by Emily Katz | Aug 2, 2015 | Training
This story originally appeared in the August/September 2015 issue of Pointe. When choosing a pre-professional program, many dancers focus on the number of hours they’ll spend training in the studio. But technique is only one ingredient in the recipe for making a...
by Ashley Rivers | Jul 30, 2014 | Profiles
Boston Ballet soloist Dusty Button owes much of her success to the fast-paced world of dance competitions. In her early years, she competed in jazz and contemporary, and her first Youth America Grand Prix win landed her a spot at American Ballet Theatre’s...
by Kathleen McGuire | May 27, 2014 | Company Life
Jane Rehm was a top dancer at her studio in Toledo, Ohio, so it was a shock when she arrived at American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive at 14 and was placed in the lowest level. “I didn’t understand it,” says Rehm, who dances with Smuin...
by Julie Diana Hench | Mar 27, 2014 | Company Life
There are several technical hurdles that many dancers struggle to overcome, like raised shoulders and floppy wrists. Though they may seem like small details, they can stand between you and your next level—whether that’s entry to a prestigious summer...
by Amy Brandt | Nov 21, 2013 | Company Life
As the dancers took their places, Justine Essis Gildea, 17, had an intense case of the jitters. But she wasn’t onstage. The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet student was watching the debut of her ballet, Mishima, part of the 2012 FirstSteps CPYB Student...
by Lea Marshall | Sep 24, 2013 | Company Life
During her first semester with Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Rachel Silvern surprised herself. “Growing up, the focus was always on dancing to please others, to get cast in something,” she says. “But at Columbia, suddenly it wasn’t about who...
by Mary Ellen Hunt | Jul 22, 2013 | Company Life
Patricia Zhou remembers hearing her coach’s encouraging voice in her head as she competed at the Beijing International Ballet Invitational in 2010. Now in the corps of Staatsballett Berlin, Zhou says the days Viktor Kabaniaev spent coaching her ranked among the...
by Kathleen McGuire | Jun 2, 2013 | Company Life
The summer I turned 16, my head swirled with “what ifs” as I counted down the days until the start of the Chautauqua intensive. I’d attended the program four years earlier, and the experience had been a harrowing one—my first lesson in the...