A website for dancers, dance teachers and others interested in dance
If you are into dance–and into poetry–this book is for you. An anthology of poems on dance, this book has noted authors such as Carl Sandburg, Lord Byron, Ezra Pound and Anne Sexton.
Famous dancers that are talked about in the poems include Gene Kelly, Anna Pavlova and Isadora Duncan, among others. There are 86 poems in all.
This book would make a great gift for a dance lover, or a nice addition to your own library of dance books.
You can find it at Dance Horizons for $18.95
Today’s 10 Questions With… features a fellow dance blogger and educator Maria Hanley…
1. How did you get into dance and what are you doing right now?
My mom signed me up for dance class when I was 3 years old. I was a leader for the babies, an assistant, a teacher and then became a dance major. I then moved to New York City to earn my masters in dance education and here I stay. I live in NYC and look at myself as an independent dance educator. I teach for New York City Ballet’s outreach programs, I teach creative movement and tap at Mark Morris Dance Group, I am a movement specialist for a preschool and teach creative ballet at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. I am also building my own business called Maria’s Movers. I have a lot going on, but I love it! I thank my mom for enrolling me many years ago!
2. Why did you start your blog?
I started Move. Create. Educate to have a place to write down my ideas. I think of it as my journal. I go so many places in a day that this blog creates a “dance home” for my ideas, questions, and accomplishments. I love to write about my experiences teaching young children, opening and maintaining a business, and the importance of building a community of dance educators.
3. What do you feel are the most important things to focus on in terms of teaching little ones?
I try to focus on being a positive role model for the little ones. You would be surprised how attached 2-3-4 year olds get to their teachers. They look up to me and all they want in return is to show that I listen to their ideas and give them a smile when I see them. Making class fun and exciting every week is a main focus too. I feel that it’s a privilege to be able to teach young dancers when they are so impressionable. I think it takes a certain kind of person to work with young children. Even though I am their teacher, they teach me something new every day!
4. How do you think a community of dance professionals can help one another?
I think it is so important to be apart of a dance community. In fact, one of the goals of Move. Create. Educate is to create and support a community of dance teachers. Since starting the blog I have met some wonderful and amazing dancers and dance teachers. Building and inserting yourself into a community of dance professionals can widen your view, open up new opportunities, and allow you to grow as a dancer and dance teacher. I look forward to meeting and connecting new people everyday.
5. Who are your all-time favorite dancers?
I love Gene Kelly, of course! Isadora Duncan is also one of my favorites! My all time favorite dancer is Douglas Dunn. I studied with him at NYU and he’s amazing. He gets you to move in ways you never thought you could! If you are ever in NYC he teaches classes out of his loft apartment in Soho. A great experience in itself!
6. What is it about dance that you love so much?
I really love that being a dancer and dance teacher can be a JOB! Whenever someone asks me what I do (the dreaded question, right?) I say “I’m a dance teacher!” They seem very surprised and think it’s really amazing, but then I always think, do they really know what being a dance teacher is? I love that dancers have a way of connecting on a different level. I love that dance inspires me to be creative and in turn inspires children to love dance.
7. What is the best dance advice you have ever heard?
I have heard a lot of advice, but the best advice I have ever heard is “A loud classroom is a learning classroom.” I always remember this advice when my class gets loud and excited. If the students are loud and are giving ideas, I know that they are learning and thinking. I try to gage my classes this way, it doesn’t work in every class, but for most it’s a helpful tool!
8. What do you think it is important for parents to know about dance?
I think it’s most important for parents to know that dance can and should be fun and educational at the same time. Many of the mom’s I work with are my biggest fans. They know my class brings out the best in their child and so that is what they advocate for. I like to show the parents that learning dance is a process and the process should be exciting for them as well. I encourage my students to practice at home and to talk about what we did in class each week. The parents love to be involved and I love that they are so supportive.
9. What changes do you think need to come about in the field?
I think dance teachers need to advocate for what they know works. As I visit public schools, it’s clear to me that most people have no idea what dance teachers even do. Dance teachers work hard and we deserve more credit and recognition. I believe dance educators can contribute to so much of a child’s education. We just have to prove that what we do is just as important as math and science. We need to get to a place where everyone puts math, art, science, and dance on the same level.
10. Can you share any upcoming plans for your blog?
I want to introduce a new segment on the blog coming up soon. I would love to get some guest bloggers. Teachers in public schools, also choreographers who work with children and maybe even children themselves!
This week’s 10 Questions With… features David Hunter, Owner and Editor of Ballet for Men. Take a closer look at a great resource for guys in ballet…and what went on behind the scenes before it came to the web…
My name is David Hunter, I’m 28 years old and a graduate student, working on a Masters in Teaching. I plan to teach high school social studies or english, and dance. I’ve always loved dance, but it wasn’t until I was 25 that I took an actual dance class. For some reason I never realized how much I actually loved to dance.
