Demi Remick was born to be a tap dance sensation. At 3 years old, she began dancing at Broadway North Dance Studio in Belmont, New Hampshire. Though she trained in all styles, it was immediately clear she had a natural talent and passion for tap dance as she trained with tap dancer Aaron Tolson. “It […]
April Cook never planned on becoming a dance teacher, but it seems her unexpected career path was meant to be. After all, her natural tap talent and thoughtful teaching practices have made her a wildly popular tap educator at Broadway Dance Center (BDC) in New York City. Cook grew up dancing at a school in […]
As a performing artist, I have lost two gigs due to the pandemic. Both would have started just weeks after New York City’s shutdown. The first was the leading role in one of my favorite musicals, playing opposite my significant other, and the second was an iconic featured role in a workshop for an upcoming […]
Every dance educator owns some version of this story. In the first two months of 2020, I managed to create and stage 80 minutes of choreography for the debut of my new troupe, Movement Headquarters Ballet Company. I also traveled to Colorado and Mississippi to judge for Youth America Grand Prix and Dance Teachers United. […]
As every educator knows, it’s just as important to keep up with your teaching craft as it is for your students to keep up with their dancing. The best way to do that? Teacher-training workshops. Get away for a couple of days to interact with your peers in the industry. You’ll not only learn new […]
When most people think of dance students, they imagine lithe children and teenagers waltzing around classrooms with their legs lifted to their ears. It doesn’t often cross our minds that dance training can involve an older woman trying to build strength in her body to ward off balance issues, or a middle-aged man who didn’t […]
When New York City–based dancer Dan Lai began choreographing Figure 8, he had a specific vision in mind. Inspired by a song by FKA Twigs, he wanted the movement to represent the music’s “dark and twisted vibe.” “My thought process was to make shapes and phrases that were abstract and unique that complimented the intricate […]
Al Blackstone only recently found his true stride in the dance world. Growing up taking class at his parents’ studio and going to competitions, he loved nothing more than performing. But now, whether he’s teaching a room full of professional-level dancers in New York City, a group of kids at a convention or at the […]
Contemporary teacher Kristin Sudeikis likes to give each step context within a phrase, so that there’s always a beginning, middle and end. For instance, in this lesson, she bookends the rond de jambe sauté with a place of initiation—the parallel attitude and chaîné turn—and a finish: detailed, delicate placement of the hands. For a beginner […]
With serpentine fluidity, Nijawwon Matthews gives his intermediate contemporary jazz class at New York City’s Broadway Dance Center a rundown of his warm-up sequence. His spinal undulations, spider-like finger articulations and seemingly infinite wingspan transform a relatively standard array of pliés, roll-downs, head rolls and stretches into something soulful. “Warming up is like being in […]