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Confessions of a 30-year old Grade III Grad: Why Cecchetti?

Lauren Warnecke — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:22:33 +0000

As I pulled my pink tights and black chiffon skirt out of the back of my sock drawer, I wondered: Why, exactly, am I still doing this?

The first post I wrote as a columnist at Dance Advantage was a reflective look at my Grade I Cecchetti teacher’s exam.

Nearly two years later, last month marked my completion of Grade III.

Disclosure: Normally an informative writer, citing evidence and pulling from research to form my opinions, this month, I’m writing from a purely biased, editorial place.

My colleagues going through the program with me are actively teaching ballet, and learning the Cecchetti Method translates directly to professional advancement for them since they teach at a studio active in the Council. For me, it’s been more about getting a weekly ballet class, keeping my “ballet brain” alive even though I’m not actively teaching ballet… and geeking out over fancy bun covers like this one.

Why Cecchetti?

Aside from the fact that I don’t have a legitimate professional reason to be pursuing the Cecchetti teacher’s certificates, there’s the whole humiliation of the exam process to contend with as well.

Standing in front of the Council’s elite in pink tights being berated about the quality of my developpés and position of my arms in 2nd position, explaining minutia like “so does the leg pass to the side of the knee when closing from a releve devant or does it pass to the back without stopping at the knee and go directly down to 5th?”**

…not my first idea of how to spend a Sunday afternoon.

So, why do I do it?(...)

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© Lauren Warnecke for Dance Advantage, 2011. | Permalink | Category: Ballet/Pointe, Beyond the Bubble, Blog, Community, Dance Styles, Dancethropology, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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The Skinny On The Bar Method For Ballet Body Fitness

Nichelle (admin) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:30:27 +0000

Since the premiere of Black Swan in theatres, you may have noticed fans have been… er, flocking to dance and fitness studios. Whether nostalgic for their days as a dancing youth or inspired to obtain a more svelte physique, audiences definitely have ballet on the brain lately.

Last month, as the Black Swan Blu-Ray and DVD release neared, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment partnered with The Bar Method, a unique full-body exercise program that utilizes the ballet bar in its technique. Bar Method studios across the country offered ongoing Black Swan sponsored training sessions.

Dance Advantage columnist Lauren Warnecke (Art Intercepts) was on hand to attend a class at The Bar Method Chicago. Her thoughts are below.

But first…

the 411 on The Bar Method as founder, Burr Leonard chats with me about the fitness program, its relationship to dance and with dancers, and of course, Black Swan.

The Bar Method is based on the technique of Lotte Berk, who was a German dancer. After studying and then teaching Berk’s method for 20 years, Ms. Leonard broke away and founded The Bar Method. This happens a lot in somatic techniques, exercise development, and training, and for dancers and teachers it probably needs no explanation that as you teach, you learn from your students, adapt, tweak, and develop new methods until often they become something other than what you were originally taught.

Dance Advantage: You began teaching the Lotte Berk Method in 1991. Can you briefly describe how The Bar Method is different from the technique you initially fell in love with in 1981?

Burr Leonard: Both techniques are effective workouts. The Bar Method differs in that it is safer for students’ shoulders, backs, hips and knees; more focused on alignment and good posture; more efficient at isolating and reshaping the key muscles involved body change; more challenging due to more adeptly targeted exercises; more aerobic due to faster pacing; and more strongly founded on rigorous teacher training, a hallmark of The Bar Method.

DA: Do you have dance training in your background?

BL: I studied ballet and jazz from 1981 to 1991 at Steps Studio in New York City.

DA: On your website, you have a helpful Q&A that includes ‘How is The Bar Method different from Yoga?’ and ‘…different from Pilates?’ Tell us, how is The Bar Method different from Ballet?

