Just Wanna Make the World Dance

"We danced before language and this is our promise. Through our art we will tell your story. We will..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:56:15 -0400

“We danced before language and this is our promise. Through our art we will tell your story. We will dance the times you fell in love. We will dance your dreams and your fears. We will dance your death. Our suspended moments, grand glories, kaleidoscopic whirlings, rats, swans, firebirds, heros, heroines, and tracing of psyche are your mirror. We are not dolls. We are artists, young and hungry. At war with gravity to capture poetry from air. We do not exist to embalm traditions. We exist to cherish them and then create more. We leap and grasp for the new. We are for everyone. Watch ballet and you are not rich or poor. Cultured or barbarian. Brain or brawn. You are human. Full of lust and adventure. We are yours and we are you.”

- Unknown

whatyouarecapableof: Dance Theatre Of Harlem (image from their...

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:40:05 -0400

whatyouarecapableof:

Dance Theatre Of Harlem
(image from their facebook page)

not sure why but this makes my soul feel warm and fuzzy Ian...

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:38:58 -0400

not sure why but this makes my soul feel warm and fuzzy

Ian Eastwood

Don’t You Worry Child

this happened. sorry for falling off the face of the earth, but...

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:32:09 -0400

this happened.

sorry for falling off the face of the earth, but in doing so i choreographed my first dance work!

"Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of..."

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:06:24 -0500

““Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.”
― Martha Graham”

- (via livebreathdancer)

my favorite things. dance and the water.

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:36:37 -0500

my favorite things. dance and the water.

maida withers 2.0

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:34:54 -0500

We’ve had another week of choreography class where Maida spewed some more knowledge and I left with my head spinning and my choreography journal filled with her quotes. The line is starting to blur whether she’s talking about dance, life, choreography, or all three now, so it’s up to you to apply these as you will!

“Be honest about it, honesty’s a good place to begin.”

“You can.”

“Movement is more interesting than the dynamics right now.”

“Activate the space. The space is alive, rather than a surface on which you dance.”

“Give up the idea of looking perfect.”

I’m convinced behind her giant, red, puffy jacket, white hair, and hot pink jeans, that she is a genius.

i am crying. September at Hall of Fame Choreography: Emily...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:28:29 -0500

i am crying.

September

at Hall of Fame

Choreography: Emily Shock

maida withers

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:51:47 -0500

I think this is going to become a weekly thing. I spend a good portion of my dance classes at school under the care of Maida Withers, and am never short of impressed by her unheard of ability to spit out these profound dance one-liners. Here are some of my favorites from this past week’s Choreography class.

“It’s just an art form, it’s like eating breakfast. Maybe you had a bagel today, maybe you’ll have Wheaties tomorrow.’

“Nobody ever comes ready, they come willing.”

“Fear is good. Fear’s a good motivation, but it’s not very productive.”

“A phrase is going to look like you just learned it, then it compresses and shifts and you can change dynamics.”

“The issue of perfection is an issue you will all face. It can be painful when they’re not doing what you want. But they will perfect it in their own way.”

“Allow the dancers to add up to something.”

“Don’t be afraid for you to become the dancer.”

Until next week’s dose of insightfulness!

prixdelausanne: Photo: Juliana Paiva & Leticia Domingues by...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 15:47:01 -0500

prixdelausanne:

Photo: Juliana Paiva & Leticia Domingues by Gregory Batardon

On Thursday, we caught up with two of this year’s 9 Brazilian candidates at the Prix: Leticia Domingues (one of the finalists), and her colleague at Petite Danse School in Rio de Janeiro, Juliana Paiva. They had just finished coaching sessions and were relaxing in the backstage area:

“I have just had my first contemporary coaching this afternoon. It was great to have Christophe Dozzi (coach for choreographer Jorma Elo) explain the precise movement he’s looking for with the help of the translator. He also touched on all the positioning on stage, so it was a really a good run-through.” Leticia tells us.

She adds: “Everything is weighted equally here - contemporary and classic - so I’m also finding the classical coaching excellent, we are given very useful pointers. For instance, how to negotiate the raked stage, so we can show ourselves in the best possible light.”

Juliana had finished her classical session for the day and had yet to do her contemporary coaching later that evening. “Monique Loudières gave me some really useful tips on carriage of the arms, épaulement and also on musicality and overall artistry. It’s great to work with such distinguished coaches – they have so much experience! Monique hails from Paris Opera Ballet which is such a prestigious institution: Grand Pas Classique is a French variation so it was great to have her coach me as she knows it inside-out.”

