4dancers – Page 51

Dance In The UK: Mass Movement

June 12, 2012 by 4dancers

by Jessica Wilson

A new dance collaboration has been launched by Mass Movement, a London based dance talent agency sourcing and representing some of the best choreographers and dancers in the world, ranging across the board with a number of different specialities and abilities. Their new project group, ‘The Movement’, encompasses a tight-knit and powerful collaboration of respected industry choreographers and dancers.

Each Mass Movement choreographer offers different styles and skills across Modern Commercial, Contemporary, Jazz, Street Dance and Hip Hop, with extensive experience in Artist Creative Direction and New Artist Development contributing also. The works of the choreographers of Mass Movement have been featured in a variety of media, such as music tours and videos, TV specials and commercials, and live corporate events. [Read more…]

Positivity and Self-Awareness in Dance

June 11, 2012 by 4dancers

by Emily Zager

Dance encourages us to improve our bodies, tell a story, and embrace the energy in every moment. It can enable us to grow, encourage focus, and leave our own worlds behind as we take to the classroom floor or stage. Dance can universally improve quality of life for us, no matter our age, body type or level of technique.

As dancers, we are faced with our share of challenges that can hinder or threaten our growth in the industry as well as in ourselves. Sometimes, these instances are out of our control. However, these are the times it is most important to encourage our emotional and mental identities to reflect our physically strong and resilient selves.

In October 2009, I was a busy and energetic junior in college when I fell ill. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a disorder that causes inflammation within the small intestine and colon. Immediately, I wondered how this unpredictable condition would alter my daily activities, as well as affect my ability to dance. At the time, I was in the midst of obtaining my minor degree in dance, taking multiple classes and preparing for performances.

I was suddenly faced with an uncharted situation, but I refused to let my condition change me or my dancing. In those times of uncertainty, I turned to dance even more. I realized how important it was to embrace every movement fully in class and focus my thoughts on each moment. On stage, there was no time for doubt, and the joy of dance overcame any pain I felt.

In times of swift change and questions, dance was the perfect outlet to improve myself inside and out. Looking back on the past few years, I realize how fortunate I am, and it’s wonderful to feel the freedom and optimism that dance gives me. I graduated with my degree, took advantage of many opportunities, performed for crowds of thousands and have learned to take each day at a time.

Throughout life, we face questions, setbacks, injuries and detours. As my dancing career has developed, I have learned how important it is to keep an open mind and maintain a strong awareness with my body.

Has dance helped you get through a difficult time? We’d love to hear your story…

Contributor Emily Zager is a 24 year old dancer and account executive currently living in Milwaukee, WI. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago and has trained in dance for over 20 years (ballet to ballroom). Nothing brings her more joy than the art of performing. She thrives off connecting with the world around her, whether in a face-to-face conversation or through social media.

Besides dance, Emily’s favorite things include traveling, sports, and spending time with friends and family.

Book Review: Breaking Pointe By Miriam Wenger-Landis

June 8, 2012 by 4dancers

by Emily Kate Long

Miriam Wenger-Landis’s latest novel Breaking Pointe is the companion to her first, Girl In Motion. The protagonist is Anna Linado, now fresh out of the School of Ballet New York and entering her first season as an Apprentice with Los Angeles Ballet Theatre. Breaking Pointe takes us through four seasons of Anna’s career with LABT. From her embarrassment at her mother’s effusiveness over Anna’s new job, to her first-day find of an old diary in her theater case, to her debut in solo after solo, to her disappointing and confusing fall from favor with the artistic staff, Anna’s narration reveals she’s wise beyond her eighteen years. She is optimistically curious about the “real” dance world and its inhabitants, and observant—but forgiving—of the shortcomings she finds there.

Slowly we see Anna’s optimism change to denial and disbelief. How can the things she reads in the diary possibly be true? How can dancers become so jaded and cynical? Injuries, lost roles, sexual harassment, company politics, guilt over the need to prioritize other areas of life, and workplace role ambiguity all take their toll on members of Los Angeles Ballet Theatre. Will the same things happen to Anna?

I loved the way Wenger-Landis uses the voice of Karina, the diary’s author, to serve as a series of interviews with the dancers and staff of LABT. For Anna, the entries provide insight into her colleagues’ sometimes mystifying behavior. They also ring true for the reader as an airing of dancers’ grievances in general. I know many dancers who have been in at least one of these characters’ fictional shoes.

Many of Anna’s career challenges initially stem from her relationship with Ethan, an older, worldlier, boy-next-door type. He is an utter outsider to the dance world, and Anna decides to take the risk of inviting him into her ballet bubble. Though she comes close to questioning her decision to let him in several times throughout the story, Ethan is Anna’s rock. Ultimately, he’s the best thing that could have happened to her, and she knows it.

