Back to school: Pointe shoe tune-up
Does it feel too soon to think about your pointe shoes and back-to-school? It’s understandable that it might be daunting to think about the upcoming ballet season, but it’s never too early to reassess your shoes and get ahead of your fall classes. It might help to think of it as a tune-up for your…
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Navigating layoffs: The physical, mental, emotional and more
Going hard in the studio and performing, and then weeks or months off: that’s the dance sector phenomenon of layoffs, one that seems largely underdiscussed. These periods can bring myriad challenges. Physically, it can benefit dancers to give their body rest, but it also behooves them not to be back to the studio in a…
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Beach Reads: 4 Recently Released Novels Set in the Dance World
There’s no shortage of dance-based nonfiction on seemingly endless topics, but fiction shelves have seen a recent influx of stories set in the studio and backstage. Whether you’re craving an escapist romance or a historical thriller, a dreamy fantasy or a piece of contemporary literary fiction, these novels keep one toe in the dance world…
Read MoreAre dancers getting injured more? Part III: Pushing back against the trend
We’ve all been there — you see something flatly wrong on social media, and you pause for a moment. After a sigh, perhaps a facepalm, you consider a choice: do you engage, or just move on? If you do engage, what’s the best approach for pushing back against false information? As we’ve discussed in this…
Read MoreIs it fair to film dance classes: A case study at Steps on Broadway
An April Fools’ joke played by Steps on Broadway a couple months ago struck a nerve with its dance community – a nerve that the New York dance studio didn’t seem to be aware of. A “No Filming” announcement for all Steps classes, communicated via Instagram post, elicited a tidal wave of responses from dancers…
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Begin Again: Auditioning With Confidence
As I’ve been rediscovering as I return to dance, auditioning is an inherently vulnerable act. Even the most accomplished performers will tell you they hear “no” more often than they hear “yes.” When we get a callback or book a job, we are on top of the world. When we get cut, we are forced…
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Tara Nicole Hughes on How The Little Mermaid Brings Dance Under the Sea
Bringing Disney’s animated classics to live-action life has taken more than a dusting of pixie dust over the years. The latest adaptation, The Little Mermaid, may be the most extravagant yet: It features a star-studded cast that includes Halle Bailey (Ariel), Daveed Diggs (Sebastian), and Melissa McCarthy (Ursula). But the finished product has been a…
Read MoreOp Ed: What’s Possible in Writing About Ballet?
How do we respond to recurring accounts of an acclaimed choreographer’s damaging relationships with dancers, especially women? Recent podcasts (Erika Lantz’s The Turning: Room of Mirrors) and books (Alice Robb’s Don’t Think, Dear) have contributed to a narrative that’s been emerging for decades: Throughout his career, George Balanchine employed power dynamics that controlled and hindered…
Read MoreBegin Again: Acting for Dancers
It’s my personal belief that at the center of every electrifying dance performance is a story. Even the works that are supposedly plotless have something evocative going on behind the eyes—in the way the body floats, jabs, crumples, and reaches. Sure, dancers tell their own tales from time to time, but more often than not,…
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Ballerina Onscreen: Madison Keesler Guest-Stars in “FBI: International”
You may recognize freelance ballerina Madison Keesler from her former positions with San Francisco Ballet, English National Ballet, and Hamburg Ballet. But this Tuesday, April 11, at 9 pm EST, you may be surprised to see her on television as a guest star in the CBS police procedural “FBI: International.” In reality, there’s little reason…
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