As a male, it was hard for me to get started. I couldn’t find many good resources for what I needed to know as a beginner. I wasn’t aware of all the opportunities that men had in ballet. I started late, but I currently dance for a pre-professional company who provides me with a scholarship for all of my classes. I take ballet classes 6 or 7 days a week and get to perform for thousands of people in 2 feature length ballets per year and various other festivals and performances.
1. What made you create this dance blog?
I started taking ballet when I was 25, and I didn’t really know anyone else who was into ballet. So finding out what I needed to know to get started was really hard. Most of the information I could find was geared toward women. I was always surprised that there was never more information for males who are interested in dance. Ballet has been great for me, and I want that type of experience to be available to everyone interested. I want my blog to help provide information to make it easier for guys to get into dance.
2. What are the top three pieces of advice you have for other dance bloggers?
1) Provide what you want. I ask for a lot of advice and suggestions, and I definitely try to provide what I think readers will want, but that advice isn’t always there. Most of the time I think about what I wish was there. I ask, “what information or resources should be available?” If I am interested in it, chances are someone else is probably interested too.
2) Do more than you think you have time to do. I always feel like I don’t have time to do anymore. But then I force myself to take on something else, and I end up finding time to do it. Having a blog requires you to keep working on making it better and coming up with new and interesting things. This takes up more and more time, but it also pays off more and more.
3) It is all a process. Rarely does anything pay off right away. It is important to recognize goals in the long term and think about the small steps that lead up to those goals. You won’t find more readers overnight, but you can do a little bit everyday to help build a following over a few months or even years.
3. What is your organizational routine when it comes to blogging (for example, do you research one day and write the next….do you post every day…etc.)?
I usually spend a while coming up with an idea for a post before I even do any work with it. I have a list of topics I want to cover. I choose one of those topics either based on what I think is important information for beginners that isn’t out there or if there is something that has been on my mind for a while. I spend more time researching and organizing the topic than I spend actually writing the post. I feel like this is really helpful for me, and hopefully the readers. There are a lot of ideas and information to fit into any one post, so it is helpful to get all those ideas and facts outlined first.
I try to write whenever I can find time. During the school year I’m a full time graduate student, dance and rehearse full time, and work, so I don’t get to update as much as I want. That is something I would like to change. I want to find a way that I can provide something to the readers several times a week, if not every day.
4. What would you say are your blog’s strengths?
BalletForMen.com provides a lot of information that is hard to find in one place, if at all. It is hard to find information for male ballet dancers, so I provide that. Also, I understand what it is like to get started later, so I understand what questions beginners might have. It is also quite personal. The blog provides a personal look at ballet and the guys who do it. This is especially true in the podcasts, but also with some of the dancer interviews we’ve got coming up.
5. Do you have anything new coming up on the horizon?
New podcasts are coming out every week. These are a lot of fun to record, and to listen to. There will be a lot of different perspectives covered on the Ballet For Men podcast. The first run of Ballet For Men t-shirts are getting printed this month. I’m releasing a free e-book for new dancers. I’ve also been talking to different people about contributing to the website. There are a ton of other things I’m working on, but these are what people will see pretty soon.
6. If you had to describe your blog in just five words, what would they be?
Showing guys ballet is awesome.
7. Can you recommend another dance blog?
I really enjoy TheWinger.com. I like being able to read posts by dancers that I also actually see in performances.
8. Who are your all-time favorite dancers?
I’m a fan of Gene Kelly and Mikhail Baryshnikov. I think they both have done amazing things for guys in dance. Angel Corella is also one of my favorites. One of my favorite female dancers is Louise Nadeau. She just retired from Pacific Northwest Ballet at 45 years old. She is a beautiful dancer and a beautiful person. Plus she makes me think that I can dance for many more years.
9. What is your favorite piece of music?
This is tough to choose a favorite, but I think one of my favorites would be the Dancepieces by Philip Glass from In The Upper Room. I saw PNB do Twyla Tharp’s In The Upper Room when I first started dancing, and it was the first piece that REALLY struck something inside of me. That dance didn’t just touch my heart, it danced with it. Whenever I hear those songs I remember why I love to dance.
10. Tell us something about yourself that may come as a surprise…
I danced in Christina Aguilera’s Dirrty music video. At the time I was living in L.A. and it was before I started taking ballet. I used to like to break dance, so I auditioned for the video. Somehow I got a part, but luckily, I’m a skinny guy behind a lot of bigger dudes, so you can’t find me in the video. But I do have the pay-stub to prove it!
Welcome back to our new feature…10 Questions With…
This week we have some time with Nichelle Strzepek, Owner/Editor of Dance Advantage, a wonderful dance resource on the web…enjoy!
Intro: I am Nichelle Strzepek. No one ever has a clue how to pronounce that Polish last name! I say it as if the ‘z’ were silent – Streh-peck. I won’t attempt the Polish pronunciation.