BL: In my view exercise and dance are in many ways opposite from one another. Dance uses movement to create beautiful, meaningful and surprising patterns that evoke emotion and joy for the viewers. Exercise uses motion to create specific sensations in students’ muscles and ultimately to change their bodies and inner spirits. This difference in purpose makes dance choreography and exercise choreography essentially different from one another. A dance motion that is inventive is not necessarily one that works in exercise. We teachers have an expression, “choreographitis,” which refers to the tendency on the part of rookie teachers to choreograph exercises based on how they look without a full understanding of how their students will physically and mentally experience the motions. Paradoxically, the most simple-seeming choreography in an exercise class is sometimes the most inventive and fascinating for students, which is the opposite in dance.

DA: Do you find that dance professionals and/or students are attracted to The Bar Method?

BL: Bar Method students who are professional dancers are rare, though they do exist. Most dancers, I think, are wary of getting too close to an exercise system that might change their bodies away from the ideal they’ve strived to achieve for many years, or that might throw off the delicate muscle balance In their legs by focusing on some muscle groups more than other. It’s more common for former dancers to fall in love with the Bar Method. There are lots of those in our classes. I believe that the Bar Method would in fact benefit many currently active dancers if they would just try it. The class would add a degree of strength and power to their thighs, adductors, hamstrings and abs and would gently stretch typically tight muscles such as their hip-flexors. I don’t think it would detract from the strength of their sartorial muscles, for example, but would compliment that strength.

DA: Which exercises (or parts of class) seem to be dancer favorites?

BL: Dancers who are also Bar Method students love all the bar work in the class. They especially enjoy the exercises that most resemble dance such as the “stretch at the bar,” “second position” and “arabesque.”

DA: Lots of workout programs, including others that utilize the ballet barre as equipment, claim to give practitioners a “dancer’s body.” What makes The Bar Method more effective in this regard?

BL: Bar Fitness workouts have proliferated, but the Bar Method is the only one of them that shares its teaching technique with dance. A ballet teacher continually adjusts students’ form, placement, alignment and quality of motion. A Bar Method teacher does the same with her or his students. Uniquely, our teachers undergo months of intensive training to develop what we call “verbal and hands-on adjusting” skills. These techniques enable teachers to awaken in the desire and ability to work towards an ideal – just as dance teachers do. Our students tell us that a Bar Method class has a more organized, structured, and focused feel than other bar fitness classes for that reason.

DA: And is a great workout alone enough to get that desired dancer body?

BL: Yes, when taken three-to-five times a week over months and years.

DA: Your father George Leonard, is quite well-known as a writer, educator, and a sensei of Aikido, Could you please briefly share how he has influenced your work?

BL: In his 1992 book Mastery, The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment, my father wrote about the remarkable power of patient, focused, long-term practice to transform us inside and out, a concept he first experienced as a student of the Japanese martial art Aikido. I applied his insights to the teacher training system that I developed over my 20 years in fitness. Bar Method teachers learn techniques based on his writings on long-term practice that help their students transform their bodies and even their spirits over time.

DA: The Bar Method is available in nearly 50 locations in North America but for those without classes nearby, you offer a variety of DVDs. Currently in my second trimester of pregnancy, I’m particularly curious about the Pregnancy workout DVD. What equipment is needed to work at home with these DVDs?

BL: For the Pregnancy DVD workout, you need a sturdy chair or other piece of furniture, two two-to-three-pound free weights, two large throw pillows, an exercise mat (unless you’re on a soft carpeted floor), and a terry cloth bathroom belt for stretching. I think it’s a great DVD. I hope you try it!

DA: So tell me, what did you enjoy most about Black Swan?

BL: Natalie Portman’s wonderful performance.

Lauren Warnecke; Photo by Kristie Kahns

Lauren’s Reaction and Experience:

I had the opportunity of participating in a complimentary class at The Bar Method studio in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, and today as I type I’m delightfully sore. Though it borrows a lot from Pilates and Yoga, the Bar Method has many exercises that are uniquely theirs due to the utilization of ballet barres, socks that slide easily over the carpeted studio floors, and (very loose) derivations of ballet technique. Their claim is that the Method produces a “dancer’s physique” including long, lean legs and arms, firm abs and buns, and a trimmed waistline.