Before arriving in Lausanne, Leticia had travelled to the Youth America Grand Prix pre-selections. “I have been practicing the Coppélia variation for quite some time, since last September! I’m still working on perfecting it and Monique’s pointers are really helping me out.”

Juliana is very impressed with her colleagues here at the Prix “It’s been very different from training at home. The caliber of the candidates is so consistently high, I am very impressed with them. I am loving it here”

When asked about role models, Juliana and Leticia quickly agree on fellow Brazilian ballerina Cecilia Kerche. Plus Juliana adores the Royal Ballet`s Alina Cojocaru, while Leticia looks up to Jury member Tamara Rojo: “She is wonderful, we watch her on DVD a lot! When I found out she was a member of the jury, at first I couldn’t really believe it, I was ecstatic!”

Do the girls have any favorite male dancers? Leticia says enthusiastically: “Ivan Vasiliev, he’s fabulous! I saw him do the Don Quixote pas de deux in New York at a gala, his performance was unforgettable! He projects so much energy, I was in the last row and it still reached me.” Juliana loves ABT´s Marcelo Gomes: “he taught us at school, he is a true artist – a pure class act!”

Summing up the week here in Lausanne, Leticia adds:

“The Prix de Lausanne has surpassed all my expectations. I have only ever seen the Prix through online videos. I never imagined I would be here one day. The studios, the organization of everything is wonderful. It is an invaluable experience for me.”

Photo

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:17:47 -0500

School Night

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:40:36 -0500

School Night:

Can I please be Emma Portner? Please.

Actually.

theballetblog: Pointe Shoe Maker Master of the Art

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:34:49 -0500

theballetblog:

Pointe Shoe Maker

Master of the Art

"Ballet technique is arbitrary and very difficult. It never becomes easy; it becomes possible."

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:32:57 -0500

“Ballet technique is arbitrary and very difficult.
It never becomes easy; it becomes possible.”

- Agnes De Mille (via silent-dance)

Photo

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:29:29 -0500

paperballerina: If you say you have never pretended to casually stretch in order to wipe your...

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:28:15 -0500

paperballerina:

If you say you have never pretended to casually stretch in order to wipe your forehead sweat on your tights

You are a l i a r

Wayne McGregor - Ted Talk “Misbehave more beautifully,...

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:00:55 -0500

Wayne McGregor - Ted Talk

“Misbehave more beautifully, more often.”

maida withers

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 19:58:50 -0500

So this semester at school I’m taking our Choreographic Projects class. This class meets once a week for two hours and the usual end result is all of the students (at the moment there are 7 of us) create an original work that is produced and performed on our MainStage performing space.

Nerve-racking? Absolutely. An experience? So far, a good one. Will I be thinking that in the next few weeks? Hopefully.

Our instructor is our 76 year old dance professor who is a genius and may also be the craziest woman I’ve ever met. She leads our two hour class and talks at us for the most part, saying some of the greatest dance one-liners I’ve ever heard anyone think of or say. They’re so great, that I wanted to share them all with you!

“You don’t know what dance you’re making until you start dancing together.”

“Movement never looks like you. It looks like them, and they make it who they are.”

“Think of shaping rather than the shape. Shaping is the motion rather than getting to the physical end point.”

“You can dance about it more than you can talk about it.”

“You’re just a person, and it goes a long way.”

Okay - so maybe these aren’t some of the most original dance one-liners in existence, but for a 76 year old beast of a woman, I’d say they’re pretty awesome.

Don't trash your old pointe shoes! Create a hanging wall "vase".

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 19:52:07 -0500

theballetblog:

1. Paint or decorate a single pointe shoe as desired or leave alone. (If you tie your drawstrings really tight, you may want to loosen them to make them more open)
2. Hang the single pointe shoe on the wall by the ribbons so the shoe hangs completely upright and straight. Kind of like this
3. Place fresh or fake medium/small sized flowers into the box of the shoe, as little or many as desired.

"I believe that dance communicates man’s deepest, highest and most truly spiritual thoughts and..."

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 19:49:37 -0500

“I believe that dance communicates man’s deepest, highest and most truly spiritual thoughts and emotions far better than words, spoken or written.”

- Ted Shawn (via silent-dance)