Figure 3: Marking provided to identify the sculpture of Shiva.Figure 4: The Naudi, which helps to create an atmosphere like the temple.
Bibliography
Anonymous. “Lord of the dance.” Humanities – ProQuest Central, 2002: 23(6), 52 – 53.
Dalal, Roshen. The Essentials of Hinduism. New York: India Abroad Press, 2010.
Dance in the African Diaspora is also known as African Vernacular Dance and they are considered to be dances that have been developed by Africans living in Diaspora such as the Africans living in America and Europe. The unique thing about these dances is that they are performed day to day activities rather than being performed in studios and theaters. These dances are usually focused on social aspects and can be performed in any place to show the need for social change especially to racism and general issues. They are mainly focused on social dancing. Since they are based on improvisation, these dances are identified by the concentration of the change that is going on in the world and also development on various issues in the world (Hazzard-Gordon, 1985).
It is important to note that these dances are performed not of other courses but for self expression primarily. This means that these dances are not performed for such issues like economical gain but to express the community’s feeling towards various issues that concern them. They have been developing over the years and now they range from reggae to hip-hop and all this dances are concerned with social issues that have been plaguing their communities from time to time in history (Friedland, 1995).
History of African Diaspora dance
Most of the Africans living in Diaspora were brought to their current living places due to slavery. Most of these Africans landed in the American continent and this explains the huge presence of people with African origin in North America, South America and Central America. These people were drawn from various ethnic groups and their cultural backgrounds and cultural practices were diverse but very similar. However, the era of slavery led them to be united and they came up together to form various artistic things together. One of these things was to compose songs and dance to their songs. Most of these songs were focused on the hardships of being a slave in a foreign land where they did not belong at all. It is important to note that the slaves’ cultural lives were controlled by the slave owners and they could not practice the cultural practices they were used to in their own lands (DeFrantz, 2002).
The slave owners forbid several slave cultures and hence the African were restricted on various social and cultural practices and this saw them feeling inferior and dominated by the slave owners. The slave owners did this because of various issues including religion, social and simply cruelty reasons. This led them to compose songs that were intended to express their slavery conditions and also give them hope for a better future. These songs also gave them a platform for expressing their feeling and how they hoped they would be treated by their slave owners. They also expressed their wishes for equality, especially since they were treated as inferiors by the society in which they slaved for (Hazzard-Gordon, 1985).
The cultures of the slaves being restricted were influenced by the cultures of the slave owners. This means that the slaves either adopted a new culture or their culture blended with the slave owners’ cultures. This led to the slaves being capable of producing hybrid forms of music and dance. New cultures developed in various cities where there were slaves across American and Europe as these were the places with the most slaves. The dances the slaves performed were distinct in that they were against the culture of the slave owners and yet they were blended in with the culture of the slave owners. The songs were mostly composed to express the antagonism that existed between the two cultures and to express the discontent that the slaves felt by being treated as unequal people who were supposed to work for the slave owners (Friedland, 1995).
Most of these songs also expressed the feeling of weariness after the slaves were forced out of their homelands and brought to other lands where they were supposed to work for slave owners and treated like animals. The songs also expressed emotional feelings and they had messages of hope and revolution in them. The songs were composed of mixed African ethnic cultures and sometimes mixed with the cultures of the slave owners. This was as a result of the response the music was given by the immediate audience that had the chance to hear the music.
The music has developed over the years and it has its transformation into many forms that include soul, jazz, and the current hip-hop trend. The music is intended to address various issues in society including social life and politics. They are also used to fight social vices like racism and criminal activities and also used for religious reasons like worshiping and teaching the people the proper way of leading a life (Hazzard-Gordon, 1985).
Effects
The songs have various effects on the people both blacks and whites. One of the most noticeable effects is increased awareness in black people. They have raised awareness and have also educated the people on issues like racism and other issues that concern the black community. They have raised the awareness of the black people to such levels that they can now identify the difference between themselves and the other races and still come up with the positive sides that they possess that other races do not have. Other races as well have become aware that the blacks are people too and they should stop being treated like they have been treated in the past a case similar to that of an animal. The whites have for a long time exploited the blacks in many frontiers like colonization and slavery but with the increased awareness that the blacks have enforced on the world, they realized that they too were human beings and have rights of their own to be protected by all (Friedland, 1995).
