10 Questions With…

10 Questions With…Sarah Gold

May 20, 2011 by 4dancers

Sarah Gold

Today on 10 Questions With we have Sarah Gold, who just had the experience of auditioning for the Rockettes…

1. How did you become involved with dance?

My parents have always said I came out of the womb dancing. As soon as I could walk I was dancing around the living room to whatever music was playing in the house. When I was four years old my mom enrolled me in dance classes, and the rest is history.

2. What were you doing prior to this audition?

I am about to graduate as a part of the class of 2011 from CK DanceWorks where I dance as a member of both the competitive team, DancElite, and the hip hop crew, Acworth Dance Crew.

3. What made you decide to audition for the Rockettes?

It has always been a big dream of mine to audition for the Radio City Rockettes ever since the very first time I saw them perform. When my dance instructor, Christina Wiginton, told me about the “Jump the Line” contest I was ecstatic and we began to prepare a video to send in. It’s a dream come true in itself to have the opportunity to audition.

4. What was the experience like?

It was such a great experience. Not only was it awesome to be able to skip the line and go straight into auditions, but it was just an overall incredible opportunity to be able to audition for the Radio City Rockettes in Radio City Music Hall along side all the other amazing dancers auditioning. Even though I didn’t make it through to the final cuts, I am so incredibly thankful to have had such a wonderful first audition experience and will, with out a doubt, be back to audition once again.

5. Can you tell readers a bit about how you were selected through the “Jump the Line” competition?

The “Jump the Line” competition was basically an opportunity for one dancer to be chosen, flown out to New York, and be a part of the first group this season to audition to be a Rockette. I put a video together of a few clips of my dance technique in ballet, tap, and jazz, and was chosen as one of the top four finalists by their panel of judges. My video was then published to the Rockette’s website where it was voted on by the public for their “Favorite Dancer.” After a few days of getting all my friends and family to vote, and multiple hours of awaiting the big phone call, I found out that I was the winner and would have the amazing opportunity of auditioning this season.

Sarah Gold (left) Photo by Amanda Schwab, Starpix

6. How do you think this audition has impacted your career?

It was my first real professional audition, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. It taught me to be stay open minded, and remain confident in myself no matter what the outcome.

7. What is your “dance dream”?

My dance dream is to dance professionally as much and for as long as I possibly can. I would love to be a Rockette, as well as try out different outlets such as Broadway, cruise ships, commercial dancing, and whatever else may come my way. I am ready to follow my dream of doing what I love most in this world, dance.

8. Can you share a favorite piece of advice regarding dance?

I think one of the most important things to remember as a dancer is to always continue to push yourself to be stronger and better than you are. Never allow yourself to remain stagnant or focus on only one area of your dancing, but force yourself to become well rounded and trained in multiple genres and styles. You never know what you may need to do at any specific audition, and being trained in multiple styles will only make you stronger in all aspects of your dancing.

9. Do you have any advice for other women who want to audition for the Rockettes?

My main piece of advice would be to do your best and stay confident. There’s nothing better than walking out of an audition feeling that you gave your absolute best, no matter the results. Confidence is key to a great audition, and the judges really want to see you smile and give it all you got.

10. What is next for you?

My plan for Fall 2011 is to attend Oklahoma City University as a Dance Performance Major. I intend to get a BFA and pursue a career in dance, and maybe even one day have the opportunity to be hired as a Rockette!

Dance Book: Russian Winter

May 16, 2011 by 4dancers

Today I’d like to share an interview with Daphne Kalotay, a writer who has authored a book that has ballet as a backdrop for the story…

1. Could you tell readers a bit about who you are and what you do?

I’m a dance-lover rather than a dancer; and I’m a writer with two books of fiction published, the first one a short story collection, the second one a novel.

2. What is your latest book called and what is it about?

It’s called RUSSIAN WINTER and centers on a Bolshoi ballerina during the last years of Stalin’s rule. The book goes back and forth between modern-day Boston, where the dancer has been living in the decades since her defection, and post-World War II Moscow, where we witness her life as a young dancer rising in the ranks of the Bolshoi and her friendships with other artists striving to fulfill their dreams while living in a totalitarian state.

3. Why did you decide ballet would play a part in your book?

From the moment I pictured this elderly Russian woman in Boston, I thought of her as a ballerina, maybe because the idea of exploring that world and learning about life in a ballet company was exciting to me. Then, in my research, I began to understand just how important the ballet was to the Soviet regime, which relied on the beauty and glamour of the theatre as a counter to the bleakness of daily life. I’m fascinated by how well that government understood the need for the arts in society and tried to foster—well, manipulate—ballet, opera, music, literature, if in an ultimately stifling manner. What I most wanted to show in my novel, though, was how art is this humanizing force that really can save us.

