Cuban dynamo Joan Boada was a leading star of San Francisco Ballet (SF Ballet), where he performed as a principal dancer for 17 years. During that time, he lent his power, charisma and refinement in works by Helgi Tomasson, George Balanchine, Yuri Possokhov and Christopher Wheeldon, to name a few. Having graduated from the renowned […]
Chelsie Hill was just 17 years old when she was a passenger in a drunk-driving collision that paralyzed her from the waist down. A competition dancer with aspirations for a professional career, Hill grieved what seemed like the loss of her dreams on top of a torrent of mental and emotional hurdles. “It was challenging […]
Connie Smith has, arguably, the most important job at Ballet West: She’s the 3- to 5-year-olds’ ballet teacher. Teaching at the Frederick Quinney Lawson Ballet West Academy—a feeder school that provides a portion of the company’s talent—means Smith has the challenging task of establishing a strong foundation for her students right from the time they […]
Joey Dowling has consistently been my greatest mentor in dance and in life. She is the daughter of Sheryl Dowling, the owner of my hometown studio The Dance Club in Orem, Utah. Every year, Joey would return home from her life of professional success in New York City [she was a Rockette, a backup dancer […]
As temperatures drop and our kids return to the grind of fall routines, it’s completely normal for teens to feel a sense of overwhelm. Thankfully, there is an uptick in discussion surrounding stress and self-care, which point to an increasing awareness and education about mental health needs. So how can you be a first point of support for your teen when the going gets tough?
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 kids feel supported and loved—especially in uncertain times. For a first-person account […]
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 conservatory, Classical Ballet Academy. All the while, she kept a close relationship with the razzle-dazzle of conventions, […]
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 Francisco Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order […]
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, “Yeah! And can you try a sharp shape at the end?” Another time, teachers were asking students not […]
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 waistline. No matter, it is an important habit for dance teachers to […]