The songs also created a sense of unity in the black people and this was one of the factors that led to their liberalization. The unity of the black people living in Diaspora was witnessed by the fact that they composed songs that urged the blacks to be united to fight for one goal in a united way. This included human rights and liberalization issues that the whites had denied them for a very long time. The blacks in Diaspora were also united in their quest to gains equal status in the countries that they were located and hence they ended up enforcing that to the society using demonstrations and violent bouts with the other races (DeFrantz, 2002).
The songs also acted as a basis for the motivation of the African Diaspora people. In their quest to be recognized as human beings who had their rights and demanded to be treated equally as the other races, they had to be motivated because sometimes it resulted in violent bouts with the authorities as well as with other races. Other racist races vetted violence on black people. The songs came as a resourceful thing for the blacks since they motivated the blacks to be involved in their fights against racism and other issues that they were subjected to. The blacks needed to be recognized as human beings as well. There were particularly against the feeling that the blacks were inferior because of their skin color.
The dance was also used for religious issues and the teaching of people on how to live a righteous life. This had the effect that if the community thrived on living a righteous life, then the people could enjoy the benefits of the community lacking such vices as crime and anti-social behavior. This was particularly important because the people had to be kept in a manner that demanded respect for each other to be strong together. They also had to be anti-evil because they had to unite in fighting the injustices that they were subjected to by the authorities as well as other races (Friedland, 1995).
The songs also acted as announcers of the plight of the African Diaspora people. This acted as the voice that would oversee the prevailing of equality and justice. These songs were particularly important because they led the world in being aware that there was a community that was being subjected to unfair treatment by other races. They were also responsible for the emerging of such remarkable civil rights activists like Martin Luther King Jnr. and Malcolm X who was recognized all over the world for the efforts of bringing the world to respect the rights of the descents of African and those Africans living in Diaspora (Hazzard-Gordon, 1985).
References
DeFrantz, Thomas. Dancing Many Drums: Excavations in African-American Dance. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002.
Friedland, Lee Ellen. “Social Commentary in African-American Movement Performance.” Human Action Signs in Cultural Context: The Visible and the Invisible in Movement and Dance. Ed. Brenda Farnell. London: Scarecrow Press, 1995. 136 – 57.
Hazzard-Gordon, Katrina. “African-American Vernacular Dance: Core Culture and Meaning Operatives.” Journal of Black Studies 15.4 (1985): 427-45.
The former North American dance champions Beverly and Robert Tangs have taken advantage of boomer’s love of dance to run their business. This forms the best time because; televisions are boosting ballroom dancing interests with renowned programs like Dancing with the Star.
As a result, the Tangs want to make lots of money through dance activities, their market segment is baby boomers particularly women. This is because the group has lots of cash to spend on dancing course. They also have a desire of making their business (Dancecape) to become a world class dance lifestyle organization based on a business brand that is global.
They have conducted their dancing lessons at Ukrainian church hall where baby boomers danced based on Tang’s instructions. However, apart from spending a lot of time instructing dancers, the Tangs have also invested a lot of money ($20,000) in making a dance video.
Their video is selling well in the US, and is trying its way in the Canadian and Britain market. They have a plan of making three websites where their clients will be shopping, socializing and downloading dance videos. As a result, they have a desire of making their websites look like dancers’ facebook. However, the problem is that, building their business and brand require a lot of money ($1.4 Million). The goodness is that they got a Tim Draper’s audience.
Draper is a capitalist having millions of ventures on the internet and have invested more in Hotmail, hence can be open minded when it comes to new ideas. Before meeting Draper, Tangs decided to hire a brand coach to assist them in preparing sales pitches. By bad lack after sometime, the couch found that Tangs are spending a lot of time to run a business that they really have no time to refine and polish the sales pitches.
The worst thing happened on the pitch day, on this day, “Tim Draper gets an impromptu lesson from Beverly and also listened to Robert’s sales pitch. The sales pitch gets off to a rocky start when Robert calls Tim “Steve” on two different occasions” (Boomer Bonanza, 2008). This was the most embarrassing moment. As a result, though Draper listened to Robert’s sales pitch, he never made any comment, be it positive or negative.
