Teachers Archive
Nov 10, 2008 Incorporating Yoga into Your Children’s Combination Classes
Children are natural yogis. They love to spin with their arms stretched out wide, then lay on the grass and feel the buzz of energy swirling through their charkas.
Nov 10, 2008 Baby Building Blocks
I love the wee ones …the babies …the preschoolers …the little ones …the kinders … or whatever you might call the young dancers at your studio.
Nov 10, 2008 Masterclass with Former Mark Morris Dancer Mireille Radwan-Dana
Learning dance is like learning a language. You learn simple nouns, then verb conjugation, then simple sentences, and after a while, you can actually...
Nov 10, 2008 Inspired to Inspire: The Party’s Just Begun for Community Leader Charon Aldredge
he greatest thing about living in America is the opportunity to dream big for the future. Children grow up wanting to be everything from doctors...
Nov 10, 2008 Classroom Management
When you think of pre-ballet, what do you envision? Merry little faces with hair in a tiny bun. Leotards in the freshest shades of pink, and tights that always sag...
Nov 10, 2008 A Call to Arms: Dance Education
In difficult, uncertain financial times, hard choices have to be made about where scarce dollars should be spent. As we consider the certainty of budget...
Nov 10, 2008 Attracting New Students
How do you attract new students to your studio? How do you keep existing ones? Seven New York City studio owners, some with over 30 years of experience, share what they’ve learned.
Nov 10, 2008 Dancing for Two: How to Safely and Effectively Teach Pregnant Women
I’m almost halfway through my first pregnancy and take it from me, you can find a prenatal version of just about anything. From support groups to yoga to classes on birthing...
Nov 10, 2008 ABC’s of Recital Preparation
Whether you call your studio’s end of the year show a recital or an annual performance, it takes the same amount of preparation…and that preparation needs to start NOW.
Nov 10, 2008 Pre-Pointe Classes
It is common knowledge that ballet students should not be put en pointe too early. No matter how much pressure the dance teacher gets from overly enthusiastic students or their parents
Nov 10, 2008 A Dance and a Smile: Teaching Students with Special Needs
The benefits of dance in the lives of young people are numerous and undeniable. Dance is more than just a fun activity that gives children something worthwhile...
Nov 10, 2008 MOVEMENT, SIGHTS AND SOUNDS: Beth Bogush Motivates Young Dancers
A three-year-old in the dance studio… little girls dreaming of being ballerinas, boys getting rid of extra energy… jumping and spinning…
Nov 9, 2008 The Dance Teacher’s Daughter
When new parents bring a baby into the world, they see the promise of a fresh start, endless opportunity and a world for the taking. If that child wants to be a...
Oct 29, 2008 Ballet Class Syllabi Archive
Ballet Class Syllabi Archive
Oct 29, 2008 An Excerpt From My Journal
As a teacher I find it of great value and interest to keep a journal of my teaching activity. From this source I can follow the students progress in such...
Oct 29, 2008 The Allegro
This month's article is a continuation of Article 5, The Centre Barre. It will focus on the aspects of the allegro section of the technique class such as:
Oct 29, 2008 The Centre Barre
This article is a continuation of The Barre: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. It will focus on the qualities of the centre barre such as:
Oct 29, 2008 The Ballet Barre
Typically the levels of beginner, intermediate, and advanced are used to describe the student's skill level and the complexity of the training material.
Oct 29, 2008 Body Placement: Its Alignment and Dynamics
You might have noticed that when you correct a student’s placement a number of things can happen...
Oct 29, 2008 Classical Ballet Technique. What Is It?
What do you say to a student when they ask "Why is it done this way?"
Oct 29, 2008 Constructing a Ballet Technique Class
"Where do I begin and what should I include? Where should my focus be when creating a technique class?" Sound familiar? Great classes don’t just happen...
Oct 29, 2008 The Five Distinctions For Extraordinary Achievement
The idea behind the Five Distinctions For Extraordinary Achievement is to assist students of dance to re-invent their ability to learn how to learn to...
Oct 29, 2008 Interview with Hinton G. Battle: The only living 3 time Tony Award winner
So who is Hinton Battle? Well, he's this guy that lives in LA, he has a great dog named Tama, and he loves to dance and teach.
Oct 14, 2008 Flying Into New Territory
At 24 years old, Braham Logan Crane is moving to the forefront of contemporary jazz choreographers. He is young, passionate and produces innovative work.
Oct 14, 2008 One on One with Tyce Diorio
Tyce Diorio is now a household name thanks to the success of FOX’s hit reality show “So You Think You Can Dance?” But most of the program’s younger...
Oct 14, 2008 Working WIth The Body You Have
Restriction. No one likes that word, whether one is speaking of limitations set by parents and teachers, or those set by one’s own body, such as not being...
