Tag: dance teacher

From Protractors to Pirouettes: How Marena Pérez Shares Her Passion for Math With Ballet Students in Puerto Rico

As founder, artistic director, and principal dancer of Mauro Ballet School in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Marena Pérez wears a lot of hats, from rehearsal scheduler to casting guru to costume and set designer. When she shifts gears to dancer mode, she loves taking on lead roles in classical ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, […]

What My Teacher Taught Me: Alonzo King LINES Ballet’s Ilaria Guerra on Alicia Head, Maurya Kerr and Sandra Chinn

My life in dance can be divided into three distinct phases, and each one is supported by my time working with Alicia Head. The first was my introduction to dance at 11 years old, at Lauridsen Ballet Centre in Torrance, California. I trained with their pre-professional company, South Bay Ballet (now called Ballet California), until […]

Dance Teacher’s Top 10 Stories of 2022

Which story did you enjoy reading most on Dance Teacher this year? Judging by our top-rated articles and most-liked social posts, dance teachers were excited about a wide range of the topics we tackled, including tattoos, teaching deeper, more dynamic pliés, and discovering the nitty-gritty of cleaning choreography.  Here are the top 10 stories of […]

Risa Steinberg, Dance Teacher’s 2022 Awardee of Distinction, Keeps Raising the Bar

Risa Steinberg has been teaching for many decades. But she still finds it terrifying: “It’s an enormous responsibility, and I take it really seriously,” she says. “I don’t mind being terrified.” To say that Steinberg takes teaching seriously almost feels like an understatement. For instance, prior to a recent class for the Limón Company, where […]

Dance Teacher Award Honoree Ana Nery Fragoso Is a Master at Creating Community

Ana Nery Fragoso’s guiding philosophy is collaboration. Whether she’s teaching elementary school children, leading professional-development workshops for educators, or mentoring future teachers as director of the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College in New York City “building community and cooperation is a constant in my pedagogy,” she says.  Fragoso’s passion for education was […]

What My Teacher Taught Me: L.A. Dance Project’s David Adrian Freeland Jr. on Michelle Ottley-Fisher

I met Michelle Ottley-Fisher (“Mama O,” as we like to call her) as a soon-to-be middle-schooler auditioning for LaVilla School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida. The school was looking for students who were confident enough to get out there and move. I had never danced before, and according to Mama O, I was the […]

Pina Bausch: Embodying Tanztheater

Following World War II, modern dance in Germany experienced a shift. Out of Mary Wigman and Rudolf Laban’s Ausdruckstanz, or expressionist dance, a new genre grew: Tanztheater (dance theater). Poetic and pedestrian movement mixed with text, drama and sets to form highly theatrical works. German choreographer Pina Bausch is most associated with Tanztheater, and her […]

Michaela DePrince on the Biggest Turning Point in Her Career

After eight years captivating audiences in the Netherlands at The Dutch National Ballet, Michaela DePrince is now bringing her magnetism to Boston Ballet as a second soloist. But she’s got even bigger plans than simply blessing American audiences with her soaring jumps, expansive lines and pristine technique. As a survivor of the 1991–2002 Sierra Leone […]

5 Ways to Begin a Creative Movement Class

Dance teachers love to create an environment that is engaging, collaborative, and productive for student learning. A reliable invitation to begin class, especially in creative movement, can connect students to one another and root them in a sense of purpose and excitement for the movement opportunities that await. Thoughtful consideration for how to begin a […]

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