dancers – Page 2

Lessons Beyond The Barre

October 13, 2015 by 4dancers

by Cara Marie Gary

In prepping for the theater today, I was reminded of a beloved teacher and started thinking of the insight she’s given me over the years. My earliest memory of her advice was when I was fourteen years old, competing in the VI Serge Lifar International Ballet Competition. It was the first time I had left the United States and traveled without my parents. I was immersed into a new culture and language while being severely jet-lagged from a lengthy flight to Kiev, Ukraine. But most importantly, this was the first time I learned an important lesson from someone I cherish dearly in the dance world. [Read more…]

Holiday Stress Management Strategies For Dancers

October 23, 2013 by 4dancers

by Caroline MacDonald

This time of year can be very busy for ballet dancers. Nutcracker is only months away, audition season is coming up, and school is in full swing. As a result, stress levels may reach a high. However, if you go into the coming months with some knowledge of how to handle the impending craziness you’ll be a lot more likely to enjoy yourself and stay stress-free. Here are some tips on keeping calm both in and outside of the studio.

Meditation: A very popular way to cope with stress, meditation helps to retrain your brain to cope with stress as well as reduce overall stress levels. Try taking a few minutes every day to simply focus on your breathing, let your thoughts wander, or simply clear all thoughts from your mind. Need a little extra help? Try downloading a meditation app that can help lead you through a guided meditation.

Exercise: Exercise releases endorphins, which improve your mood. It can also have a meditative effect, allowing you to focus on your activity instead of other preoccupations. Even if you’re dancing all day, try to incorporate some extra exercise into your day, such as cardio, yoga, or just a simple walk around the block. [Read more…]

Interview With Dance Photographer Rachel Neville

May 29, 2013 by 4dancers

This week we feature another dance photographer–Rachel Neville. We reached out to her to learn more about her path into dance photography and are pleased to be able to share some of her beautiful images here with you today…

How did you wind up doing dance photography?

A knee injury brought me home from Europe where I was dancing in Germany in 1995, I think it was. I had quit high school to go train at Rosella Hightower’s in Canne so my first job was to go back and finish. The grade 13 art course turned out to be a photography course and I was hooked. I went to college for photography, graduated and started working right away. My first jobs were mostly in the wedding, portrait and commercial industry, I spent many years shooting dancers on the side for fun or doing what we call in Canada ‘recital photo’s’ (pictures at the end of the year of the kids in their costumes). It wasn’t really till we came to NYC 7 years ago that I started doing what I call my ‘real’ work or passion.

What do you enjoy the most about working with dancers?

Where to start? I love lines, shapes and textures. What more perfect a subject then but dancers? I love feelings and emotions and energy… again – dancers. Most of all, when we are shooting for a story line or a concept or some creative idea, I love it when it all comes together, the lighting, styling, background, dancer/s, when everything comes together and you get that ahhhhh moment. Its a bit like having a great performance, the high.. Dancers who have worked with me know that I get excited and do a little happy dance when that occurs. And dancers who have worked with me previously always are looking for that moment too, when we shoot.. I’m generally not satisfied until it happens, and they know that until it does we don’t ‘have it’.

What do you think is the biggest challenge when it comes to capturing dance with the camera?

Umm, I suppose you might expect an answer like ‘capturing the moment’ or ‘getting the dancer to look right in 2D what is normal in 3D’. I’ve not felt that to be a challenge for several years, but I think like anything else, once you master a challenge you move onto the next one. Right now I’m all about getting dancers in front of me to get outside their heads and give me something more, their energy, their personality, their character.. and having that come across. We all spend so much time looking at and detailing the body, our instrument, but when all is said and done if there isn’t a feeling or impetus behind a movement or shot, then I get a little bored.

Can you describe a typical “shoot” with a dancer or company?

Sure, it starts with a conversation or consultation, where I find out what a clients goals/needs/’why they called me’ answers are. Then we look to creating a look/feel/storyboard for achieving the maximum for the budget a client has to work with. On a typical shoot, we will arrive usually 30-60 minutes in advance so that dancers can warm up, get ready and feel comfortable with the space and me (this is important, if you are going to give your all with a photographer having some type of rapport with them in advance a little bit is helpful to be able to let go and give), and I or my assistant will start setting up our gear. We usually start with some basic movements or poses that we had thought out in advance for the dancer to get into the groove and for me to learn their body and facility. I shoot tethered to a computer so if I need to have the dancer see how they are looking in the 2D we can analyze and fix on the spot together. Once the ball gets rolling we move to other poses, costumes, improve a little bit, making sure we have several really good shots to pick from (I like to have the client’s choice be difficult in having just a few too many to choose from), all the time looking for those really special images. Sometimes it’s the client who has ideas to ‘play’ with, often times it’s me who suggests something a little different. The best shoots are really collaborations between everyone involved, whether that is just me and a dancer, or a director, dancer, and myself coming up with ideas and things to try. The more time you have to play, the better!

What has been your favorite experience in terms of working in the field thus far?

