JEANNE TEACHES DANCE

 After a long hiatus from sharing my dance thoughts in writing, I am energized and enthused to be making the commitment to more intentional content creation both in the studio and here, with all of you. My little dance world has undergone a few changes since I last was active on the blog and I'm excited for the potential for growth within the walls of  Dixon Dance Studio , within myself, and to the greater world, should the ripple-effect do its thing (perhaps you can relate).  A year or two of restricted access to the dancers and the studio certainly made me think a lot about what I ultimately wanted to see for my dancers. We have some very talented young dancers at our studio who are at the perfect stage to solidify their foundational training and I've had the proverbial "bee in my bonnet" to make some changes for the betterment of the program. I'm thrilled that my students want tangible feedback and to take an active part in their improvement; I might be one of

Shortly after somewhat simultaneously delving into both Jennifer Homan's  Apollo's Angels and Christina Ezrahi's Swans of The Kremlin , I jokingly exclaimed, "ballet's been cheating death since it's inception!"  Despite any modern day chatter of it being a dying and irrelevant art (the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated   since at least the fall of the Russian Empire), and that it is merely an activity for those who lack the Olympian athleticism and grit of competitive sports, the art form is, still very much alive and kicking. Dancers once again enjoy the pop culture spotlight and the art form has been given more athletic clout as is evidenced the ever popular debate question: "is dance a sport?"  By definition that dance is not a game that is regularly scored in some way (be it by points or time records), I prefer to refer to it as "an athletic art," but that's simply my feeling on the matter--the competition circ

RT Doc meets some of the young hopefuls storming the doors of the famous Vaganova Ballet Academy to find out more about the dream they share, and to follow them on their first steps towards achieving it. https://rtd.rt.com/films/dance-of-the-little-swans/

As seen on the World Ballet Day Live : Royal Ballet Soloist Olivia Grace Cowley has created a fantastic website dedicated to ballet fashion on the stage and off! Check it out at www.ballet.style You can also follow Olivia's fashion-filled lifestyle on Twitter , Instagram , and YouTube .

click image to visit worldballetday.com ONE DAY.  FIVE BALLET COMPANIES.  LIVE AND ONLINE.

Click image to read the article at DanceSpirit.com We’ve all heard it: the chorus of cracking joints that comes with the first plié of class. A lot of dancers treat barre as their daily warm-up, but a ballerina jumping into class cold is kind of like the Tin Man trying to move without his oil can. Conditioning expert and former professional ballet dancer Rachel Hamrick has four pre-barre exercises that will get your body ready for that aggressive dégagé combo.   You’ll need : an FLX ball or a medicine ball