Dance & ballet news

• November 2015 | 2 Tips for Tap Teachers | Tending to Adult Students

  01-11-2015 20:48
  Tip 1The joys of teaching adults far outweigh the challenges. To develop and maintain a strong adult tap program, try these classroom tips.Establish a welcome walk-around to connect students with one another and disconnect them from the outside world of cellphones, work, and family. Acknowledge students by name, give positive feedback, and use age-appropriate music played at a reasonable volume. Focus on a fun, rhythm-based approach. Adults, especially in a mixed-level class, will benefit from m
  
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• November 2015 | FYI

  01-11-2015 20:36
  What’s up in the dance communityJulie Kent to Head ABT Summer ProgramsJohn McFall Takes a Bow in AtlantaArtwork Comes Alive in ToledoMotion Captured by Lois Greenfield Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | Bulletin Board: Pin, Post, and Share

  01-11-2015 20:07
  Click! What’s new online at the Rhee Gold CompanyDance in Time: NovemberQuotable: Dancers on Dance Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | Mail

  01-11-2015 20:00
  Words from our readers Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | Performance Corner

  01-11-2015 19:58
  Our sneak peek at dance shows we’d love to see Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | Ask Rhee Gold

  01-11-2015 19:58
  Advice for dance teachers Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | Collective Wisdom

  01-11-2015 19:57
  "Reality Check: Absence Mindedness": I am hiring a new teacher; we are days away from making it final. She just told me that she will be away the first week of classes on a trip she’s had planned for a while, so she will not be able to teach her first night. She’s excited about teaching in a studio again with young kids and I am excited because it’s difficult to find a good hip-hop teacher in my area. How would all of you handle a prospective teacher missing the first night of
  
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• November 2015 | Thinking Out Loud | Two for One

  01-11-2015 19:56
  Heading into my 19th year of teaching, I have held many titles over the years—dance instructor, movement teacher, dance specialist, and guest artist. But when I started being called a “teaching artist” about 12 years ago, the components of my life came together. “Teaching artist” is the title that best describes me. Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | 2 Music Tips for Teachers | Early Ballet Music and Giselle

  01-11-2015 19:56
  Tip 1Until the 1820s, a ballet’s music was often a compilation of popular tunes, opera melodies, and original pieces by one or more composers, tailored to fit the story. Early ballet composers, hired to provide simple accompaniments for the solo and ensemble dances, were of lower stature than their symphonic counterparts. The choreographer decided the rhythms and number of bars for each dance, and the composer improvised music to fit. Mime scenes often borrowed melodies from well-known son
  
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• November 2015 | EditorSpeak

  01-11-2015 19:54
  "Bravo for Ballet": Ballet gets a bad rap. Kids complain: it’s boring and tedious, old-fashioned, rigid. And the music! All those old guys. Ugh. [Cue universal eye-roll.]"Paris Opera Ballet, Virtually": Many casual dance fans came to know Benjamin Millepied through his work on a film (Black Swan), so it’s fitting that Millepied—now director of Paris Opera Ballet—would turn a camera on his own dancers as a way of promoting them to the wider world. Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | On My Mind

  01-11-2015 19:52
  We all have opinions. And sometimes, when they’re on topics that have the potential to affect large groups of people, our perspective can be controversial. When I know that’s the case, I try to convey mine in a non-judgmental way, hoping to stir up thoughtful debate rather than offend people who disagree with me. Recently I stood strong on an issue, and I made some enemies.Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | Teacher in the Spotlight | Maggie Dennis

  01-11-2015 19:50
  NOMINATED BY: Kiana Foster-Mauro, student: “Miss Maggie’s studio is a place where we can be ourselves, have fun, learn dance technique, and create lifelong friendships and memories. Most important, she is an inspirational role model. From time management, to the importance of community service and teamwork, to the true meaning of friendship and family, Miss Maggie leads by example.” Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | College Close-Ups | Arizona State University

  01-11-2015 19:48
  The dance program at Arizona State University (ASU) School of Film, Dance and Theatre offers a range of opportunities for creative expression, including classes ranging from urban movement to contemporary ballet, community partnerships, and public events focusing on new student work. Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | 2 Tips for Modern & Contemporary Teachers | Spirals and Using Progressions

