Ballerine

There are so many different types of ballet teachers out there, certified ones ( from ABT,  Royal, Cecchetti, etc), the ones who were prima ballerinas once, the ones who graduated from a top ballet school or the ones that just graduated from a small neighborhood school. But what really makes a difference between a great teacher and, let's say " just a teacher". Being a ballet teacher is usually very hard work. The different types of methodology usually apply to the majority of the student but it is important to remember that each student is different in all aspects, physically, mentally, spiritually, etc...  First, each individual has a different body and they respond differently to each exercise and if a teacher doesn't adapt the class and help each student individually, probably only half of the class will get to the point it was first determined. Second, the teacher must always be attentive to the best way her student respond to, some students do respond w...

If you are a ba llet dancer in training and especially if you are already looking for companies to audition, it would help you a lot if before going all the way there, you could understand a little bit about the company and what they usually tend to look for in a dancer. To begin with there are HUGE differences in companies depending on what continent they are located. For example, there  are some commonalities that most European ballet companies do not share with American ballet companies. This is evident in company repertoire, but also in the way they work internally. Here I've chosen 5 different companies around the world to talk about. The Bolshoi Ballet It was founded in 1776 in Moscow They usually hire from the Vaganova Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 1900, Alexander Gorsky was able to give a new look to Petipa's ballets ( The swan lake - 1901 and La Fille Mal Gardee - 1903) and he created a new unique identity to the Bolshoi Ba...

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how can we start a new ballet community, one that has dancers who want to support each other, totally free of judgment and prejudice of any kind. Helping people who are struggling or even dealing with health and mental issues. So to start showing everyone what this community is actually about I will be writing a little bit each week about some subjects that are important for us to start thinking about and trying to apply in our everyday life. To start this project, we will talk about celebrating each other's achievements and its importance in spite of sometimes being so hard. When you and all of your friends are doing an audition, maybe for a summer program, or a school full-time program or even a company audition it is difficult to accept and be happy for your friends if the outcome of this audition is not what you expected for yourself, especially if you work as hard as them and they got the offer.  However, it is importa...

                              Firstly, what are those eating disorders that everyone is talking about? They are serious conditions related to persistent eating  behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions and your ability to function in important areas of life. The most known is Anorexia. However, there are plenty of them out there.  What can causes them? People with eating disorders may have psychological and emotional problems that contribute to the disorder. They may have low self-esteem, perfectionism, impulsive behavior and troubled relationships Some other triggers can be  media and societal pressures, mood disorders, the onset of puberty or even a diet gone awry.  For us dancers is usually the "perfectionism" factor that contributes the most for the ilness.  As  Dawn Smith-Theodore, a former professional dance  said in an interview for...

More than 75% of you dance class is not going to make it as professional dancer, and there are a couple of reasons for that. Don't worry sometimes is not because you are in a bad school or your teacher is not qualified. Even though, sometimes this is the case so pay attention ( later on we will do a post to help you find out if you are being well trained or if your school or your teacher is not giving you the best education you can have) most of the cases are something else and here it goes some of the reasons: Besides all the basics such as being unprepared, suffering a serious injury at the wrong moment in life and not having enough motivation or mental health to continue, there is a lot more to the process of becoming a professional ballet dancer that are not that well known. Not having that knowlege in some cases cost the dream of a dancer. The first problem we encounter is the lack of knowlege, which means that dancers after graduating don't know what to do, where...

After some research and some coaching workshops I noticed that the most asked question by dancers lately is definetly how to stay motivated. Before we start it is important to remmember that when we are talking about real motivation it is completely normal to have ups and down. One week you are hitting the gym everyday, on top of your diet, doing all classes your school provides and still have energy to do some more dancing when you are at home but then the next week you find yourself lacking energy, loosing sight of your healthy eating, bored, tired and even thinking about giving up.  As the time past it gets even harder to get back to that motivated mindset. So what can we do to get past those "down" times ? The first thing we need is patience with our body, making sure we are having enough rest and free time to distract ourselves because the results will take time so you better get distracted and fill up that free time  Secondly, always remmeber how...

Pink tights, leotards, small wrap around skirts are not always the most comfortable and practical thing to use however wearing the proper clothes for dance classes are more important than you may think  Firstly if you are dressed properly your teacher is able to see you and correct you. Ballet attire makes the lines and body placement much more visible and your instructor can help you to dance more safely. You may know that everybody has two bony knobs on the front of their hips, and two knobs behind above the glutes (right inside the dimples). The front ones are called the  Anterior Superior Iliac Spine  (or ASIS) and the back ones are called  Posterior Superior Iliac Spine  (PSIS). These bones are essential for a teacher to see if the hips are properly aligned. If these bones are not lined up correctly, there is a high chance that the student will end up over-tucking, forcing rotation, and hurting themselves. Teachers can't see the bones if th...

