dancing with the stars

Dancing With The Stars – No Excuses!

March 14, 2015 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

I typically don’t write too many personalized posts on this site, but today will be an exception–because today I’d like to share an inspiring story that has to do with dance. Today I’d like to talk about the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars, but more specifically, about Noah Galloway.

Noah first came to my attention in November of 2014 when he won the Men’s Health magazine contest for the “Ultimate Men’s Health Guy” and graced the cover. This marked the first time an amputee had ever done so. You see, Noah is a US Army veteran that lost part of his left arm and left leg in a Humvee accident in Iraq.

And now he’s going to dance.

I think that his story is remarkable, not just because he rose above his injuries, but because he battled through a dark time first. He somehow dug deep and found the strength to go on after it seemed he had given up. He had been discouraged and depressed, and yet here he is…on television…dancing.

Noah has served as an inspiration to many people, including me. I have an autographed copy of Men’s Health in my office with the words “No Excuses!” scrawled across the cover in silver–a message that reminds me to steel my reserve and keep going when things get tough.

After all, if he can do it–I certainly can.

We reached out to Noah and asked him a few questions about his upcoming dancing debut. He was kind enough to share a few thoughts with us here…

When you were contacted by Dancing With The Stars, how did you feel about signing on?

My first thought was why not? I like challenging myself. This is nothing I would have considered if it wasn’t brought to my attention. It’s definitely going to be a challenge worth accepting.

Did you have any prior dance experience?

None. At all.

Tell us about your partner and what she brings to the partnership…

An open mind. In the short time I’ve known her, I see in her the same mentality I have. Here’s an obstacle, how are we going to get around it – instead of being intimidated by it.

What has it been like to rehearse for this show?

Interesting, new and fun.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced during this process?

Everything I’ve done in the past has been physical challenges. I’ve never had to perform and that has been the greatest struggle.

Do you view dancers any differently now because of your experience with DWTS?

No, I’ve always had respect for dancers and how hard they work and how dedicated they are. I’ve always been impressed with what dancers have always been able to do, but never saw myself as being able to do the same.

What has been the most rewarding part about this process?

I’m actually learning how to dance. I’m also hoping to make my kids proud.

You can see Noah Galloway and his partner Sharna compete on ABC Monday nights at 8/7 C. Follow them online or tweet about the performance using the hashtag #TeamShway.

You can also follow Noah on Facebook.

Young Adult Dance Book: Pointe Of No Return

November 9, 2012 by 4dancers

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…]

Making Dances: An Introduction

October 11, 2011 by 4dancers

4dancers is adding a new column to the mix–Making Dances. Lauren Wernecke will be writing this series and today she is here with use to give readers an introduction this subject and some of her thoughts on the matter…

by Lauren Wernecke

Well, hi there.

I’m so honored to be joining the fabulous crew at 4dancers. Making Dances is a unique writing experience for me, because, generally speaking, I tend to write about things I know a lot about. Like the Achilles tendon. And cheese.

I mean, what do I really know about making dances? On a good day, not much.

There’s a saying that “the more you think you know, the less you know, you know?”

I don’t necessarily think that this is always true, but in the case of choreography, part of the process of making a dance is about figuring out how to make it. Coming up with ideas is easy. It’s the implementation of said ideas that makes our jobs hard…

…and in the end, no matter how many comp classes or choreographic devices you implement, the rules on how to make a dance are individual to each dancer and each dance.

My goal in writing Making Dances is not simply to tell you how to make a dance. This is not Choreography 101. It’s a biased view inside one person’s creative process. However, my hope is that hearing my experiences in making dances will give you leave to reflect on your own creative process and to, in turn, articulate what makes YOU tick.

So, enough about me… [Read more…]

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