Ashley David – Page 5

10 Questions With…Michael Cornell

August 27, 2012 by Ashley David

Today our 10 Questions With… features Michael Cornell, developer of the Align Ballet Method…

1. How did you become involved in dance and what is your background?

I loved my middle school art class and the process of learning in a studio environment. I was fairly talented with the pencil, and my teacher kept handing me photos of Baryshnikov to draw. These photos expressed an athletic power, yet also communicated simplicity and purity. I was immediately drawn to these elements.

I eventually was awarded a scholarship to The National Academy of The Arts in Champaign, Illinois and then the Pennsylvania School of Ballet summer program. There I was offered an apprenticeship with the company, but I had already made a commitment to work with BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio. I spent 10 years with BalletMet, and looking back I am very grateful I had the opportunity to work with many of the world’s notable, innovative movement artists. My family was not very culturally minded, but they were open-minded enough to let me explore what probably seemed like a strange pursuit for a young man. Studying ballet was definitely my decision.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

I have been teaching in Los Angeles for ten years. A little over a year ago I started a class called BALLET 101, which has evolved into the ALIGN BALLET METHOD. This is a unique program I have developed to help adults learn the fundamentals of classical ballet.

We have a roster of about 120 full time students who are working at various stages of development. Our goal is to provide a gateway, where adults with no prior experience have the opportunity to experience authentic ballet training at the highest level. Our unique ALIGN method helps them gain skills rapidly.

3. Would you explain a bit about how the Align Ballet Method works? [Read more…]

One On One With Elizabeth Grams

July 29, 2012 by Ashley David

Editorial by: Emily Zager

I had the pleasure of discussing the art of dance with classically trained ballerina Liz Grams of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Liz, 23, is a graduate and dance team alum of Marquette University and currently works as an account coordinator for a public relations firm. She has enjoyed studying dance, exploring the industry and performing for the past 20 years.

Her devotion to dance began at a young age. “I got involved with ballet when I was three, and it just took off from there,” Grams explains. “I’ve tried and done everything: ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern and pointe.” She is classically trained in ballet, which is her preferred style and passion.

When Grams was a seventh grader, she traveled to Orlando and enjoyed many exciting events that Disney World had to offer. While there, she witnessed the Universal Dance Association (UDA) College Dance Championship. She remembers “watching those girls, and realizing that that would be all I want to do with my life. So, from that point on, that became my goal.” A bright and ambitious young dancer at the time, Grams decided she would work towards earning a spot on a collegiate dance team.

While studying at Marquette University, Grams’ dance career flourished and thrived as she continued taking classes and began performing with the school’s official dance team. She cites Sarah Zeisser, a jazz and hip hop choreographer at Marquette, as another major inspiration in her dance career. Zeisser is the former coach of the nationally ranked University of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Team. She coached at Madison, owns her own studio and is also a certified yoga instructor. “She’s definitely one of those ‘do-it- all’ types of people, and an all around good person to be around and learn from,” Grams says. [Read more…]

10 Questions With…Hannah Renegar

July 9, 2012 by Ashley David

Today we have 10 Questions With… Hannah Renegar from the USA International Ballet Competition…

1. What is your background in dance?

I graduated from the University of Florida in 2007 with a BFA in Dance Performance. Prior to and during my college career, I studied both classical and contemporary forms of dance and had the opportunity to perform with several pre-professional groups.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

I am currently working as the Artistic Administrator for the USA International Ballet Competition. My main focus at the moment is preparing for the 2012 Reunion Gala that will take place in July of 2012 in Jackson, MS.

3. How did you first become involved with USA IBC?

Brooke Wyatt, the Artistic Administrator for the 2006 and 2010 competitions, contacted me about interviewing for the Assistant Artistic Administrator position for the 2010 competition. I was offered the position and was thrilled to be able to accept it.

4. What was it like to serve as the Assistant Artistic Administrator?

Serving as the Assistant Artistic Administrator allowed me to experience the administrative side of the arts first hand. I had the opportunity to be involved in the final stages of planning for this event.

I thoroughly enjoyed being involved with competitor and coach communication as dancers from around the world worked through the application process and prepared for their arrival in Jackson.

5. Has it been a big change to work in your new role as the Artistic Administrator? Why or why not?

While I have only been in the Artistic Administrator role since October of 2011, I do feel like I have assumed more responsibility and have been more involved in the decision making process as we prepare for the 2012 Gala. Working as the Assistant Artistic Administrator definitely helped me to prepare for this new role.

6. What are the duties of this position? [Read more…]

Guest Review: Dancing Keys 2

July 4, 2012 by Ashley David

by Laura Donnelly

I recently received a copy of Gill Civil’s Dancing Keys 2 CD and highly recommend it to dance teachers looking for good recorded music for dance class. While the music is written primarily for the ballet class, I feel a number of the selections would also work well for modern dance classes.

The CD contains 37 tracks of original music composed for ballet class. The melodies are beautiful. I found them inspiring and could easily think up several good combinations for each track. The music is clear so that subdivisions in the beat are easy to hear. This gives me more flexibility in how to use the music for different combinations and class levels.

There is good variation from track to track. The pieces sound different from each other in both melody and texture. Civil uses a variety of different tempi which I find very helpful when planning classes.

