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The Dance USA Conference – Minneapolis, MN

July 16, 2014 by 4dancers

dance usaThis year marked my second Dance USA experience. The first time I went by myself to speak on a panel titled “The Blogosphere: Writing About and For Dance”. This year I made the trip up to Minneapolis with a fellow dance writer, Lauren Warnecke. We piled in the car at 6 am and headed out to network and hear more about the current state of our field.

It has taken me a while to write this post because I wanted to think about how to frame it. Based on that, rather than give you a play-by-play of the sessions I attended and what they taught me, I’d rather talk a bit about the main thing that makes this conference well worth attending…

Basically, it comes down to this: the Dance USA Conference is an incredible forum where you can talk with other people in the dance field–from all over the country and beyond. Connecting with other dance professionals from different backgrounds provides an immense opportunity for learning and growth. I even wound up spending more time with people from my own city than I probably would have throughout the course of a year.

Let’s face it, those of us in the dance field often wind up in our own little bubble; busy working, creating and trying to keep everything afloat. The Dance USA Conference provides a kind of “time out” where one is able to get a better perspective on what is going on in other places. It gives you permission to put your own creative process on hold for a little bit, so you can hear more about what others are doing. This can be quite an informative, inspirational thing.

Conference sessions often serve as a starting point for conversations that continue afterwards into the evening over dinner and drinks. There is ample opportunity to meet up with people one-on-one over the course of the conference and talk about common interests, investigate new ideas or simply spend a little time getting to know one another better. When I attended the Dance USA Conference in San Francisco, it was the first time I had met many of my fellow bloggers in person, even though we had been corresponding on the web for some time. The bond we forged over just the course of a few days is one that remains strong even years later.

So, yes, the conference sessions provide interesting information, and yes, the opportunity to see several evenings of dance performances in another city is a wonderful thing. But the real benefit of attending the Dance USA Conference is that of camaraderie and community. It is the chance to form relationships that continue long after the meetings and initial discussions take place. It gives each of us the gift of time to set aside all we are immersed in so that we can tune in to the bigger picture and see things from an entirely different perspective.

And that alone is definitely worth the trip.

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Mark your calendars for the Dance USA Conference in 2015, taking place in Miami, Florida from June 17th-20th.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Dance Conferences Tagged With: dance usa, dance usa conference, lauren Warnecke, minneapolis dance

10 Questions With…Ikolo Griffin

September 10, 2012 by 4dancers

Ikolo Griffin, Photo by Weiford Watts

I met this lovely man at Dance USA when he came up to talk to me after the panel on Dance Writing–he had a pretty cool idea that he wanted to share–and now I’m pleased to be able to share it with you…

1. What is your dance background?

When I was in third grade, San Francisco Ballet’s Dance In Schools Program (led by Charles McNeal) came to my school, and following the residency I received an outreach scholarship. I started training at the San Francisco Ballet School from the age of eight until I graduated at eighteen. After ten years in the School, I became the first outreach student to get into the professional company as an apprentice in 1993. At that time SFB was becoming a world-class company, and I was very blessed to grow up watching and then performing with some of the best dancers from all over the world.

In 2001, after seven years performing professionally with the San Francisco Ballet, I moved to New York to join Dance Theatre of Harlem as a soloist. Under the guidance of Arthur Mitchell, I felt myself become more than just a dancer, but a true artist. I felt real satisfaction and fulfillment as I was promoted to a principal dancer and given the opportunity to dance leading roles in many iconic neoclassical ballets. For two weeks we performed at Lincoln Center, the heart of dance in America, and I felt I had reached a very high point in my career.

Unfortunately, after only four years dancing with DTH, the company closed its doors. I was blessed enough to join the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago and landed nicely on my feet (as always!). After my experiences in San Francisco and New York, I felt confident in my abilities as a technician and as an artist. One of the highlights of my two years at the Joffrey was working with Sir Antony Dowell on the role of Oberon in Frederick Ashton’s The Dream.

