Do you know the dance moves, but just need some tunes to rehearse to? Then put on your dancing shoes, grab a partner, and let the rehearsal begin! Practice a wide variety of popular ballroom dance rhythms from around the globe at a tempo you control. Want extra support? A metronome is there to keep pace with the beat, and an instructor's voice is ready to count out the time, whether or not the music is playing.
Additional Tags
App Overview
This is a one-screen app, making it very simple to use.
- Press the large, blue Select button at the top right of the screen, and scroll through the pop-up box of 26 different types of ballroom dance songs
- If you care to, read the brief history that displays for each song, choose More to read an extended version of the history on a pop-up screen, or tap Share to e-mail the app to a friend
- Once you've found the dance you'd like to rehearse, tap the small green Select button at the bottom right of the dance selection pop up
- The tempo will automatically adjust to a traditional pace for this type of music, but can be adjusted (as described below)
- To hear the music by itself, press the Rhythm button (turning it from grey to dark red) and press the green Play button at the bottom of the screen
- Adjust the settings described below and begin rehearsing, or press Select again to choose a different type of music
Once the music type is selected, the following features can be adjusted by tapping on the correlating button, whether or not the music is playing. If the button is gray, it is turned off; it is red when turned on.
- Tempo:
- Slide the tempo bar to the right to create a faster beat and to the left to slow it down. The bars and beats per minute display above the slide bar. Whatever tempo is selected will determine the pace of the rhythm, counting, and metronome.
- Count Off:
- An instructor counts off the beats in either a normal pattern (one, two, three...one, two, three) or a choreography bar pattern (one, two, three...two, two, three...three, two, three). Select Off to turn the counting off entirely. To hear the instructor's counting without the music, simply turn the Rhythm button off and press Play.
- Rhythm:
- Turn this on to hear the music. To hear counting and/or a metronome in addition to the rhythm, simply select those buttons.
- Metronome:
- Tap this button to hear a metronome keep time. Like the other features, it can be played by itself or in combination with the other features.
Instructional Ideas
- Assign each student a different tempo and have them create a video to demonstrate what a specific dance looks like at the assigned speed
- Use the app as an introduction to the vocabulary of dance, discussing ways in which the meaning of different words are related
- Integrate into a geography lesson by assigning everyone in the class a different dance type, exploring how the dance reflects the culture and values of where it originated
Classroom Considerations
If multiple students will be using separate tablets, be sure they have headphones so that the rhythms don't create a cacophony in your room.
Pros
- Highly customizable set-up allows dancers to scaffold their learning
- Adjustable tempo allows practice at any speed for every type of rhythm
Cons
- Limited to the dances that come with the app
- New dances cannot be added