The Pressures And Challenges For Young Male Dancers
April 12, 2010 by Roger Lee
Filed under Blog, College and Career, For Career Dancers, For Everyone Else, For Students, Toolbox, Wellness
Once I was chosen for the hip-hop dance team, I was embraced with open arms by my fellow dancers! The young ladies on the team loved having a male around and would often ask me to assist them with the unfamiliar hip-hop vocabulary they were being taught. As a young male, I felt that I had it made. I was naive and believed that all dance environments would be as accepting of male dancers. Boy was I wrong!
Pointe Readiness and What To Expect
April 6, 2010 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Ballet/Pointe, Blog, Dance Styles, Featured, For Parents of Teens, For Students, Perspectives, Technique, Toolbox, Wellness
Despite that the path is sometimes painful and frustrating with prolonged and hard-won rewards, young dancers spend much time and thought getting ready for pointe work. But how will your teacher decide if you are ready? Why might she decide you are not? And what can you expect if you are prepared to bear a pair of toe shoes?
Face Value — JAM Cosmetics Review
March 19, 2010 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Blog, Dance Bag, For Everyone Else, For Parents, For Parents of Competitors, For Students, For Studio Owners, For Teachers/Studio Owners, Giveaways, In the Spotlight, Performance, Product/Website Reviews, Toolbox
What I liked most about JAM is that it is lightweight like street makeup but “reads” well onstage and doesn’t absorb or sweat off as easily as street cosmetics. The pigments are much stronger than street makeup, meaning you need less to pull off a more intense look. JAM cosmetics are mineral-based, hypoallergenic for sensitive skin and non-comedogenic, which means it won’t clog pores. They are completely talc and paraben free and, as a company that does not test on animals, the company is on the PETA “friends” list. Technical jargon aside, it just feels better on my skin.
The Right Steps Towards A Career In Dance
March 17, 2010 by Roger Lee
Filed under Blog, College and Career, Featured, For Career Dancers, For Students, Toolbox
It can be scary to break out of the comfortable confines of your local studio. But branching out has many benefits for an aspiring dance professional. By taking a wide variety of dance classes from different sources, you become a more versatile dancer. In today’s dance industry, versatility is extremely important. Sure you can specialize in a specific dance genre, but it is also important to be well-versed in a variety of styles.
9 Tips for Improving Pirouettes
March 15, 2010 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Blog, For Juniors, For Students, Technique, Toolbox
5. “Connect” your arms to your back – you should feel and imagine width across the back and shoulder blades and the arms should maintain their position (don’t “wind-up” for a turn)
6. Take off from a properly placed and expansive plié for power in the turn.
7. Strengthen your ankles supporting the relevé – if you are wobbly, sickled, or pronated, this will ruin your turn.
8. Mentally, make a choice to come down from the turn, don’t “let” gravity make the choice for you.
Developpé Dilemma: Deb Vogel Addresses a Reader Question
When I received Amy’s question about pain in developpé below, my instinct was to help yet, I was not confident that I was fully equipped to assess what might be happening with Amy. So, I did what I would have for any student who had a problem I could not work out – I took her question to someone more knowledgeable than I – Deb Vogel, a neuromuscular educator and movement analyst who has been working with dancers for years.
Tap away those summertime blues…
January 30, 2010 by Sarah Mason
Filed under Blog, Dance Styles, For Career Dancers, For Everyone Else, For Students, News and Events, Summer Study/Workshops, Tap, The Dance World, Toolbox
Tap festivals are everywhere and are probably coming to a city near you! These fabulous wood-shedding events allow tap dancers of all ages, levels, and backgrounds to meet together and share in a non-judgmental and nurturing environment. Hoofers are honored at nearly every fest, giving young dancers exposure to the greats – the masters perform and teach in an intimate setting at most events.
Nutrition for Dancers
January 26, 2010 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Blog, Featured, For Career Dancers, For Everyone Else, For Parents of Teens, For Students, Toolbox, Wellness
Cross-training for strength and endurance is also a good idea for any dancer. In particular, dancers who aren’t training heavily, keeping the heart rate up or working up a sweat for 20-minutes or longer during class or rehearsal multiple times per week, may need to add cross-training activities to their schedule.
Answers to Your Questions About College Dance
January 22, 2010 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Blog, College and Career, For Career Dancers, For Students, Toolbox
Prospective college students have a lot of questions! Of course you do! You are making important decisions regarding your future. Not to mention the transition from high school to a university is one of the largest leaps you’ll ever take. Here’s a look at two websites that I think any aspiring dance major should pay a visit.
En Dehors, Out the Door
January 12, 2010 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Blog, Featured, For Juniors, For Students, Terminology, Toolbox
En dehors and en dedans! Frequently misspelled and endlessly confused, let’s go over these dance directions! A bird’s eye view helps to illustrate the sometimes puzzling terminology.
Oversplits – Overdoing It?
December 7, 2009 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Blog, Featured, For Students, Toolbox, Wellness
It is extremely important that someone working toward oversplits spend equal (if not more) time on strengthening and stabilizing the hips and core of the body. If you ignore signals that you are pushing too hard or too far, you may be hindering or halting any current progress you’ve made in your flexibility. You may even be sacrificing joint stability and overall joint health, perhaps ending your career early or causing problems later in life.
Stretching Safely for Splits
November 19, 2009 by Nichelle (admin)
Filed under Blog, Featured, For Students, Toolbox, Wellness
When it comes to stretching and splits some dancers place intense emphasis on achieving the ideal static position, forgetting that this type of flexibility is only part of the picture. They compromise the health of their instrument – the body – as they push to extremes to get results, and get results fast.
















