There are a lot of balls in the air when you’re planning a student performance. Between creating choreography and choosing costumes, one element that can easily get overlooked is stage lighting. Fortunately, you don’t need to be an expert lighting designer yourself—whether your theater provides a crew or you bring outside help, most of the time you’ll be able to collaborate with someone who knows all the technical ins and outs. Still, here are seven things to keep in mind to make sure you show off your students in their best, well, light.  Focus on Your Overall Vision Unless you’re […]

Let’s face it: We work in a high-pressure dance environment that makes it difficult to maintain a healthy perspective. Oftentimes, our students are the victims of punishing perfectionism, but we dance teachers can be just as susceptible.  If you’re looking for professional advice on helping your students cope with perfectionism and performance anxiety as well as tips for managing your own inner critic, join me for our next DT+ Teacher Talk with performance psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Hutter and writer and mental health advocate Kathleen McGuire Gaines, on Thursday, May 8, at 12 pm ET. You can register for this discussion […]

Classical dancer Shubha Dhananjay, is this year’s recipient of the National Achievement Award, instituted by the Srishti Institute of Performing Arts