Tag: what my teacher taught me

What My Teacher Taught Me: Joffrey Ballet's Christine Rocas

Christina Rocas, like any young ballerina, started out trying to dance like her teacher. Before joining the Joffrey Ballet in 2005, Rocas was part of Ballet Manila in the Philippines, where she tried to imitate the way her teacher, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, moved. After Macuja-Elizalde helped her find a place with the Joffrey, Rocas began to […]

What My Teacher Taught Me: Trisha Brown Dance Company's Neal Beasley

Neal Beasley’s first dance class happened when his grammar school mandated that he enroll in an arts class. There he met Blake Coheley, who approached him afterward and encouraged him to continue training, immediately recognizing his talent and passion for dance. That first meeting has long stayed with Beasley, now a member of the Trisha […]

Joffrey Ballet School's Davis Robertson: What My Teacher Taught Me

While imagery often helps dancers attain a shape or understand a concept, the type of imagery used can vary widely from teacher to teacher. During his training with Chicago-based ballet teacher Larry Long, former Joffrey Ballet principal Davis Robertson learned to equate ballet technique with food. “Every correction he ever gave was related to food. […]

Joe Goode: What My Teacher Taught Me

Hush Joe Goode, artistic director of dance theater company Joe Goode Performance Group, knows the value of including his dancers in the creative process. When he first arrived in San Francisco and danced for Margaret Jenkins, he was amazed to find that she encouraged her dancers to create and contribute movement to her own choreography. […]

Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie: What My Teacher Taught Me

Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie might be at the top of her game—she just received two Bessie Award nominations and her company makes its Jacob’s Pillow debut next month—but she still suffers from self-doubt and perfectionism. When she began taking breaking classes from Robert “Break Easy” Santiago in Brooklyn, New York, she had to draw upon her […]