Spoiler alert: in Breaking Pointe, as in many a ballet fairy-tale, love triumphs over evil, but this happy ever after is the real kind you have to work hard at. The conclusion of this novel brings to light a sad but important question for dancers: how many of us actually have the healthy relationship we want with dance? How good are we at picking up on cues in our own experiences to help us make that assessment? If anything, Breaking Pointe is a lesson in the importance of self-knowledge. I recommend it in earnest.

Purchase Breaking Pointe here

BIO: Contributor Emily Kate Long began her dance education in South Bend, Indiana, with Kimmary Williams and Jacob Rice and graduated in 2007 from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Schenley Program. Ms Long attended Milwaukee Ballet School’s Summer Intensive on scholarship before being invited to join Milwaukee Ballet II in 2007. She also has spent summers studying at Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive, Miami City Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, and Ballet Chicago.

Ms Long has been a member of Ballet Quad Cities since 2009. She has danced featured roles in Deanna Carter’s Ash to Glass and Dracula, participated in the company’s 2010 tour to New York City, and most recently performed the title role in Courtney Lyon’s Cinderella and the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. Prior to joining Ballet Quad Cities Ms Long performed with Milwaukee Ballet and MBII in Michael Pink’s The Nutcracker and Candide Overture, Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadére, Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano and Napoli, and original contemporary and neoclassical works by Tom Teague, Denis Malinkine, Rolando Yanes, and Petr Zaharadnicek.

A Studio Director’s Change Of Heart: Why Ballet Exams Work

June 7, 2012 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

I would have never thought that I would one day espouse the idea of examinations for the ballet students at my school. Certainly the studio in which I grew up, Maryland Youth Ballet, has produced dozens of professional dancers, and they never presented their students for exams. And weren’t the students at my own studio thriving and going on to pursue their own careers without ever having taken an exam?

I am far from the only studio director to have disregarded exams. Even as ballet exams are relatively common in Europe, especially at the world’s major ballet schools with their own training systems in Russia (Vaganova), France (Paris Opera Ballet), Italy (Cecchetti), England (Royal Academy of Dance, also known as RAD), and Denmark (Royal Danish Ballet), most American ballet schools, which generally offer a potpourri of the above curriculums, do not offer graded evaluations to their students.

An example of a typical American ballet teacher’s reaction to exams can be found in my thoughts several years ago, when I witnessed Paris Opera Ballet School students prepare for their exams (a perk of being a former famous ballerina’s business partner at the time). The students were going from one combination to another, which they had memorized.

At the time, my thoughts were thus: Didn’t we American ballet instructors need to keep our impatient students happy and their aversion to boredom at bay? And didn’t American ballet students need more diversity in their ballet classes than simple preparation for an exam in order to be prepared for an American ballet company where they could be dancing a Petipa variation one minute and a Nacho Duato piece the next?

This video shows young Vaganova Ballet Academy students’ incredible clarity. Surely this type of regimented single-curriculum training system couldn’t be possible in an American studio with varying body types and skill levels.

Or could it?

Enter American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum, which offered it’s inaugural training sessions to ABT alumni dancers in 2007. For the simple reason that ABT was my favorite company, I was curious enough to start to nibble on the ballet curriculum bullet. However, I never gave serious thought to presenting my students for exams, which were an optional part of the ABT training system. [Read more…]

Review: Aurorae Synergy Yoga Mat

June 6, 2012 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

If you are a Bikram yoga fan–or just a dancer who tends to sweat, you’ll be excited by this product–I know I was!

The Aurorae Synergy towel-mat is a great pick for yoga class or to use at home for stretching. It makes so much sense I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve seen anything like it. The bottom is a yoga mat and the top is a microfiber towel. Combined, they give you 5mm of comfortable cushion which can make a difference after a long day of rehearsals (or, in my case, if you are over 40 and not fond of sitting on a hardwood floor to stretch out).

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of the way most mats feel when you use them to stretch, so this solved my issue. The towel part is soft and feels good against the skin, and it also helps prevent slipping, as the two surfaces are fused together.

At 72 inches, the mat is nice and long, and it is also biodegradable, SGS approved, free from phthalates, latex and silicone. The best part is you can even put it in your washer (follow directions with mat and hang to dry).

It’s always nice to have a spot to stretch, and this product is lightweight, as well as easy to roll up and take with you on vacation–or on tour. I think it’s a winner for dancers as well as for those who practice yoga. (If you prefer the more traditional style of yoga mat, this company sells those as well.)

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

Copyright Notice