Ballet – Page 6

Wendy Whelan – A National Treasure

September 3, 2013 by 4dancers

by Christopher Duggan

There’s just something about Wendy.

I never really had such all-access permission to follow such a star here on campus at Jacob’s Pillow. Wendy let me in her dressing room and while warming up in the Bakalar Studio, allowed me to photograph her performance from backstage…and always with a smile. She’s easy to work with and really trusted me. I was grateful for the whole experience.

Ella Baff introduced her before every performance as a National Treasure, and that’s the perfect description. There’s a reason she’s a superstar. She is just captivating.

My wife Nel was featured in a PillowTalk titled “The Art of Promotion,” focused on using film to promote dance. Wendy made a cameo appearance at the talk, and you can see the affinity they have for one another. They have tremendous respect for each other and it has been a wonderful collaboration.

20130816_PillowTalk-ArtOfPromotion-NelShelby-EllenBar-WendyWhelan_Christopher.Duggan_014

It was a fun week for me, and I wanted to make these images as a gift for Wendy – to commemorate such a momentous and important engagement for her.

[slideshow_deploy id=’9781′]

Contributor Christopher Duggan is the founder and principal photographer of Christopher Duggan Photography, a New York City-based wedding and dance photography studio. Duggan has been the Festival Photographer for Jacob’s Pillow Dance since 2006. In this capacity, and as a respected New York-based dance photographer, he has worked with renowned choreographers and performers of international acclaim as well as upstarts in the city’s diverse performance scene.

He has created studio shots of Gallim Dance, Skybetter + Associates and Zvidance, among others, and in 2011 alone, he has photographed WestFest at Cunningham Studios, Dance From the Heart for Dancers Responding to Aids, The Gotham Dance Festival at The Joyce Theater, and assisted Nel Shelby Productions in filming Vail International Dance Festival.

Christopher Duggan, Photo by Julia Newman

Duggan often teams up with his talented wife and Pillow videographer Nel Shelby (http://nelshelby.com). A New York City-based husband and wife dance documentation team, they are equipped to document performances, create and edit marketing videos and choreography reels, and much more.

Christopher Duggan Photography also covers Manhattan’s finest wedding venues, the Metropolitan and Tri-State areas, and frequently travels to destination weddings. The company’s mission is straightforward and heartfelt – create timeless, memorable images of brides, grooms, their families and friends, and capture special moments of shared love, laughter and joy.

His photographs appear in The New York Times, Destination I Do, Photo District News, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Dance Magazine, Munaluchi Bridal, and Bride & Bloom, among other esteemed publications and popular wedding blogs. One of his images of Bruce Springsteen was added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s celebrated photography collection in 2010. His company has been selected for inclusion in “The Listings” in New York Weddings magazine.

Student Spotlight: Florence Foster

August 12, 2013 by 4dancers

Today’s student spotlight features the lovely Florence Foster…

Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

I started ballet classes at the age of two like many girls do. I then ventured to street dance, break dance and contemporary at the age of ten and fell in love with it at a tender age. Once I began to train in contemporary at Rambert (Dance Company) my dance life got very busy! My teacher also worked for the English National Ballet and gave me lots of opportunities and great experiences from the start.

What do you find you like best about dance class?

You are able to sculpt the dancing body you want, but you also get to have fun and challenge yourself without the challenges feeling like chores. The goody-goody in me thinks that the more dance I do, the better I’m going to get, so it’s all positive!

What is the hardest part about dance for you?

The injuries are the hardest part, purely because they happen when you overwork and don’t think about your physical health and wellbeing enough: they happen when you push yourself too far, they happen by accident and they are the worst. All injuries are horrible because they mess with you emotionally. You can’t do what you love, and you are vulnerable and dependent on others, such as doctors and physiotherapists, to know their stuff, whilst all the time you are hoping for a fast and pain free recovery.

What advice would you give to other dancers?

If you hope to train at a dance institution as part of the performing arts education system, find the one right for YOUR needs! You are investing lots of time and money in that education, so go to your classes and work your bottom off! Do what is right for you and how ready you feel at the start of your training. I wanted to refine the skills I already had and with further training I hope to learn new things about myself as dancer; do your best, be you, be original and passionate about what you do! To be a dancer you have to be a do-er!!

How has dance changed your life?

Dance has enabled me to think outside and inside the box, and I think on the lines and boundaries of the box too! I am more of a team player now: as the first child I used to think my opinion and ideas were always best and I was a ‘bull in a china shop’ whereas now dance has given me better people skills. I also have discipline and respect for my body, and most of all dance has opened my eyes to a visual way of explaining ideas that I can’t explain in words.

BIO: Flo, aged 18, has just completed her final two years of academic education at the Arts Educational School, London, focusing on the performing arts. She recently auditioned for the Northern School of Contemporary Dance where she was accepted onto the Contemporary Dance degree programme. Flo is excited to begin three years of higher education at Northern, but will be leaving behind Rambert’s youth dance company Quicksilver, which currently complements her dance training.

Dance Class For Teachers

July 5, 2013 by 4dancers

by Janet Neidhardt

dancer bending back — Photo by Catherine L. Tully

It’s summer time and I’m ready to DANCE! Every summer I take advantage of the free time I have to dance for myself. As a dance educator it is very difficult to find time during the school year to take classes. I always start the school year optimistic that I will have time to take at least one dance class a week. However, as the school year continues, and the late rehearsals begin, I find myself missing that class for me.