Visit The Bar Method Chicago Land on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BarMethodChicago

I found the class to be a positive experience; the staff were friendly and attentive, as was the instructor, who makes a specific point of using first names (which is a pleasant change from most group fitness classes at health clubs). Although I was not familiar with the Bar Method before my first class, the place was packed – mostly with fit-looking women under 40.

While the Bar Method provided me with a great workout and a pleasant environment, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as appropriate cross-training for dancers. Many of the ideas that are borrowed from ballet are performed turned in, and nearly every exercise was executed with a tucked pelvis. This may produce the results that they claim (my fellow students all had nice, lean bodies), but as a dance teacher I spend a lot of time trying to get my students to use the rotation in their legs and to stop tucking the pelvis.

Overall, I think that this training technique is great for parents of dancers who want to get ready for swimsuit season with a tiny bit of dance and “yogalates” in a pleasant group atmosphere. As for me, my experience at the Bar Method was a slightly painful reminder that I should spend a little less time writing and a little more time in ballet class.

Why not try it yourself for free?

Dance Advantage readers in Chicago can get a Free Trial Class. Go to this special website and send a free trial to yourself or your friends: www.chicagobarmethod.com.

Outside the Chicago area, you may want to take advantage of The Bar Method’s New Client Special: $100 for 30 Days of Unlimited Classes. Learn more at www.barmethod.com.

Have you tried The Bar Method?

Tell us about it in the comments!

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2011. | Permalink | Category: Beyond the Bubble, Blog, Dance Bag, Dance Styles, Dancethropology, Interviews, Other Dance Forms, Product/Website Reviews | Who's talking about this article?

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Insight Into ABT’s National Training Curriculum

Guest Contributors — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:15:05 +0000

Deb Young is a subscriber and regularly offers her thoughts and shares her knowledge and experiences in the comments here at Dance Advantage. After sharing with subscribers a bit about my experience at the Dance Teacher Summit in NYC this summer, Deb described her own productive and exhilarating summer adventures as a participant in American Ballet Theater’s National Training Curriculum program. I asked if she would recount this for you, and she happily did so with wonderful detail. Her article follows. Thanks, Deb!

What I Did Last Summer

Raymond Lukens and Deb Young at ABT’s NTC Primary through Level 3 training in August, 2009

(and This Summer, Too…)

During a break between classes at my fledgling ballet school a couple of years ago I picked up a dance trade magazine whose pages fell open to an interview with Franco De Vita, Principal of American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. He was discussing the launching of ABT’s new National Training Curriculum, which he co-authored along with his colleague Raymond Lukens, also a teacher at the JKO school, as well as artistic associate for the ABT/NYU Masters Program in ballet pedagogy.

I remember thinking, Wow—ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie really is taking the bull by the horns: first he muscles his way into Congress and has ABT declared “America’s National Ballet Company,” and now he has hired two ballet icons to create a new national curriculum, with the JKO School and NYU serving as its petri dishes.

What impressed me most was the saturation of excellence both in the content as described by Franco himself, and in the striking panel of experts across many disciplines (including dance medicine, physical therapy, and child development) whose wisdom had been polled to develop the curriculum. And now ABT was opening its doors to a planet full of teachers who work every day in the ballet classroom trenches, to share its experts’ collective knowledge. Was it possible that the NTC truly represented a methodology with the health, well-being, and safety of the child as its cornerstones? Now they had my undivided attention.

I began to see this as an excellent opportunity for my young ballet school to serve as a local ambassador for the ABT/NTC; it was something unique I could offer my community. A few short months after reading Franco’s interview, and after a pep talk from my former ballet school roommate who had completed certification with the inaugural group of trainees, I decided to be brave and submit my resumé to ABT. Insofar as the resumé itself, I discovered in short order that ABT is less concerned with stage credits than they are with an assurance that you’ve had decent training, and have obtained a high intermediate-to-advanced level of proficiency. My classmates were a mixed bag of old and young, retired and current professionals, obscure teachers like myself and famous former dancers-turned-teachers. But we were united in our desire to learn from the best.

