Do you feel a strong sense of personal direction, clarity about your purpose in life, and confidence that you are making the right moves to get there? The A Blythe Coach Dance Through Any Difficulty Framework of Grounding, Centering, Orienting, Creating, Relating is woven into all of my coaching and teaching work and it helps […]
Everyone deserves a break to rest and restore, and you can take one anytime, anywhere with an internet connection, and establish a self-care habit with this complementary yoga series! Announcing my FREE 5-Day Virtual Yogalicious ReTREAT! Yoga ReTREAT Invitation Video You are invited on a yogic getaway… I’m dropping in today to invite you to […]
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.
Centering and integrating generates power for movement and taking effective action from the core of your being, your core values and beliefs, and your deepest and most efficient muscle groups providing a strong and effective powerhouse.
I love to “shake it out” after the focused effort of dance movements and yoga poses. This way we can release excess tension that may build up during exercises. There are psychological and spiritual benefits of letting go as well, and I share a variety of techniques in this article.
Haiku #99 of 2021 by Blythe C. Stephens (inspired by Emerson) Poet as sayerrecognize experience,beauty, report back My Passion for Poetry I love poetry! I enjoy reading it, writing it, sharing it, using it for teaching and inspiring choreography. What do you use poetry for? Who are your favorite authors? Ever since I was a […]
Joyful movement in general, and ballet in particular, is one of the great passions of my life. I find the movements of the arms particularly captivating, and in recent times it has become more relevant than ever that they are accessible with little available space. As I age, I also appreciate how I can continue […]
Do you ever feel distracted, floaty, overwhelmed, or disconnected? Creating a stable, grounded, foundation is the first step in building a supportive yoga practice, dancing posture, and well-designed yet flexible life.
A delightful conversation with fellow dance educator and UNCSA alumnus as well as super-talented and wonderful guy, Matthew Donnell! We talk about the highs and lows of being a multi-passionate jack-of-all-trades, his highlights as a professional ballet dancer, how to fall down and get back up again, the importance of révérence, character dance, and technique variety in ballet training, developing character in dancers and human beings, serving our communities, helping dancers find their voice, and assert that all people are valuable!
I was so pleased to welcome Kia’ikai “Kai” Iguchi to my podcast for the second installment in my mini-series on Dancing Body Acceptance! They have connected me with a wealth of wonderful resources when it comes to dancing nutrition, eating disorder treatment, equity and access and I’m so grateful for their knowledge.