Oct 13, 2008 Code of Conduct: How a Dress Code Can Help Your Studio Run Smoothly
This time of year, parents everywhere are filling dance bags with new leotards, tights, ballet shoes, leg warmers and all the other accoutrements...
Oct 13, 2008 Letters, I Write Letters…
…I don’t write too many letters. Amen! Because if you got a letter from me it meant that something was not gelling or perhaps there might even be a problem.
Oct 13, 2008 Widgets and the Arts
The widget inventor sells his design to a manufacturer. Widgets are produced and offered for sale. Lots of people buy them, and everyone makes money.
Oct 13, 2008 Crafty Costuming
Have you ever sat down, jittery with excitement to watch a dance routine, only to be distracted by an ill-fitting or ill-conceived costume?
Oct 13, 2008 Going Live A 5, 6, 7, 8!
The best accompaniment for any dance class is live accompaniment -- period. It is hard to argue otherwise. Some may say, "Hey, we have entered the digital age.
Oct 13, 2008 Battle Cry: Sonya Tayeh’s Distinctive Voice
Sonya Tayeh is a firecracker. She bursts with persistence, innovation and indulgence in her art form. To talk to her, one would think she’s been...
Oct 10, 2008 The Lyrical Debate
The quivering lip. The arm reach to the audience. The melodramatic drop to the floor. Lyrical, if not fully understood by its performers and viewers, can sometimes provide comic relief to critics of the dance.
Sep 1, 2008 Abductors and Adductors
“My thighs are huge!” “I hate my legs!” “I have saddlebags!” “What can I do to make my legs look better?” Most dancers, in all disciplines, have a love-hate...
Aug 29, 2008 Rennie Harris: Sharing the Hip-Hop Legacy
Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris has been on the educational trail since he was a founding member of the Scanner Boys, a Philadelphia crew. Even earlier, at the age of 14
Aug 29, 2008 Yoga For The Dancer: The Various Yoga Disciplines XVIII
Lucid waking is far more important than lucid dreaming. This is the art of living with mindfulness, of being present in each moment throughout the day.
Aug 29, 2008 Studio for Rent
Renting studio space to others is an interesting consideration for many studio owners across the country. Should I or shouldn’t I?
Aug 29, 2008 When Parents Cross the Line, Teachers Must Step In
Participating in dance competitions can be a rewarding and enriching experience for students as well as their parents.
Aug 29, 2008 Doing It Yourself
There are many reasons for not retaining counsel, and they are usually expressed with a dollar sign. In truth, small businesses do not have big budgets for legal fees.
Aug 29, 2008 After 20 years in hip-hop, Dave Scott is everywhere you look
Dave Scott has a problem most artists can only dream about while they are waiting for their big break.
Aug 29, 2008 One Love:Tabitha and Napoleon Take on Life, Love, and Hip-Hop Together
The hip hop choreographers, teachers and directors Tabitha and Napoleon D’Umo, are in love – both with their work and with each other.
Aug 29, 2008 From Ballerina to the Queen of Krump: The Party’s Just Begun for Marquisa Gardner
If you take a krumping class at the Debbie Reynolds Studio in North Hollywood, Calif., you won’t see Marquisa Gardner’s name listed among the instructors.
Aug 29, 2008 Earl “Snake Hips” Tucker: The King of Hip-Hop Dance?
Could a man nicknamed “Snake Hips” whose erotic pelvic tilts and twirls shocked Harlem audiences in the mid-1920s be a forefather of today’s hip-hop dance revolution?
Aug 29, 2008 Robin Dunn Gives Hip-Hop a F.A.C.E.-Lift
It’s not often that you hear “locking,” “turnout,” and “namaste” in a single breath. That is, unless, you are in conversation with Robin Dunn.
Aug 29, 2008 Keeping an Eye on Taste: Thoughts on Age Appropriate Music, Costumes, and Choreography
In the early years of competitions, the phrase “age appropriate” was rarely if ever heard. Now, it resonates through one’s ears on a weekly basis.
Aug 29, 2008 The Teacher Behind the Mask
The Jabbawockeez’s Kevin Brewer just might have the hip-hop answer to spiritual oneness: His groundbreaking teaching philosophy called Beat Kune Do.
Jul 31, 2008 Staying Healthy On the Road, Part II: Conditioning and Cross-Training for Dancers On the Road
How does a person keep any normal activity in their life when they are confined to a seat in the plane that was invariably designed for a person with severe osteoporosis? Flight attendants frown on jogging...
Jul 31, 2008 Philadelphia – Contemporary Collaboration
There may be cities with as many contemporary companies as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but they’d find it hard to challenge Philadelphia’s spirit of collaboration. The locals think it’s part of their heritage.
