Dance Teacher back issues from September 2008:
Reaching Out & Aiming High
Sep 01, 2008; ... As I've noted here before, the world of higher ed has sometimes been called elitist. It's an outdated view, at best, especially given today's global, techdriven society. But even if academics did want to ignore the outside world, they could hardly afford to do so these days-as, ...
chat room
Sep 01, 2008; ... Call for Submissions Dance Teacher Instructional Videos of the Month sponsored by Harlequin Dance Floors Want to broaden your reach as a dance educator? Post your instructional video at www.dancemedia.com, and it could be spotlighted as the DT Instructional Video of the ...
Faux Pas
Sep 01, 2008; ... In "Broadway Bound" (DT June 2008), a Loshin's Dancewear costume was referred to as "My ...
ask the experts
Sep 01, 2008; ... Q How do I help students choose between a liberal arts university and a dance conservatory? What are the pros and cons of each? A You can usually tell the students who are looking for a conservatory with a more professional setting, because they are determined to become career dancers ....
Vaganova International Method Conference/Demonstration
Sep 01, 2008; ... The annual Vaganova International Method Conference/Demonstration, held at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, provides teachers with a rare opportunity to study a system of ballet education that is steeped in nearly three centuries of history and cultural tradition. Indeed, ...
Save the Date
Sep 01, 2008; ... Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey coming next month The fourth annual Youth Dance Festival of New Jersey will take place in Hackensack, New Jersey, October 4 and 5, at the Bergen County Academies Theater. Hosted by Kozlov Dance International, the festival is an artistic and ...
Grand Opening
Sep 01, 2008; ... Manhattan Movement & Arts Center opens its doors. Master dance teachers Luigi, David Howard and Eleanor D'Antuono were among those who turned out to celebrate the opening of Manhattan Movement & Arts Center this summer. They are part of the all-star faculty Executive Director ...
Dance Donations
Sep 01, 2008; ... * The Colburn Dance Institute, part of the Colburn School of Performing Arts in downtown Los Angeles, has received a $9 million gift from an anonymous donor. The endowment is the largest individual donation after Richard Colburn's founding gift. In related news, CDI has been renamed the ...
Deadline Alert!
Sep 01, 2008; ... Dance teachers who wish to nominate a student for the annual Harlequin Floors Dance Scholarship Program must mail applications no later than November 1. U.S. and Canadian citizens between the ages of 15 and 21 are eligible for the awards; students must be enrolled in a public or private ...
Happy Anniversary!
Sep 01, 2008; ... * Jubilee Dance Theatre's recent fifth-anniversary celebration was a hard-won milestone. The Florida-based nonprofit organization lost its space at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center near Fort Lauderdale last December, and has since been holding classes in a temporary ...
Dance Takes Capitol Hill
Sep 01, 2008; ... NDEO gives dance teachers a lesson in lobbying. Most dance teachers have a knack for making a roomful of 10-year-olds be quiet and listen, but they may not know how to capture the attention of their local lawmakers. The National Dance Education Organization took steps to change that this ...
Honors List
Sep 01, 2008; ... Florida Arts School earns statewide recognition. North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts has been named a 2008 ARTS Achieve! Model School by Arts for a Complete Education/Florida Alliance for Arts Education. "It's a big honor," says Principal Douglas Santini. "The teachers and students ...
Growth Chart
Sep 01, 2008; ... The Washington School of Ballet announces expansion. The Washington School of Ballet is now serving young dancers in Virginia, thanks to a new partnership with the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association. Classes for children ages 4 to 8 began August 25 at the Athenaeum in ...
Paying Tribute
Sep 01, 2008; ... Taye Diggs honors his former dance teacher in ad campaign. Taye Diggs may be big on Broadway and the silver screen, but he hasn't forgotten the people who helped him get there. The Rochester, New York, native recently chose his former School of the Arts dance teacher, Mary Lee Miller, to ...
