Vacation dates, recital tickets, and new t-shirt!

Hello beautiful dancers, friends and students!

For those of you I haven't seen in class and whose email I might not have, please note I will be on vacation from Tuesday, May 22-Monday, May 28. There will be no classes while I'm gone:

--at Dance Arts Academy on Tuesday 5/22 & Thursday 5/24
--at Inspire Dance Studio on Wednesday 5/23, Saturday 5/26 & Monday 5/28

I WILL be teaching as usual at Inspire on Monday 5/21 and will be back to teach at Dance Arts on Tuesday 5/29. If you have questions, just ask. :) And if the question is why am I going out of town, the answer is: college reunion! Yes, it's a big one and I couldn't not attend. It's also a good chance to see my family on the east coast.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you. After this absence, I promise I will be in town for the rest of the year!

As soon as I get back, we will be doing our spring recital on June 3rd at the Norris Theatre in Palos Verdes. Shows are at 1PM and 4PM. My dancers will be doing three excerpts from Cinderella that I choreographed with costumes by Nana Chin and Wilma Woo. You can get tickets here.

And one last item: new t-shirts! The always-amazing, multi-talented, super-gifted Bill Reiss has designed a brand new shirt for the recital but honestly, I would wear it all year round. It looks beautiful on black; the colors are vibrant and the movement is so joyful. Each is $20. Below is the design and you can purchase them here.

That's it for a week or so. If I don't see you before my mini-vacay, have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and I will see you right after the holiday. Cheers and happy dancing!

Friday Fun Links! Interviews & More!

Hello beautiful dancers and Happy Friday!

If you're not on Facebook, you probably haven't seen the interview links I posted on my Leigh Purtill Ballet page. I was so honored and thrilled to be interviewed on 2 different sites, one an e-zine called Voyage LA as one of their "Inspiring Stories" (what?!!) and the other a dancewear site called BDancewear. I love BDancewear's blog because they offer all kinds of super cool DIY costume hacks and tricks. Check them out!

Here is the link to the Voyage LA article (feel free to comment and please re-post if you like! Thank you!).

And the link to the BDancewear interview (again, a comment is always awesome and it's nice to get retweets/posts/likes! Thank you!).

In both interviews, I try to let people know about my personal teaching philosophy as well as all the wonderful students who dance with me. They are the reason I do what I do! (Yes, YOU!)

So those were the interview links....what about the MORE?

How about a link to a gorgeous new t-shirt, designed by my student and soon-to-be Romeo in SWEET SORROW, A ZOMBIE BALLET? That's right, Bill Reiss - an incredibly talented artist - has designed another amazing shirt. You will probably want one in black and maybe another one in white and possibly one as a gift for a friend. Great quality shirts, as usual from Galloree, with organic cotton that holds its shape and colors really well. Best of all, the profits on the shirts go to the new ballet company, Leigh Purtill Ballet Company. It's a great deal for you because you get a really super cool new shirt for an excellent price and a deal for us because we, well, we need the cash to get our company up and running. (And we have a production in October!)

Want one? Check out the shirts here!

 And one last self-serving link: my website has been redesigned by student and company member Celia Green. It's got info for both my classes and the nonprofit ballet company. Pictures, blogs, social media links and much more. Take a look!

Okay, that's a lot of links. Enjoy the weekend! Happy dancing~

Week's end roundup: Halloween pics, Nutcracker shirts and a Technique Tip!

'Tis the holiday season! First up, Halloween! 

If you didn't make it to class, I hope you spent it trick-or-treating with the kids or being a good neighbor and handing out treats. Here are a few photos of what you might have missed on Monday night:

First of all, chocolate cookies shaped like cats!

Thanks, Martha Stewart!

Students in both classes dressed in costume!

My musical playlist!

And me, as Rosie the Riveter!

And in one month, we'll be performing Nutcracker!

Here is Bill Reiss's awesome design for the shirt to commemorate our Dec 4th shows at the Norris Theater in Palos Verdes, with Classical Ballet Theatre:

Want one for yourself? You can order in black or white, men's, women's and youth sizes here.

And finally, a technique tip to end your week: Get dirty!

That's right - don't be afraid to get your tights dirty (or your socks or your legs) when you:

--hold your leg in retire. Be sure to press the toe right into the knee and lock it in there. If you keep your toe separate from your knee, and it sort of hovers next to the leg instead, you end up hiking the hip instead of maintaining the natural turnout.
--perform pique turns in passe. Again, press the toe into the back of the knee and hold it there for a split second longer than you think. Don't be in a rush to get the foot back down to the ground.
--practice battu at the barre. You want to return the foot to the ankle each and every time you do frappe, rather than let it hover an inch or two above it. And in petit battements, keep the working foot that is in coup de pied very close to the support leg. Try not to circle front to back but instead, form a V-shaped action in the air.
--do rond de jambe en l'air in center or at barre. Your toe will quickly dab at the inner knee when you do this correctly. If you don't actually touch the support knee, that means you are circling the knee improperly, more like a can-can dancer, and that is physically bad for your knee joint.

When you do all of the above, you might end up with pink tights spotted with dirt from your shoes and that's okay. You might even end up with some light bruising if you're wearing pointe shoes or dance sneakers. That's less okay but not unusual! Just be sure to actually make contact when you're performing the above exercises or else you will be hiking your hip and engaging your quadriceps too much.

Happy dancing~