But in the summer it’s a different story.

During the summer I take as many dance classes and workshops as I can find. I love being a student once again. It’s a great feeling to be pushed more physically and mentally. I love realizing that I still have so much further to grow as a mover and I hope that desire to expand my own body awareness never dies. When I teach a dance class it’s not about giving a class that is demanding for myself but rather demanding for my students. When I step into the teacher role I have to approach movement from a different perspective as opposed to when I am the student. It’s because of this that I relish being challenged as a student of dance whenever possible.

I also keep a journal of the new elements about dance and movement that I discover over the summer so that I can incorporate these into my teaching the following school year. My students are always present in my mind and so when I learn something new I automatically think about how I might want to communicate or teach this new idea to them in the future. When my students here me discuss classes that I take it shows them that we never stop learning a growing in the art of dance and movement. In this way I try to lead by example.

Whether I’m taking ballet, modern, or some new style of movement that I am not familiar with, I feel refreshed and recharged taking the time to focus on me. I find it very important that I continue to develop my own dancing skills and exposure to various styles so that I can further develop my students. Teachers should stay constant learners themselves so as to stay interested in their subject as both an educator and a learner. Being surrounded by old and young dancers, I’m reminded all of the time how wonderful it is to dance every day!

dancer posing upside down — Janet Neidhardt

Contributor Janet Neidhardt has been a dance educator for 10 years. She has taught modern, ballet, and jazz at various studios and schools on Chicago’s North Shore. She received her MA in Dance with an emphasis in Choreography from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and her BA in Communications with a Dance Minor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her time in graduate school, Janet performed with Sidelong Dance Company based in Winston-Salem, NC.

Currently, Janet teaches dance at Loyola Academy High School in Wilmette, IL. She is the Director of Loyola Academy Dance Company B and the Brother Small Arts Guild, and choreographs for the Spring Dance Concert and school musical each year. Janet is very active within the Loyola Academy community leading student retreats and summer service trips. She regularly seeks out professional development opportunities to continue her own artistic growth. Recently, Janet performed with Keigwin and Company in the Chicago Dancing Festival 2012 and attended the Bates Dance Festival.

When she isn’t dancing, Janet enjoys teaching Pilates, practicing yoga, and running races around the city of Chicago

So, You Want To Teach Dance? The ABC’s Of Getting Hired

June 26, 2013 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

I have just been reviewing my latest masterpiece. It’s not what you think. It’s the schedule for my dance studio’s upcoming summer intensive. The process of completing this seemingly never-ending logistical nightmare is akin to choreographing a do-se-do of guest instructors, permanent staff and three student levels. Just one other job is harder–finding the right teachers to fill the slots.

The criteria of hiring guests and regular staff are very different from each other. For the prominent roster of guests, I am mostly interested in what they have to offer our students for the relatively limited amount of time (anywhere from 2-6 days) that they are with us. The students and I are so fortunate to have a solid core of exceptional guest teachers year after year. This summer, ballet legends Susan Jaffe, Cynthia Gregory, and Kyra Nichols, and former principal and current Pennsylvania Ballet Artistic Director, Roy Kaiser will share priceless wisdom with us as they have done for several years.

But hiring teachers who will teach for multiple weeks or multiple years takes more time to get right. I am lucky that my proximity to Manhattan makes finding a plethora of former professional dancers relatively easy. However, finding someone with important characteristics of a great teacher can be much more difficult. These are the ABC’s that I look for when auditioning a permanent dance instructor: [Read more…]

From Competition To College

May 22, 2013 by 4dancers

by Ashley David

Until about two years ago, dance meant taking class at my small studio, preparing for the Nutcracker, participating in dance competitions and practicing for the annual recital. However, I was unsure whether I wanted to dance or not after I graduated high school because I was always told dance was just a “hobby” and not something that I could pursue as a career.

I applied to various schools, some with dance programs and some without, but ultimately chose the University of Maryland, College Park, to pursue a communication degree in public relations. This was a sensible degree that would get me a “real job.” The entire first year of college I did not dance at all— the worst decision of my life. I went from dancing six days a week to nothing. I lost my creative outlet, stress reliever and passion. I realized during that time I needed to dance, so I added dance as a second major and began my journey in pursuing a B.A. in Dance at the University of Maryland, which I am still currently completing.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into and was skeptical I had made the right choice. The program was described as “modern” and I came from a ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary and hip-hop background. I had taken what I dubbed as “weird” modern classes at various conventions, but it was never something I saw myself pursuing further in dance; yet here I was entering a college modern program that did not even require us to take ballet classes.

My schedule that first semester as a dance double major included modern, ballet (thank goodness it was an elective class) and improvisation—no jazz, no tap, no lyrical, no contemporary and certainly no hip hop. My very first day of modern class included things such as closing my eyes, grounding myself to the floor, breathing and focusing on tucking in my pelvis as I moved across the space in exercises.

Then I entered improvisation and we did the same thing! Except this time, I had to find and create my own movement. What was this?! I was in absolute shock and thankful I at least had ballet to look forward to as something familiar and normal to me. I spent many days that first semester crying over something my modern teacher said, or not understanding why the technique I had spent years and years developing did not seem as important in this program. Is that not what made a good dancer? I felt disconnected and not sure that I really belonged there. However, towards the end of the semester it all clicked. [Read more…]

« Previous Page
1
…
4
5
6
7
8
…
30
Next Page »

Disclosure – Affiliate & Ad Info

Copyright Notice