You can catch this lady teaching at this weekend’s Dance Teacher Summit in NYC! We hope to see you there. Check out Mandy Moore’s thoughts on tricks, “floppy anger dancing” and more in her interview with DT: Moore (right) teaching at JUMP To her fans, Mandy Moore is a pioneer of contemporary dance. But the […]
In the December issue, DT staff reflects on their favorite covers of the year. Editor in chief Karen Hildebrand picked June. “My vote goes to the Studio Business issue with Jennifer Owens and Julie Jarnot of Artistic Fusion. I have deep admiration for artists who also develop sound business aptitude. Jen and Julie talked about […]
How to Survive Competition Catastrophes Students of The Dance Studio of Fresno will never be caught walking from the dressing room to the stage without their flip-flops, and for good reason. This year, one of them stepped […]
Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture by Hilary Levey Friedman 298 pages, $29.95 For her book Playing to Win, Harvard graduate Hilary Levey Friedman spent nine months observing competitive dance through the lens of two Boston-area dance studios (I.D.-ed with pseudonyms). The question on her mind: Does involvement in a win-or-lose culture […]
Q: I’m so sick of seeing other competition teams doing fouetté turns to the same old song, but I worry that deviating from such an obviously successful formula won’t translate into competition success. What do you think? A: I understand exactly what you mean! Although we all have our “tried-and-true” turn series, it is important […]
Q: Once the awards have been handed out at competitions, my kids’ reactions are all over the place if we don’t have a clean or even sweep of awards. Do you have any recommendations on how to deal with resulting jealousy issues and self-confidence problems that pop up? A: Jealousy and low self-confidence are definitely […]
Protect yourself in acro class. Early in her teaching career, Joanne Chapman struggled with regular neck pain and couldn’t figure out what was causing it. “I went to the chiropractor and he said, ‘You must be lifting something really heavy, because your second and third vertebrae are literally compressed together,’” says Chapman, who owns Joanne […]
When Artistic Fusion Dance Academy’s company won “Critics’ Choice” at New York City Dance Alliance Nationals in 2010, it was an especially meaningful moment for co-owners—and sisters—Julie Jarnot and Jennifer Owens. Featuring an inventive male-driven storyline and unusual lighting, the piece, “Baggage,” had been masterminded by the studio’s star alumnus Tony Testa. Owens remembers that […]
Q: This is one of my first years with a competitive program, and quite possibly the first time we have a real chance at winning. I would like to set a policy for any monetary prizes we may take home. What’s appropriate action for money my students win? A: Allocating prize money can be a […]