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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 […]
The Boston Conservatory announces its first-ever full-time hip-hop faculty member. Duane Lee Holland Jr. currently serves as visiting assistant professor at his alma mater University of Iowa. He joins Boston Conservatory’s dance division this fall, to teach the primarily classically trained conservatory students full-time and offer electives to students of Berklee College of Music (which […]
For dancing in heels, Quigley (right) prefers high boots. Teachers share the philosophies and materials that make them successful in their careers and classes. You’d think a “Stiletto Heels” class would be excruciatingly painful. Surely spending an hour or more in a pair of sky-high heels, performing Beyoncé-esque choreography full-out can’t feel good. And yet, New […]
Derek Mitchell is on street jazz and contemporary faculty at Broadway Dance Center, where he grew up training under legends Frank Hatchett and Sheila Barker. Here, he teaches a street jazz pivot turn combination focusing on the importance of foot placement and spinal movement. Your […]
Broadway Dance Center students VOP in a piece by faculty member Derek Mitchell, a former student of Frank Hatchett. Frank Hatchett produced stars. This was obvious at yesterday’s tribute to the late Hines-Hatchett studio (later Broadway Dance Center) co-founder and Dance Teacher’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award–winner. In the format of Hatchett’s renowned student talent showcases, devotees and […]