I am the writer/editor at Dance Advantage and a full-time mom to a busy and beautiful 2-year-old boy. Before that, I worked as a dancer and dance teacher. I’ve taught consistently since I was a teenager so I have about 17 years of teaching experience in studios, community programs, at a university. Plus, some years of assisting before that. My degree is in dance and I’ve dabbled in professional performance with modern dance companies here in Houston and “back home” in Pennsylvania.
1. What made you create this dance blog?
Dance Advantage really grew out of the experiences I had as a teacher, feeling as though there was just never enough time to say or express all I wanted my students to learn in the limited time I had with them each week. Also, in the early part of the last decade (getting used to thinking of the 2000’s that way), I was a young teacher, using the internet to get ideas and look for resources, and was coming up with little. I actually began thinking about a site then, had the name and everything! I was just too busy teaching to do much with it. When I had my son in 2007, I began using a blog to update family and learn from and connect with other parents, I saw an opportunity. I had decided to stay-at-home with my son so, while I won’t say I had the time, I was at home, near a computer, and could devote some energy.
2. What are the top three pieces of advice you have for other dance bloggers?
Do some research. Work and plan ahead of yourself. Be yourself. When I started, I did do a bit of research (enough to know that WordPress was a preferred platform for publishing and that self-hosting sounded scary)! It was good that I had done a lot of thinking about the material I wanted to share, it helped shape the focus of the blog. What I didn’t do is write and plan before getting started. I just jumped in with both feet and, looking back, I wish I had gotten a head start before ever publishing a word. As for being yourself, the blogosphere is a busy and talkative place. Share who you are and what you are passionate about because that’s what will make your blog special.
3. What is your organizational routine when it comes to blogging (for example, do you research one day and write the next….do you post every day…etc.)?
Ha ha! Organizing has been the toughest part of all this for me. I’ve been learning to be a mother and a blogger at the same time. Plus early on, my writing got noticed and I was encouraged to cover dance happening in Houston as a critic, and I still wanted to dance! Last year I was mad enough to do all those things on top of everything else.
I’ve always been so structured in my teaching – planning classes, designing curriculum for the year. Sometimes my perfectionism gets in the way of true organization but I’ve always been very methodical. Organization is a different game when you have a child. I’m not sure I’ve settled into a blogging routine as much as I have worked around my routine with the kiddo. I generally research a post over time. Some require more research than others so I intersperse these with the ones that are easier to write from the top of my head. I generally post 3-4 articles a week, though, I’ve had to be satisfied with some flexibility and forgiveness of myself when I just can’t get it done.
4. What would you say are your blog’s strengths?
The blog is really an extension of myself and my interests. I’ve never been good at talking about my own strengths (that was always the interview question I hated!) so this is a hard question for me. I feel Dance Advantage succeeds in providing a high-quality reference that continues to grow in scope. I pour much of what I learned in college and plenty of research into the blog. I also feel that while it has a wide audience (students, teachers, and parents) that it is very focused on the community that surrounds dance education.
5. Do you have anything new coming up on the horizon?
Newest this year has been adding a professionally rendered logo and re-working the site to match. I’m also working to step up the newsletter content that I provide to people who invite Dance Advantage into their inbox. In addition, readers will be hearing from some “columnists.” These are folks that I’ve come to really respect as I’ve navigated the online dance world and I am so happy to add their voices to the blog on a regular basis.
6. If you had to describe your blog in just five words, what would they be?
Thorough. Fieldguide. Constructive. Convenient. Wholehearted.
7. Can you recommend another dance blog?
There are so many different kinds of dance blogs! There is a new crop of blogs focused on dance training. I am excited about 4dancers as well as move.create.educate but, an instructional blog of which I’ve been a fan for some time is Deborah Vogel’s The Body Series blog, which was formerly the Dancing Smart newsletter. For performance recaps, reviews, and even updates on SYTYCD, I enjoy Tonya Plank’s Swan Lake Samba Girl.
8. Who are your all-time favorite dancers?
Coming from contemporary dance, I don’t know that I hold that same kind of reverence for individual dancers as one who comes from the ballet world might. I enjoy strong ensemble dancing that makes me think and feel. With that said, my all-time favorites reveal my love of theatrical dancing and musicals – I find I always stop what I’m doing when Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Ann Miller (both ladies Texas natives, I might add), come on the screen.
9. What is your favorite piece of music?
The music I listen to is often different from the music I dance to. Classically, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata Adagio never fails to take my breath away. It’s wonderfully melancholy and dramatic, gorgeous and tender. A more modern all-time favorite is Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve. Surprisingly, not a U2 song though it shares that big, expansive sound I love (if you get to know me you’ll know I’m a shameless U2 fan).
10. Tell us something about yourself that may come as a surprise…
People might be surprised that I never aspired to be a writer. I had many friends growing up that wanted to be journalists or novelists. I enjoyed writing in school and tried pouring out my heart in poetry as a teenager. I had a college professor in dance who emphasized repeatedly that my written work was strong and suited for graduate work. But I planned to dance and teach. I never really saw myself pursuing any kind of writing career until I started writing Dance Advantage.