At 16, Eileen Kim faced a life-changing decision: Stay home to finish high school in Chicago or move to Washington D.C. to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer. After spending the summer at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in DC, she was accepted into the year-round program and begged her parents to let her go. Though she had only been training in ballet for two years, she took a leap of faith and went. Several leaps later, she is now a professional dancer, balancing her career with an ever-growing list of creative pursuits. In her childhood, Kim trained […]
7 Things to Keep in Mind When Setting Recital-Stage Lighting
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 […]
Letter From the Editor: Moving From Perfectionism to Progress
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 […]
Shubha Dhananjay to receive National Achievement Award from Srishti Institute of Performing Arts
Classical dancer Shubha Dhananjay, is this year’s recipient of the National Achievement Award, instituted by the Srishti Institute of Performing Arts
Allie Goodbun Brings the Magic of the Moulin Rouge to Dancers Everywhere
What does it take to move across the world, dance in Paris at the Moulin Rouge, become a content creator, and start a small business? Allie Goodbun can tell you, and if you follow her on social media, she probably already has. The 25-year-old Canadian consistently goes viral for her honest, intimate vlogs chronicling daily life as a Moulin Rouge dancer. She brings an almost shockingly down-to-earth angle to one of the most glamorous jobs imaginable with her warm personality and encouraging rhetoric. Dance Spirit caught up with Goodbun to talk creativity, Moulin–audition tips, and cartwheels in high heels. Getting […]
Choreographing Squeaky-Clean Dance Team Routines With Carsen Rowe and J’aime Griffith
The post Choreographing Squeaky-Clean Dance Team Routines With Carsen Rowe and J’aime Griffith appeared first on Dance Teacher.
Watch DT+ Teacher Talk: “Choreographing Squeaky-Clean Dance Team Routines”
Watch this hour-long conversation featuring TRIBE 99 founder and CEO Carsen Rowe, and J’aime Griffith, a professor at Grambling State University and the director of the school’s dance line, the Orchesis Dance Company, to discover the sure-fire ways you can make dance choreography compelling, innovative, and clean. The post Watch DT+ Teacher Talk: “Choreographing Squeaky-Clean Dance Team Routines” appeared first on Dance Teacher.
Vaibhav Arekar and the ever-expanding frontiers of his dance
The Mumbai-based Bharatanatyam dancer provides insights into his creative process and shares the importance of mentoring.
When a dance performance highlighted the beauty of songs
Urmila Satyanarayana and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi came together for the third edition of Natyarangam’s ‘Vaggeyakara Bharatham’.
Chaz Wolcott Keeps an Updated Perspective on Dance
It seems Chaz Wolcott has been on a whirlwind tour these past few years. While eager students had been flowing into his musical theater classes at Broadway Dance Center for years, he chose to take a big risk during the pandemic and leave New York City to explore university teaching and other endeavors. Photo by Michael Hull Photography, courtesy Wolcott. Putting his own teaching strategy in action, he made a gutsy decision to see what he could learn outside the city’s expansive, yet insular, scene. While spending time on faculty at Penn State University and University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of […]