“The waves is on fire, the day is getting hot. This is my desire to the one to hit the spot, yeah. Cool down.” – Kolohe Kai I’m not a surfer, but I dig the song “Cool Down,” and it has been running through my head as I write this article. Just in the last […]
Dance theorists identify 7 basic movements of ballet or classical dance technique, and we can see these essential building blocks at play in every ballet pas, step, or movement. I’m excited to announce that around these 7 essentials, I’ve designed a free summer dance challenge to begin or continue your ballet journey, and you […]
I had long heard that “Plié is the first thing you learn and the last thing you master,” but had to look up who said it and adultballerinaproject.com says it was Suzanne Farrell, a famous ballerina whom I admired as a young dance student.
It’s one of the most amazing things to me that in ballet, as with other highly-sophisticated techniques, you can continue to learn new things about technique and artistry your whole life. The training never ends, no matter how “advanced” or masterful you become.
So it is with Plié. On the one hand, it’s just one of many steps a ballet dancer must learn, but it is also integral to modern dance and mastery of movement in general. All athletes could benefit from a little Plié in their lives.
Part 1 of my mini-series on Dancing Body Acceptance! I had the great pleasure, during my personal “Body-Positive October” celebration research, to talk with Dietician Fumi Sumehara, who is based in Australia. Fumi took time out of her busy day at the DDD Clinic to talk with me about diet culture in ballet and society and ways to promote nourishment and a healthy relationship with eating and body image as dancers, teachers, companies and schools, and others.
Here’s a healthy half-dozen ballet connecting steps to practice as you develop your dancing over the years, so many fun ways to get from one place to another!
Practicing the fluid upper body movements of ballet and creating lines with the arms, head, and body to beautiful music is one of my favorite elements of classical dancing. The way arm and upper body movements harmonize with those of the legs, the relationship to spatial geometry, and the range of expression available makes my heart sing.
I’m bringing you a ballet concept today that is so fun to watch and also to do, batterie or beats of the legs which appear in sparkling variations and jumping or allegro steps.
During July, I am sharing a fully adaptable “Summer Dance Intensive” program to develop body and mind for those who would like to be immersed in dance or yoga and don’t have the chance to attend such a workshop in-person. The suggested free sequences can provide a complement or bridge to online or in-studio practice. You can tailor the program to your needs, with anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours per day!
Like an exhilarating ride on a rollercoaster, or if you prefer, a wave, dancers ascend and descend, sink, scoop, and rise, following or leaving a pathway in space. It can be quite a thrill even at a low level of risk! Our clarity about the described pathway in space, whether it be an scooping undercurve […]
Given that I’ve been thinking and researching about this blog for a while, it’s serendipitous that I also just learned a new German saying: “Gehüpft wie gesprungen.” It means literally “Hopped as jumped,” or more-or-less “It doesn’t matter if you hop or jump to get there.” Sort of like the English “six of one, half […]
