Dance Camp in Long Island, 3 Questions for Carlos Neto of Dance Intensive

If you love dance than you are in the right spot because at Dance Intensive in Bridgehampton, NY in Long Island, students reach a new level in terms of their technique, inspiration, and artistry with Carlos Neto’s Hip Hop Workshop.

Here is a mini-interview with Carlos Neto to give you a glimpse of what’s happening in Dance Intensive, our dance camp in Long Island (2014 Winner Outstanding Choreography NY Innovative Theatre Awards, 2016 Nominated Favorite Dance Teacher NYC by Backstage Readers Awards).

Dance Intensive, Summer Dance Camp in the Hamptons, Carlos Neto

1. What excites you about teaching Dance Intensive this summer and working with students who are either new to hip hop or who have experience?

It’s always exciting to meet new students in new areas specially those who are new to hip hop and street jazz. I’m looking forward to working with them intensively with enough time to build a foundation and create something special!

2. What is your approach to teaching, overall way of sharing your love of dance with others?

I enjoy teaching students more than just choreography or steps. I aim to give them a strong foundation that will allow them to grow at their own pace as well as serve them when taking other classes in the future.

I also believe it is very important to not focus solely on the dance but find the individual light within every student and push for their individuality and self confidence.

3. What are you excited about in your own work or projects you are working on or plan to start soon?

At the moment I’m part of a documentary about immigrant artists which will be shooting throughout the entirety of 2022. Very excited to see the final result. I’m working on a couple of music videos for 2 very special artists and also gearing up for the start of the new convention tour called Luminous.

Here is also a glimpse at Carlos’ choreography reel. See you in Dance Intensive!

How a "Mistake" in Music Can Say So Much, Rock Camp, Jazz Workshop, Dance Intensive, Theater Workshop in New Jersey and the Hamptons

One of the benefits of learning music is you learn to adapt to change in the moment. Creating something whether its music, art, dance, or theater, you have to work as a team, and embracing change is part of that. This is something you will learn and experience at Rock Camp, Jazz Workshop, Dance Intensive, and Theater Workshop in New Jersey and the Hamptons. The bass player may be rushing the beat a little bit, the drummer forgets the cue going to the bridge, an actor forgets a line, a painter makes a brush stroke he didn’t intend. What do you do, especially if it’s during a live performance?

Here is a fascinating video of the great pianist Herbie Hancock talking about making a “mistake” at the piano in a performance with the trumpeter Miles Davis. Herbie talks about cringing when it happened, but then he talks about how MIles Davis heard what happened and altered his notes to make his “mistake” something perfect. Herbie goes to say how this experience taught him to approach music and life differently. So good, check it out.

Summer Jazz Camp in New Jersey and Long Island, Jazz Workshop

Jazz Workshop is a music camp in New Jersey and the Hamptons that aims to take students to a higher level through mastering their instrument or voice, how to solo, how to understand harmony, and inspiring students to find their individual voice in music.

Let’s look at George Gershwin’s song, Summertime, as an example of how we can dive into the music.

1. As a baseline for improvising on this song we need to know that we are in the key of d minor, and everyone will play the triads for d minor, g minor, and A major, root position and with inversions.

2. We see in measure 2 and 3, that we have a ii-V-i pattern. The II-V-I and it’s minor key equivelent, ii-V-i, is a harmonic cornerstone to many jazz songs, particularly music of the American Songbook. So after understanding this we need to put this knowledge in our fingers, voice, and become fluent with playing II-V-I’s passages in different ways and in different keys.

3. What about improvising? Well, there are many approaches we can take. A macro approach, and a way to just start getting into the music would be to review the d and g harmonic minor scales, as well as the f major scale. The d harmonic minor scale (d-e-f-g-a-b flat-c sharp) can be used over measure 1-3, 7-11, 14-16 while the g harmonic minor scale (g-a-b flat-c-d-e flat-f sharp) can be used in measures 4-6. The F major scale can be used in measures 12 and 13.

This is only one of many ways to start creating your own melodies over the song. Initially it’s important to learn the building blocks (scales, arpeggios, etc..), but once you have this understanding, one needs to throw this knowledge out the window in a way, and start creating melodies and lines that come from your voice, your own creativity, what you are hearing into the music. Then the music really comes alive and will inspire you and everyone listening!