  01-11-2015 19:17
  Tip 1It’s important for students to understand the modern dance concept of the spiral in the back. The spiral allows dancers to move in a way that feels fully three-dimensional. Think of it as a carving motion, in which dancers use the arms or legs to help them carve through space and generate a turn or fall.Tip 2To teach coherent classes with a sense of progression, try incorporating the shapes, movements, and energy of the final combination or phrase into the earlier parts of class. This
  
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• November 2015 | Outreach and Inroads

  01-11-2015 19:11
  When an upscale dance academy offers an outreach program, there’s no need to ask why: dance education offers so much for children—as an afterschool activity for those who dream of dance careers or simply love to move, with life lessons on how to achieve goals, and for ex-professional dancers, a post-performing teaching career. However, many outreach programs, without necessarily meaning to, can amount to an afterthought, an attempt to mask an atmosphere of privilege. For some schools
  
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• November 2015 | Ballet Scene | Character Dance

  01-11-2015 18:47
  In classical ballet, the traditions of European culture come alive onstage. Watch a production of Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, or Don Quixote and you’ll see fairy tales and stories of royalty and ordinary people told through the classical technique handed down from King Louis XIV. But you’ll also see character dances—ballet versions of traditional folk dances such as the Hungarian czardas, in 2/4 or 4/4 time; the Polish mazurka, in 3/4 time; the krakowiak, a fast, s
  
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• November 2015 | Ballet, Danish Style

  01-11-2015 18:37
  What was an esteemed scholar of pre-Romantic ballet doing in a small town in northern Utah last summer? “Just trying to give students a flavor of Bournonville technique,” says Dinna Bjørn, now retired from her roles as a Royal Danish Ballet (RDB) principal dancer, director of the Norwegian National Ballet, and ballet mistress of the Finnish National Ballet. Bjørn, a respected authority on August Bournonville, has been traveling the world for the last 40 years, teaching
  
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• November 2015 | Mindful Marketing | Yes, You Canva

  01-11-2015 18:28
  Social media marketing can seem daunting, with no one-size-fits-all solution. Facebook’s cover photo size and ratio differ from Twitter’s and Instagram’s. The ideal size for a Facebook post is different from that for a Facebook ad. Recommended sizes don’t remain constant over time. And not everyone can afford to hire a graphic designer. Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | Bright Biz Idea | The 21st-Century Office

  01-11-2015 18:23
  Dance school owners often start out as jacks-of-all-trades, doing everything from answering the phone to cleaning the mirrors. As the fledgling school grows, however, it becomes impossible for one person to handle all the tasks, especially the administrative ones, and owners who try to do so will limit their businesses’ growth. Adding staff helps to relieve the owner’s workload, of course, but it’s not the whole answer. To maximize efficiency and profit, you’ll need to ad
  
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• November 2015 | 2 Tips for Hip-Hop Teachers | Camel Walk and Patty Duke

  01-11-2015 18:20
  Tip 1Many of the hip-hop steps we teach come out of popular dances. The camel walk and Patty Duke, for example, are based on 1970s dances that influenced the social aspect of hip-hop’s development. Since these steps started as party dances, have students face each other and interact to get into the right spirit.Tip 2There are a few versions of the Patty Duke; here’s one. Stand on two feet, shoulder-width apart, and start the groove, a body rock going backward. Bring one foot forward,
  
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• November 2015 | Ballet on Broadway

  01-11-2015 18:19
  For decades, Broadway and ballet have shared a bloodline, if not exactly a blessed marriage. And a select number of ballet choreographers from George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, and Jerome Robbins onward have gained fame and felt equally at home on the Great White Way and on the ballet stage. But the recent artistic and box office success of the Tony Award–winning An American in Paris, choreographed by ballet’s prolific whiz kid, Christopher Wheeldon, has many wondering if Broadway h
  
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• November 2015 | Moving Images

  01-11-2015 18:15
  Videos of note (new and not)1. The Dance Goodbye2. Black & White Ballets3. Creole Giselle4. American Ballet Theatre: A History Continue reading
  
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• November 2015 | 2 Tips for Ballet Teachers | When Rond de Jambe Is Wrong

  01-11-2015 18:15
  Tip 1Periodically I have to revisit the mechanics of soutenu détourné, because students want to rond de jambe their working leg slightly when closing to sous-sus. This is easiest to correct at the barre, slowed way down, to make sure technique is not compromised.Without music, have students execute and hold each step in the sequence: a well-placed and square tendu soutenu à la seconde, a tight and lifted sous-sus, and détourné with a crisp spot and tidy finish.
  
