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I was taught to consistently squeeze my gluteals when dancing, to assist in turnout, and have encouraged my students to do the same. Recently, though, I experimented with relaxing these muscles and have discovered immediate relief from chronic hip pain. Have I been teaching my students incorrectly all along? What you have discovered is that, […]
As a young dancer, Alvin Ailey principal Jamar Roberts learned more than just how to pick up choreography quickly from his teacher and mentor Angel Fraser-Logan at the Dance Empire of Miami. In a recent New York Times article, Roberts, says that Fraser-Logan “taught me how to be an artist—the importance of dance being a […]
My daughter’s ballet teachers have been telling her to straighten her legs more—particularly in arabesque—but she swears they’re as straight as she can make them. Do you know how we can help this? Sometimes knees won’t straighten due to injury, like a meniscal tear or swelling caused by trauma or arthritis. To test if this […]
One of my dancer friends was told by a doctor that she had reverse curve in her spine due to constant forward curves, head-tail movements and backward rolls. Do you have any advice for how to remedy or prevent this? The answer is: good posture! The constant forward head that students have as they look […]
Lindsay Arnold is hoping this is her season to win the Mirror Ball on “Dancing with the Stars,” and we’ve gotta say—it really could be! With her gorgeous choreography and her partner Jordan Fisher’s natural ability, we won’t be surprised if they, “take the lead,” so to speak. On the road to this glamorous career, […]
“If you don’t have strong abdominal muscles, you sag into your lower back, your pelvis usually tips and you’re hanging out and slumped into your hip joints,” says Deborah Vogel, movement analyst, neuromuscular expert and co-founder of the Center for Dance Medicine in New York City. “It just has this whole chain reaction.” The effects […]
Robert Roldan may have stolen our hearts on Season 7 of “So You Think You Can Dance”—but it seems his heart was stolen long before that by none other than Emmy Award–winning choreographer Mandy Moore. As his first jazz teacher at Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts in Thousand Oaks, California, Moore taught him everything he […]
Help your dancers improve their performance—and scores—with this advice from veteran competition faculty: Martha Nichols, Judy Rice and Suzi Taylor. Connect with your ensemble. Everyone can be dancing at the same time, but not necessarily together, because they don’t acknowledge each other. “Relax and have a good time,” says Martha Nichols of New York City […]
You’ve grown up dancing; you can no longer ignore the itch to teach; you’ve been secretly planning your first recital theme for the past three years—in fact, you’re eagerly hatching plans to open your own studio. While your passion for dance and desire to pass on such a beloved artform will be strengths for running […]
Part of being a dance teacher is training your students to maintain strong bodies and health. Are you, the teacher, taking care of arguably your most valuable instrument: your voice? Long days of teaching class followed by nights of cleaning choreography at rehearsals can cause many dance teachers to, alas, suffer from vocal fatigue. But […]