My time in Chicago was short and sweet, and in 2006 San Francisco called me home again. This time, I had the fortune to dance with Smuin Ballet. Michael Smuin was one of the best artistic directors I have worked with. He had a way of bringing out the best dancing in me and giving the audience a really great show. Mr. Smuin had been the director of San Francisco Ballet when I was just a kid, and we had worked together at Dance Theatre of Harlem as well. It was great to work with him on a full time basis because I felt he appreciated me as a dancer and as person. Up until the day he died in the studio, my experience with Smuin was marked by some of the best dancing I’ve ever done.

Since I left Smuin in 2008, I’ve been freelancing around the Bay Area. I am currently working with the San Francisco Opera as a resident corps dancer. One of the best things about working with the Opera is being back on the War Memorial Opera House stage. This is the very same stage where I did my first Nutcracker as a Mother Ginger kid. It feels like home, and the opera singers are amazing too…

2. What is “Just Turns” and why did you decide to found it?

Just Turns is an interactive classical ballet workshop. The two-hour Just Turns workshop is designed to focus the student’s approach and maximize turning technique in order to increase confidence and ability in all kinds of turns. The class structure and progression are designed to break down every part of turning technique— training spot, balance, force control, and placement from the ground up. Students are encouraged to ask questions, experiment, and take notes throughout the workshop in order to realize their ideal turning method.

My inspiration for Just Turns is in helping dancers with one of the hardest and best parts of ballet technique. While I was dancing in New York, I would take class at Steps on Broadway with Willy Burmann. In his class I really started to develop a great turning style. My turns were always good, but with the Mr. Burmann’s help they became great! When I returned to San Francisco, dancers would frequently ask me for help working on their turns after class. One day I was talking with my friend Vanessa Zahorian (principal dancer with SFB who is a great turner as well), and I thought, “How great would it be to bring back the ‘turning class’ that we would take during summer sessions?” That thought brewed in my head for a while, and when I started teaching ballet two years ago, it was time for Just Turns to be born. Now, as I am moving toward the next phase of my career as a teacher, I am finding my specific niche as a turning coach. Just Turns is my way of reaching the broader dance community and using my passion and specific expertise with turns to help dancers everywhere.

3. Who can benefit from the “Just Turns” approach? [Read more…]

Filed Under: 10 Questions With... Tagged With: american ballet theatre, arthur mitchell, ballet in chicago, ballet technique, dance theatre of harlem, dance usa conference, dancers, dancing in new york, fredrick ashton, george balanchine, ikolo griffin, jko school, joffrey ballet, just turns, lincoln center, livermore school of ballet, odc, san carlos school of ballet, san francisco ballet, sir antony dowell, smuin ballet, steps on broadway, vacaville theater ballet, Val Caniparoli, vanessa zahorian, willy burmann

Introducing Lizzie Leopold on “The Business of Making Dance”

July 27, 2011 by 4dancers

Leopold Group by Matthew Gregory Hollis

by Lizzie Leopold

If this were real life I would shake your hand, say “nice to meet you” and maybe we would exchange phone numbers.  But here we are in the vast spaces of the internet.  So, think of this blog as a virtual hand shake.

I’m Lizzie Leopold, choreographer, writer, scholar and social media enthusiast and these are my thoughts on the “Business of Making Dance.”  The intersection of dance and business is busy, fast-paced and highly dangerous, so fasten your seat-belts.

This past week I attended the annual Dance/USA Conference in Chicago, the largest gathering of dance professionals in the country.  I attended as student (as a PhD candidate at Northwestern University), as an Artistic Director and choreographer (Leopold Group), as a part of a dance service organization (Audience Architects), a social media manger (SeeChicagoDance) and as an all-around dance nerd.  I left inspired, confused, clarified and exhausted. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, 4teachers, Editorial, Online Dance Resources, Studios, The Business Of Dance Tagged With: audience architects, business of dance, chicago, dance usa conference, jennifer edwards, leopold group, lizzie leopold, pico iyer, seechicagodance, Wolfbrown

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