Rachel Hellwig – Page 15

Student Spotlight: Jasmine Wallis

April 10, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

Jasmine Wallis is 18 years old and from Essex, UK. She is currently in her second year of training at Central School of Ballet in London. Before joining Central, Jasmine trained in the Cecchetti method as a Cecchetti scholar. She is also a member of the Chelmsford Ballet Company.

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

When I was five my Mum started taking me to weekly ballet classes as a fun thing to do. At the time she thought it was something I would only want to do for a little while, not that 14 years later it would be such a huge part of my life! But I loved it from a young age and gradually got involved in more classes.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class?

I like the challenges that dance classes bring. I think the best feeling is the feeling of improvement. This process takes time and can be frustrating when you don’t understand things a first, but when you start to understand it is a great feeling. I like that you can always push yourself because there is always more to learn and something else you can work on. Another of the best parts is being on stage and performing to an audience after all the hard work that goes into rehearsals.

3. What is the hardest part about dance for you?

For me the hardest part of dance is dealing with confidence. It is so easy to listen to the negative thoughts in your head, but doing this will only prevent you from achieving your best. I think it’s important to always try to look at the positives and to believe in yourself, otherwise know one else will !

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?

The advice I would give is to always stay motivated. It can be easy to get upset when things don’t go right or to compare yourself to other people. So it is important to remember why you dance and to set your own goals so you can achieve the best that you possibly can.

5. How has dance changed your life?

From being involved in dance I have met such inspiring people, like teachers and choreographers who I have learnt so much from. Also, being involved in dance gives you the opportunity to met lots of new people and create so many friendships.

I think that even if you don’t want to pursue dance as a professional career your dance training will always benefit you, because it teaches you about discipline and dedication.

From The Barre To The Barn: A Ballet Dancer’s Career Transition To Farming

April 6, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

by Catherine L. Tully

Dancers retire and do all sorts of interesting things. Sometimes the new job isn’t far from the studio–such as a teacher or a choreographer. Sometimes they go back to school and study something totally different.

Today we share one of those stories with you. Meet Paris Wilcox, formerly of Kansas City Ballet. Paris decided to return to his family roots and become a farmer when he stopped dancing full time. We hope you enjoy the story of how he decided on this direction, and what it has been like to switch careers…

1. When did you start thinking about a post-dance career?

I was born and raised on a Dairy in upstate NY, and learned all about responsibility, initiative, risk, and reward at a very early age. My father is a 4th-generation farmer, so I always knew that the “Farm life” was a chromosomal part of who I was, but didn’t think much about it…everything about my upbringing was normal to me, from drinking raw milk for twenty years to taking ballet class. I spent every summer at home, from kindergarten through my retirement from Kansas City Ballet, so I always knew that I wanted to return.

Even though my father sold the dairy herd and young stock in 1992…farmers call it “selling out”…my summers after 1998 were spent rebuilding the by-then-dissolved physical farm infrastructure, many miles of perimeter fence for cattle and sheep…by hand, managing the flock, making hay, and doing field work.

2. What drew you to organic farming?

Technically, we are “non-certified Organic,” which means that we are Organic, but don’t want to spend the money for constant Organic certifications. The farm had always been organic; my father never used chemical fertilizers or insect sprays. If he had a cow sick with mastitis or pneumonia, he gave her antibiotics, but those cases were few.

My father always managed the land in a way to maximize the growing seasons, and used natural fertilizers to great advantage. I remember a neighbor scoffing at my father’s talking about considering Organic milk production back in the late 80’s, the neighbor assured him that the Organic movement wouldn’t amount to anything, but it turns out Dad was right.

The way we are set up now, with beef cattle and sheep, makes chemicals irrelevant. The sheep especially like weeds and shrubs, and get fat on good grass. Ironically, they are the best weed killer out there; they eat so close to the ground that they kill broadleaf weeds. I have seen them literally turn a rough pasture of weeds and native grass into a pure stand of clover the following year. Our organic approach simply works well for us, and we don’t need to alter it. Besides, I don’t like chemicals around my food.

3. What do you enjoy most about farming? [Read more…]

Teaching Students to Teach Dance

March 9, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

By Janet Rothwell

"IMG_8440" by Jo. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic. — “IMG_8440” by Jo. Licensed under CC Attribution 2.0 Generic.

We all know the saying “if you can teach it then you know you know it.” I often have my students teach or help each other with movement they are learning in class to empower them and allow them time to know they know the material without constantly watching me demonstrate. One of my favorite assignments is when I have my students create and teach and full lesson plan to the whole class.

I put my students into pairs and they pick a theme for their lesson. Some theme examples are: movement initiated from certain body parts, extremes in timing or playing with rhythms, and moving into and out of the floor with smooth transitions. Once my students pick their theme they start to create a movement phrase that demonstrates their theme. They also have to create movement that travels across the floor and a warm up, all of which must be centered on their chosen theme. [Read more…]

Dancer Profile: Misty Copeland

March 4, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

Misty Copeland. Photograph by Rosalie O’Connor. Used with Permission from American Ballet Theatre and Rosalie O’Connor.