This is a hard question, I try to have every shoot be excellent. I think shoots where creatively we’ve done something I haven’t done before are my favorite. For example, going down to Arizona to shoot dancers in the Antelope Canyons will always be top of my list. I would love to go back there one day with more dancers from a company and do a calendar for them.

BIO: Rachel was born in Toronto, Canada where she trained to become a dancer before moving to Europe at 18 years of age. After a knee injury, she moved back to Toronto where she completed a degree in photography at Humber college in 2000. Working in weddings and commercial photography, her passion for dance had her move to NYC in 2006 with her photographer husband David Giesbrecht. Her work has been seen in many different posters, postcards and media outlets including Dance Magazine, Pointe Magazine, the New Yorker and others. She currently shares a studio in Williamsburg and lives in Queens with her husband and 2 young daughters.

Learn more about Rachel and see additional dance photography she has done on her website.

Ballet — How Hard Should It Be?

May 9, 2013 by 4dancers

Our guest contributor for this posting is Janet Karin, OAM, currently on the faculty of the Australian Ballet School as Kinetic Educator. Janet is a former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and also directed a ballet school / youth dance company in Canberra, Australia. She has a distinguished career not only as a dancer, but also as a well-known dance educator, having developed dance studies courses for the Australian National University School of Music, and other educational institutions. She has worked in many dance-related capacities, such as cultural development, arts funding, safe dance practice (dance medicine) and other initiatives. She is currently Vice-President / President – Elect of IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science).

Her article “Ballet: How Hard Should It Be?”, provides some valuable perspectives for both dancers / teachers / school and company directors, and we are very pleased she has joined our Guest Contributor roster at 4dancers.org.

– Jan Dunn, MS, Dance Wellness Editor

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“You are working hard” – students usually take this as a compliment. People may think you are working hard if your face is red and you are sweating a lot. You may think you are working hard if you are breathing heavily and feeling a lot of muscle tension, possibly even trembling with effort. After years of praise for these signs of “working hard”, students can begin to feel guilty if their work isn’t accompanied by effort and muscle tension. But, is this how you want to dance in the future, possibly as a professional dancer? In fact, really good ballet dancers make dancing appear completely natural and effortless, as if their movements grow out of the music and their emotions. There is no apparent tension or “work” in good dancing.

You get better at doing what you do. If you dance with tension, you’ll get better at dancing with tension, so it makes sense to dance with as little tension as you can. Tension is energy that is not achieving what it wants, rather like water building up in a garden hose with a bend in the middle. Efficient use of energy helps you achieve your goals more easily, making your work look professional, and much more enjoyable for you and for the audience. How do you achieve this?

Firstly, you need to breathe. It sounds so obvious, but most young dancers hold their breath in difficult movements. Focus on breathing out slowly at the back of your lower ribs, especially on bends and difficult movements. You don’t have to think about breathing in – your brain will take care of that because it wants to keep you alive.

Next, imagine all your movements radiating outwards from deep inside your pelvis – energy streaming out the top of your head, your fingers and your toes, like water streaming out of a hose. Let your movements trace enormous circles in space. Feel as if you are expanding from a secure centre.

Thirdly, remember that we are never really static, because there are always small micro-movements throughout your body as it responds your breathing and small changes in weight from limb movements. Dancers are never “still”; their tiny automatic response to changing balance makes them appear to be still. Make sure you don’t “lock” your body into position, especially your spine.

So, what do teachers really want when they ask you to “work hard”? They want you to use energy, not tension. They want you to focus on making your movements as pure and harmonious as possible. They want you to develop your body’s potential without forcing your muscles or distorting your bony alignment. They want you to breathe freely and move like the music, expressing the pleasure of movement in every part of yourself. And in the end, that’s what you want too!

BIO: Guest Contributor Janet Karin OAM

After an early career as a Principal Dancer of The Australian Ballet, Janet Karin directed a ballet school and youth dance company in Canberra, Australia. She devised her own teaching system, training many highly successful dancers and teachers. She wrote and delivered dance studies courses for secondary education and for the Australian National University’s School of Music and also worked in cultural development, arts funding, safe dance and other dance-related initiatives.

Janet Karin returned to The Australian Ballet as Assistant to the Artistic Director, then moved to The Australian Ballet School as Kinetic Educator. In this role she coaches students individually, applying somatic techniques to improve their neuromotor function. She also collaborates with scientists from various universities in dance science research. In 2009 she was awarded an Australian Centre of Clinical Research Excellence Grant to investigate dynamic pelvic stability.

Janet Karin has received the Medal of the Order of Australia and several awards for artistic direction and dance teaching. She is currently Vice-President of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science, and will become its President in October 2013.

On-The-Go Snacks For Dancers

May 2, 2013 by 4dancers

by Danielle Downey

Whether you are a dancer or just sucked up into the endless fast pace of today’s lifestyle, fueling your body with healthy on-the-go snacks is a key task to master in order to perform your best on stage or in life.

