ballet bag

Inside My Dance Bag: Nashville Ballet’s Julia Eisen

September 12, 2017 by Rachel Hellwig

Julia Eisen in The Ben Folds Project. Photo by Heather Thorne, Taken at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

How many years have you been doing ballet?

I started ballet at age 4, so I’ve been dancing for 23 years now (10 of those years professionally).

What are some roles you’ve danced with Nashville Ballet?

I began dancing at Nashville Ballet in 2010. Since I’ve been here, I’ve danced Lady Fortune in Nashville Ballet Artistic Director & CEO Paul Vasterling’s Carmina Burana and Dew Drop Fairy in Vasterling’s Nashville’s Nutcracker. A few of my other favorite roles have been in Jirí Kylián’s Petite Mort and Christopher Bruce’s Moonshine and Sergeant Early’s Dream.

What’s your favorite thing about ballet?

My favorite thing about ballet is the moments captured while you’re on stage. It’s like time has stopped and you’re completely in the moment. You’re sharing something special with the other dancers and the audience that will never be recreated exactly.

What’s in your dance bag?

I use a Lululemon dance bag. Here’s what’s in it:

[Read more…]

Inside My Dance Bag: Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Emma Love Suddarth

May 4, 2016 by 4dancers

PNB dancer Emma Love Suddarth — **Emma in David Dawson’s A Million Kisses to My Skin, photo by Lindsay Thomas**

by Emma Love Suddarth

Laptop… billfold… Ziploc bag of toiletries… socks… binder… normal Tuesday. Pointe shoes? Foot thongs? Tennis ball? I always wonder what the TSA security officers think when they watch our dance bags go through the x-ray scanners at the airport. Whenever PNB travels on tour, I’m careful to triple check that all those “necessities” we dancers just can’t be without make it into my carry-on—you know, just in case. Sometimes it seems that my carry-on somehow ends up heavier than my actual suitcase. On a normal day in the Seattle studios though, what’s in there?

Naturally, I have the number one ballet-company-related necessity: pointe shoes. Seeing as we are currently performing—meaning traveling back and forth from studio to theater—I have far more pairs in my bag than I should. Another example of the just-in-case. Of course, those pointe shoes come with the necessary accessories, such as toe pads, spacers, toe tape, and a sewing kit, ready for the next pair to enter circulation. A single pair of flat shoes is in there as well, to use for class and the occasional rehearsal. A pair of foot thongs has kept up residence in my bag as well, perhaps for far longer than they should. I used them for Petite Mort a couple seasons back. Nostalgically I find them hard to part with—I treasured dancing that ballet, a favorite, with my husband, another favorite. They might stick around a little longer.

Emma's dance bag — ***Emma’s dance bag***

Next, a dancer always seems to have a number of therapy-related items. We require so much of our bodies on a daily basis that the least we can do in response is care for them as best we can. In my arsenal I keep anti-inflammatory gel, Advil, a theraband, a couple of different-sized balls for rolling, and, a trusty pet store tennis ball. I find it comforting to be reminded of our two rambunctious dogs at home every time I pull that one out.

Lastly, there’s always a handful of warmups every dancer relies on. From my bag I pull a pair of well-loved legwarmers, a cozy turtleneck (the theater is always colder so it’s long-sleeves for now), my favorite—not to mention super thick—socks that just happen to be covered in sock monkeys, and a pair of bright orange sweatpants. Ask anyone at PNB and you’ll receive the same answer, “Emma does not wear bright colors.” It’s true; I’m a gray and blue kind of girl. However, I absolutely love my bright orange sweatpants. Maybe it’s related to the fact that Price—my husband—has always loved orange, or maybe they’re just great pants. Maybe it’s just me, but when it comes to doing pliés in those guys on a Monday morning—somehow they go just a little bit better.

PNB ballerina — **Emma Love Suddarth, photo by Lindsay Thomas**

Contributor Emma Love Suddarth is from Wichita, Kansas. She studied with Sharon Rogers and on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and attended summer courses at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Academy East, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She was first recipient of the Flemming Halby Exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet School and was also a 2004 and 2005 recipient of a Kansas Cultural Trust Grant. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2008 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2009.

