What good can about 40 dancers, most of whom are new to their ballet studies, do for the world? A lot! Our two shows of The Night Before Christmas raised $4,900 for Little Lambs Foundation, who provides comfort kits to children placed in emergency foster care, and serves over 2,000 families across the state with …
Congratulations to Jaycee Preece for being selected as the child lead in the Garland Dance of Ballet West’s Sleeping Beauty! You may remember Jaycee as Winky in The Night Before Christmas (image below). She currently trains at Dance Illusion, Ballet West Academy, and Ballet Aligned. You can catch Jaycee in Ballet West’s spectacular show from Feb …
Ballet Aligned training is focused on progressing dancers to and through advanced levels of ballet TECHNIQUE. While that aim may seem obvious, it is a departure from other approaches that emphasize progression through ballet VOCABULARY. That latter is more obvious to dancers (and parents!). Dancers learn new steps all the time, regardless of their level …
One of the BEST things about dance is that it makes kids mentally tough, and heaven knows that’s a skill that will take them far in life! Learning can come from the successes, but from the disappointments too. (And often those are the most instructive!) To optimize your learning experience, regardless of the role you …
Tips for a Drama-Free Mindset in Ballet (and Life!) Read More »
There are a few major milestones in a dancer’s training, including: receiving your first pair of point shoes is one (which can mark the beginning of taking ballet seriously), going away to a summer intensive is another, and of course, landing a contract with a company bookmarks the end of the training phase. Three different …
Summer Intensives for 11 yo at major dance schools can be hard to find. Here are some reasons why that might be, and what to do about it if your 11yo dancer is dying to try one out. Summer Intensives at elite schools (and often connected to companies) are GREAT ways to explore your dancer’s …
My perspective on equal class attention (for any serious dancer who is frustrated by lack of teacher attention): There are a few reasons, despite my goal to help everyone improve in class, that I would stop correcting dancers or correct some less. In my classes: 1. The least-skilled dancer gets the most corrections. This is …
Summer is HERE! Is your plan for summer dancing ready? Here are suggestions on how to plan for what age. First, I’m going to assume you take your dancing seriously. If not, you likely wouldn’t be reading! (If you like to take an occasional ballet class for recreation purposes, you probably don’t need a summer …
My post on the subject in a Facebook group became so lengthy, I decided it was worthy of a post. 🙂 On the subject of affording summer intensives (because this was far too long for a comment on another post) from the perspective of a former professional ballerina who was the oldest of 9 from …
We are pleased to be announcing the addition of a performance opportunity to our Spring Semester!! Ballet is a performance art, and as such, performing is crucial to the development of the artist. However, aside from the logistical challenges of a performance (theater rental, costumes, music preparation, etc.), there is the real challenge of balancing …