Have you ever looked at a student’s posture and said: “Close your ribs” or “Don’t grip your glutes” or “Use your abdominals more”? While that pinpointed correction may or may not have achieved the desired results in the moment, such phrases naturally raise a bigger question: “But how?” Not all verbal cues are equal to […]
In an adult ballet class, Kimberly Chandler Vaccaro noticed a woman working so hard that her shoulders were near her ears. “I was going to say something about her tension, but I didn’t want her awareness to go there,” says Vaccaro, who teaches at Princeton Ballet School. Instead, she told the dancer to remember that […]
It’s finally September, and we are SO ready for the exciting new dance year ahead. We’re confident that the life lessons you will be teaching, the pristine technique you will be perfecting, and the compelling choreography you will be creating will be better than ever! But first, you’ve got to break the ice on that […]
Q: I’ve been blessed with great feet and ankles, but when it comes to getting higher relevés out of my students with lesser feet, I’m stumped. Do you have any advice for achieving maximum relevé? A: The height of a dancer’s relevé depends on both the muscles that cross at their ankle joint and the […]
When choosing music for tap, Jason Samuels Smith encourages teachers to start with classic jazz music. Improvisation, call and response, and syncopated rhythms embedded in the genre and its history, in general, help students to understand the structure of tap, which is different than other styles of dance. “Tap dancers have the responsibility to be […]
In 2019, dance parents are more eager than ever to observe their child’s progress, and stay up-to-date with the ins and outs of what’s happening in the classroom. That means yearly recitals aren’t always enough to keep them satisfied—especially if you have rules against visitors observing class from week to week. The solution? Visitor observation […]
The beloved “So You Think You Can Dance” alum and former Emmy-nominated “Dancing with the Stars” pro Chelsie Hightower discovered her passion for ballroom at a young age. She showed a natural ability for the Latin style, but she mastered the necessary versatility by studying jazz, ballet and other forms of dance. “Every style of […]
While Teddy Forance admits that performing with commercial artists like Lady Gaga and Madonna, and in front of 30,000 people, is exhilarating, he is personally drawn to more abstract music when he choreographs. It’s a preference that sometimes confounds his contemporaries. “Some of my friends will ask, ‘How do you choreograph to music that sounds […]
James Payne, director of The School of Pennsylvania Ballet, starts class each day by asking students how they feel. “If they’re collectively hurting, and I know that the day before they were working hard on something new, I might lessen the intensity of the class,” he says. “I won’t slow it down, though. Sometimes it’s […]
Q: My students have beautiful alignment when standing still, but when they start moving, their abdominals become like jello. What gives? A: When a student stands tall, lifting their ribs and lengthening their spines (as if they’ve put an invisible belt around their waists), it looks like they are in proper alignment. But actually, they’re […]