Jul 31, 2008 The Finer Pointes: A Fitting with Pointe Shoe Expert Karen Schultz-McGuire
I am waiting for my next appointment to arrive for a pointe shoe fitting. The customer has been referred to me by Cheryl Abbott-Madeux, a former dancer with Joffrey Ballet and American Ballet Theatre...
Jul 31, 2008 The Spectrum of Contemporary Ballet: Giving Your Students a Leg Up
To discuss dance, we grapple with a variety of terms: modern, post-modern, classical, neoclassical, contemporary, contemporary ballet and more. We volley this lexicon back and forth, assuming that the meaning...
Jul 31, 2008 Where are the Female Ballet Choreographers?
In all likelihood, if you have ever taken a ballet class, about 85 percent of your fellow dancers were female. This tends to be true whether you are an eager 6-year-old conscientiously stretching your leg forth in tendu at the bar, a BFA
Jul 31, 2008 Going Green?
The worst part of running your studio is the pile of paper screaming at you, demanding your attention, fighting for your time, competing with…business! And now, paper is politically incorrect.
Jul 31, 2008 Managing Teachers
On the subject of studio management, few issues are more important than hiring good teachers. But what is the key to finding the right match? And what do you do when an instructor who seemed ideal...
Jul 31, 2008 The Teacher Becomes the Student
Dancer, choreographer, teacher and now filmmaker, Charlotte Griffin still considers herself, above all, a student. A graduate of Julliard, and winner of the prestigious Martha Hill Award, Griffin has taught at Marymount Manhattan...
Jul 31, 2008 Dance the LINE
Jul 31, 2008 The Dream Makers’ Ballet
Long before there was a ‘Dr. McDreamy’ on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy”, there were two McDreamy entertainers who lit up the performance stage. Brought together through collaboration with modern choreographer Twyla Tharp...
Jul 31, 2008 Rhythm Tap Hits Oklahoma
February rain and snow did not chill the energy of the first tap festival held at the Edith Kinney Gaylord Center-Ann Lacy School of American Dance located on the campus of Oklahoma City University.
Jul 31, 2008 Dancing Dean: Ethan Stiefel Leaps Into a New Role at the North Carolina School of the Arts
On the eve of his performance as Solor in American Ballet Theatre’s “La Bayadère” opposite Julie Kent, Ethan Stiefel takes a moment to speak with me about his new appointment as Dean of the School of Dance at the...
Jul 31, 2008 Cyd Charisse - Who brought the beauty of bellet to the movies, Dies at 86
In the legendary MGM musical "Singin' in the Rain," a gorgeous woman is seen
leaning into a chair wearing an electric green dress and puffing on a long
cigarette holder.
Jun 29, 2008 Washington, D.C. – Dance Blossoms
Washington, D.C., home to the renowned annual cherry blossom festival, is also home to a blossoming dance culture. Washington plays host to about 185 embassies...
Jun 29, 2008 Living Tissue: Teaching and Learning Butoh in the 21st Century
The word “butoh” means “dance step” in Japanese and “Butoh,” or “Ankoku Butoh” as it was called by founder Tatsumi Hijikata, refers to the “dance of utter darkness”...
Jun 29, 2008 Foreclosure/Forbearance/For Sale!/For Keeps
Last year, when Frank J. was shopping for a condominium apartment, he was worried that he wouldn’t qualify for a mortgage.
Jun 29, 2008 International Cooperation
Jun 27, 2008 Roxane Butterfly and World Dance
Her mentor, master tapper Jimmy Slyde who died on May 16, dubbed her "Papillon (butterfly) because…she flies!” She’s also called a “maverick in her field.”
Jun 27, 2008 The Embodiment of a Legend
South India's Bharata Natyam is among the oldest of classical Indian dance forms. Ancient sculptures throughout South India depict the many complex...
Jun 27, 2008 A “World” wind of Dance
I know it is Tuesday for sure when I hear the coins on the belly dance students’ hip bands clink as they arrive for their weekly class.
Jun 27, 2008 The Embodiment of a Legend
South India's Bharata Natyam is among the oldest of classical Indian dance forms. Ancient sculptures throughout South India depict the many complex poses used in the art.
Jun 27, 2008 Backstage
Jun 27, 2008 Katherine Dunham: Modern Dance Pioneer
Every dancer must possess a hint of the willingness to literally leap into the unknown from time to time. In the midst of the Great Depression in America, a young black woman...
