Career – Page 2

A Ballerina’s 8 Top Tips For Dancers

February 25, 2016 by 4dancers

Alice in Wonderland ballet, leap — Sharon Wehner and artists of Colorado Ballet. Photo by Mike Watson.

One of our goals at 4dancers is to provide you with solid advice that you can put to use in your dance life. We asked Colorado Ballet ballerina Sharon Wehner if she would share some of her best advice for dancers, and she compiled a great list for us to share with you here…enjoy!

by Sharon Wehner

Listen to your teachers, but use your brains too!

This might seem like an obvious piece of advice, but because dance, particularly some techniques like Graham or classical ballet come steeped in tradition, there is always an aspect of “shut-up and dance” when it comes to being in the studio. This is both good, and bad.

As a student of anything, whether math, Spanish, or dance, it’s crucial that you be able to trust your teachers. Once this trust is established, a student’s job is to listen and absorb the teacher’s information, and then apply it. The more trust and respect established, the more a dancer can get past their own limits, fears or hesitations and improve technically and artistically. But unlike your academic teachers, there are no standards set for who can teach dance. Anybody can open a dance studio. Of course there are a myriad of training courses and degrees with testing and accreditation, which certainly lends credibility to a teacher’s qualifications, but a piece of paper does not necessarily guarantee a great teacher. There are amazing teachers who have no degrees. On the other hand, there are also amazing former professional dancers with years of experience who are not the greatest teachers.

So as a young dancer goes through his or her training years, it is a good idea for both parents and students to evaluate teachers based not only on their experience and credentials, but also on what makes sense for that student. As mentioned above, the best teacher-student relationship consists of inherent trust and respect. Because dancers are often asked to work through feelings of discomfort and fatigue, both emotionally and physically, it falls upon the shoulders of a teacher to gauge when this push is necessary for a dancer to improve, and when it crosses the line into “too much.” And again…every dancer and student is different. Some people thrive on stern discipline, while others need a softer hand. But either way, it is important that a dancer be able to balance listening to their teachers with complete trust, while simultaneously being able to think for themselves, and pay attention if they feel that a teacher is crossing that line.

Know your learning style.

[Read more…]

Two Decades At Colorado Ballet

December 17, 2015 by 4dancers

by Sharon Wehner

“What does it mean to you to be celebrating your 20th season with the Colorado Ballet?”

This is a question I have been asked over and over again since our season started this past July—a question asked by my colleagues, by board members, by our marketing department, and by numerous members of the media. I have spent hours pondering it, and each time I am asked, it seems I have a different answer.

It is a big question, and quite honestly, I dread it, because it sends me spinning into a myriad of memories and growth periods—both beautiful ones, and those that were, well, more challenging. My first response is to say that it feels like any milestone birthday. On the one hand, it’s could be viewed as just another number. From a pessimistic perspective, it could be seen as the inevitable passing of time—one year closer to the end. Dancers love to bemoan how old they are getting and how old their bodies feel, a tendency that starts about the age of puberty. But from another perspective, a milestone birthday could be an opportunity to feel blessed—one more year to be able to be and do what I love.

What does it mean to dance for twenty years in the same company? As every dancer knows, choosing this as one’s profession means accepting some unique parameters:

Dancing is a career with a limited lifespan—retirement does not mean turning 65.5 and collecting a pension. Longevity in one company may earn a small amount of seniority, but nothing like the retirement benefits of a company in the corporate world.
Being a professional dancer requires a particular lifestyle commitment. Because our body is our bread and butter, what we do outside the “office” affects our ability to be at the top of our game. Simple things like food, sleep, rest, exercise, and play are all intimately connected to our performance. And as the years pass, maintenance on the body becomes an increasingly refined and conscientious balance of these elements.
Dancing can be a very transient kind of lifestyle. Those who freelance must weave together a patchwork of gigs, supplemented by other kinds of work to pay the bills. They must be able to adapt quickly to new bosses, colleagues, an environments. Even those dancers who want the stability of a company, will often switch companies several times during the span of their careers, for a number of reasons.

Given all of these tendencies, why would someone commit the bulk of their dance career to one ballet company for 20-plus years? When I ask myself this question, there are a multitude of answers, which brings up the question “What are the advantages of such a commitment?” [Read more…]

The Stages Of A Swan

October 20, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

By Samantha Hope Galler

Before I could even understand the true meaning of ballet, I dreamed about dancing in Swan Lake. I would even fall asleep listening to the music of Tchaikovsky. In 2001, my mom took me to see a performance of American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake. Paloma Herrera danced the principal roles of Odette and Odile. I was so completely entranced. That performance solidified my love for dance.

Five-year-old Samantha (on the right) in dance class. — Five-year-old Samantha Hope Galler at the barre.

Years later, while I was dancing with Alabama Ballet, I had the opportunity to perform as Odette and Odile in the four-act Petipa/Ivanov version of Swan Lake.

Swan Lake was first was created by Julius Reisinger in 1877, but redeveloped by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov in 1895. The Petipa/Ivanov version stands as a base for many versions today.

[Read more…]

Lessons Beyond The Barre

October 13, 2015 by 4dancers

by Cara Marie Gary

In prepping for the theater today, I was reminded of a beloved teacher and started thinking of the insight she’s given me over the years. My earliest memory of her advice was when I was fourteen years old, competing in the VI Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition. It was the first time I had left the United States and traveled without my parents. I was immersed into a new culture and language while being severely jet-lagged from a lengthy flight to Kiev, Ukraine. But most importantly, this was the first time I learned an important lesson from someone I cherish dearly in the dance world. [Read more…]

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…]

Listen to your teachers, but use your brains too!

Know your learning style.

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

Copyright Notice