Only later did it strike me how appropriate ballet in particular was to the book, since I was writing about life in authoritarian state, and ballet can be seen as authoritarian, with its precise rules and strict discipline. Think of the corps de ballet, the self-abnegation and conformity ballet often requires. So it was a good parallel to what I was trying to say about Soviet life.

4. How did you make sure your information about dance was accurate? [Read more…]

10 Questions With…Ben Dunlop

April 26, 2011 by 4dancers

Today on “10 Questions With…” we have dancer Ben Dunlop…

1. How did you become involved with dance?

I became involved with dance when my younger sister Ellie, starting taking classes at our local dance school with Kasey Carr in NSW, Australia. Kasey is one of the most amazing people you will ever meet, so very inspirational and without her guidance I would not be where I am today! I was observing her classes and was asked to participate in some classes and from that moment on I really have never turned back. It was something I instantly loved. Me and my sister use to dance around in our garage, making up dances and correcting each other for hours on end after dancing and weekends.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

Within this point in time I am currently training in Australia with Kahlia Mehmet, Natarsha and Gloria Noble until I return to New York to participate in a Summer program and year round program at the Joffrey Ballet School as a trainee on full scholarship, which will hopefully lead into the touring company. Being in NYC itself will open many doors for me as it’s the heart of the dancing world. I cannot wait to return as previously I was with Washington Ballet School DC and the Ailey School in NYC.

3. Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

The Youth America Grand Prix was an amazing experience for me and our audition tour, traveling throughout America. Being in New York city competing against amazing dancers, instantly I knew that is where I belong. All of the amazing guest teachers and dancers inspired me so much. In Australia there is only limited dancing opportunities, once you study abroad you will never return so many things will inspire you, especially in the city of New York. This was a special moment for me being able to share my talents with an audience coming from all different countries.

4. What is the best advice you have ever received from a teacher or mentor regarding dance?

“Everything happens for a reason.” I really believe in this quote so very much. Because when one door closes another will open.

This quote has gotten me through some very hard times. No matter how hard the challenge is, you can overcome it with determination, everything lays in the arms of fate.

5. What has been your greatest challenge?

The greatest challenge for me would have to be living away from my family. My mother and sister are the two people who keep me strong and striving for the best. Being away from them makes me push myself to the extremes so they can be prouder than what they already are. I love seeing my Mum after a performance when she has this boost of excitement and you know she is so proud, happy and overwhelmed. But the best part about it is when she does get to see me dance after so long, seeing me grow and reach new levels every time, it’s like a whole new level.

Also recently I participated in the Adidas All in Challenge, sixty hours of dancing straight located in Melbourne, Australia. We completed the sixty hours and came runners up to the AFL team. Was a great experience and was also by far the one of my greatest challenges.

6. Do you have any advice for dancers who want to go on to a professional career?

Keep pursuing what you love. Of course there are going to be people out there who are going to tell you things you don’t want to hear. But do it in spite of them. Prove them wrong, that is the best feeling when you can look back and say “I did it”. This has happened to me numerous times before and all I can say is “wow”, it’s such an achievement and drives you even more, it really does. Never lose hope!

7. Do you have a special routine that you go through prior to a performance?

I am a big fan of routine before performances. Three hours prior I have a bowl of rice to give me energy and maintain stamina, whilst warming up, I snack on carrot sticks, celery, fruit etc to give me sugar and for a boost when I do hit the stage. I like to get make up all done before anything so I can focus on my body and being ready. I would probably spend a good hour warming up and concentrating on certain things. A good way to get warm is doing a full barre. I always, always include that in my warm up.

8. Do you have a favorite dancer? If so, who are they and why? If not, why not?

Besides the obvious, Alina Cojacaru, Polina Seminova and Silvie. My little sister Ellie, I thank her for wanting to dance because otherwise I wouldn’t have found the real Ben. She is my little dancer and I cannot wait for her to be performing on stages across the world. She is my favorite dancer 🙂

9. What do you enjoy most about your life in dance?

The main thing I love about the dance life is being able to share your talents through the world of performing. Where ever you dance, you are inspiring someone. You tend to forget about performing when you’re in a school because you’re forever training but when you do, you realize what all the hard work is actually for and how worth it it actually is. Performing brings me a sense of flying. There is no other way to describe it. Definitely the closest thing to it. Not to mention the amazing sites you get to see and people you get to meet!

10. What is next for you?

My next move it to audition for companies throughout America whilst studying and training hard at the Joffrey Ballet School as a trainee. My dream company is Complexions in NYC. I love their stuff, I love their diversity and edge. I feel I’m very fitted to their company and just have to get them to see my gift. Fingers crossed.