May 27, 2008 A Coup for Dance: Rose Eichenbaum's "The Dancer Within" Travels the Nation
May 27, 2008 Why You Need Pilates in Your Dance Studio
May 27, 2008 Dance on Location: Los Angeles – Commercial Dance Destination
May 27, 2008 Thinking Man’s Dancer
May 27, 2008 Crunch
May 27, 2008 Tappin' In: Gus Giordano…A Jazz Dance Pioneer
May 27, 2008 Agent Advice
May 27, 2008 Developing Versatility through a Variety of Visitors from the Field
Apr 22, 2008 The Contagious Passion of Debbi Dee
In 2002, Oklahoma City University awarded honorary doctorates to nine legendary tap dancers. The “Doctors of Dance”...
Apr 22, 2008 Jason Samuels Smith: Tapping Into History
Jason Samuels Smith is a 27-year-old tap dance phenomenon inspired by legends both near and far. Raised in New York City’s Broadway Dance Center, Smith was introduced to dance by...
Apr 21, 2008 No Rules, Just Dance: The Lombard Twins, Teaching Tap on Their Own Terms
In the 1980s in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a pair of bright-eyed identical twins huddled around a tiny black and white television set. They had to hit it with their fists just to make it work.
Apr 21, 2008 Crunch
We’re not talking crudités. It’s the economy! And it affects everyone, not just homeowners who are having trouble meeting their mortgage payments. Credit is tighter.
Apr 21, 2008 Making a Difference Through Dance
As conscionable artists, dancers understand the power of their influence on issues as far-reaching as politics, health, civil rights and prejudice.
Apr 21, 2008 Master Class with Anthony Morigerato
“All teachers have a responsibility to keep being students,” explains Anthony Morigerato, one of the most sought after tap teachers on the competition circuit today.
Apr 21, 2008 Gus Giordano
Founder and Director of Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, author, legendary choreographer and one of the fathers of American jazz dance passed away quietly in Chicago on Sunday, March 9 from pneumonia. He was 84.
Mar 27, 2008 Master Tap Teacher Randy Skinner…Talks about his long career both on Broadway and at “Encores.”
Randy Skinner is known as a “tap person.” That’s not a label he dislikes. “If you become an expert in something and you have an identity--that’s a good thing,” he said.
Mar 27, 2008 Broadway Shows
Broadway fans: Here's a comprehensive listing of current Broadway shows as well as the many touring companies bringing live theatre to regional America.
Mar 27, 2008 Beauty Barre
For April, a little something, a little of everything, all dedicated to bringing your Broadway beauty to the forefront.
Mar 27, 2008 Getting There: Leading Your Students to the Great White Way
Students from countless studios and academies from coast to coast aspire to Broadway careers.
Mar 27, 2008 Putting Together a Studio Production
There are two types of productions in the dance studio arena. There is the non-competition production and the production made especially for...
Mar 27, 2008 Dance on Camera Festival
The Dance on Camera Festival held yearly at the Walter Reade Theatre, at Lincoln Center co-sponsored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
Mar 27, 2008 The DVD Corner
An English dance critic once stated that the world was divided into two groups: ballet dancers and those who have never danced!
Mar 27, 2008 Yoga for the Dancer: The Various Yoga Disciplines, cont.
The wisdom of Yoga can be applied through activities and situations with every opportunity you can obtain.
Mar 27, 2008 Cross Training and Conditioning for Dancers
To me, muscles used to be something dancers stretched a lot. I was very, very good at that. Muscles were supposed to be kept long and lean – “elongated.”
Feb 26, 2008 Leaping Into The Web
In the 21st century the internet is to business what music is to dance: essential for creative growth. “Having an internet presence is indispensable for dance studios of all sizes,” says Doug Fox...
Feb 25, 2008 Intro to Modern Dance: Planning a Well Rounded Curriculum
Setting the curriculum for any dance class is by no means an easy task. Not only do you have to tailor the course to fit the needs of your organization and your students, but the majority of the preparations have to be done before you face your students.
Feb 21, 2008 Beauty Barre
We’re giving you your MARCHing orders…six ways to look and feel great inside and out, and then you’ll be ready to spring forward (on March 9—don’t forget!).
Feb 20, 2008 The DVD Corner
The camera can play with space, the human body, and movement in ways that extend and sometimes wow the viewer. This comes as no surprise given the abundance of movies and computer games with special effects.
Feb 20, 2008 Seeking A Healthy Dance Community, Part II
This month’s article on health care issues in the dance world takes a pirouette turn for the better. In the San Francisco dance community, dancers can select from a variety of dance injury resources.
Feb 20, 2008 Continuing Education Listings
Feb 20, 2008 Lori Belilove Brings Isadora Duncan to Life
As a young girl growing up in Berkeley, California I was certainly exposed to dance and all the arts. So, in this environment, I was taken to ballet class at age 5 and I thought it was very stupid.