by Jenny Ouellette | Jul 21, 2020 | For Parents
Back-to-school can be a nerve-racking time for male dance students—especially as they approach middle or high school—and for their parents. Fears of bullying, isolation and low self-esteem are valid worry points, and, as parents, we want to do our best to help our...
by Haley Hilton | Jul 20, 2020 | teacher stories
Tiare Keeno successfully straddles the worlds of concert and commercial dance. She began her training at one of the country’s premier competition studios, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Orem, Utah, before eventually transitioning to a top-notch classical...
by Rachel Caldwell | Jul 15, 2020 | teacher stories, technique
In a spacious upstairs room in his San Francisco home, ballet teacher Christopher Lam gently holds on to an ironing board as he pliés, tendus and dégagés in his socks on the wood floor. He is leading students in a virtual ballet class on Zoom in light of the San...
by Sarah JG Chenoweth | Jul 14, 2020 | teacher stories
In Aiano Nakagawa’s creative-dance class at Acorn Woodland Child Development Center in Oakland, California, a student wanted to run really fast instead of exploring shapes as planned. Nakagawa didn’t dismiss or correct the desire. Instead, she yelled,...
by Candice Thompson | Jul 13, 2020 | Health & Body
Just when young dancers need oxygen the most—during a challenging balance or speedy petit allégro—it often seems they instinctively hold their breaths. Sometimes this happens as a reaction to stress; other times it might simply result from a constant sucking in of the...
by Alexis Carter-Black | Jul 10, 2020 | Studio Owners
I recently spent a Saturday night with my husband and my 17-year-old dancing daughter, who sobbed at the foot of our bed. My daughter revealed her experiences with implicit bias and overt racism in school, and especially in the dance studio. For six years, she has...
by Barry Kerollis | Jul 9, 2020 | Health & Body, teacher stories
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...
by Lisa Traiger | Jul 8, 2020 | Teaching Tips
As well-trained as pre-professional students are, how many are ready to move into a company environment at 17 or 18 years old—and succeed? Runqiao Du, artistic director of the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC, has seen many dancers struggle as apprentices and...
by Rachel Rizzuto | Jul 6, 2020 | Studio Owners
Small businesses across the U.S. are keeping careful tabs on their states’ reopening schedules and making changes to their business models accordingly. As pandemic-related guidelines and timelines evolve, it’s important that you have a multilayered plan...
by Betsy Farber | Jul 3, 2020 | Music, teacher stories
Teaching artist Kelby Brown prefers simple piano accompaniment with long sustaining chords. He finds this helps dancers to concentrate and fill in the space with the steps. “I need fewer notes, less music,” he says. It’s an approach he learned from...