In the album notes Civil lists a suggested dance exercise, the title of the piece, number of bars, tempo, and length of the track. For me, when working with CDs tempo, number of bars, and length of piece are crucial. I like to select longer tracks for continuous across the floor combinations or adagios and I like to choreograph my exercises so that they fit the musical phrasing of the selected track. This information provided allows me to do this easily.

I am delighted with Civil’s Dancing Keys 2 and will use it often in my classes. She has a good feel for the type and variety of music that makes an interesting and inspiring dance class. I’ll purchase her original Dancing Keys CD and eagerly await the release of Dancing Keys 3. For more information about Gill Civil and to purchase her CDs visit http://www.pianomusicforballet.com

Laura Donnelly, MFA, BA is a choreographer, teacher, and dancer who also writes and creates community based public art projects involving visual and word art. Beginning August 2012, Laura will be Assistant Professor of Dance at Kansas State University. Her research interests include pedagogy, oral tradition in dance, collaborative process, music for dance, and the Alexander Technique. Her research has been presented at the Congress on Research in Dance, the International Association of Dance Science and Medicine, the National Dance Education Association, the Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, the 5th Annual International Conference on Civic Education, and the 2011 University of New Mexico Mentoring Conference. Laura’s essay Meditation in the Dance Studio is published in Teaching with Joy: Educational Practices for the Twenty-First Century, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

One Dancer’s Journey: Performing Outside the US

June 28, 2012 by Ashley David

ToddFox_OksanaStorazuk_Giselle_SerbianNationalTheatreBallet — Todd Fox & Oksana Storazuk in Giselle (Serbian National Theatre Ballet)

It’s time for the next question in our series, “One Dancer’s Journey”. Todd Fox has danced all over the world, and here he shares some of his experiences (and photos) from his travels…

by Todd Fox

6. You have danced for companies all over the world. Can you talk a bit about what that is like?

Truly unbelievable! When I was a young professional dancer just starting out I never imagined performing with a ballet company outside of the USA, not because I didn’t want to, it just didn’t seem realistic. The Internet didn’t exist back then and things were much different in regards to communication and retrieving simple information like addresses and contact info on companies you wanted to audition for abroad. You couldn’t just do a search for the company and email your resume/images/video, if you wanted to seek employment with a ballet company abroad you had to either wait for that company to host an audition here in the states, or, personally know dancers in those foreign companies who could tell you when they were auditioning in their cities, where to send resume/CV info via regular post and then somehow communicate via regular telephone.

ToddFox_RomeoandJulietPromo_PerthScotland — Todd Fox, Romeo & Juliet Promo (Perth, Scotland)

That was just crazy complicated and back then my world was New York City, all I was ever concerned with when living in New York City was the perpetual task of finding a job, any job that would allow me to dance every day. Back then within my circle of friends and peers when you said you were going to dance abroad it generally meant crossing the Hudson River.

ToddFox_ Mercutio_Death_Manx Ballet_Isle OfMan_UK — Todd Fox, Mercutio (Manx Ballet, Isle of Man, UK)

Ironically, during the first half of my career I ended up doing quite a bit of international touring with the companies and productions I danced for, I loved every minute of it and developed a great passion for traveling abroad. I began paying much more attention to what performance opportunities were available overseas and jumped at the chance to do any of them, even if the monetary value of the contract was so low that I would only break even. Then in 2001, the ballet company I worked for at the time, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, went bankrupt during its 25th year anniversary and I once again found myself suddenly unemployed. Up to that point in my professional career (12 years) I had worked for a total of 5 different ballet companies here in the states which either declared bankruptcy, ceased operations and relocated, or gone through major financial hardship forcing dancers into immediate unemployment and I was just so sick of it all. I decided to continue dancing but no longer within the structure and confines of a “home” ballet company and have since focused much of my efforts on performing seasonally and as a guest artist with companies overseas.

It has been a dream come true to use dance as a way to fuel my travels around the world in seek of new and emerging creative influences. Since I made that decision in 2001 I have been privileged to perform with ballet companies in 8 different countries spanning 4 continents. Not all have been high profile red carpet events but for me each different performance experience represents an absolute miracle in my career. Working in these foreign countries allowed me the opportunity to study and compare first hand many different cultural and ideological approaches to dance. I learned so much from each experience and as a result my own knowledge and creative perspectives on dance have broadened in ways I never could have imagined.

ToddFox_AmyLawson_StudioRehearsal_Dublin Ireland — Todd Fox & Amy Lawson (Studio Rehearsal, Dublin, Ireland)

As amazing as these opportunities were, working thousands of miles away from home for extended periods of time as an independent dance artist presents unique challenges and it’s definitely not for everyone. Trust me when I say, there is a HUGE difference between touring and performing abroad with a company of dance artists you know and trying to integrate into a company of dance artists that you don’t know for just one season or a single production. There are cultural and artistic differences to take into consideration, language barriers, and workplace politics like power struggles, labor disputes, casting disputes, partners that are difficult to work with, or choreographers who may not like you just because of what country you come from. Granted, all this can be said of dancing for just about any ballet company on the planet but when you’re a foreigner overseas the difference is that you are not at home and at the end of the day when you go back to the hotel or whatever housing you are living out of a suitcase in you eventually start to crave “home”. For me it took about 7 years of performing and traveling abroad before I started spending more and more time at home and less time flying all over the world to perform. Everything runs its course and for the rest of my life I will always cherish the amazing opportunities and life altering artistic experiences I was exposed to while performing independently abroad.

[Read more…]

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

Copyright Notice