While at PNB, she has performed featured roles in works by George Balanchine, Peter Boal, David Dawson, Ulysses Dove, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Mark Morris, Margaret Mullin, Crystal Pite, Alexei Ratmansky, Kent Stowell, Susan Stroman, and Price Suddarth. Some of her favorites include the Siren in Balanchine’s The Prodigal Son, Jiri Kylian’s Petit Mort, David Dawson’s A Million Kisses to My Skin, William Forsythe’s New Suite, and Price Suddarth’s Signature.

She is a contributor to Pacific Northwest Ballet’s blog. She is married to fellow PNB dancer Price Suddarth.

Inside My Dance Bag: Sally Turkel of Ballet San Antonio

April 15, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

Sally Turkel. Photograph by Alexander Devora.

How many years have you been doing ballet?

I’ve been dancing for about 16 years.

What are some roles you’ve danced with Ballet San Antonio?

With Ballet San Antonio I have been very lucky to perform a wide variety of different roles and characters. Some of my favorites have been the title roles in Ben Stevenson’s Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella, as well as the role of Odette/Odile in his Swan Lake. I’ve also danced the lead in Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations. In February, I performed the role of Wendy in Peter Anastos’ Peter Pan. It was a very fun ballet with lots of silly moments…and, as Wendy, I got to fly!

What’s your favorite thing about ballet?

One of my favorite things about ballet is that it is always changing, and, as a result, ballet is always changing me as a person. Everyday I come into the studio and discover something new about my technique or learn a new approach on tackling a particularly demanding step. As a performer, I’m constantly learning new ballets and choreography. With each new piece, I learn new ways to understand musicality and search for the intention behind the movement. Throughout the rehearsal process I find myself growing as an artist, an actress, a dancer, and as a human being. And then I get to share everything I’ve learned and experienced on stage with the world! I feel incredibly lucky to call myself a ballet dancer and feel very fortunate to always be growing as a person through this beautiful art form.

What’s in your dance bag?

Freed Maple Leaf Variation pointe shoes – I have about 6 pairs rotating at a time which I keep organized in a reusable wine bag (this way they are organized by pair and not mixing with my other dance wear), toe spacers and gauze which I use instead of toe tape (it doesn’t slip off when my feet get sweaty!), foot roller, dense rolling ball, thera band, back warming brace, Rubiawear leg warmers and socks that I’ve cut into ankle warmers, shorts, Eleve and Tulips by Tracy skirts, aqua socks (they keep my feet so warm!), multiple shades of chapstick/lipstick, water bottle, and, for snacks, I usually like to have bananas or apples, nuts, and protein powder (mix with water for a quick and easy snack when you don’t have a long break!).

Sally Turkel began her ballet training at the Cary Ballet Conservatory, in her hometown of Cary, North Carolina. At age 14, she was accepted into the residential high school’s ballet studies program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

Upon graduation, Ms. Turkel performed with Houston Ballet, HBII, Carolina Ballet and Steifel and Stars. In subsequent years she joined Colorado ballet, where she danced for five seasons, performing a wide range of both classical and contemporary roles. A few of her favorites include the Serenity Fairy and Puss and Boots in Sleeping Beauty, Little Swans in Swan Lake, George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring, Michael Pink’s Peter Pan and Dracula, Agnes DeMille’s Rodeo, Lynn Taylor Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk, and Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In 2013 Ms. Turkel joined Ballet San Antonio and was promoted to Principal Dancer the following year. While with Ballet San Antonio, Ms. Turkel has danced the roles of Odette/Odile in Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake, Mina in Gabriel Zertuche’s Dracula, Cinderella and Fairy God Mother in Stevenson’s Cinderella, the Sugarplum Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, and the female lead in Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations. In addition, she has worked with choreographers such as Stephen Mills, Twyla Tharp, Michael Pink, Emery LeCrone, and Stanton Welch.

In February 2015, Ms. Turkel danced the role of Juliet in Ben Stevenson’s Romeo & Juliet.