The Training is organized as week-long intensives; candidates are asked to obtain certification in Primary Level through Level 3 of the curriculum before being allowed to continue certification in Levels 4 and 5, and then 6, 7, and Partnering (taught as two separate intensives).

Certification is achieved by passing written and oral examinations on the final day of the intensives. But because ABT really wants its new certified teachers to have the benefit of working with the curriculum in their own classroms for an academic year before moving ahead, the Primary through 3 training is scheduled at the very end of summer, with 4 and 5, and 6, 7, and Partnering preceding it. So it is impossible to take all three intensives in one summer.

Franco De Vita leads his young charges through technique class during the Young Dancer Summer Workshop at ABT in August, 2009

ABT’s Young Dancer Summer Workshop (ages eight to twelve) runs concurrently with the Primary through Level 3 training so that trainees can observe much of what they are learning firsthand in the JKO School’s classrooms. Likewise, the more advanced summer intensives run concurrently with the higher level teachers intensives.

If You Go

Be advised that when ABT says intensives, they mean it. Prepare yourself for hours sitting in an uncomfortable metal folding chair, taking in bounteous material while taking down lots of notes. LOTS. At the end of eight or so hours of this, you will be dog-tired, unless you are an alien. But then you will need to summon your second wind to review all those notes at the end of each day in preparation for the upcoming exams.

During the course of one day at the training, you might have…

a two-hour lecture on the material itself, which is rolled out a level at a time over several days;

a “progressions” lecture—these are very important, as they clarify the evolution of basic movements from one level to the next; an hour lunch break;

a JKO School class observation; and perhaps a review session with opportunities for questions to finish the day.

Instructors at the Primary through Level 3 session I attended last year included Raymond Lukens, assisted by Kate Lydon and Harriet Clark, and ABT physical therapist Julie Daugherty. Trainees also have the opportunity to take a class in each level of the curriculum being taught, but this is not a requirement. About half of my group participated in the classes, and the rest observed and took notes.

I participated in some classes and observed others, but ultimately I found the notes I made from observing far more helpful once I returned home and began working with the curriculum in my own classroom; I frankly could not remember much from the classes where I participated.

Additionally, in the Primary through Level 3 training we were split into smaller groups and asked to prepare sample enchaînements in each of the levels we were learning to demonstrate for our colleagues and instructors. Sounds intimidating, and it was, to be sure. When someone complained about being too nervous Raymond quipped, “You have no choice but to get over it.”

Remember: you are there to learn, and one of the best ways to do that is trial and error. Nobody cares about your arches or extension—the thing that matters is whether you can teach the material you are learning. Best to throw caution to the wind and demonstrate as if your own students are watching you, instead of other teachers and JKO faculty.

You will also have the benefit of learning some excellent exercises your colleagues give in their classes at home. (Think cookie swap, but with ballet combinations.) And best of all, you have ABT’s instructors at your disposal to offer constructive criticism—what an incredible opportunity. I found their remarks to be helpful, and always delivered with professional aplomb.

The Curriculum itself is presented as guidelines, as opposed to a planned syllabus of study; it comes packaged along with ABT’s Healthy Dancer text in a gigantic three-ring binder that is included in the cost of the training. The authors borrowed from the French, Russian, and Italian schools in designing it, with a heavy emphasis on classic Cecchetti, and a healthy dose of Vaganova thrown in for good measure.

It is a very clean, simple, developmentally appropriate set of guidelines focused on correct placement and slow, careful technique building, with an emphasis on developing core strength and stability beginning in the very earliest levels.

