Articles

Cue Phrases

April 8, 2019

Cue phrases can be both helpful and fun for teachers and students.  I remember one piece I choreographed on my advanced dancers. They were having difficulties with this circular formation and somehow I related it to a “pit of despair”. Read More

Cue Phrases

How I Mix Up Port de Bras for My Students

October 15, 2018

BalancéTemps de FlecheSaut de ChatChassé EntournantTombé Pas de Bourrée Just a few steps for which many dancers have a default port de bras. There are many steps that would make it on this list. Maybe at one school all the… Read More

How I Mix Up Port de Bras for My Students

Spacing Little Dancers on Stage

April 23, 2018

Spacing can be a true disaster on stage. For anyone. I remember very specifically one moment in my professional career where I ran into another dancer. Literally, just smacked right into her. Yes, my director let me know how unhappy… Read More

Spacing Little Dancers on Stage

Ten Parts of Performing for Little Dancers

April 16, 2018

There is so much more to a successful performance than what happens on stage. There is the before and the after. But often times these parts get overlooked or completely forgotten in younger classes. With the pressure to get everyone… Read More

Ten Parts of Performing for Little Dancers

Three Performance Goals for Little Dancers

March 26, 2018

Putting the youngest dancers on stage can be frightening. We never really know what is going to happen once they get out there. We can prepare them to the best of our ability and even send an assistant out there… Read More

Three Performance Goals for Little Dancers

Performance Choreography for Tiny Dancers

March 20, 2018

From the well seasoned ballet teacher to the novice, and everyone in between, putting together a performance piece for the youngest dancers can be tricky. Set The Expectations . . . For Yourself Choreographing for 3-6 year olds can feel… Read More

Performance Choreography for Tiny Dancers

Four Tips For Building Reversing Skills

December 11, 2017

I willingly admit to being a reverse junkie. If there was time enough, I would have my students reverse everything. I find the puzzle of reversing enthralling and always come away from it feeling a little more the wiser for… Read More

Four Tips For Building Reversing Skills

Mixing Up Port de Bras

November 27, 2017

NOTE: This is geared specifically for teachers of more advanced students. Lower leveled students do require consistency with port de bras so they can remain focused primarily on technique. Once technique is established with any given step, then the world… Read More

Mixing Up Port de Bras

A Choreography Project

November 13, 2017

Looking for a productive way to switch up the pace of class? Perhaps your students are interested in choreography and you want a simple way to introduce them to basic composition concepts? Maybe your students need some assistance being a… Read More

A Choreography Project

My Simple Method of Ballet Notation

June 9, 2017

Writing ballet down on paper. What an ordeal. When I was younger, I used to make up little dances all the time, as most young dancers do. I would try to write them down but it never turned out too… Read More

My Simple Method of Ballet Notation

Building Smart Dancers

April 9, 2017

What good is knowing how to do 17 pirouettes if you don’t know when to do 17 pirouettes? What good is being able to extend your leg far behind your head if you don’t understand the nuances behind lovely extension?… Read More

Building Smart Dancers

Turning Recitals Into Education

March 30, 2017

Ballet recitals aren’t going away. I get that. I know when I was a young dancer I looked forward to recital with all kinds of anticipation. It was perfectly exciting. And without that experience I would not have known the… Read More

Turning Recitals Into Education

Balancing Discipline and Artistry

January 20, 2017

Two dancers. One possesses all the creativity that could exist in a human being. Put her in a story ballet and she will cause the earth to quake with profound emotion. But look for the briefest moment at her footwork… Read More

Balancing Discipline and Artistry

Thoughts on Musicality

November 7, 2016

Ah. . . music.  It holds some kind of special magic. Want to liven up a party? Put on some music. Want to relax? Put on some music. Want to feel motivated at the gym? Put on some… Read More

Thoughts on Musicality

The Ultimate Survival Guide for Teaching Pre-Ballet

February 19, 2016

I can still vividly remember being interviewed for my first job as a ballet teacher. My director asked if I would be willing to teach “the little ones”. One side of me—the arrogant, naive, “I’m too good to teach little… Read More

The Ultimate Survival Guide for Teaching Pre-Ballet

Quality in Performing

June 4, 2015

Many of us teachers are in the midst of preparation for recital season. This is such a crazy, wonderful time of year for teachers, students and the school as a whole. Recital week hits and choreography is learned, pictures are… Read More

Quality in Performing

10 Ways to Make the Most of Recital Night

June 3, 2015

An article has gone around the internet with some funny, sarcastic tips on how to make dance recitals “suck less”. In my honest opinion, the whole recital experience can be painful, drawn out and excruciating, it’s… Read More

10 Ways to Make the Most of Recital Night

Choreographic Advice for Teachers

January 23, 2015

“Never let an opportunity go without adding your enlightening [movement] to further the cause of the loftiest, oldest, most profound of the arts and, in so doing, I sincerely believe that you will be… Read More

Choreographic Advice for Teachers

Six Choreographic Guidelines for Threes

November 16, 2014

It surprised me this year how much of a struggle it is to choreograph for three and four year olds! Doesn’t seem like a huge task; after all, they’re only preschoolers! They’ve hardly scratched the surface of ballet technique, what… Read More

Six Choreographic Guidelines for Threes

No-Stress Performance Prep

November 10, 2014

In my last blog post, (The Dance Teacher’s Secret Weapon) I gave out the secret that every dance teacher should grab a hold of and use the moment any students begin to show signs of burnout or boredom. Having… Read More

No-Stress Performance Prep

The Dance Teacher's Secret Weapon: Expectancy

November 6, 2014

It’s been one of those weeks. We all know them—toward the end of the first term, dance teachers often experience their first bouts of student burnout. Everything was great when we first started the semester, but now the students have already… Read More

The Dance Teacher's Secret Weapon: Expectancy

Preparing for Recital

September 29, 2014

Believe it or not, the time is fast approaching for teachers to begin thinking about what they’d like their classes to do in their year-end performance. Don’t believe me? Just ask any director of any school anywhere and they’re probably… Read More

Preparing for Recital