A Hopeful Message
Sep 01, 2008; ... Esteemed Broadway performer Ben Vereen brought a little razzle-dazzle to Little Rock, Arkansas, in July to help raise money for a new $32-million center for brain research at the University of Arkansas. Vereen visited hospital patients and a few days later gave a benefit performance that ...
Curtain Call
Sep 01, 2008; ... Ballet Hispanico founder will step down in 2009. Tina Ramirez, founder and artistic director of Ballet Hispanico, has announced that she will resign from her position in the summer of 2009. In her 38 years at the helm, Ramirez has transformed Ballet Hispanico from a community dance ...
In Memoriam: Jeri Packman
Sep 01, 2008; ... Philadelphia dance educator Jeri Packman, who taught creative movement to Philadelphia children and teachers for more than 60 years, passed away on July 1. It was her 88th birthday. "My mother had a flair for the dramatic," says her daughter, Hedra Packman. "She left this world when she ...
New Faces
Sep 01, 2008; ... * Russell P. Allen will assume his new post as executive director of The Washington Ballet on September 2. Allen comes to TWB from Orlando Ballet, where he was executive director since 2004. Info: www.washingtonballet.org * ...
In Memoriam: Cyd Charisse
Sep 01, 2008; ... Beloved film dancer Cyd Charisse, one of America's most beloved film dancers and a favorite partner of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, passed away June 17 after suffering a heart attack. She was believed to be 86. Charisse was born in Amarillo, Texas, and began dancing at age 6 to ...
In Memoriam: Irina Baronova
Sep 01, 2008; ... "Baby ballerina" Irina Baronova, one of George Balanchine's famous "baby ballerinas," died June 28 at her home in Australia. She was 89. Born in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) in 1919, Baronova and her family fled to Romania when she was 18 months old in the aftermath of the ...
PRODUCTS
Sep 01, 2008; ... Dancers ages 3 and up will love watching the Ballet Practice/Recital Topsy Turvy 12'' Doll by North American Bear Co., Inc. flip from a practicing bunhead into a recitalready ballerina. Info: www.nabear.com Dance enthusiasts can learn 100 new and classic moves from the "Napoleon ...
Southern CHARM
Sep 01, 2008; ... As director of dance at the University of Alabama, Cornelius Carter opens up a world of possibilities for his students. With his quick laugh and huge smile, it's easy to see why Cornelius Carter is a magnet for dance students at the University of Alabama. But they also love him for being ...
The 2008 Dance Teacher Awards
Sep 01, 2008; ... Get to know this year's winners-Elizabeth Fernandez-Flores, Kee-Juan Han, Jan Van Dyke and Sanja Korman. PRIVATE STUDIOS AND CONSERVATORIES Elizabeth Fernandez-Flores New American Youth Ballet New York, NY www.newamericanyouthballet.org At just 13 ...
Audition Advice
Sep 01, 2008; ... Faculty members from four of the country's top university dance programs offer insights into their audition processes. DT: DESCRIBE YOUR AUDITION PROCESS. Susan Glazer, UA: It's a two-way process: We are auditioning them, but they are auditioning us as well. We start with a group ...
BATTLE OF THE BUDGET
Sep 01, 2008; ... As states struggle with massive deficits, public colleges and universities are feeling the sting of budget cuts. With arts programs targeted for elimination or downsizing, dance departments are taking action now in hopes of staying afloat. by Lauren Green Despite a nationwide appeal to ...
Law Professor: Indian Classical Dancer
Sep 01, 2008; ... Natasha Bakht never really had to choose between her legal and dance careers. In fact, until she was 22 and received an invitation to dance full time at the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company in London, Bakht (who is from Toronto) didn't realize that being an Indian classical dancer could even ...
Gyrotonic Trainer
Sep 01, 2008; ... Alessandra Corona never planned to teach. "It just happened," she says. When Corona turned 15, her ballet instructor invited her to be an assistant teacher in her hometown of Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy. Two years later, Signora Reccia, a local woman devoted to dance, built a studio, says ...
