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Lessons In Creativity – Outside The Dance Studio

June 6, 2013 by 4dancers

IMG_0003by Emily Kate Long

Another full-time season is over for my company, and another semester has come to an end for the school. Cue the identity crisis! What on earth am I supposed to do with all this unstructured time? How will I prove my worth to myself if I can’t dance every day?

Ordinarily, these thoughts and worse would be running through my head this time of year. Somehow, it’s different now. I have always envied and admired dancers who could maintain a strong (or at least extant) sense of identity through layoffs. Am I finally becoming one? This installment of Finding Balance is a celebration of summer’s not-guilty-anymore pleasures: rest, leisure, creativity, and study. All are enjoyable, all well-deserved, and all are outpourings of myself. Each creative or restorative undertaking teaches me something I can take into the studio. Each makes my dancing more valuable for those lessons.

One of my greatest creative loves outside the dance studio is drawing. Chance brought me to a facilitated figure drawing session in the spring of 2010, and I’ve attended with relative regularity ever since. My rehearsal and teaching schedule this season finally allowed me to get there weekly (or more, if I was lucky) and seeing consistency pay off has been truly rewarding.

IMG_0156Honing another craft to a level I can take pride in is a gift to myself. Facing a blank piece of paper, planning a composition (or not), capturing the gesture of a pose, examining the geometry and architecture of the human form…all these things are so similar to dance, just translated from three dimensions to two. Sensitive consideration of the tools (the dancer, music or dance style on one hand, the pencil, charcoal, model, and paper on the other) makes for a better artistic product and a more enjoyable process in any dimension.

Showing up to those early classes made me nervous! I was mostly learning on the fly, and overwhelmed much of the time. Being in the company of artists I admire and trust kept me coming back. Now, experience and practice have eased those initial fears. I really enjoy how much freedom there is to interpret what’s in front of me once the basics of proportion and tone are more or less in place. As a naturally cautious person, I find a devilish sort of delight in just slapping a bunch of soft charcoal down on the paper and finger-painting with it. Other times I better appreciate the delicate, faintly oily smokiness of graphite, laid down one gentle layer at a time.

IMG_0154Working loosely without a definite goal in mind is not something I’m usually comfortable with. The progress I’ve made under those conditions offers a few lessons to me:

  1. Progress is directly related to consistent practice. Showing up ready to work opens the door to improvement.
  2. Judging my technique against something concrete (Does is look like the model? Is it at least believable as the likeness of a human being?) is kinder than judging it against a vague set of ideals. (Is this great? Is this skillful? Is this perfect?)
  3. In a class with no peers, I am free to judge my progress against myself alone. My work will never look like anyone else’s, and shouldn’t. That knowledge makes me both more confident in and more accountable for my own success.
  4. Analyzing my work, or asking others to analyze it, gives me valuable information about how to use technique. Observing what feelings drawings inspire and why is so much easier with a little perspective.

What I love most about the class is that everyone shows up because we want to create something that day. We arrive needing to express. We get together enough money to pay the model and a little bit of rent, and we make art. It’s such a clear, simple philosophy of creativity. It creates a working atmosphere that’s open, positive, respectful, and vibrant. It reminds me that such a mentality is essential for every art form, and it’s what I try to bring into the ballet studio each morning.

IMG_0140When I pack up my art bag at 9:15 every Thursday night, I take a lot with me. Pride in my new skills, feedback to contemplate, techniques to try, and a generous mottling of charcoal smudges from face to fingers. I treasure all of it.

Readers, what other expressive outlets do you use to enrich and inform your dancing? Please share them in the comments section!

Assistant Editor 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. She has spent summers studying at Ballet Chicago, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Miami City Ballet, and Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive/Vail Valley Dance Intensive, where she served as Program Assistant. Ms Long attended Milwaukee Ballet School’s Summer Intensive on scholarship before being invited to join Milwaukee Ballet II in 2007.

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 principal roles in Courtney Lyon’s Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella. She is also on the faculty of Ballet Quad Cities School of Dance, where she teaches ballet, pointe, and repertoire classes.

