by Katie Slattery | Mar 9, 2021 | Instagram, Technique, Training
What is it that makes walking in ballet so difficult to perform well? And why does a movement that seems so simple cause many dancers to feel uncomfortable and awkward? Raymond Lukens, associate emeritus and former artistic director of the ABT National Training...
by Julie Diana Hench For Dance Spirit | Aug 5, 2019 | Training
In theory, partnered pirouettes should be easier than regular pirouettes, right? After all, there are not one, but two of you there to make lots of smooth, glorious rotations happen. But in practice, they can be…complicated. (Just ask Kristi Capps, ballet...
by Chava Pearl Lansky | Jan 2, 2018 | Uncategorized
Though self-described “ballerina artist” Grace Earp, 17, has been drawing her whole life, she only started ballet three years ago. Earp, an Irvine, CA native, had been selling her art—mostly of cartoon princesses and animals—at conventions like...
by Madeline Schrock | Aug 30, 2017 | Health & Body, Technique
A beautifully winged foot is the perfect complement to an arabesque line. But according to Marika Molnar, president and founder of Westside Dance Physical Therapy, learning how—and when—to wing requires subtle work and an understanding of the leg’s alignment....
by Natalia Boesch | Jun 29, 2017 | Technique, Training
Few turns make dancers more tempted to cheat than pirouettes from fifth, especially doubles. Colburn Dance Academy director Jenifer Ringer gives her tips for nailing them every time. 1. Have faith in your fifth: It’s hard to trust that your fifth position will...
by Amy Brandt | Jun 15, 2017 | Technique
Penché. So simple, yet so tough. Here, San Francisco Ballet School faculty member Tina LeBlanc offers her tips for a beautifully supported penché. Think three-dimensionally: “A penché is not just front and back, or down and up,” says Tina LeBlanc....