student

Student Spotlight: Hannah Keife

January 28, 2013 by 4dancers

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

I began dancing at a very young age; however, I did not realize how passionate I felt toward the art until I was about 13 years old. Before I joined my current dance studio, Nuevo School of Contemporary Dance, I was dancing at a studio that had a very negative vibe. I was never excited to dance and was scared of the teacher. When I joined Nuevo, my love for dance grew tremendously and I immediately knew it was my home.

2. What do you like best about dance class?

What I like best about dance class is the satisfaction you feel knowing you did your best. When I am in class, it is the time for me to train, practice, but also have fun. If I ever have something on my mind then I can go into class and let out all of my feelings. I understand that no one is judging me and I can dance just because I love it.

3. What is the hardest part about dance for you? [Read more…]

Student Spotlight: Luke Spalding

December 17, 2012 by Ashley David

ballet dancer practicing — Luke Spalding

Today’s Student Spotlight features Luke Spalding from Chicago Ballet Arts…

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

I became involved in dance primarily through my older sister. I remember going to these little creative movement classes with her around Evanston before my mom learned about Chicago Ballet Arts. My sister started taking ballet there when I was in kindergarten and really liked it so when I got to first grade my parents signed me up and I have stuck with dance ever since.

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

Grande allegro always has been the part of class I like best. It is just so fun and exhilarating to finally travel a lot and take up the entire room. Also I love the jumps that come with it that are unique to only that part of class. Flying through the air and reaching the extremes of motion is definitely a feeling that is unique to dance.

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

The hardest part of dance definitely is the long hours that it entails. It is very challenging to find the balance and self-discipline to finish homework, attend class, and do any other activities or extra curriculars after going to school. Junior year has been especially hard academically, which has made it more difficult to attend as many dance classes as I would like to attend this year.

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?

The advice that I would give to other dancers would be to really stick with it especially for other guys. I admit I really did not enjoy dancing after doing it for a couple years when I was in elementary school. I thought ballet class was extremely boring at times. But gradually I began to love dancing and to enjoy taking class in a different but better way than when I was little and starting out.

5. How has dance changed your life?

Dance has changed my life in so many ways. Going to summer intensives and dance events and performances allows one to meet so many passionate teachers and so many fellow dancers that are just so much fun to be around. In addition to the great people that you meet, dancing has made me very fit and extremely conscious of my body’s movements. It also has made me very conscious of my body’s aches and pains and has forced me to be able to deal with and avoid the injuries that are ever present in a dancer’s life.

Student Spotlight: Joe Foster

December 10, 2012 by 4dancers

ballet dancers — Joe Foster and Emily Wohl

Today’s student spotlight features Joe Foster from Princeton Dance & Theater Studio…

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

I was fascinated by the art at the age of 11. I wanted to be like the men who I saw leaping and flying across the stage. Seeing others was what ultimately inspired me to become a dancer.

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

Dance class is repetitive and allows one to focus on perfecting his/her technique. I can focus on what is good and not good for my body and get a fine grip on my limits as a dancer.

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

The hardest part of dance is learning how to be in control of my emotions. I find that I save so much energy when I don’t beat myself up on days when I cannot do a particular step. Trying not to get too frustrated is the key to success as a dancer. It is always important to remember how fun it is to dance and not get tangled up in the bad emotions of it.

4. What advice would you give to other dancers? [Read more…]

Student Spotlight: Murilo Leite

August 30, 2012 by Ashley David

Murilo Leite - Earthfall Dance - Hugo Glendinning — Murilo Leite, Earthfall Dance, Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Here’s another of our “Student Spotlights”…get to know Murilo Leite…

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

Dance has been in my life for as long as I can remember but not in the usual sense. I didn’t start ballet when I was 3 years old and go through all the exams in tap and modern. I grew up next door to a dance college in Brazil and even as a kid I used to sneak out of my house to watch the classes because there was something about the atmosphere that enticed me. I’d then go home and teach myself the sequences in secret but it wasn’t until I was 12 or 13 that I attended my first class and really I didn’t start doing it regularly until I was 16 when I co-founded a performing youth company called Re*Flex Dance Co. which is still going today 8 years later!

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

The hard work. I love a class that challenges my mind and body to the maximum, there’s no better feeling than finally being able to do a sequence that at first seemed impossible but with perseverance and determination the reward is unmatched. Also sweating is the sign of a great class!

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

For me the hardest part is also the most productive. I find myself constantly comparing myself to other dancers in the studio, admiring the ease of his grand battement or how beautifully curly her feet are! Naturally there are things others can do that I can’t, I’m quite self critical and always striving to be better so though I find it hard it also pushes me to jump higher, land softer, run faster or move slower… You get the idea.

4. What advice would you give to other dancers?

I always say to dancers who are beginning their training to think hard about what it is they are doing it for. For me, I think you have to love it, no – you have feel more than love for it because it’s tough, it’s full of knock downs, it’s not the best paid job and so on. Saying that, if you love it there’s nothing else that will satisfy you more, it will be exactly the life you always hoped for and none of the bad stuff will come close to taking away from how it fulfills you.

5. How has dance changed your life?

Dance hasn’t changed my life, it has shaped it. It is something I’ve always loved and for many years it was my sole focus, all my energy was being put into dance as my final goal. I feel I am blessed to have had dance in my life because it has always given me a path to follow so that when in other parts of my life or when my friends and family reached that part in growing up that we all go through where we are unsure what the hell we’re doing I could put my efforts further into dance.

Since then I’ve realised that it doesn’t need to be the only thing in my life which I guess could be something else I would use as advice, but I also think this is something one needs to find out for themselves. Yes, to succeed with dance as a career you must put 200% and more but you should never forget that you are a person first, a dancer second. That is something that really opened my eyes to life and the world when the penny finally dropped.

Student Spotlight: Chris Scott

February 13, 2012 by 4dancers

4dancers would like to introduce a new feature–Student Spotlight. In this column, we’ll be sharing some information about students from all over–a little glimpse inside their world as they work to move into a career in dance. Today is our first….

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

I was first exposed to dance through the Physical Education curriculum at my local state school. All of the students at my school had to take dance on rota like all the other sports, such as rugby and football. At that time I was playing rugby at a very high level. After breaking my wrist twice in the same year I was forced to spend more time off the pitch, and coincidentally ended up heading to the dance studio for refuge.

The ball just started rolling from there. I was intrigued by what I saw and the dancing I experienced. Even though I was a sportsman as a child, I was always interested in theatre, dance appeared to be the natural and obvious way that both my interests found harmony; it was physically and theatrically exciting.

From there I started joining local youth dance companies and then regional youth companies, eventually I was dancing every day after school with a different group in a different place. Then I decided to pursue it as a career and continued my training at London Contemporary Dance School.

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

There are countless positive experiences that dance brings me every day, and that truly is the joy of following an art form you are passionate about. But if I were to just consider class, which is a different environment to rehearsal let’s say, it would have to be the simple physical satisfaction the movement brings.

Class is evidently a repetitious process that any dancer endures through their career; the satisfaction of movement keeps me curious. I value being able to step into class, and no matter what challenges and dramas you face in the outside world, the class becomes a time for you to leave it all at the door and bask in the enjoyment of movement. Even though a lot of the time classes present their own challenges, it can become almost a meditation allowing the body and mind to physically and artistically release.

3. What is the hardest part about dance for you? [Read more…]

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