“DWTS” Pro Witney Carson on Launching Her Finesse App and Dancing With Robert Irwin

“DWTS” Pro Witney Carson on Launching Her Finesse App and Dancing With Robert Irwin

“Dancing with the Stars” dancer, choreographer, and mirrorball winner Witney Carson is always on the move. Lately, she’s been working with crocodile wrangler and wildlife activist Robert Irwin on the current season of “DWTS,” and on September 30, she launched her own dance-education app, Finesse. Witney Carson. Photo courtesy Guttman Associates Public Relations. Now available on the App Store and Google Play, Finesse uses virtual dance tutorials to teach combos created by Carson and fellow “DWTS” pro dancer Ezra Sosa, “DWTS” troupe dancer Hailey Bills, Briar Nolet, and Kelly Sweeney. It also features behind-the-scenes footage from the current “DWTS” season […]

Katie Drablos on Finding Freedom Through Dance

Katie Drablos has spent 16 years as a professional dancer, choreographer, and artist in New York City. Her career is full of remarkable achievements, but beyond that, Drablos is a profoundly impactful teacher. Known for her warmth, generosity, and rare ability to make dancers feel seen, she creates safe, joyful spaces where they can flourish freely. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Drablos discovered her love of teaching at a young age. After graduating from Southern Methodist University, she auditioned for the Rockettes on a whim, booked the job, and moved to New York at 22. Since then, she has performed in […]

World Ballet Day Is Back for 2025

World Ballet Day Is Back for 2025

World Ballet Day is back! And this time, it’s raising the “barre” with a new theme. Nearly every year, the 24-hour WBD celebration includes broadcasts of classes, rehearsals, interviews, and performances from ballet companies around the globe. After taking a break in 2024, the event returns on Wednesday, November 12, with a focus on accessibility. According to a press release from The Royal Ballet, this year’s WBD is about more than making ballet available to audiences worldwide; it’s about increasing “radical accessibility” in the art form itself. “Access Becomes Art: World Ballet Day 2025” encourages ballet companies to present work that promotes accessibility through […]

At Stanford, amara tabor-smith Explores a More Expansive Vision of Dance Education

An award-winning performer, choreographer, artistic director, and educator, amara tabor-smith taught at University of California, Berkeley, for more than a decade and, since 2017, has been an artist in residence at Stanford University, designing both courses and productions. “Everything is connected,” says tabor-smith about balancing priorities as a teacher and an artist. Expanding on the common model of dance in higher education that focuses on training dancers to be performers, tabor-smith asks how teaching dance can foster future leaders, politicians, and changemakers. For me, teaching is a collabo­ration­. I love when I get questions that I don’t know how to answer and […]

Let’s Talk About Breast Support in Ballet

I started wearing a sports bra under my leotard when I was 12. At first, the extra support helped me feel more secure in my rapidly changing body. But I was the only one at my school wearing one, and the same was true at my first intensive the next summer. While no one ever explicitly told me as much, to me, one message became clear: In the pre-professional space, sports bras did not belong—and neither did dancers who wore them.  I decided to abandon the bras. But ever since then, I’ve continued to think about the fraught topic of breasts in […]

The Royal Ballet School Announces New Teaching Pathways with RAD and ISTD

The Royal Ballet School’s Diploma of Dance Teaching (DDT) students will now be able to access the School’s Affiliate Programme and gain accredited teacher status with leading international dance education, training, and examination boards—The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD). “These new partnerships reflect our belief that outstanding teaching belongs in every studio, and we’re proud to support our graduates in shaping the future of dance wherever they teach and whoever they inspire,” Karen Berry, head of teacher training at The Royal Ballet School, said in a recent press release.  Students who […]

“Bottom of the Pyramid”: Nia Sioux, in Her Own Words

“Bottom of the Pyramid”: Nia Sioux, in Her Own Words

Eight years after her seven-season run on the hit reality show “Dance Moms” ended, Nia Sioux is ready to share her side of the story. The 24-year-old dancer, singer, and actress is releasing her memoir, Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life (Harper Horizon), on November 4. Chronicling her life both on and off camera during “Dance Moms,” the book reveals the show’s often toxic inner workings with unflinching honesty. One of six debut cast members, Sioux was consistently placed at the bottom of a weekly “pyramid” ranking the dancers’ […]