Let's kill the competition in 2020

There is a pervasive thread of competition in the ballet world, one that's been dramatized on screen and in books for decades. The stories are filled with cliches: the outrageously intense rivalries and eating disorders,

the dancers who give up family and relationships to pursue a career in it,

the heartbreak they suffer from rejection after rejection, and sometimes...they kill.

(Just kidding! Murder might be a familiar story point in films but in real life, not so much.)

The story ballets themselves - the classics - are filled with competition: between men for the hand of a princess, between women for the love of a prince. Like soap operas, they are often fueled by the baser instincts of humans, which makes the stories both easier to understand and acceptable to audiences.

I'm a bit bored by the classics but I don't mind seeing competition on the stage: it makes for great partnering, emotive choreography, and interesting characters. But quite frankly, I'm tired of it in real life.

I'm tired of divas in classes.

I'm tired of the needless drama off-stage.

I'm tired of the hierarchical division of schools and companies.

I'm tired of the outdated images of the perfect ballerina.

I'm tired of the lack of support among dancers, teachers and schools.

I'm tired of people who think ballet (or any art form) is a zero sum game. To paraphrase the popular saying, there's enough ballet for everyone; it's not like pie.

cc lic, Sean MacEntee, Banoffee Pie

Tired. Yes, tired of all the obstacles that people who have been "running the show" for years and years put in front of others. They put perfection before passion, rules above everything else. A student doesn't "look right" because of their background, their skin color, their body shape? Goodbye! As much as we - in 2019 - would like to believe ballet is becoming inclusive, um, no. Just no, we are not. Body shaming is a MAJOR thing in ballet. Promoting one or two dancers of color in a big company helps but until those companies start hiring dancers who really don't look like the traditional ballerina, we are just looking at a few token individuals.

I understand the aesthetics of ballet. I love the lines - for most of my life, I have been the lines. I fit the traditional mold and when I wore my hair in a bun for years, I looked the part of a ballet dancer and teacher to a T (pun intended!). But that doesn't mean I think all dancers should look like that.

That's boring.

And that is death to ballet.

Ballet will wither and die if it's boring to too many people. It will suffer a quiet demise if people don't attend shows and classes, if they don't donate or buy merchandise or dancewear. It will disappear.

This isn't hyperbole. This is reality.

This past weekend I had an opportunity to talk extensively and separately to two different people about ballet, one who is a professional dancer and the other a hobby dancer. Both people had vastly different "needs" from ballet but I found myself saying much the same things to each of them. I said this:

If ballet doesn't evolve 

to reflect the culture of the people in the audience, 

it will die.

You know, I get that a big professional company will say, we promote the idealization of ballet, and I understand that. An ABT or a San Francisco Ballet is the ideal: there are a few companies, with a few principals, and they represent perfection, the top of the heap, the achievement of years of training for its dancers who have been competing with each other their whole lives.

Oops, there's that word competition again.

But what if...everyone was represented on that stage? What if the people in the audiences saw themselves up there? What if the stories that were told were more contemporary, more unusual, with pairings and partnering and relationships that were reflective of the entire world, not merely the typical status quo that we have seen for years and years?

And what if all of this encouraged more people to attend more shows? What if it empowered more people to become ballet dancers, to study the form, to promote the art form to their friends and families and co-workers? What if they pumped more money into the continually poverty-stricken world of ballet that has relied on the kindness of a handful of wealthy donors and dismal government funding? What if they started to believe in the power of ballet, its discipline, its lessons, its beauty and grace, and they wanted it taught everywhere?

That pie just got a lot larger, didn't it? There's a slice for the big companies and the small locals, for the pre-professional schools and the hobby studios, for the teachers and choreographers who all want the same thing....to keep ballet alive.

cc lic, Stephanie, Cherry Pie

I'm being super specific about ballet because I think other forms of dance have evolved. Hip-hop, contemporary, jazz, modern...ever wonder why they are so popular at schools? Why do kids of all genders and ages want to study those dances? Because they're easy? No. Because they're accessible.

Why are we competing? Why aren't we supporting? Why are we disdainful of other schools and companies and teachers and choreographers? I want all my students to love ballet FOREVER. I want them to tell their friends and families. I want them to share their love of it. I want them to promote it and encourage kids to study, to buy tickets to shows - yeah, even if those classes are not with me and those shows are not mine. Why? The more people who love ballet, the better it is for ballet as a whole and the better it is for me, for you, for all of us. I could go into the many, many things that ballet brings to a person's life (mentally, physically, socially) but that's a rant for another day.

As we move into 2020 and look for ways to improve our community and our culture, to find common ground and encourage balance and beauty among all of us, let's do this:

Don't let ballet die. Kill the competition.

Is that a grapefruit under your arm?

Hello beautiful dancers!

Lately I've been unhappy with my students' armpits. 

It's not that they're smelly or gross - they're empty! 

Caveat: this is NOT my original imagery. A teacher friend of mine likes to tell her class to hold something under their arms when they are standing at the barre, to feel as if there is an object they are keeping pressed between their arm and their torso.

This week, I'm asking all of my students, regardless of their level or experience, to imagine they have grapefruits under their arms. This imagery serves several purposes:

1. It keeps space between the arm and torso.

2. It adds shape to the arms.

3. It activates the back muscles.

Beginning at the barre, try to picture the space under your arm as filled with an object like a grapefruit. As you move the arms through port de bras, continue to hold that object, even when the arms are above your head. However, be very careful that you don't squish the fruit under your arm. You must shape the armpit around the fruit and hold it in place.

HINT: When you do cambre, lifting your spine up and back, turn your head gently to the side and take a sniff of that grapefruit. That is where your head should be, rather than facing the ceiling.

When you come to the center, hold that grapefruit when you are doing pirouettes and that will help you engage your back muscles and keep your abdominal muscles active, which in turn will help you stay lifted. If you're really concentrating, think about this image when you do big jumps; keep those grapefruits under your arms even as you fly across the stage.

Take a look at Misty Copeland in this photo. Notice how there is shape to her underarms even as she holds her hands high above her head. The grapefruits are still in place!

Misty Copeland, courtesy American Masters

Don't lose your grapefruit! Or as the French say, Ne perdez pas votre pamplemousse!



Happy dancing~

Upcoming events!

Hello beautiful dancers and happy holidays to you all! A few things of interest for those of you who are local and those who are not.

Coming up in 1 week! I'll be hosting a LIVE online discussion of Misty Copeland's new memoir, "Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina" on Friday, December 19th at 12:30PM PST/3:30PM Eastern. It will happen at Dance Advantage where my review of the memoir will be posted along with some possible topics for discussion.  Here are a few to think about:

Racial diversity in ballet
Economic discrimination in ballet
Teachers: external challenges we face with students
Students: dealing with and overcoming family obstacles
Parents: How far should parents go to encourage their children?
Curves and growth; how do we handle body changes in young dancers?

If you've got more, let me know so we can be sure to include them. I loved Misty's story and can't wait to talk about it with other readers. Book Troupe: put it in your calendar!

Next up: 2 Holiday classes with me!

On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve mornings, I will be teaching at Vonder Haar Center for the Performing Arts in La Canada, from 10-11:30AM. It will be suitable for beginners through intermediate level dancers and you know I'll have fun music to celebrate the holidays!

So come all ye ballet faithful and dance with me! And for more class schedule info, be sure to check the calendar below or email me about specific classes, if you want to know more.

Coming in January: Elementary Ballet Workshop

For all of you (or 12 of you actually, since this is a limited number workshop) who have wanted to take class with me but have no experience at all, this workshop is for you. For 3 Fridays in January, I will offer a workshop that covers just the basics of ballet barre and center. 

What: Elementary Ballet workshop
Where: Dance Arts Academy, 731 South La Brea, Los Angeles, CA 90036
When: January 9, 16 & 23, 2015, 6-7PM

Attire: Ballet slippers (thin socks if you don't have them) and leotard and tights (or leggings/shorts and tank top if you are more comfortable)

Cost: $60 for the entire workshop
You will need to sign up in advance through PayPal. I will post the link this weekend when signup officially opens. I am limiting the class to 12, with a minimum of 6.

Can you be perfect?

Don't spend too long thinking about the answer. I'll tell you: no, you cannot.  And you shouldn't try to be.  Good things happen when you fail in ballet.  (Not "fall," that's a different matter altogether.)

One of the biggest differences between beginning ballet students who are adults and those who are children is that the kids just throw themselves into turns and jumps, usually without any regard for form.  Adults, on the other hand, are often too smart for their own good.  They think and think and ponder and then very tentatively attempt one pirouette.  They are afraid to do it wrong.  They want it to be perfect.

It ain't gonna happen.

Gillian Murphy, one of the most gifted dancers in the world yet only occasionally perfect!

When you go for a double pirouette instead of a single - and you tip over- that tells you something.  Where you weight is.  Where your arms are (or are not).  What your head is doing.  And so on.  All of those things lead you to better pirouettes the next time around.  Don't bother analyzing a thing before you try it.  Just try it and then analyze it.

One of the most important things you can do in the center is to free your mind and allow yourself to move.  The discipline we learn at the barre, the constant repetition of steps and corrections, the little voice that is me (your teacher) telling you to always lift up your hips, etc. - all of these things are important for you to incorporate and then forget when you come to the center.  You don't want to be actively thinking about those corrections; the goal is for them to happen on their own because you have done them so many times.  Then when you do turns or jumps or adagio, the dancing takes over and you give yourself room in your brain to concentrate on other things like artistry and expression.

You can't be perfect.  No one can.  Even the most gorgeous and naturally gifted ballerina will only be perfect for a moment in time.  As with any athlete, constant training is necessary to achieve even one second of perfection.

Classroom surprises!

Every teacher wants to believe she gives a good class, one that anyone could enjoy at some level. If you are a beginner taking a more advanced class, then you should be able to learn from the better dancers, following along wherever you can. If you are an advanced student taking a beginner or intermediate level class, you should be able to work on placement and alignment and doing things properly.

But what happens when a professional walks into your class? On Friday night, I had the pleasurable surprise of dancer Colby Parsons from ABT taking my class. I don't know Colby personally and he was new to the studio so I think he was simply in town and looking for a class. As Melissa tells me, even pros need class. Colby was humble and kind with my students and above all, respectful of me as a teacher. When he wanted to add to a combination, he asked my permission first. He was very self-effacing when most of us told him how wonderful he was. He displayed no ego to any of us. He didn't leave early or do his own thing in a corner - and he even laughed when he made a mistake with a combination.

His professional demeanor and courteous behavior was a beacon of light shining on my students. They saw how a pro acts - and dances. And it made them step up their game. Every single one of my students had a better class because of his presence. They simply worked harder and smarter.

It was a wonderful class. I wish Colby the best of luck with his career and I'm very thankful he decided to take class with us while he was in town.