Eating large meals between rehearsals or before a show is not exactly conducive to our lifestyle as dancers. No dancer wants to do grand allegro or 32 fouettes after chowing down on a large feast, but on the other hand, choosing not to eat is surely not a better option. Thankfully between the spectrum of starving yourself and the ‘yuck factor’ of feeling too full, there is the ingenious happy medium of snacking!

It seems that the strongest, most beautiful dancers that grace the stages are on a lifelong journey to master the ‘technique’ of healthy on-the-go snacking. So whether you already spend countless hours in the studio rehearsing or you are young student aspiring a professional career, it is beneficial for all of us to do a frequent check of our eating (specifically snacking) habits to ensure we are fueling our body with the maximum amount of nutrients and energy to feel and dance our best.

The great thing about snacking is that no matter what your taste buds or dietary needs require, the options are essentially endless! When reevaluating your snacking habits or looking for new ideas, thinking simple is surprisingly a smart and easy tactic. What is your favorite salad or healthy meal? If you break it down into it’s simplest components you will usually be left with a handful of healthy snacking options. By eating these simple foods individually throughout the day you are still receiving all of the nutrients from your favorite healthy meal while never having your waistband feel too tight.

As a dancer I am constantly tweaking my snacking habits. By trial and error and inspiration from other dancers around me, I am on a mission to find the perfect combination of on-the-go snacks to dance and feel better than ever! At the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre we receive a five minute break every hour. Changing my pointe shoes or leotard, using the restroom, checking my phone or just resting my legs are on the short list of things accomplished on those five minute breaks, but most importantly, I always reach for a quick on-the-go snack to keep my energy up for the next hour of rehearsal. My locker has become a makeshift pantry and I take advantage of the company refrigerator to store perishable items. I strive for natural foods high in protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Here are a list of my favorite healthy on-the-go snacks:

BANANAS- I have replaced the adage about apples with ‘A banana a day keeps the doctor away’. Nothing against apples, but I definitely grab a banana every day because of their high levels of calcium which are key to preventing muscle cramps. Bananas also supply 35% of your daily B-6 requirement which is used to help grow new cells. The fiber found in bananas also helps you feel full longer.

GREEK YOGURT- Greek yogurt has a much higher protein content than regular yogurt, and depending on the brand you prefer you can easily give your body 10-18 grams of it. I have also found that the thicker consistency of Greek yogurt helps me feel full longer.

BARRE. A REAL FOOD BAR.- Developed by a fellow Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancer, Barre is a delicious nutrition bar on the market developed with dancers in mind. Julia wanted something to fuel her without weighing her down, something sustaining yet easy to digest, and something containing only the finest all-natural ingredients. When she brought the first product (straight from her food processor) as her healthy on-the-go snack, I tried some and fell in love. When I said I would buy some off of her, the idea for Barre was born!

DARK CHOCOLATE- Snack? Dessert? Call it what you wish, but dark chocolate has been making headlines for its health benefits. It contains more antioxidants than some fruits and vegetables, which can help reduce blood pressure. Chocolate lovers rejoice, but obviously, moderation is the key. I keep a large bar in my locker and break off a small piece whenever I need a small pick-me-up.

NUTS- Nuts are such an easy on-the-go snack, no utensils or refrigeration necessary. The omega-3 fatty acids found in nuts offer many health benefits but one that is really key for dancers is management of inflammation. Nuts are also a great source of arginine, an amino acid which boosts immune function and promotes wound healing.

KASHI GOLEAN CEREAL- I had to add this in because it is a personal favorite of mine in the studio. Keeping a zip lock bag of this right by my barre spot or in my dressing room at the theatre makes for super convenient on-the-go snacking. The 7 whole grains found in this cereal are a great source of complex carbohydrates. It also contains 13 grains of protein!

QUINOA- Coined as a ‘superfood’, quinoa has a long list of health benefits. Containing all nine amino acids, it is one of the most protein-rich foods you can eat. Quinoa contains almost twice as much fiber as other grains, which is key to helping you feel full on those long days of rehearsal. It contains iron which helps keeps the red blood cells healthy and increases brain function. Quinoa also contains lysine which helps with the growth and repair of body tissue. In addition to its ‘good for you’ qualities, it has endless possibilities in the kitchen (salads, desserts, breads, and much, much more!).

So no matter where you are on your journey to master the art of healthy on-the-go snacking–we can all benefit from doing a monthly reevaluation and refreshment. Get inspired by what is fresh now in the market, what other dancers you look up to are doing, or just tune into what your body needs or craves. Remember that our bodies are like automobiles which carry us where we want to go in life; we should refuel them often and with only the best!

Contributor Danielle Downey has a been a member of the Barre Team since it’s conception. She traveled to Las Vegas for Barre’s first convention, she did some early graphic design work for the look and brand of Barre, and is now marketing Barre through social media outlets. She has seen Barre go from it’s very earliest stages (straight from the food processor in Julia’s kitchen to the studio in a zip-lock bag) to a real food bar recognized by dancers, athletes, and regular ole’ folk all across the country.

Danielle also dances in the Corps de Ballet with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Prior to joining the company, she trained in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program. She received her early training with the Lake Erie Ballet and spent summers training with Boston Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

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