“Turkel maintains the character arc from impudent and reluctant girl to the grieving and horror stricken widow-too-young, with a richness of feeling that goes beyond her obvious prowess as a dancer.” [Tami Kegley, The Rivard Report].

Inside My Dance Bag: Anwen David of Ballet Memphis

February 23, 2016 by Rachel Hellwig

Anwen David. Photograph by JORAM MONDIE.

How many years have you been doing ballet?

I have been doing ballet for 17 years. I took my first class when I was 5 years old.

What are some roles you’ve danced with Ballet Memphis?

This is my third season with Ballet Memphis. My favorite character role has been Clara in The Nutcracker. I have also enjoyed roles in Swan Lake, Peter Pan, Steven McMahon’s Confluence, Matthew Neenan’s The Darting Eyes, Gabrielle Lamb’s I am a woman: Moult, Mark Godden’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and others.

What’s your favorite thing about ballet?

I love the process of becoming a character and sharing a piece of my soul with the audience through that character.

What’s in your dance bag?

Freed Wing Block pointe shoes, I am currently transitioning from a 3½ XX to a 4 XX to try to get a better fit. I like Maker A best. I keep several pairs of pointe shoes in my bag so I can rotate them and wear different pairs for different rehearsals. I also have a pair of flat shoes (Sansha size 5), toe pads, toe spacers, two kinds of toe tape, a sewing kit with needles, thread, scissors, toe nail clippers, Thera-band, trash bag shorts, two wrap skirts, a tin of hairpins, two balls for massaging, and a water bottle. I often bring my phone and sometimes headphones as well. Finally, I try to keep some nuts or fruit with me for energy during long rehearsals.

Inside My Dance Bag: Alabama Ballet’s Tricia Bianco

August 27, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

Tricia Bianco. Photograph by Emily Orcutt Photography.

How many years have you been doing ballet?

I began training when I was two and half, so I’ve been dancing almost nineteen years.

What are some roles you’ve danced with Alabama Ballet?

My favorite role with Alabama Ballet was the Cowgirl in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo. I also loved performing Lead Marzipan in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and as a Blue Girl in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs.

What’s your favorite thing about ballet?

My favorite part about dancing is working hard and seeing the results. It’s so gratifying and there’s always something to work on and perfect even further. And there will always be another goal ahead of me to tackle. I also love the feeling when I’m onstage. We spend so much time in the studio for maybe three minutes on the stage, but when I’m up there I feel so alive.

What’s in your dance bag?

Bloch Heritage pointe shoes, jumper, cover-ups, leg warmers, Tiger Balm – a dancer’s best friend for achy muscles, sewing materials and new pointe shoes – to sew on breaks, Abigail Mentzer and Bulletpointe skirts, bobby pins, hair elastics, hairbrush, supportive athletic tape, and Kenesio Tape – I had a Deltiod sprain last season, so it supports my arches on long days, and, for snacks, I usually keep an apple and some seasoned almonds in my bag for sustainable energy, and, of course, H2O to keep hydrated!

Tricia Bianco. Photograph by Melissa Dooley Photography.

Tricia Bianco began dancing when she was two and a half years old at Alabama Dance Academy under the direction of Pamela Merkel, Michael Vernon, Jamie Hinton, and Tammi Carr. She has received and accepted scholarships to summer programs with Boston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Alabama Ballet. In 2011, Tricia competed in Youth American Grand Prix and was Top Twelve in the Southeast region. Tricia was offered an apprenticeship when she was seventeen with the Alabama Ballet in 2012, and is excited to be returning for her fourth season and first year as a Company Member.

Since joining Alabama Ballet, her favorite roles have included Showgirl in Roger Van Fleteren’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Juliet’s Friend in Van Fleteren’s Romeo and Juliet, the title role in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo as Cowgirl, Lead Marzipan in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, and Blue Girl in Sir Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs. She also teaches at Alabama Ballet, and is a teacher for the Ballet’s outreach program, City Dance. Tricia also teaches at Westwood Ballet. Tricia feels very blessed to be a member with the Alabama Ballet, and is looking forward to her first season as a company member.

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