Music Camp in New Jersey and Hamptons, 3 Things to Know

I have seen a few different approaches to music camps/education.....At Rock Camp and Jazz Workshop, our summer music camp in New Jersey and the Hamptons, I can confidently say we are the 3rd approach, without a doubt!

1. A fluffy-music-appreciation type of experience - that's not us (I am having flashbacks to when my children were very young and we took a few of these classes).

2. A hardcore conservatory approach (i.e Manhatten School of Music, Julliard...this is great but it's meant for older students and is meant as a pre-professional, bootcamp approach) -that's definitely not us either......

3. Banff Approach (a great center for the arts in western Canada). This is us!

The environment is social, fun, friendly, and students are inspired to learn and create as much from their teachers as their fellow musicians. You are surrounded by teachers who are pursuing careers in music who love to share with others. An interest in music or anything I suppose, is something that should be nurtured and allowed to grow at the same time.

Diving Into the Roots of Rock, Rock Camp & Jazz Workshop, Summer Music Camp in Long Island and New Jersey

At our music camp in the Hamptons, Long Island and New Jersey, we make sure to understand our roots and where the music comes from, the heroes, innovators, and creative spirit of those sung and unsung. So what makes Fats Domino of New Orleans so important in the growth of rock?

First off, Fats Domino was from New Orleans. Well, we know New Orleans as the birthplace of jazz, and of course blues is a cousin to jazz, living side-by-side. A piano style developed out of jazz and blues and Fats knew it well, Boogie Woogie. This involves a driving left hand pattern in the left hand and the right hand plays syncopated lines on top of usually played over the blues or a song with changes that reflect I, IV, V harmony of the blues. Great musicians of this style include Gene Ammons, Professor Longhair, Meade Lux Lewis, and later rock-n-roll musicians like Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Fats Domino. Professor Longhair’s music had something else to it, a distinctly New Orleans rhumba-rhythm infused in the music which was very influential to great musicians like Dr. John and Allen Toussaint.

In the 1950’s Fats was able to infuse his music with a triplet feel and his song “The Fat Man” went to #2 on the R&B charts. The site SPClarke.com explains it well down below:

“The Fat Man” is often referred to as the first Rock and Roll song, although such assertions will always be the subject of great dispute. As far as Fats was concerned, he was merely playing the same sort of music he had been playing in New Orleans for years. Referring to being called the “Father of Rock and Roll,” Domino, himself, later said, “Well I wouldn’t want to say that I started it, but I don’t remember anyone else before me playing that kind of stuff.” Whatever the case, Fats Domino was suddenly a Rhythm and Blues star.

This led the way to rock-n-roll hits like Blueberry Hill.

But we all know everything comes from something else, and when we peel things back we also have to give a shout out to the great musician Little Willie Littlefield. His song of 1949, It’s Midnight, pre-dates Fats Domino and he is credited as someone who helped popularize the triplet feel in the music.

Music just goes its own way, and if you like it becomes a part of you. It’s cool that the B-side of the 1985 Paul McCartney single "Spies Like Us", entitled "My Carnival" was recorded in New Orleans and dedicated to Professor Longhair. And if you listen to the Beatles song Oh! Darlin you hear how it’s rooted in the sound and rhythm of many of these innovative and creative shining stars of early rhythm and blues, boogie woogie, and rock-n-roll.

Rock Camp & Jazz Workshop, The Premier Music Camp for Summer 2022 in the Hamptons, Long Island and New Jersey

If you love music, you are in the right spot. Rock Camp and Jazz Workshop are two summer camp programs happening this summer in the Hamptons and New Jersey in which students of all ages, teens, adults gather to learn music in a fun and inspiring environment.

ROCK CAMP…..What We DO!

Meets 9-3 pm

At Rock Camp we start with a brief morning meeting where all students meet up and there is a 20 minute hands on workshop (one day could be polyrhythms, another day the music from another country, jam session, etc..).

- We then dive into morning lessons (instrumental or vocals). Students can choose a second instrument for afternoon lessons.

- Students then join their morning band (music chosen in collaboration with teacher, usually spans the history of the music, from the 50's/60's to a song that came out last month. Students also work on original music.