In the Primary Levels (which may be divided into three years of study), there is no barre work given; all exercises are executed in centre floor or moving across the floor or in patterns. The more traditional barre/centre floor format is introduced in Level 1, for children at least eight years of age.

The NTC is also an allegro-intense curriculum, with no fewer than twenty minutes of each class devoted to jumping.

Finally, the curriculum seeks to develop musicality beginning with very young children, and ultimately to keep the artist alive in young dancers. This is accomplished in the Primary Levels through counting and clapping exercises, imaginative games that lay the foundation for correct technique, and improvisation exercises.

So You Think You Can Be An Affiliate

Knoxville Ballet School Primary Level A candidates pose for pictures in the school lobby just before their ABT/NTC Affiliate examination class begins
Once you’ve obtained certification in Primary through Level 3, and the higher levels, you are eligible to present your students in those levels to an examiner from American Ballet Theatre, who will travel to your school to adjudicate examination classes. With seventy-five percent of students achieving a passing score, ABT will bestow its affiliate status on the certified instructor who gives the exams.

I engaged my parents early last fall to be brave pioneers with me and allow their children to participate. After ABT chose a date for us and sent the exam guidelines, I planned spring term with plenty of lead time for preparation, as I strongly believed it was very important that all my students enjoy success. About six weeks ahead of the big day I gave them their exam materials, which they practiced diligently week to week.

All levels above Primary are required to memorize the class; there is no teaching during the exams—you simply announce each exercise, and the children dance them. But an exception is made for the Primaries, who are quite young; the teacher can lead them through their classes so long as there is very little talking, and no correcting. I presented two levels of Primaries who all performed very well, in addition to Level 1 and Level 2 classes.

The biggest excitement of all during this process was the news that Franco De Vita himself would be coming to our little ballet school. But because my school population is still very young, most of the participants were undaunted by his presence. The entire experience was a tremendous success, and felt far more celebratory than nerve-wracking; all twenty-four children I presented achieved passing scores, with seven citations for Merit and two for Honors. Each child was given a beautiful certificate from ABT, and the overwhelming majority expressed immediate interest in repeating the exams in the coming year.

As I have explained to parents who ask me why their child should participate, the examination process is an excellent barometer for the quality of instruction at the school. In short, it tells us all whether I am doing my job well, and that should matter a great deal to parents who entrust their children to me for classical ballet instruction.

I found that this affirmation also translated directly into my improved confidence as a teacher. We all question ourselves from time to time, but it is very nice indeed for American Ballet Theatre to give you its official thumbs-up.

A young JKO School Level 5 student during an hour-long pointe demonstration at the ABT/NTC Levels 4 and 5 training in July, 2010
This summer when I stepped off the elevator on the 4^th floor at ABT to continue training in Levels 4 and 5 of the NTC, I had a little epiphany.
Had anyone told me a few years ago that I would be teaching classical ballet (after a very long absence from the ballet world), at a school I founded, and traveling to New York to train at American Ballet Theatre, and that the principal of the JKO School would in turn be traveling to my school to evaluate my students, and by extension, my teaching, well…you can imagine.

Even if you are not in a position to use the curriculum—if you teach in a large school with its own plans or syllabus, for example—there is so much wisdom to be gained from attending the intensives that can be used in any ballet classroom environment, the training is easily worth the time, money, and effort it demands of you. I can’t wait for the chance to step off that 4^th floor elevator once more.

Deb Young received early classical ballet training in Memphis from Balanchine disciples, Yuri Chatal and Victoria Fedine; she continued Cecchetti-based training with her own mother, Pat Holden, studying concurrently with many distinguished instructors at the National Academy of Arts in Champaign, Illinois during summer intensives for several consecutive years. After a short stint dancing with a small ensemble in Colorado in the early 1980s, she hung up her pointe shoes to go to college. In 2006 Deb discovered herself serendipitously at the front of the ballet classroom as the founding director of Knoxville Ballet School, where she is happily the wearer of many hats. She is certified in American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum in Primary Level through Level 3. In May of 2010 American Ballet Theatre named her an Affiliate Instructor. She is also a certified fitter for Gaynor Minden pointe shoes. Deb lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband and son.