Filed Under: Editorial, Finding Balance Tagged With: dance, dance studio, drawing, emily kate long, finding balance

Student Spotlight: Lucy Panush

March 26, 2013 by 4dancers

Today we are running another student spotlight–Lucy, from The School at Steps…

Lucy Panush, Photo by E. Patino

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved with dance?

I first became involved with dance at age 2 in “Mommy and me” classes, and my earliest dance training was in ballet and tap programs at various studios in Manhattan. I decided five years ago to audition for The School at Steps’ Pre-Professional program, where I have found my “home,” and am currently a student.  It is there that I have been able to broaden my dance education, incorporating other varieties of dance — Horton, hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, theatre dance and ballet– into my dance vocabulary.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class?

What I love about dance class is the atmosphere and the people that come with it.  Dancers have this amazing work ethic, which adds to the energy in the room. Now that I have gotten to the advanced level it has become even more enjoyable to watch all the incredible dancers around me. In particular, I find it intriguing to see what choices they make because I am able to enhance my own dancing by learning from them.

I also love the dance studio because it is a place I can practice my performance skills. The feeling of dancing a ballet variation is very different than that of performing a hip-hop piece. I hone these performance skills in dance class.

3. What is the hardest part about dance for you?

The hardest part about dance for me is having the confidence and mindset to tackle a new and challenging step. If I am too afraid to mess up, or fall flat on my face, I realize I am never going to succeed in accomplishing something difficult. I remind myself constantly to be confident within myself, because 60% of the time it’s actually “in my head.” If I believe I can execute the step, I find I most likely do!

Lucy Panush, Photo by Keith Fremon

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?

I would offer other dancers the mantra: “dance is to express and not to impress.”  If you are dancing because you love it, and not doing it for someone else, whether it be a teacher or a parent, then that is all that matters. Dance is also such a great outlet to build confidence. It is important to take the confidence that is gained in class and apply it to performances and other areas of life. But mostly, rather than compare yourself to others, focus on your own improvement.

5. How has dance changed your life?

Dance has changed my life in so many positive ways.

  • It has taught me time management, which certainly helps with juggling classes and schoolwork;
  • It has given me the ability to focus better, putting all my personal issues aside for a period of time to just be in the moment and the movement.
  • It has given me performance skills to apply on stage;
  • And it has taught me, plain and simple, that your life is much more enjoyable when you have a passion!

In the studio I am my own person; I have the ability to express myself freely. Nothing beats the feeling that accompanies finishing an amazing class; I always leave with endless energy and a huge smile on my face. I know I will remain committed to this art form, as it is such an integral part of my life.

The School at Steps is a training ground for students, ages 2-18, who are interested in exploring various dance styles, as well as for those students already focused on a particular discipline. The school offers an Academic Year and Summer Programs, with classes in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, theater dance, hip hop, and Pilates. Students at the school are also given performance opportunities, and workshops on dance and career-related topics. Beginning with the Young Dancers Program and continuing through the most advanced pre-professional classes, The School at Steps provides children with an opportunity to explore the world of dance, to learn and experiment with technique, and to enrich their appreciation for the various forms of the art.

Here’s a video of Lucy dancing:

Filed Under: Student Spotlight Tagged With: Ballet, dance studio, dancing, lucy panush, the school at steps

DANY (Dance Art New York) Studios Get A Facelift

November 28, 2012 by 4dancers

dany lobby
DANY Lobby Before, photo by Cathryn Lynn

Interior designer Vicente Wolf recently took part in a pro-bono redesign of several areas of the DANY (Dance Art New York) Studios (305 West 38th St.) which is operated by The Joyce Theater Foundation. Wolf collaborated with Eric Paeper, a recent MFA graduate of the New York School of Interior Design on the project, which features 11 studios.

The redesign incorporates things such as an updated color scheme (lacks, grays, and whites, with vibrant pear green highlights), better lighting, and stencil work featuring the DANY Studios name (as well as the names of dance companies) on the walls. New furniture and decor was donated by companies such as Crate and Barrel, and the entire project was documented by SPACEStv channel.

