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

Reverence—Just Do It

February 25, 2019

Ever taught a class or in a studio where the students haven’t been exposed to reverence? When you attempt to do that portion of class they react in a most awkward way. When they realize you expect them to applaud—oh… Read More

Reverence—Just Do It

Creating Fearless Turners

February 11, 2019

What is going to happen? When I push up to relevé for this pirouette, will I actually stay standing? Will I flail about? Will I make the finish? Will I look ridiculous?The Unknown is full of fright. For some students,… Read More

Creating Fearless Turners

Teaching Them to Ask Smart Questions

January 14, 2019

We all know there are plenty of unneeded questions. Of course, we want to encourage our students to ask any question they have, but really . . . sometimes the questions they ask are just plain dumb. My favorite one… Read More

Teaching Them to Ask Smart Questions

Emotional Needs Within The Ballet Classroom

November 12, 2018

Ballet dancers are artists and art reflects humanity. Therefore, ballet dancers must be highly in tune with their own humanity in order for their art to resonate. Most people drawn to pursuing the arts experience feelings in a profoundly deep… Read More

Emotional Needs Within The Ballet Classroom

Addressing Fear in Pointe Work

November 12, 2018

We all know how exciting it is to tell a student they are ready for pointe. But we also know the journey ahead in pointe work is fraught with obstacles and fears one absolutely must overcome if they are to… Read More

Addressing Fear in Pointe Work

Safer and Higher Jumping

October 29, 2018

Everyone wants to jump higher and no one wants to get hurt.   But I know I am not the only one who encounters students flailing themselves into the air with nary a care about how they get there and how… Read More

Safer and Higher Jumping

Create the Illusion of Flight

October 22, 2018

To say grand allegro was challenging for me would be an enormous understatement. I felt stuck in the ground. . . and I looked stuck.I did eventually work it out, though. Forcing myself to take men’s class played a role… Read More

Create the Illusion of Flight

How I Mix Up Port de Bras for My Students

October 15, 2018

BalancéTemps de FlecheSaut de ChatChassé EntournantTombé Pas de BourréeJust 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 dancers extend… Read More

How I Mix Up Port de Bras for My Students

Six Ways to Slay Petit Allegro

October 8, 2018

The thrill of petit allegro is intense. The adrenaline pushing through the body as it slices and dices the air cannot be matched. When done well, petit allegro leaves the audience wondering what they even just witnessed while simultaneously aching… Read More

Six Ways to Slay Petit Allegro

Train the Eyes

October 1, 2018

Eyes up.  Eyes down. Eyes gazing all around.The smallest details can make the largest impact, and that could not be more true than when it comes to the eyes. Piqué arabesque with the eyes remaining level and you have an… Read More

Train the Eyes

Hands and Fingers Make All the Difference

August 25, 2018

The advanced dancer looks for ways to set themselves apart from the rest. How can they make their pirouette look different from the dancer standing next to them? What quality can they inject into their petit allegro that will glue… Read More

Hands and Fingers Make All the Difference

Questioning Hands and Fingers

August 20, 2018

The intermediate dancer has a ton to think about. Not only in ballet, but in life. These kids are carrying so much stress around with them. Between school, friend drama, and nightmarish hormones, it is no wonder they come into… Read More

Questioning Hands and Fingers

Using Barre to Train Hands and Fingers

August 12, 2018

Training dancers from the start to be aware of their hands and fingers can make an enormous difference as they advance through the levels. But this small detail is easily overlooked because there is one other item we must teach… Read More

Using Barre to Train Hands and Fingers

Introduction to Pointe

February 19, 2018

Once a dancer has completed pre-pointe training, there is a transitional class needed before full pointe training can begin. This is an introduction (or orientation) to pointe work. I find a good many teachers skip this. Either they are… Read More

Introduction to Pointe

The Pre-Pointe Year

February 12, 2018

Pre-pointe is one of my favorite classes to teach. In part because I enjoy the age of most of the students (11-13 year olds), but also because the excitement of what is about to come is bubbling everywhere. The… Read More

The Pre-Pointe Year

Three Fundamentals of Safe Pointe Work

January 29, 2018

Above all, we prioritize safety. While we want our dancers whipping out strings of fouetté turns and series of hops en pointe, what we want more than that is for our dancers to have longevity and undamaged bodies.Pointe training is… Read More

Three Fundamentals of Safe Pointe Work

Ready for Pointe?

January 15, 2018

When will I be ready for pointe? It’s a question ballet teachers hear often. Especially if you teach in a school that doesn’t have clear policies in place regarding this topic. But even with clear policies we still encounter this… Read More

Ready for Pointe?

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

Starting Promenades

December 5, 2017

You know those ballet nightmare experiences? The ones where, in the moment, your entire ballet soul is being crushed by the weight of your hideous dancing? The ones where even years later you look back and still groan in pain… Read More

Starting Promenades

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

5 Ways to Ensure Safe Stretching

November 20, 2017

First, a little story . . .I was teaching a group of students who were new to me. I had them on their backs doing a stretch that would help them feel where their external rotators exist. While the stretch… Read More

5 Ways to Ensure Safe Stretching

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

A Fun Vocabulary Test

October 9, 2017

Ballet vocabulary. We want our students to have it. To understand how to speak the language. To be informed dancers. So we do any of the following things:Randomly ask them what any given ballet word means.Consistently reinforce the definitions before… Read More

A Fun Vocabulary Test

The One Thing I Prioritize in Pirouettes

September 26, 2017

There are turners and then there are . . . well, people like me.Who are people like me?We are the ones who are brilliant at showing just how hard pirouetting is. We fall. We flail. We flounder. But eventually it… Read More

The One Thing I Prioritize in Pirouettes