© Guest Contributors for Dance Advantage, 2010. | Permalink | Category: Ballet/Pointe, Blog, Summer Study/Workshops, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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10 Reasons Teachers Should Continue their Education

Nichelle (admin) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:57:52 +0000

Is the expense to attend a teacher training or summer seminar worth it?

Particularly when money and times are tight, dance educators wrestle with this question. It seems we find it hard to justify spending money or attention on our own development, though we would encourage it for our students. Below is my top ten list of reasons you would want to seriously consider some continuing ed for yourself this year.

1. New Classroom Tools

Teacher workshops directly provide curriculum, music, or methods for your use. As a participant in technique class, there is opportunity to experience new ways of combining steps, of structuring a class, of delivering a concept. Take notes throughout your experience, borrowing the best from your observations.

2. Remembering What It’s Like

Students feel pressure to do well, they get nervous, they are sometimes afraid to try something new, they struggle with physical or psychological challenges. The occasional reminder of what it feels like to be a student, to push oneself through challenges, to risk and take on something new will bring added depth and understanding to your teaching.

3. Physical Exercise

If you are a teacher, you probably recognize that the physical demands of instructing students is very different from actual dancing. You spend time moving but not as you would as a class participant or performer. A challenging program or class can help keep you in shape.

4. Mental Exercise

Ditto on giving your brain a workout. Teaching can become routine and repetitive. Demanding more of your brain is stimulating and refreshing.

5. Creative Input/Output

Teachers do a lot of giving. Choreography, class exercises, working with students – these things require creativity. However, consistent output without refilling the well of creativity can cause the source to dry up. And creativity does breed creativity. Sometimes even taking the opportunity to create something for your own pleasure (an art class, a writing workshop, crafting, even a choreography workshop) can replenish your reserves.

6. Improved Business

Each new experience adds credibility. Parents and students will appreciate that you’ve made an effort to improve your teaching, expand your repertoire, study and grow. The more diverse your education, the more marketable you become as a teacher. You want to be able to share what you did over summer vacation, too!

7. Networking

A dance-related conference or seminar offers the chance to interact with other teachers and professionals from all over the country or world. Making these contacts strengthens your ties to the dance world beyond your studio, creating opportunities for you and your students. Events in your own backyard can still add benefit. You may develop friendships or connect with those that are willing to donate, offer sponsorship, or collaborate on a project. You just never know.

8. Validation

If you ever feel like others in your life (husbands/wives, friends, relatives) don’t understand your passion and commitment to dance and teaching, here is a chance to be among others that get it! Not only is sharing your thoughts and ideas with these folks restorative but the affirmation you receive among comrades can sustain you through the coming year.

9. Personal Growth

Address your own need for development. Mastery and accomplishment serve to increase self-confidence in your pupils and will do the same for you. And, this could be a separate point but, your willingness to grow and learn will inspire the same in your students!

10. Staying Ahead of Change

The quote below, really says it all. New theories and practices in physiological science are changing the ways dance teachers teach. Dance training, though rooted in tradition, is a vast field – there will always be something new to learn and discover. Staying on top of your game will benefit you and your students.

“In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” — Eric Hoffer, US philosopher

Though it is a great idea to set aside some funds for you and/or your teachers to attend workshops or summits, I want to emphasize that growth experiences do not have to be pricey or far away. In fact, they may not even have to be dance-related! There is much to be gained from observing teachers who specialize in other disciplines, from opening yourself to new experiences, from simply taking time to create or learn something just for you.

Do you have a reasons or benefits you’d like to add to the list?

What are some experiences you’d recommend to other teachers?

What inexpensive or even non-dance activities have informed and supported your teaching or helped you through the year?

Find out where you can continue your education!

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2009. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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