Arts Administrator: Dance Photographer
Sep 01, 2008; ... Sarah Ferguson can't stop. Not only does she work full time as education administrator for the Richmond Ballet and perform with the Richmond, Virginia-based Starr Foster Dance Project, but more and more, her dance photography is in high demand. She never wonders what to do with the dance degree ...
Dancewear Designer: Business Owner
Sep 01, 2008; ... Patricia Barker started creating her own leotards shortly after she joined Pacific Northwest Ballet when she realized she was no longer tied to wearing only black leotards as she did as a student. But now that she could wear whatever she wanted, she found that many leotards available at the time ...
Stage Designer: Multimedia Artist
Sep 01, 2008; ... Making the transition from dancer to designer and multimedia artist, as Benjamin Pierce did on retiring September, 2003, was not so much a choice as it was a genetic predisposition. "Look, my father is a painter and photographer," notes the lanky Baltimore native. "My mother is a textile ...
Hollywood Actress
Sep 01, 2008; ... Growing up with images of dance role models like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Twyla Tharp, Victoria De Mare believed that dancing could be her life-long career. But when she suffered a break in her fifth metatarsal at the age of 21, she was forced to reckon with a tough new reality. By that ...
Ballet Competition Director
Sep 01, 2008; ... Richard Chen See, 46, a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, will leave the stage in December, but he's certainly not leaving the dance community. Instead, he's moving to the other side of the stage as director of the New York International Ballet Competition, a role he assumed in April, ...
Arts Management for Dancers
Sep 01, 2008; ... Schools that offer courses or concentrations in both dance and arts management prepare dancers for the offstage side of the business-directing a company, operating a studio, or running a dance festival. An example is The Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management at Oklahoma City ...
More Balance
Sep 01, 2008; ... When injury interrupts a career Karen More's resumé reads like a dancers greatest-hits list. From gigs with modern companies like Donald Byrd/The Group and Elisa Monte Dance, to ensemble roles at Radio City Music Hall and in the European tour of West Side Story, the petite, sparkly-eyed ...
Enter, Bebe Neuwirth
Sep 01, 2008; ... In a glass-walled room above New York's 42nd Street, a group of dancers sit around a conference table, listening closely to Annette Lieberman explain why they need a financial plan. There are women in their 20s and men in their 40s, dancers just starting out and dancers looking a career ...
A Home for Ever-dancing Souls
Sep 01, 2008; ... Sherry Zunker brings retired dancers in Chicago back to class. "You don't dance anymore. Nobody prepares you for what that feels like," says retired Hubbard Street dancer Cheryl Mann. "You don't have your community. You don't see 20 people you're used to seeing every day. All of a sudden ...
Non-Majors Welcome
Sep 01, 2008; ... Dance faculty from five colleges and universities talk about integrating students with little or no dance experience into their programs. Just as the majority of students in biology 101 won't be going on to med school, many who take college dance classes aren't aiming for careers ...
Hip Hop Goes to College
Sep 01, 2008; ... Hip hop has swept the nation, but what is its place in higher education? While many dance studios have begun to make hip-hop classes a staple in recent years, colleges have not exactly followed suit, and many students are getting frustrated. "It only makes sense that hip hop should be ...
Stuck on the Sidelines
Sep 01, 2008; ... The pros and cons of surgery for dance teachers Nina Klyvert-Lawson, artistic director and dance program director of New York City's Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts, was touring with Ailey II in the mid-1980s when she first heard it-a loud "snap" coming from her knee after ...
Finding the Artist Within
Sep 01, 2008; ... Alice Teirstein helps teen dancers get in touch with their creative spirit. "Teenagers have something to say," insists New York City dance teacher Alice Teirstein, "and they can say it through dance." As the creator of the dance program at the progressive Ethical Culture ...
In Full Bloom
Sep 01, 2008; ... As Compton Dance Theatre thrives, Carol Bristol-Henry has planted the seeds of change for many inner-city dancers. Since its inception in 2002, Compton Dance Theatre has inhabited various spaces, but one element has always persisted: flowers-and more importantly, their growth. From ...