Ballet is one of the favorites after class activities for little girls, however, not many people actually know or realize how much their kid is getting out of it. Ballet promotes not only physical strength and agility but can also boost concentration, develop an understanding of music and rhythm, generates a love of movement and better emotional intelligence. Whether your child is 4 or 14, he/she can benefit a lot from ballet instruction, more than you can imagine. Here it goes some of the benefits: Physical Benefits They develop fine and gross motor skills They get more flexibility  They improve their posture  They improve their balance  They are going to be stronger  Emotional Benefits Their self-confidence improve  They learn how to express their feelings through movements  Social Benefits They improve their social skills by forging new friendships  they tend to overcome shyness and ...

Hoje vamos falar de um assunto que é pouco abordado nos blogs de dança mas que é tão importante quanto qualquer outra dica.  A transição de uma vida toda dedicada ao Ballet para uma vida academica, ou com foco em outra área. Quais são os problemas infrentados? Quais são os pontos positivos e negativos? Para isso vamos começar com a história da Americana Milli Faust, uma adolescente que aos 15 anos saiu de sua casa em Nashville, Teneesse para se mudar para Londres onde seria treinada no Royal Ballet. Porém depois de alguns anos Milli se machucou gravemente e foi forçada a parar de dançar e voltar para sua cidade Natal nos Estados Unidos.  Hoje Milli estuda no segundo ano na universidade de Columbia e ainda enfrenta problemas com a perda dessa paixão que um dia a definiu. Segundo ela o que mais sente falta é das apresentações mas ela também sofre com a perda de identidade, antes todos a conheciam como a bailarina e agora ela não sabe mais como se definir. Ela também afirma que a...

Vocês estão ouvindo falar bastante desse tal de World Ballet, mas o que seria isso? Vocês sabem?? Bom para quem não sabe o World Ballet Day é o dia em que algumas das maiores companhias do mundo vão se juntar para mostrar durante o dia todo ao vivo os ensaios, aulas, entrevistas com os bailarinos e novas ideias . É o segundo ano que essas companhias se juntam para mostrar um dia de seus bailarinos. Para ver esse dia você vai pode ver durante o dia todo no site worldballetday.com, nesse mesmo site você pode ver os horários do que vai estar acontecendo em cada companhia naquele horário. As companhias que estarão participando são:   -The Australian Ballet    -Bolshoi Ballet   -The National Ballet Of Canadá   -San Francisco Ballet    -Royal Ballet Essa é a chance de conhecermos quão diferente são os dias das companhias, os ensaios, os aquecimentos, aulas, e principalmente as diferenças nos métodos... Não deixem d...

O fim de ano ja esta quase batendo na porta e com ele começam as inscrições para osespetáculos de fim de ano, e você deve estar se questionando se deve ou nao participar, certo? Vamos lá, nesse post você vai poder ver todos os pontos positivos e negativos para participar do espetáculo da sua escola  Primeiro vamos com os negativos, já que remédio ruim o quanto antes tomar e se livrar melhor 1) O tema do espetáculo não faz muito o "seu tipo" - por exemplo você nunca assistiu Frozen, não gosta muito de princesas modernas, e acha tudo uma fantasia só, provavelmente você não vai querer participar dessa historia  2) Você não gosta de publico e nem muitas pessoas te olhando - bad choice my friend, no dia do espetáculo terá um auditorio inteiro com os olhos voltados totalmente em você  3) você não frequenta as aulas com uma certa regularidade e não quer ter ensaios extra classe e ter que ir pra sua escola de dança nos finais de semana  Esses são todos os pontos negativos qu...

Depende da modalidade e seu objetivo com a dança, para ser uma profissional, principalmente de ballet Clássico o melhor é que vc comece quando criança, no maximo com 7 anos, mas não é porque você começou mais tarde do que isso que você não vai conseguir ser profissional, dependendo do seu empenho, tudo pode acontecer. Outras modalidades podem ser iniciadas mais tarde tambem, como jazz, sapateado, dança do ventre e muitas outras... Se o seu objetivo não é ser profissional a dança pode ser iniciada em qualquer idade, pois além de um otimo exercicio físico ela tambem ajuda a melhorar sua auto estima, sua postura, depressão e ansiedade e até sua capacidade de atenção 

Ballet de repertório são historias / romances que são contados em forma de dança e de atuação, a principal diferença entre ele e peças de teatro é que não existem falas, a interpretação é feita por meio dos movimentos do ballet  As principais peças conhecidas são: 1) Quebra Nozes  Originalmente Coreografado por Marius Petipá e apresentado pelo Marinsky Theatre  2) Don Quixote  Originalmente também coeroagrafado por Marius Petipá e apresentado originalmente por Bolshoi Ballet 3) A Bela Adormecida  Coreografado por Marius Petipa tambem e apresentado por Mariinsky Theatre originalmente  4) Coppélia  Originalmente coreografado por Arthur Saint Leon e apresentado por Ópera de Paris  5) Giselle Originalmente coreografado por Jules Perrot e apresentado por Opera de Paris  6) La Bayadere  Originalmente coreografado por Marius Petipa e apresentado por Mariinsky Theatre  Ficaram curiosos para saber a historia de cada um desses ballets e muito...