A Blythe Coach

Tag: Dance Education

Gretel & Hansel Fairytale for Creative Dance – Music, Storytelling, Improv & Choreography

In October around Halloween time, I like to teach the story of “Hansel and Gretel,” or as I like to think of it, “Gretel and Hansel,” since alphabetically it follows, and Gretel is the real hero of the tale.

Including a range of expression and emotional content, beautiful music, natural and supernatural characters, it is rich with possibilities for dance improvisation, choreography, and education.

This story fits in well with witch dances and other spooky themes like ghosts, bats, cats, etc. and can be related to dreaming and courage in “Cinderella” (for which I also have a podcast, video, and blog), the Land of Sweets and Clara/Marie’s bravery in “The Nutcracker” (coming soon!) and tie in music appreciation from the opera and other sources.

Cinderella’s Courage & Kindness: teaching the classic fairytale ballet

One of the world’s most classic, iconic and ubiquitous tales, the “Cinderella” ballet can provide an entrée to universal themes and concepts useful in life and interdisciplinary topics within and beyond dance.

Daring Yoga Dancer Pose: the story, strategy, & benefits of Natarajasana

Natarajana / King Dancer / Lord of the Dance Pose, more commonly referred to simply as “Dancer,” is an iconic and challenging yoga pose that invites us to discover our own courage and compassion.

Adult Adaptive Summer Dance Intensive Week 4: Completion & Continuation

This final week, we are setting up to keep your practice going after the “Intensive” is complete. The idea is to have a well-rounded conditioning and cross-training routine that requires a very small commitment of time. You can continue to add different movements slowly as well as take full-length classes with me online or through other teachers and live studios.

Adaptive Adult Summer Dance Intensive, Week 3

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!

Shapeshifting Dancers: Forms & How We Get There

What do a carpenter swinging a hammer, an office worker closing a drawer, a police officer directing traffic, and a ballerina’s storytelling have in common? All of their movements are traveling through space in relationship to other objects (concrete or abstract), taking specific pathways with particular attitudes. The hammer arcs up and then down to […]

10 Lessons from 1 Year as a Creator

My path to becoming a “Creator” As I was taking a look at my results and learnings from my time as an online creator, I asked Ela, my girlfriend who is a graphic designer, owner of design firm Pixelchen und Karton and creator of my website, if we could take a look at my Google […]

Art & Architecture of Arabesque

“These are very charming poses, which doubtless owe their inspiration to antique painting and sculpture. The name arabesque applied to the flowing ornament of Moorish invention is exactly suited to express those graceful lines which are their counterpart in the art of dancing.” – Cyril W. Beaumont and Stanislas Idzikowski in The Cecchetti Method of […]

Change in the Air: Out of Ruts, Into Action

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes are happening, from the inauguration of a new president in the US, vaccinations coming out for the deadly pandemic that has swept the planet, a new calendar year, all of us having had to radically change our lives in some way, recently, if not in every way. The change process is an area I’m […]

Goal-Setting for Dancers

Having worked with hundreds of high school, college, adult and graduate students in ballet and modern dance classes, I have learned to balance the stated objectives of the dance course with the expectations and personal goals of the individual students.  We all come to dance (or whatever artistic practices we pursue) for diverse reasons, and […]

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