When two experts were talking about the prosperity that Danscape has made, the first expert Lina Ko whose company does baby boomers’ survey, apart from having a blog in the internet that provides the insights of needs as well as wants of Canadian consumers; and Robert Herjavec who owns a computer firm as the second expert.
Robert outlines that though Tangs are doing something they like doing; he reiterates that it is not automatic that if one does something he likes then his business is viable. He asserts that though they are targeting baby boomers, the kind of technology they are using is above such group.
So, their promotion might not reach their target population. This is because, the target population is not well versed with the facebook generation technology for their promotion strategy to succeed. He also comments that, it will be good if the young generation can be involved in the dancing activities, other than the baby boomers.
In conclusion Robert states that “Tangs need a viral marketing idea that will have broad appeal. Selling their videos through niche stores limits their market and is inconsistent with their goal of being a global brand” ((Boomer Bonanza, 2008).
On the other hand, Lina Ko does not agree with Robert’s comments. On her part, she sees boomers not being technologically backward as stated by Robert. In addition, the idea of dancing is a very nice one. This is because, most boomers like participating in exercise activities and dancing is the best exercising activity for them.
The issue of dancing also makes aged people feel much younger. In addition, she sees the idea of targeting women boomers as being the best idea; she bases this argument on the fact that, most family purchases in Canada are influenced by women. However, she advises the Tangs to put more emphasize on the kinds of words they are using.
For instance, they are using words like retirement, which most boomers don’t like hearing. Last but not least, she tells the Tangs to differentiate their market segment further; this is because they all have different needs and wants. She gave an example where, baby boomers in early 40s differ from those in mid 60s.
Background Information
The Tangs are two North American dance champions who came up together to start a business endeavor that targets boomers especially women. The Tangs have an aspiration of making their company brand name (Dancescape) to become a world class dance lifestyle based on a dance brand that is global.
Though at the beginning the Tangs spends much money to produce a dance video and a lot of time giving instructions to their students but at the end their dance video sells well in the United States. As a result, this motivates them to start venturing into other markets like Canada and Britain.
Their marketing and promotional strategy is building websites that have the latest features. However, to attain this objective, the Tangs require a lot of money. To ensure that they get money to accomplish their aspirations, the Tangs started looking for pieces of advice from other people.
For instance, they hired a coach who instructed them not to concentrate more on building their business and their brand alone, but also to spend some time refining and polishing their sales pitches. After taking these advices, their business grew rapidly as they had many boomers who had a lot of money to spend on dancing lessons.
Problems Statements or Issues:
The Tangs think that baby boomers have money to spend on leisure.
The Tangs want to make their company (Dancescape) a world class dancing lifestyle organization, based on dance brand that is global.
The Tangs might have a problem in finding dance hall places to carry out their lessons.
The tangs are always spending a lot of time giving instructions to their students.
The tangs have also spent a lot of money ($20,000) in producing a single learn-to-dance video.
Though their learn-to-dance video is selling well in the United States, getting into Canadian and British distribution is quite challenging.
Though the Tangs have a good idea of creating three websites where they will be conducting their promotions, marketing and selling of their learn-to-dance video, this will need a lot of money which they don’t have.
The Tangs spent most of their time running their business as a result, they have no time to refine and polish their sales pitch. Hence they are not ready to present their sales pitch to their audient, Tim Draper.
On a pitch day with the Tim Draper, the Tangs ended up embarrassing themselves when Robert called Tim Draper ‘Steve’ twice.
After their sales pitch presentation, they received neither positive nor negative comment from Tim Draper; hence they are left in a state of dilemma not knowing his next plan of action.
Though they are doing what they love, this does not mean that their business will be automatically viable; they still have to do more.
Since they are using facebook generation technique to promote their products, their target population might not be well versed with this kind of technology.
Though the Tangs want to develop a global brand, they are only targeting boomers, leaving out the youths; this fact limits their goal of becoming a global brand.
The kind of language being used by the Tangs might not please their target population.
Due to the fact that their target population comprises of individuals with different ages, their needs and wants differ greatly, hence there is need to segment their market further.
Situation Analysis
Strengths
They are former North American dance champions, hence are already known and most people might wish to associate with them.
They have done good timing as TVs are boosting ballroom dancing interests.
Their target population (baby boomers) is the best market since they have disposable cash to spend in dancing lessons.
