Spotlight on Adult Ballet at 4Dancers blog!

You know I'm always looking for good stuff and one of my favorite places for good stuff is 4Dancers.  This month, the awesome blog has a series of really terrific interviews with adults who began ballet later in life, as well as its regular pro dance features.  I especially loved reading this one about Acacia Warwick, who began dancing after her chemo treatments for breast cancer. I love her upbeat attitude and her no-nonsense advice to dance if you want to dance.  That's exactly right!  My new motto for all of my students, regardless of age:

You have one life to live; dance if you want to.

There are so many other wonderful interviews on the blog.  Do yourself a favor and get inspired by others.  And next week, look for an interview with me!  I answered Catherine's questions about teaching adults.

Happy dancing~

Class and rehearsal canceled tonight Friday 3/9

Hello everyone!  In case I don't have your email address and you are not a Facebook friend, I am canceling my classes today as well as the Senior Company rehearsal.  Sad to say, I have a horrible head cold - feeling feverish, exhausted, and just plain miserable.  I've never had to cancel a class because I was sick!  This is a genuine first for me.

So to anyone who was planning to come this evening, I am so sorry to have inconvenienced you!  I spent my morning thinking I could get better but my head just swims so I would be no good to anyone.  If you can make class tomorrow or next week, I hope to see you then!

Happy dancing~

Ballet and Science

This is a great article from the Huffington Post about the particular skills, personality traits (quirks?), and self-discipline that are inherent in ballet dancers that are also present in scientists. I particularly like this quote about being competitive with one's self: "Peter Sims, best-selling author of Little Bets, calls it healthy perfectionism, a key ingredient for successful innovators." 

What Scientists Can Learn From Ballet by Sylvie Leotin


Happy dancing (and reading!)~

Building a dancer's toolbox

When you want to repair a leaky faucet, you investigate the many places in the pipe that could be the problem.  You need a flashlight to search for the leak, and then a wrench to shut off the water and - if you're like me - a roll of duct tape to wrap around the pipe until you can get an expert in. A leaky faucet is frustrating but it's not the end of the world.  It's something to be repaired.

Now, when you want to fix a faulty pirouette, what do you do?  Do you think, "I'll just spin faster and hope for the best"? Do you give up and pout? Or do you look in your toolbox to begin the repairs?

A dancer's toolbox includes all those marvelous things your teachers have told you throughout your years of training: pull up your abdominals, lower your chin, stretch your arms, spring from your whole foot, etc.  At the time that you hear these corrections - either for yourself or someone else in class - you may not see how they apply to you.  But eventually, you may have to use them.

You build a toolbox so it isn't merely a stroke of luck that you perform something properly.  The goal of consistent class attendance is to be able to recreate steps properly - and build on them.  While we all have "good" and "bad" turn days or "good" or "bad" jump days, you should know what it feels like to do something right and then do it again. And if you can't do it again, you have to figure out why.

Say your turns are wobbly and you're having trouble getting up en pointe.  That's when you dig in and investigate. Remember: it's a problem to be solved, not an issue to be stressed over and upset about.

First grab your flashlight: what exactly is my problem?  Falling forward?  Not enough suspension? Landing too fast?

Next, search your toolbox: am I pulled up enough?  Am I spotting the floor?  Am I not using my plie?

And if all of that still doesn't solve the issue, call in an expert - your teacher. You might need to add a new tool to your box!

Happy dancing~

Let me be your mirror

Our studios are filled with mirrors.  Our images are everywhere we turn. You can't escape looking at yourself the moment you walk into the room.  If you've grown up with this, as I have, it's just part of the classroom experience.

As a student, I use the mirror to check my alignment. As a dancer, I use it to review my performance quality.  As a teacher, I ignore it.

Yes, it's true!  I somehow manage to teach classes every single day without actually seeing myself.  I mean, of course, I notice my reflection but I refer to it only when I'm demonstrating. When I'm facing the mirror, I am looking through it and behind me at my students to see what they are doing, if they are catching on.  I'm at the point where I can dance with my nose pressed to the mirror and still not see myself!  Sometimes I have no idea what I'm wearing or whether my earrings match until after I get home.

Many students, especially beginners or those who come to ballet later in life, don't know how to look at the mirror.  Some of them can't tear their eyes away from their reflections; some can't even look at their reflections.  Lots of them don't know what they should be looking at or for.

That's where I come in. Let me tell you what to look at and when.  Let me tell you what I see. Let me be your mirror. All images -photographs or reflections - lie.  They whisper to you that you're fat or clumsy or unattractive - or conversely that you're doing everything right. I am your teacher and I will tell you the truth.  The mirror doesn't care if you improve or if you notice when you're doing things right.  But I do.

Happy dancing~