School Days
Sep 01, 2008; ... Create a recital based on High School Musical and prepare for a sold-out show. With all the buzz surrounding the release of Disney's High School Musical 3 next month, it's a great time to create your own high school-themed production. While copyright laws make it difficult to ...
Ballet Basics
Sep 01, 2008; ... Prima ballerina-turned-ballet teacher Eleanor D'Antuono gives a glimpse into her CD case to reveal her go-to music for class. Eleanor D'Antuono trained as a young girl with E. Virginia Williams, the founder of Boston Ballet, before beginning a professional career at age 14 with the ...
Lar Lubovitch
Sep 01, 2008; ... On the eve of his company's 40th anniversary, the genre-defying choreographer reflects on a multifaceted career. With more than 100 works to his name, many in the repertories of the world's top companies, Lar Lubovitch is one of the world's most prolific and well-known choreographers ....
The Modern Mode
Sep 01, 2008; ... Reap the benefits of adding modern to your studio's roster. Former Paul Taylor Dance Company member Heather Berest admits to having had an addiction to Graham technique in her youth. "I got hooked," she says of the style she studied at New York City's Martha Graham School of Contemporary ...
It Takes Two
Sep 01, 2008; ... Teach your students the skills needed to master partnering. One is fun, but two can be terrific. Partner dancing is all the rage today, with couples twirling and dipping everywhere on TY and in the movies. But before they can thrill audiences with a one-handed overhead lift, students ...
Joyous Jumps
Sep 01, 2008; ... Tips to help your ballerinas reach their full jump potential In flight, the most talented jumpers appear to be effortlessly suspended in mid-air. In actuality, every jump requires precision, technique and thought. Here, four experts weigh in on the essential building blocks of jumps and ...
Irmgard Bartenieff
Sep 01, 2008; ... Movement innovator In 1974, after moving from Brazil to New York City to work as a ballet dancer, I entered Irmgard Bartenieff's Laban Movement Studies Program looking for innovative ways to approach choreography. I studied and worked closely with her from 1974 to 1977, becoming one of ...
From the Ground Up
Sep 01, 2008; ... A look at the changing role of higher ed in supporting dance in the public sector It's hardly news that the scarcity of dance instruction in America's public schools hampers the artform's accessibility. Most young people develop a love for dance in private studios-whose reach is limited ...
Picture Perfect
Sep 01, 2008; ... PROBLEM: I can't seem to hire a great photographer for my school's picture day. SOLUTION: Ask all the right questions well in advance and you're bound to find the best fit. If you've faced the challenge of finding a good photographer-and have one or two bad experiences under your ...
The "It" Factor
Sep 01, 2008; ... Can stage presence be taught? DT investigates. For dance teachers preparing students for competition, all kinds of factors come into play when shaping the total performance package-from flawless technique to eye-catching choreography. Yet even with all the right puzzle pieces, a ...
From the Mat to the Barre
Sep 01, 2008; ... Learn how incorporating yoga into your classroom can benefit dancers of all ages. When a hectic teaching schedule left Katie Teuchtler feeling drained, the assistant dance professor at Ohio Wesleyan University sought a way to recharge her batteries. "I was working nonstop and really ...
Fancy Footwork
Sep 01, 2008; ... Find out how to spot dancers' most common foot problems-and nip them in the bud. Pointed. Flexed. Calloused. Blistered. Tired. Beautiful. Dancers' feet are many things, but most of all, they must be strong and healthy. Yet with the rigors of training-turning, jumping, relevéing and ...
Tipping the Scale
Sep 01, 2008; ... Two dance educators share their successes and failures in maintaining a healthy weight. Despite spending time in the studio every day, maintaining a healthy weight is often difficult for studio owners and teachers. Whether running a business leaves little time for proper nutrition and ...
Welcome Home
Sep 01, 2008; ... The business benefits of keeping alumni part of your dance family A studio's success relies, in part, on the achievement and growth of its students. Encouraging dancers who have gone off to college or left to pursue a professional career to remain active at your studio can be a ...