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• November 2015 | Flexibility: Facts and Fictions

  01-11-2015 18:14
  Dancers have always prized flexibility—and the bendier they can get, the better. But technique has gotten more extreme in recent years, and today’s choreography seems to require a contortionist’s malleability. Young dancers strive to emulate Miko Fogarty’s 180-degree penchés and Maddie Ziegler’s ultra-arched back, while audiences and judges have come to expect show-stopping feats of flexibility. Social media only fuels the frenzy; an online search for “
  
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• November 2015 | Page Turners

  01-11-2015 18:09
  Books of note (new and not)1. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina2. Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet(3rd revised ed.)3. Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet4. Ballet Shoes Continue reading
  
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• Royal Ballet mixed bill review – quixotic, brilliant and imponderably awful

  01-11-2015 09:00
  
  Royal Opera House, London
  The Royal Ballet showcases its best and its most chaotic in the same evening, from impeccable Balanchine to Carlos Acosta’s new CarmenThe Royal Ballet’s new quadruple bill shows us the company at its most quixotic, brilliant and imponderably awful. This is an establishment in which matchless dedication and near-fatal complacency have somehow achieved an accommodation. An establishment whose commissioning policy at times appears directionless, and whose new w
  
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• Royal Ballet mixed bill review – from the sublime to the downright silly

  01-11-2015 09:00
  
  Royal Opera House, London
  The Royal Ballet showcases its best and its most chaotic in the same evening, from impeccable Balanchine to Carlos Acosta’s new CarmenThe Royal Ballet’s new quadruple bill shows us the company at its most quixotic, brilliant and imponderably awful. This is an establishment in which matchless dedication and near-fatal complacency have somehow achieved an accommodation. An establishment whose commissioning policy at times appears directionless, and whose new w
  
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• Dance partnership unites cultures - WKOW

  01-11-2015 03:28 via
  WKOW
  Dance partnership unites cultures
  WKOW
  MADISON (WKOW) -- Two local dance companies with very different styles are coming together to share their unique cultures with the community. Kanopy Dance Company, which focuses on modern dance, and the Kalaanjali School of Indian Dance have ...
  

• A wedding dance, two years late, that she never expected - Anderson Independent Mail

  01-11-2015 01:39 via
  Anderson Independent Mail
  A wedding dance, two years late, that she never expected
  Anderson Independent Mail
  Contributed by Joel and Lauren Jackson Joel and Lauren Jackson stood together and danced for the first time, two years after their wedding, on Oct. 1 at a Florida rehabilitation center where Joel is treated for his paralysis. Copyright 2015 Journal ...
  

• Angelic Isabella Valle in naked dance at Miami restaurant video is arrested - Daily Mail

  01-11-2015 01:18 via
  Daily Mail
  Angelic Isabella Valle in naked dance at Miami restaurant video is arrested
  Daily Mail
  A woman who caused a stir after a video of her stripping naked and pouring ketchup all over her body in front of stunned diners was posted online, has been arrested. Angelic Isabella Valle, 23, from South Florida is charged with incite to riot ...and more »
  

• From Renaissance Dance to Modernist Opera: 10 Shows Not to Miss At Performa 2015 - Huffington Post

  01-11-2015 00:49 via
  Huffington Post
  From Renaissance Dance to Modernist Opera: 10 Shows Not to Miss At Performa 2015
  Huffington Post
  Jesper Just, True Love is Yet to Come, 2005. A Performa Commission. Courtesy of Performa. Photo by Paula Court. 10 Shows Not to Miss At Performa 2015. The biennial dedicated to live performance, Performa celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
  

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