See Ben dance:

YOUTUBE LINK – Ben Dunlop – Dance Reel

10 Questions With…Suzanne Blake Gerety

March 30, 2011 by 4dancers

SuzanneBlakeGeretyRecital1982 — Suzanne Blake Gerety, Recital, 1982

Today we are happy to present Suzanne Blake Gerety for our “10 Questions With…” feature…

1. Can you tell readers who you are and how you are involved with the dance world?

I was born into the dance world: it is all I have known, my entire life. I’m an only child, the daughter of two parents who were both talented dancers. While other kids may have grown up playing little league and going on trips to Disney, I spent my days at dance competitions and traveling the world via cruise ship where my mom was a guest ballroom instructor for many years.

Personally, my own training peaked when I was thirteen. Having learned to sew fringe on leotards and the basic steps to the cha-cha before middle school, it was at this time I realized I was most comfortable backstage calling the show, working on costumes, and organizing the productions. My mom was so supportive and encouraged me to follow my heart, I stayed involved in the studio but also ended up excelling in sports in high school and college and knew that my dance training contributed to that success.

Fast forward about 20 years, I’m now a mom of two, my son is 6 and daughter is 4, I have an entrepreneurial spirit and heart I’m proud to be the 2nd generation in the family business of owning and operating the dance studio. I get to experience the joy of dance not only through the eyes of our students, but also through my own children.

2. How does Dance Studio Owner serve the dance community?

Primarily through our website and also by speaking at live events such as the Dance Teacher Summit and other dance conventions, we work with new and experienced studio owners who are interested in resources and support to start, run and grow their business. It’s like having a dance studio management team at your fingertips 24/7.

Our big focus is in giving our members and readers information that not only saves them time and money but also contributes to growth in their business both financially and artistically. It’s easy to burn out if you are trying to do everything yourself, working fourteen hour days, dealing with parent complaints, and lack of resources. We help you keep your passion for dance alive as you grow your business.

3. What are some of the “perks” of membership in DanceStudioOwner.com?

Our members often say that they don’t know what they would do without the personal support they receive from my mom, Kathy Blake, myself and the other successful studio owners on our discussion forum.

Everything we share and coach our members on is relevant and based on tried-and-true experience from having over thirty five years of consistent growth in the face of changing trends, personal losses, studio splits, and economic ups and downs. Each day we are actively running our studio so we can relate to and help our members with managing the million details it takes to keep your studio running and growing.

They also say that they love the hundreds of resources on our site including: useful customizable downloads, templates, interviews, coloring pages, printable choreography routines, forms, surveys and more. These save time and money when it comes to things such as writing a letter to collect over due tuition, interview and hire a new teacher, contracts for staff, or create a studio rental agreement to name a few.

Plus it’s the best of both worlds, you get to collaborate with owners all over the globe through technology that allows you to do so from the comfort of your home or business.

4. You recently signed on with Dance Teacher magazine. Can you tell readers about that?

It is such a privilege to contribute to Dance Teacher Magazine, “Ask the Experts” is a great advice column for the dance world.

Specifically we have been invited to serve as columnists to focus on the issues that keep dance studio owners and directors up at night and concern them most: many of which we’ve experienced ourselves.

We understand that most dance studio owners and directors have been or continue to be actively teaching. The added complexity of being responsible for handling parent concerns, staffing issues, marketing challenges, and setting policies is what we focus on in this column.

SuzanneBlakeGerety2010 — Suzanne Blake Gerety

5. You work with a lot of studio owners. What do you find they have in common with one another?

Whether a studio focuses on ballet, middle eastern dance, adults-only, ballroom, musical theatre, Irish step, dance fitness, or general performing arts they all need students in order to stay in business.

The other commonalities include staying informed on the latest technology to collect tuition, automating registration, marketing, website and social media communication to name a few. Not to mention each studio owner faces the challenge of a suitable space and facility plus the right schedule to fill their classes.

Although the dance disciplines, teaching methods, and personal student concerns can vary widely, I find that each studio owner has a lot in common with one another when it comes to starting, running and growing their studio.

6. What do you enjoy most about being involved in the dance community?

Being able to lift a dance studio owner or teacher’s spirits, encourage them, and contribute information that makes a difference. This is one of the most creative and enthusiastic communities: often working incredibly long hours, giving so much, whose rewards and satisfaction are found in areas that aren’t often measured monetarily.

In everything I write and create I always imagine that my best friend and trusted business partner is reading and using it. That’s who I feel our members and readers are: friends and trusted colleagues. I’m incredibly grateful and lucky that they give me the grace and opportunity to contribute to their lives and businesses.

