Upcoming Dates

The countdown to our end-of-year performances has officially begun! We’ve shared valuable resources on everything from managing rehearsals to staying healthy and keeping nerves in check, over the last few months. This month, we’re focusing on that one committed group in our communities, our parent volunteers, who work side by side with us to make everything possible. You’ll find out how other studio leaders are navigating the ins and outs of working with their parent volunteers, so you too can make the most of their incredibly resourceful partnership in your own school. Later this month, you’ll hear from National Dance […]

As a musical-theater teacher, Rachel Leigh Dolan feels a certain obligation to honor the music she’s using in class. After all, it’s right in the name of the genre, she points out. “I take that label seriously,” she says. “There’s never a time when music isn’t intentional.”  That means that a song is always her starting point for any combo or bigger piece of choreography. But the deliberate hand-picking of tracks really begins with the warm-up playlist that she uses for all of her classes at Steps on Broadway and Pace University. As a long-time yoga teacher, Dolan designed it […]

The ballet studio has historically had rigid gender-normative standards. But making it a space where artists of all genders feel affirmed and respected in their identities will only enrich the art form. “I think to have an interesting future for ballet requires developing creative humans that can play,” says educator and Ballez founder Katy Pyle. “Can we all imagine a future where we have the most talented dancers onstage and not just the dancers that fit into the archetypes that have been prescribed from history?”  There are concrete steps the people at the front of the room can take to make […]

Kavyaa chose the timeless ragamalika varnam composed by Dandayudapani Pillai to convey the angst of the Virahotkanditha nayika.

Mumbai-based Noel Alexander, who has his roots in Kerala, is overwhelmed by the response for the video

As a member of the ground-breaking dance collective Judson Dance Theater in the 1960s, Trisha Brown carved out a reputation as a highly innovative choreographer. Over six decades, she created a diverse body of more than 100 works, using a process-oriented approach and rule-based structures. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, Brown studied ballet, tap, jazz and acrobatics as a child. After receiving a dance degree from Mills College in 1958, she taught at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. In 1960, she attended pioneering dance artist Anna Halprin’s summer workshop near San Francisco. She was inspired by Halprin’s use of structured improvisation. […]

Natalia Gonzalez sets the tone for every Miami HEAT dancer’s audition by reminding hopefuls that each “no” is a chance to learn and improve. Gonzalez would know—she auditioned for the team four times before making it. Originally from Miami, Gonzalez grew up dancing ballet before attending New World School of the Arts. It was there, she says, that she realized dance was something she could do for the rest of her life. After school, Gonzalez took a handful of professional dance jobs and toured with performing artists before deciding to build her dance career in her hometown.  Four auditions, four […]

As a teen, I vividly remember struggling with focus in dance classes. Whether learning combinations or receiving generalized feedback, my mind would zigzag in and out of the studio. Realizing I was no longer mentally present, I would panic, fearing my teachers would notice or I was stunting progress. Yet, somehow, once beckoned to dance, my anxiety would subside and I became laser-focused, recalling exercises, counting music, and applying corrections all at once. In hindsight, signs I had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were clear. Still, it took nearly 25 more years to stumble upon my diagnosis. I believe we best […]