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Dance Blog Spotlight: Inside Ballet Technique

March 19, 2013 by 4dancers

Tammy in The Nutcracker

Can you tell readers about your background in dance?

Yes, I began dancing at a local dance school in my hometown of Greenfield, Indiana when I was ten years old.  Prior to that I had been in gymnastics for a few years.  Shortly after I started ballet and tap, my teacher recommended that my parents take me to the Jordan Academy of Dance in Indianapolis.  They had an affiliation with the Butler Ballet, which at the time had a very reputable ballet program.

My sophomore year of high school I auditioned for the early enrollment program at Butler University and was accepted.  My father was a teacher at my high school (English, Speech, and Drama) and worked with the principal to include me in the vocational program that allowed students to leave school mid-day to study a vocation. For two years I studied with the late Peggy Dorsey, Bud Kerwin, Therese Ragucci, William Glenn, and Karl Kaufman.

I then studied ballet at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana with Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (now director of the North Carolina Ballet Theater with wife Patricia McBride), Jurgen Pagels, Madame Svetlova, Jory Hancock and Melissa Lowe.  After receiving a BS in Ballet from IU I decided to follow Jory Hancock and Melissa Lowe to the University of Arizona where they had moved to teach.  Jory is now the Dean of Fine Arts at the U of A and the dance department is one of the very best in the country.

Those were some of the best years of my dance life!  While there I also performed frequently with Ballet Ensemble, now called the Tucson Ballet.  After three years I received an MFA in Dance.  I then danced as a guest artist with the Lexington Ballet in Kentucky until Achilles tendinitis forced me to stop dancing en pointe.  Fortunately, I loved to teach and was able to teach at several private schools in the Lexington area as well as at the magnet middle school for the arts.  After dancing, I was also able to start and run a dancewear store called Dance Essentials which was in business from 1993-2003 when we sold it.

When did you begin the blog–and why did you start it?

I began Inside Ballet Technique the summer of 2009.  My family had moved to North Carolina in 2000 and circumstances required that I get a job that would help to support the family better financially.  At this point I had been working for a bank doing computer support for nine years.  I was feeling out of the loop with dance, almost to the point that it seemed like a whole different life that was becoming a distant memory.

When I started dancing at Butler University I had begun writing down combinations from the classes I took.  I continued this practice during my years at Indiana University and the University of Arizona as well as keeping notebooks full of my own combinations from classes I taught in Kentucky.  Somehow it occurred to me that this wealth of information might be useful to other teachers, and after searching the web I realized that no one had offered anything similar yet.  The few books I’d acquired that had ballet class combinations were difficult to follow, so I thought I’d put a few of my combos out there and see if others could read my style of recording them.  The response was favorable!

Tammy Rhodes

What does the blog cover?

In addition to offering combinations for barre, center, and pointe work, the blog covers topics for teachers and dancers.  I’ve written about methods I used teaching creative movement, beginning ballet, and up.  Topics also include how to improve your technique, how to manage pain, nutrition, caring for pointe shoes, issues on weight, and inspirational posts.

I haven’t expanded on it yet, but I want to do more interviews with dancers who are or have performed with companies that my readers would be interested in hearing about.  The one I have out there now is from one of my roommates in Tucson during graduate school, Carolyn Ockert-Haythe, who has danced on Broadway now for several years!  She gives some great advice to dancers hoping to break into New York City’s dance scene.

What has been the best part about participating in the dance community online?

The best part are the friends I’ve made.  Catherine Tully from 4dancers and Nichelle Strzepek from Dance Advantage have become personal friends that I really admire.  I’ve also learned a lot from the LinkedIn group Teachers of Classical Ballet, where discussions on technique are held with extreme detail among teachers all over the world.

What other dance blogs do you read?

In addition to 4dancers.org and danceadvantage.net, I enjoy reading 2pointesocial, tendusunderapalmtree.com, and I like following Daniil Simkin from ABT.  For a ballet dancer he’s very techie too, and is able to share a lot of his experiences of dancing with the online community.

BIO: Tamara Rhoades has an MFA in dance from the University of Arizona, 1992 and a BS in ballet from Indiana University, 1988. She also studied dance at Butler University for two years as a high school student. She danced professionally in Arizona and Kentucky, and taught ballet at Indiana University, University of Arizona, University of Kentucky, and Eastern Kentucky University, as well as the School of Lexington Ballet, School for Creative and Performing Arts in Lexington, KY, and Town and Village School of Dance in Paris, KY.  She has also performed with the Indiana University Opera Theater in numerous productions and with the IU Musical Theater as Laura (Larry) in A Chorus Line.  Tap was Tamara’s favorite class growing up.  She has published a book, “Classical Ballet: Combinations for Ten Complete Advanced Classes”, and writes at www.insideballet.com.