Wolf, a lifelong patron of the arts and one of Architectural Digest’s AD100 designers, was approached by a friend that is affiliated with The Joyce Theater Foundation to help give the space a much-needed facelift. 4dancers corresponded with the designer via e-mail and asked a few questions about the design process…

There are so many projects that you could have chosen to lend your talents to–what was it specifically that drew you to working with the space at DANY?

My great respect for dance and the amount of energy that dancers put into art needed to be rewarded with a wonderful space where they can relax after a hard day of rehearsal.

What did you want the space to feel like when it was finished?

I wanted it to have a uplifting sense of comfort and design.

Can you highlight a few of the design elements that you think transformed the space the most?

The paint donated by PPG gave it a facelift; the convex mirrors which alter the space of its reflections; painting the wood, which helped to unify the space; the clean lines of the upholstery that blended well with the existing floors.

Take a look at the space now:

dany lobby
DANY Lobby After

The official “unveiling” of the new studios was October 25, 2012.

new york dance space
New furniture helps update the DANY space
A new color scheme modernizes the look and brightens the atmosphere

Filed Under: 4dancers, Editorial Tagged With: dance art new york, dance studio, dany, eric paeper, the joyce theater, vicente wolf

Young Adult Dance Book: Pointe Of No Return

November 9, 2012 by 4dancers

pointe of no return

by Amanda Brice

“Glissade, pique arabesque, and now pull into retire en face!”

And thus begins the second chapter of my second book, Pointe of No Return, which features a kidnapping (and search for the missing girl) during Nutcracker rehearsals at a performing arts boarding school. My heroine, freshman ballet student Dani Spevak, is assigned to understudy her rival Hadley Taylor as the Sugar Plum Fairy, when Hadley goes missing. And in typical Dani fashion, he sets out to find her.

I’ve never solved mysteries, but Dani and I have several things in common. First of all, we love to dance. Okay, that’s a given. You probably share that with us as well, if you’re reading Catherine Tully’s wonderful 4dancers blog.

We both consider Nut season to be “the most wonderful time of the year” (even though my 3-year-old told me yesterday she can’t go see Nutcracker because she’s allergic to nuts). And we’ve both ended up getting to perform in a ballet even when we thought we’d been relegated to understudy status.

In my case, I was understudying a performance of Gaite Parisienne and one of the older girls in the company got hospitalized with bulimia. It was a weird feeling for me. A real paradox. On the one hand, I was super excited to get to perform, but that meant that Rachel was very, very sick. And you can’t exactly celebrate that, you know?

Same thing with Dani. Hadley’s missing, and it’s actually not in her best interest to find her – this way she gets to dance – but how can you really celebrate that (even if Hadley is the meanest girl in school)? You can’t.

So I took that awkward feeling and built a story around it. Only I changed the basic facts as to why my heroine got to dance. Because while a story about eating disorders might be relevant from a social commentary standpoint (and I do weave them in as a subplot), it probably wouldn’t make for a very good plot. (Or at least not the type of plot I write.) [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, Books & Magazines Tagged With: amanda brice, ballet student, breaking pointe, bulimia, bunheads, choreographers, dance, dance book, dance studio, dancing with the stars, nutcracker, pointe of no return, satin slippers, So You Think You Can Dance

Dance And Your Smartphone

December 13, 2011 by 4dancers

Smartphones are becoming omnipresent, and depending on what you do in dance, you may want to consider building your own app. Like applications on your computer, an app for a smart phone can do numerous things. For example, a ballet company may want to provide information on shows, tours or other upcoming events, whereas a studio might want to have class and recital information available to the public. You could also use your phone app to direct fans to your website, show them videos, and more.

Those who want to be, if not ahead of at least on the curve, can find an easy iPhone app builder or an easy Android app builder and start figuring out ways to best reach their customers. Here’s one I found doing a simple search—which I may try and use for 4dancers to build an app in the coming year.

Keeping up on smartphone technology, social media and other ways to advance your brand is always a good idea, and you can make an app work for you in many different ways, depending on your needs. After all, the more channels through which people can reach you and learn about your studio/company, the better!

Filed Under: Social Media, Studios Tagged With: dance, dance apps, dance company, dance studio, smartphone

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