- We break for lunch and students then have time to relax and hang with their friends.....then volleyball, soccer, or they play with others on their own. Teachers also meet with students 1-1.

- Then we have electives, more niche topics (song writing, reading/writing, African drumming, harmony, improvisation, solo guitar, learning logic, sibelius, etc....).

- Afternoon Lessons.

- Afternoon Band, a different band and teacher than the morning.

- At the end of the week students then do a performance for family, friends, and the public.

Jazz Workshop…..What We DO!

Meets 3-5 pm

Jazz Workshop is a music summer camp and workshop in the Hamptons and New Jersey that meets in the afternoons and its goal is to teach students how to play jazz through:

• Lessons (private or small group).

• Ensembles, learning and playing music from the jazz repertoire (Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, and many others).

• Instruction on improvisation, harmony and chords, and learning to master your instrument as you grow as a musician and find your voice and sound.

Words of Wisdom for Musicians at Rock Camp and Jazz Workshop Camp in the Hamptons and New Jersey

Love these words of wisdom about making music from the trumpter Doc Severinsen....Something all of us at Rock Camp and Jazz Workshop in the Hamptons and New Jersey use a source of inspiration. I remember him as a flashy and charismatic trumpeter who was great at small talk on the “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” Glad I came across this to understand the real person and talented musician he is!

"Speaking to an auditorium of students, Severinsen was asked by one pupil what makes a trumpet player the best in his field. His reply was a masterclass in reveling in the beauty of music and the present moment.

“I think it’s what’s in you,” he replied. “How do you feel about other people? Are you nice to other people? Do you see the best in them? Can you cry when you play a melody that’s so beautiful it deserves every tear you can give? You’re so filled with joy, that it comes out in the form of tears. Release all the bad things you ever thought about, all the sadness you’ve ever had in your life is gone, and you’re joyous."

“That’s why I play the trumpet. I do it because I love it. You gotta have some humor in your life. Get a laugh out of life, and you’ll play better,” Severinsen said. “The happy people are the lucky people. Be happy.”

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/at-93-doc-severinsen-can-teach-us-all-some-things-about-remaining-creative-and-active/17744/

The Roots of Rock Camp, the One of a Kind Music Camp in New Jersey and the Hamptons

This is our story.

Eleven years Rock Camp started as an idea in which for one week students, between ages 7 - 19, would learn music from performing musicians in a particular way. Rather than teach music classes in the way it is taught in school, students would learn in small groups and mentor with a variety of performing musicians and learn from their peers.

But the story actually starts earlier than this. Let’s rewind.

When I was a kid, I took piano lessons from a few different teachers. I loved music but I did not like the lessons. Rather than look at music as if one was exploring a new world, my early teachers had the view that I should learn nursery rhythms and little kid tunes, read simple notation, and then little by little progress to more challenging music. Sound logical. And yet even at an early age of 12 or 13 years old, I thought “why do I have to learn this little kid music and wait around for a couple years to get to the music I really want to play (at that time it was rock-n-roll)?” So I quit lessons with that teacher. Eventually I had a different teacher, but it was the same story. I quit again.

And then something happened, really be accident.

As I went through middle and high school, I was lucky to take an art class. The art teacher, Mr. Reed, has a beat up piano in his room (painted on the sides), all of the walls had student work, the ceiling too. This is where music came alive. He showed me and a group of other students how to play the music of Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Three Dog Night, and many many tunes in the rock and blues realm. We played duets. We played along with records. We later played in small groups, at school functions, at parties, at cafes, and we just kept learning. A new world opened up to all of us. Later, I was lucky enough to have Mr. Ellington as an inspiring band teacher. He would give us the keys to his room at lunch to practice, and introduced to the Beatles and groups like Yes.

So let’s fast forward years later. Every day that passes, I realize how lucky I was to have these great teachers in my life, and that’s the word - luck. So this is why Rock Camp exists. We want every student to have an inspiring experience, make friends, feel what it’s like to master something and perform it…….and if the music speaks to them, they can make music a part of their life as they grow up. Having a great music education, should not be a luck thing. It should be available to everyone.

At Rock Camp and Dance Intensive in New Jersey and the Hamptons, we bring the best and the brightest musicians and dancers to inspire students, whether they are beginners or have significant experience. All in the spirit of what happened in Mr. Reed’s art room.