Filed Under: Dance Blog Spotlight Tagged With: ballet combinations, ballet technique, dance blog, pointe work

Dance Blog Spotlight: NYC Dance Stuff

June 19, 2012 by 4dancers

This month on Dance Blog Spotlight we are featuring Darrell Wood’s blog, NYC Dance Stuff…

Darrell Wood

1 – Can you tell readers a bit about your background in dance?

I am a retired dancer who loves dance. I have danced with the Jackson Ballet under the leadership of Thalia Mara, with Edith Stephen, Elaine Shipman/Situ, Eleanor Coleman, Keely Garfield and Poppo and the Go-Go Boys to name a few. In the past I have assisted both Igal Perry and Elisa Monte with the productions of their New York City seasons. I am classical trained and studied with Maggie Black and David Howard; I also studied modern dance with Paul Sansardo, Merce Cunningham, Lynn Simonson, Milton Meyers and Ana Marie Forsythe. In 1993 I produced The White Wall Series, the series helped young, new choreographers to present their work. Plus, I have written for HX and Vice magazines. I have a B.A. in History and Secondary Education.

2- When did you begin your blog—and why did you start it?

I started my blog October 7th, 2011. I started my blog because I love writing about dance. I wanted a site that would not only critic performances in NYC but also to create a site that could help educate about dance past, present and future.

3 – What does your blog cover?

My blog is geared toward performance, dance videos, dance news and any aspect of dance history I can get my hands on. I’m fascinated by dance history.

4- What has been the best part about participating in the dance community online?

It’s about reconnecting with a community I love and cherish. I had been away from dance for well over 15 years and did not realize how much I missed dance as a whole. The first time I was in a studio again, I had been invited to view a rehearsal, was almost a religious experience.

Also it was very moving for me. Eleven years ago I was diagnosed with Spinal Cerebellum Degeneration. It is and has been in remission for years, for five years I was homebound, the first year and a half I was bedridden with the other three and half years I was wheelchair bound. So with acquiring first a Scooter and now a motorized wheelchair I once again have my independence and I am off to the races. I use the chair for long distances and short distances I walk with a crutch.

To view the majesty of the human form in movement is a great treasure to me. I know the work, sweat and study it takes to truly become a dancer. Plus, I am so in awe of today’s generation of dancer, their technique and capabilities far surpass those of my generation.

5 – What other dance blogs do you read?

Oberon’s Grove, I check daily. It’s what I want my blog to be when it grows up, I think it’s awesome.  http://oberon481.typepad.com/oberons_grove/

Deborah Jowitt’s Dance Beat. Just because it’s Deborah Jowitt, someone who’s writing I have read for years and greatly respect. http://www.artsjournal.com/dancebeat/

Walter Rutledge, of Walter’s World from the Harlem World magazine, I think he is a great writer and enjoy his insight. http://harlemworldmag.com/2012/05/31/walters-world-rioult-premieres-the-violet-hour/

Tobi Tobias Seeing Things, also another writer who I greatly respect and have read for years. http://www.artsjournal.com/tobias/

Critical Dance Forum. It’s a great board with great discussions on dance around the world. http://www.ballet-dance.com/

BIO: Darrell Wood has a B.A. in Secondary Education and History. He would like to share the following:

I am hoping for a job teaching Social Studies so please send me positive energies. I became disabled in 2000 and had to re-invent myself. I am in the process of gathering research for a paper about the communications between Martha Graham and Agnes de Mille.

Filed Under: 4dancers, Dance Blog Spotlight Tagged With: ana marie forsythe, dance blog, dance blogs, darrell wood, david howard, elaine shipman/situ, eleanor coleman, elisa monte, igal perry, keely garfield, lynn simonson, maggie black, merce cunningham, milton meyers, nyc dance stuff, poppo and the go-go boys, thalia mara

Dance Blog Spotlight: The Choreography Clinic

April 18, 2012 by 4dancers

We’re back with another edition of “Dance Blog Spotlight” – and the blog this month focuses on choreography…

1.      Can you tell readers a bit about your background in dance?

I started dancing with a praise dance company, The Hush Company, under the direction of Stacy and LaQuin Meadows. I danced with them for 8 years and knew that dance was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I didn’t start studying ballet and modern until I was 18 years old. I have a BFA in Dance Performance with a K-12 Certification from Towson University in Towson, MD. I now teach full-time at a performing arts high school in downtown LA: Ramon C. Cortines School for the Visual and Performing Arts.