“I have never set limits for myself” – Misty Copeland

Misty Copeland actually laughed the first time her teacher told her she had the talent to become a professional dancer. At the time, the teenaged Copeland didn’t even know what it meant to be a “professional dancer”. Yet, from the start, she proved to be a prodigy. Beginning ballet at the late age of 13, she became strong enough to do pointe after only three months of training. Five months later, she was cast as Clara in The Nutcracker. At age 15, she received a full scholarship to attend San Francisco Ballet School’s summer intensive program. By age 19, she joined the corps of American Ballet Theatre.

But her career did not have smooth start. She soon fractured a vertebra in her lower back during rehearsal- an injury that took a year to fully recover from. Furthermore, doctors were concerned that her bones weren’t as strong as they should be because she hadn’t gone through puberty yet. They put her on medication to start the process. As a result, Copeland quickly developed a figure that was not considered ideal for ballet. When ABT management told her that she needed to “lengthen” (code for “lose weight”), she was devastated and fell into disordered eating. But, eventually, and with the encouragement and mentoring of a former ABT dancer, Copeland began to embrace her new body. She said, “My curves became an integral part of who I am as a dancer, not something I needed to lose to become one.”

In 2007 Copeland was promoted to soloist, the first African-American in two decades to achieve this rank at ABT. She hopes to go on to become the first female African-American principal in the history of ABT. Copeland has made it one of her goals to promote greater diversity within the ballet community. She says, “I’d like to continue to inspire dancers, especially dancers of color, in this art form. And I’d like to be remembered for changing the minds of people that may have been closed off to what they expect to see in the ballet world.” Copeland’s advice to everyone is to “accept everything about you that makes you different.”

Fun Facts:

She enjoys listening to music before a performance- just not classical music.

When she performed in Swan Lake as a corps member, she would quietly sing to herself to get through the second act. She said, “it’s agony, so you have to go someplace else in your mind.”

Her favorite step is grand jeté. Her least favorite is fouetté.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egkVCARjFGQ

Follow Misty On:

Her Website: http://www.mistycopeland.com/home.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mistyonpointe
Instagram: http://instagram.com/mistyonpointe
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mistycopeland

Photos of Young Copeland Dancing:

In Class

Pas De Deux

Nutcracker

Copeland Dancing at Age 15:

Copeland Dancing at Age 18:

Copeland Dancing Today:

Articles:

The New Yorker Profile: An Unlikely Ballerina

Copeland’s Journey in Dance, Race in Ballet

Teen Vogue: Ballet Star Misty Copeland Talks Overcoming Racism and Body Shaming on Her Way to the Top

Excerpt from Copeland’s Memoir “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina”

Misty Copeland: On Clean Eating And The Eyebrow Pencil She Can’t Live Without

Copeland Talks About Her Diet and Favorite Cosmetics

You Asked–Misty Answered

Q&A with Copeland

Cupcakes & Conversation with Misty Copeland, Soloist, American Ballet Theatre

Ballet News Interviews Copeland

NYC Dance Project: Misty Copeland

Photographs and Interview with NYC Dance Project

Books:

Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina

Copeland’s Memoir

Firebird

Copeland’s Children’s Book

The Bliss & Pitfalls Of Making The Ultimate Solo: A Group Therapy Session For Choreographers

February 23, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

by Jamie Benson

Lights come up on a lone figure, the one burdened with putting a trance over a packed house of smart phones. It’s a tall order to be sure. You don’t just have to dazzle, you have to captivate, ooze an indisputable it-factor that dares an audience of TV brains to look away, as if they could. The best/worst part is that you probably put yourself in the position to be this dance mystic. It’s your fault.

It’s your solo after all.

In an attempt to simplify my life as a choreographer (Ha!), I recently dove headfirst into the idea of making new solos. This was after previously doing a lot of ensemble pieces. It’s more freeing and more terrifying than ever. You’ve been there right? (Or will be.) Let’s have some group therapy real quick and see if we can come out the other end a little wiser, a little more capable of entrancing our next packed house. Game? Good.

Potential Pitfall: How Does It “Read” (a.k.a Do I look nuts?)

It can be tricky to clearly represent the source of whatever emotion one is exploring as a soloist and harder to suss out how it might “read” to an innocent audience-goer. There’s a more immediate response when working with other performers. They laugh when it’s funny, look at you cross-eyed when it’s too complicated or unintentionally awkward, and so on and so forth. As audience members, we’ve all experienced that performance where a soloist goes from poised dancer to insane person in seconds flat. As choreographers we think we know how something looks from the outside because we feel it so deeply. But as an audience member, one can become perplexed and feel alienated really fast if there’s no immediate access point, such as a topical reference, a common emotional gesture, something. Even if we deliberately create space for the audience to make their own choices about what we’re doing, our job is still ultimately to communicate something through movement.

[Read more…]

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