7. What is the biggest change you’ve seen in dance studio ownership over the past 10 years or so?

I’d say the marketing channels. It used to be that you could print a nice looking brochure, send it to your mailing list, wait for the phone to ring and people would call to register. Or you could run an ad in the local paper and people would know you were open for classes. There were a few direct paths for people to follow.

Now we have online registration, automated billing, instant website updates, social media interactions, video sharing/critique from our teachers, email groups for communicating, and text messaging. There are review sites like Yelp, Merchant Circle; mobile check ins with Facebook and Foursquare; advertising online and offline, and much more.

Not only do the dance studio owners have many, many more marketing channels to communicate with current and potential students, they have to learn how to compete against the information overload to keep their business running and growing.

8. What has been the largest challenge for you in terms of serving the dance community?

I’d say the largest challenge has been to remind and encourage them to treat and relate to their studio like a business. This goes for everything from charging what your time is worth, properly setting tuition rates and fees, to learning when to let the wrong teachers go or how to hire the right ones.

The other challenge is the lack of time to focus on planning. When you spend so much time working in the day-to-day aspects of your business without taking time to really plan and work on the business you end up reacting to situations. This causes overwhelm and often feast or famine marketing attempts to find students.

9. What do you think about the recent explosion of dance blogs and online dance resources?

As creative and prolific as the dance world is, I think it’s a natural extension to see so many dance blogs and online resources available, they are outlets and access to further self-expression for both the writer and their audience. The other bonus is that the world is that much smaller now, you are not limited by your location anymore, from videos to online learning, you can get instant information when you want it and on very specific topics.

10. What is next for you and for DSO?

KathyBlakeSuzanneBlakeGeretyDSO — Kathy Blake and Suzanne Blake Gerety

My mom, Kathy Blake and I will be presenting seminars again at the Dance Teacher Summit in New York City from July 29-31, this is such a great event for teachers and studio owners. We’d love to see you there! We are also going to offer some limited opportunities for aspiring and experienced studio owners to work with us in a more personalized way to accelerate their results. The site will continue to be enhanced, in fact we just rolled out a new website forum upgrade that members love. Plus we’re working on some products that stand alone and can be purchased separately. So stay tuned, there is much more to come!

BIO: Suzanne Blake Gerety owner of On Pointe Media LLC, the parent company of DanceStudioOwner.com, is the daughter of Kathy Blake and Vice President of Kathy Blake Dance Studios.

She is a regularly featured contributor in various pieces for Dance Teacher Magazine including, “Ask the Experts”, business articles, and has presented live workshops at Dance Media’s Dance Teacher Summit in New York City and the Turn It Up Dance Challenge Conventions. Suzanne is a featured contributor in the The FabJob Guide to Become a Dance Studio Owner, FabJob Guides have been featured in stories at The Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur Magazine sites.

In addition to a degree in Psychology and Child Development, Suzanne has training and experience in communication and leadership from one of the world’s foremost personal development companies. She is the mother of two young children and is an advocate for dance education throughout the world. Suzanne brings the resources and support to current and future dance studio owners to help them achieve success.

You can follow Suzanne on Twitter:

http://www.Twitter.com/SuzanneGerety or connect on Facebook:

http://www.Facebook.com/DanceStudioOwner

10 Questions With…Joanna Wozniak

March 23, 2011 by 4dancers

Today for our “10 Questions With” feature, we have a dancer from the Joffrey–Joanna Wozniak…

_MG_8972 — Joanna Wozniak, Photo by Herbert Migdoll

1. How did you become involved with dance?

Becoming involved with dance can happen in a number of ways, but the way it started for me as a little girl, was probably in my kitchen and around the house. Once I had gone to a few dance lessons at the ripe age of childhood, it became my walk. I danced around the house instead of walking. I also loved music, and that I could express what I heard and felt from it through my dancing.

2. What are you currently doing in the field?

I am currently a dancer with the Joffrey Ballet. We just returned home from a two week tour in California as well as a stop in Colorado.

3. Would you share a special moment from your career with readers?

I think one of the most special moments was when I had the opportunity to perform “the Chosen One” in Nijinsky’s “Sacre du Printemps”. This is for a number of reasons, when I first started dancing with the company, this was the first ballet outside of the Nutcracker that I performed. I was in awe of ballet, and in love with it, as well as the company and the experience of it. Being the smallest part was exciting. Nearly ten years later, I was able to perform the incredible part, in essence nearly coming full circle to something that meant so much in my life. Beyond that, I was fortunate enough to receive recognition in the part from Hedy Weis, in Pointe Magazine as one of the standout performances of the year. This was and still is such an honor in the difficult world of dance, especially to be amongst artists from around the world in multiple top companies. [Read more…]

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