2.      When did you begin your blog-and why did you start it?

I began The Choreography Clinic in November 2011. I started it because I don’t have time to get my MFA right now and I missed those in-depth conversations about process that you only seem to find in college dance programs. I am sure you can find them other places as well but I wasn’t finding them where the access was free and open. I have lots of books on choreography but they didn’t give me the kind of interaction  and reflection that I was craving. I also wanted an opportunity to talk with other choreographers who were as interested in process as I was and find out how they were navigating their own artistic processes.

This idea came to me over a year ago, but I was really nervous at first that no one would be interested. No one knew who I was. I had not produced any work publicly and sometimes dance can be very clique-ish. I finally got up the nerve to go forward with the project and found myself in conversations where I was hearing that this was something others wanted as well. Geography is a huge problem for people who want that interaction, so online has provided a wonderful way to interact without the drama of having to “get to” somewhere to get it.

3.      What does your blog cover? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Dance Blog Spotlight Tagged With: Ballet, dance blog, dance blogs, dance performance, making dance, praise dance

Adult Ballet Student: Acacia Warwick

March 16, 2012 by 4dancers

Welcome Acacia–our latest adult ballet student feature this month…and stay tuned as we feature more content on that theme throughout the month of March!

Acacia Warwick

1.      How did you first get involved with ballet and what attracted you to it as an adult?

When I was six years old I started taking ballet classes in a tiny studio over a pizza parlor on the corner of Sunset and Vine in Los Angeles. I loved dancing, but after a few years, it became clear that I would never have the body of a ballerina and ballet faded from my life. Fast forward thirty years later, I finished my treatments for breast cancer and started thinking about what I could do to get my strength back and ballet lept to mind. I always loved the grace and power of dancers and decided to try to bring some of that back into my life.

2.      How many classes are you currently taking per week?

I usually take two classes a week. I’m limited since very few classes are offered here in Peoria, and since I’m back in cancer treatment I can’t always get to class.

3.      What do you see as your biggest challenge as an adult ballet student?

The mirror. No, wait, the slim little ballerinas running around the studio. No, it’s the mental disconnect between what I think I can do and what my body can actually pull off.  Or figuring out what a plus-sized ballet student can wear other than yoga pants and a t-shirt…

Actually, the biggest challenge was walking into the studio for my first class.

4.      What brings you the greatest joy as an adult ballet student?

Getting to the point in class where nothing else matters, not the mirror or anything else. I leave every class feeling light, graceful and happy with what my body could do. I find myself getting up on my toes at home, waiting in line, even at work for days after a class.

5.      Do you have any advice for other adult ballet students?

If you want to dance, dance. Adult classes are really adaptable for wherever you are when you start, and once you show up for the first one, it’s easy.

BIO: Acacia has been a beginning ballet student for one year and writes about her experiences at her blog The Melancholy Swan (melancholyswan.com.) She is also an art historian, seeker of tenure, lover of books, writer, melancholic, and is living with metastatic breast cancer. 

Filed Under: 4dancers, Adult Ballet Tagged With: Acacia Warwick, adult ballet, dance blog, melancholy swan, plus size ballet student

Dance Blog Spotlight: Rogue Ballerina

February 10, 2012 by 4dancers

Today I’d like to welcome fellow Chicago blogger Vicki Crain to the Dance Blog Spotlight–

Vicki Crain of Rogue Ballerina

1.    Can you tell readers a bit about your background in dance?

I started taking dance lessons when I was little – jazz, tap, tumbling – adding in ballet around 6th grade. After taking a few years off for extra curricular activities with school (choir, band, cheerleading), I came back to dance. I was a founding member of the Decatur Ballet Company (tiny) and joined the Springfield Ballet Company, where I danced on and off for 15 years.

I also performed with the Twin Cities Ballet in Bloomington, IL. I taught jazz, tap and pointe classes and managed the affiliated school in Springfield, while finishing my degree in English. Once in Chicago, I danced for a season with Zephyr Dance and for a number of years with a production company, while also serving as President’s Assistant/Dance Captain/Casting Director/Girl Friday. It was a blast!

2.      When did you begin your blog—and why did you start it? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Dance Blog Spotlight Tagged With: dance blog, dance blogs, Lar Lubovitch, Rogue ballerina, vicki crain

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