December class news, updates and fun links!

 

Outdoor class at Inspire! December 2020 schedule All classes in session as scheduled (view here) except Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. On Thursday 12/24 &Thursday 12/31, Open Level class will be held at 10AM rather than the evening. Fun music and community to celebrate the holidays! Please sign up for all Zoom classes in advance here.   Mark your calendar: Easy Basic Partnering workshop! Saturday, Dec 5th 5-6PM! A fun and easy workshop for you and your friend or family member. You need only know how to do first arabesque and attitude derriere. We will learn a short combo to wow your friends on Zoom. Sign up here!   Access to YouTube video archives The current Intermediate and Beginner playlists will expire 12/31/20. A new Beginner/Intermediate with Pre-pointe playlist will be offered instead (available from 1/1/21 through 6/30/21). The current Friday playlist will also expire 12/31/20; a new Friday video playlist will be offered that will include November & December 2020 through 6/30/21. Links will be on my website on 12/30/20.   Extra fun! Did someone say Outdoor Class? Julie Paige, the owner of Inspire Dance Studio, has set up two outdoor "studios" in her back parking lot. Weather permitting, I am offering Saturday open level class 12-1PM, limit 6 students. Masks must be worn and distance maintained. No walk-ins; you must sign up online. Because of Julie's Nutcracker performance, the next available time for class is Saturday,December 26. Fingers crossed our beautiful weather holds!   Psst...Are you on Instagram? Every Wednesday around 11:30AM, I do a 5-10 minute "Ballet Break". Join me for some gentle stretches, plies and tendus to get us up and away from our desks. And on Thursdays, I always do a bit of choreography!   LPBC News More fun links featuring the dancers of Leigh Purtill Ballet Company! Company Member Spotlights! Last month I shared a new feature from the company YouTube channel: Company Spotlights created by Alexes Ciardi. The newest one is an interview with company member Rae Aaselund, below.  Be sure to subscribe to our channel to see more in the series! Spotlight on Rae Aaselund And....the big project is a short film! Because we couldn't perform our annual "Sweet Sorrow, A Zombie Ballet," we produced a short version of it! Rehearsed over Zoom, we filmed outdoors in Griffith Park with a cast of 14 dancers in masks and socially-distanced. Filmed and edited by Rawl Paredes, we are so pleased to present this to you. Please click the image below and enjoy!

A classic book! A classic zombie film!

On this Friday, I wanted to share with you a couple of things:

A book review I wrote of Edward Stewart's "Ballerina." It is a classic tale of two young dancers pursuing stardom in the world of ballet. It was written decades ago but is timeless. Seriously, not much has changed in the dance world. We still have the same kinds of politics, the same kinds of people who enter the business, the same kinds of people who love the people who are in the business. And we have the same problems: injuries, jealousy, love and loss. If you're looking for something to put on your Kindle, check it out.

Here is my review from Dance Advantage. (DA is one of my very favorite websites for all things dance-related!) Thanks for posting, Nichelle! And the link for the Amazon purchase.

From one classic to another...Zombie Ballet! So you're thinking, what could Leigh do with zombie ballet now? She's done ArtNight Pasadena several times, each year slightly different from the last so what could this year bring?

How about a short film? Last spring, when I was shooting the dance for my own purposes (I wanted a nice copy of it with great lighting and photography), I decided to write a short story around it and make it a little more interesting than merely a dance. So I wrote"The Dead Shoes," a short film about a young dancer who goes to a ballet class on Halloween in an empty studio - or is it empty?

It was a lot of fun to shoot and it combined all the things I'd studied in my life: filmmaking, writing and dance. We premiered it on October 10 at ArtNight Pasadena at ARC Pasadena and the crowd loved it! Twice!

Here it is, for your Halloween enjoyment: