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When Time is Important: Learning Choreography Quickly
Movement is a tricky thing to memorize. Unlike written words or still pictures, choreography presents the challenge of memorizing actual movement. But being able to learn quickly is an...
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To Use or Not - Using Props In Dance Routines
While there is a trend for choreographers to utilize more props in their routines, there is also the possibility that a prop may be used ineffectively. Have you ever watched a routine, in competition...
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Using "The Nutcracker" to Expose Dance to All Students
On the surface, the Renaissance Academy’s Nutcracker looks like many other productions of the ballet. There are party, battle and snow scenes performed in colorful costumes. But what the audience at...
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The Gifts Dance Brings to Our Lives
The journey between who you once were and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of life really takes place.” Barbara De Angelis Anyone who has taken dance classes will have been taught not only...
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Revamping Judging Procedures on Reality Talent Shows
At Right, DWTS judges(LtoR) Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno TonioliEveryone’s a critic, especially when it comes to judging talent. From American Idol to The X Factor to Dancing With the Stars,...
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Spotlighting Dancers For Less Money: The Frugal Lighting Designer
When Olga Berest moved her school into a 150-year-old Dutch Colonial house, she didn’t anticipate making it into a performance venue. But the local Port Washington, New York, theater, where she now...
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Taking a Leap: Going from Classical to Commercial Dance
You’re a total bunhead. Whether you live for Swan Lake or worship Jirí Kylián, you can’t imagine life without your pink tights. Except—at the back of your mind—you’ve always wondered about the...
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Not Your Ordinary Circus: Dancing With Cirque du Soleil
It's a clichéd fantasy - running away and joining the circus. But if you're a highly expressive dancer with a creative bent and an interest in long-term employment, you may want to seriously consider...
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Ballet's Unsung Heroines: The Corps
You’ve finally been cast in Coppélia, and you’re thrilled. Before the show, you spend extra time on your hair and make-up. You do a long barre to get warm and slip into your gorgeous costume. The...
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When The Blues Affect Your Dancing: Dealing With Depression
By Linda HamiltonImagine a dancer who gives the appearance of "having it all"--talent, prestige, admiration, lots of friends, and best of all, a promising future. Then, imagine this same person laid...
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Dancers Giving the Sick and Disabled Magic Year Round
Members of the New Beford Youth BalletA little girl with curly hair stared at the swirls of deep purple tulle as would befit any Sugar Plum Fairy. “Go ahead, you can touch my pointe shoes,” said the...
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From Dark Story to Sweet Ballet: History of The Nutcracker
Every holiday season, both the young and young at heart flock to see one of the world's most famous ballets. And some, including myself, have performed in it year after year, playing a snowflake, a...
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Smart Goal Setting For Dance and Life
"A goal without a plan is just a wish." Antoine de Saint-ExuperyFor the new year, goals are more defined and easier to tackle than resolutions. For dancers, goals can be anything from nailing a new...
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Kindness: A Weakness or Strength?
“Someone is going to take advantage of your kindness.” Different variations of that theme exist in cultures all around the world, implying that people who are kind are going to be used by others who...
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Affirmations: How Phrases Keep Dance Students Focused
I had a dance teacher who loved to use inspirational quotes as a way of helping students to aim high and work harder. Some have stuck with me, while I've learned others through my own experience. Here...
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The Need to be Perfect: When Dancers Are Driven to Extremes
Corps member Megan wanted her dancing to be absolutely perfect. She worked hard and was incredibly focused. But instead of concentrating on how much she was improving, she obsessed over her mistakes....
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Society and The Dance Boom of the 1960's And 70's
At right - Politicians making war in Kurt Joos’s GREEN TABLE created in Germany between World Wars 1&2, staged by the Joffrey BalletBalletomania - extraordinary enthusiasm for ballet - resurges...
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Defining Healthy: The Ever Changing Ideal Dance Body Shape
It wasn’t so long ago that university dance programs were affiliated with physical education departments, and some schools were slower than others in moving their dance students into the humanities. At...
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Fighting Bullying With Dance Movement
According to the Justice Department, one out of every four kids is abused by another youth each month, and every day as many as 160,000 U.S. children miss school because of bullying. Many programs are...
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Cheering the Team to Victory: Being an NFL Cheerleader
The most important thing to understand about being a cheerleader for an NFL organization is that cheerleaders represent the company organization and the image that it wants to convey. While there is a...
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Mama Mia! When Your Child is Also Your Dance Student
By Abby MarguliesTeaching your own child can be a challenging task. Many parent-teachers struggle to find the balance between being the mother of a child whose skills they are uniquely proud of and...
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Floats, Royalty and Fun - The History of Mardi Gras
The grand tradition of Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday," is a spectacular event, one that has been attracting tourists to New Orleans since 1872. It traditionally begins each year on January 6, the Twelfth...
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Importance of Emotional Intelligence and How Music/Dance Boosts It
Conventional wisdom says that there is a direct connection between our IQ and our ability to succeed in life. In school, we are ranked by our GPA. At certain points in grade school, students are given...
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The Many Benefits of Yoga for Dancers
No matter what kind of dancer you are--modern to hip hop, ballet to tango-- you can derive huge benefits in your dancing from taking regular yoga classes. An estimated one in eight Americans currently...
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Celiac Disease: Living and Eating as a Gluten Free Dancer
by Colleen McCarthy, RD, LD, CMT, LMTDancing at a professional level requires being present in class and rehearsals, constantly striving to be at a very competitive level. My first professional job...
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