In addition, since they are targeting women, women always have influence when it comes to family purchases, so they are targeting influential population.
They can get church halls to use them as classrooms to offer their dancing instructions.
Their learn-to-dance video is already selling well in the U.S market.
They are well versed with technology hence; they can use facebook generation technologies.
They are doing what they love doing so, they are not straining.
Their business is liked by many because it makes people feel young.
Weaknesses
The Tangs have no enough time to do all things they are supposed to do, like refining and polishing their sales pitch.
They don’t have enough money to do all they want to do.
They have hard time finding sponsors.
Tangs seem to be broad minded in a manner that they are concentrating on bigger things like building their business and brand name, forgetting to concentrate on little but important issues like polishing and refining their sales pitch.
They seem to be having hard time when entering new markets like Canada and Britain.
Opportunities
Since their learn-to-dance video is selling well in the United States, they can make a lot of money to expand their business.
Though they have no money, there are sponsors who are open minded when it comes to new ideas.
There are TVs which are promoting ballroom dancing; hence they can use the same to promote their business.
Since boomers like exercising to keep themselves young, dancing is the best practice to achieve this objective.
Due to the current expanded technology, the Tangs can promote and distribute their products easily hence, their company can become global.
Their target market is not technologically backward thus they can be reached through up-to-date technologies.
There are individuals who are ready and willing to give them halls to use them as classes. These are for instance church leaders.
Threats
There are chances that other dancing schools might be opened.
Finding baby boomers willing to take dancing lessons might be hard
If church leaders and other people stop lending them halls to use them as classrooms, then they will be negatively affected.
There are chances that their target population might not be well versed with the kind of technology they are using.
They are dealing with a diversified market niche hence, satisfying them might be hard.
The population they are dealing with is very sensitive to some words hence; they might not like their language.
Criteria
Looking for boomers to undertake dancing classes.
Finding a place to offer their dancing classes.
Finding sponsors.
Getting money.
To make money.
Building three websites.
Producing learn-to-dance video.
Hiring a coach.
To promote their business and brand name globally.
Constrains
Internal Constrains
Financial constrains; in case the Tangs are not able to get sponsors like Tim Draper, it will be very hard for them to establish global business. This is because, they will not be able to create their websites hence, promoting their classes and product distribution will be very hard for them.
Time management; the Tangs have no enough time to carry out all the activities they want to undertake. For instance, they have no time to refine and polish their sales pitch.
Personality; the Tangs are not perfectionists, they over look smaller but important issues and concentrate more on broad issues like building their business.
Language problems; there are some words like retirement, which their clients might not like.
External constrains
Financial constrains; in case Boomers could not afford to pay fees for their course or even afford to purchase their learn-to-dance video.
Finding dancing halls; the Tangs might face it rough to find owners of dance halls to let them use their halls as classrooms for free.
Sponsors; it might be very hard for the Tangs to find sponsors who are open-minded on new ideas.
Diversified population; t he Tangs are targeting women boomers aged from 40 to 60s, this means that satisfying their differing needs is very hard
Alternatives
To find students and market, the Tangs can use facebook generation kind of technology to attract many boomers who are willing to undertake dancing classes.
To find classes, the Tangs can go to dance hall owners and even make a deal with them that some of the dancing lessons will be used to entertain those in attendance.
To make more money, the Tangs can keep their expenses low, increase the number of boomers, apart from increasing the sale of their video sales.
To get sponsors, the Tangs can attend some marketplace talks where experts will guide them on how to improve their promotion and refine their sales pitch.
To deal with diversified market, the Tangs can segment their niche market further.
Recommendation
I hereby recommend that the priority should be looking for boomers and attending market place talks. This is because, without students dance halls and other things will just be useless. On the other hand, attending marketplace talks will help them gain skills and knowledge on how to get sponsors and promote their products hence, increasing their sales. Other alternative are not as significant as the two.
This is because dance halls will only be used as lecture rooms, used for teaching students who will attend their lessons after gaining interests through Tangs’ promotion. In addition, in case their sales pitch is good, sponsors will start looking for them. As a result, all other alternatives relays majorly on the two alternatives which should be prioritized on (Laermer & Simmons, 2007).
References
Boomer Bonanza. (2008). Shall we dance? Web.
Laermer, R. & Simmons, M. (2007). Marketing. New York: Harper Collins.