Free Dance Classes!

Well, donation-based...but that's basically the same thing.

If you're in the city and looking to try a new technique, save some cash, or just add some more classes to your schedule, check out Liberated Movement.

Liberated Movement™ is a grassroots initiative that provides donation-based dance classes in New York City. Professional and up-and-coming teachers/choreographers host a variety of styles such as ballet, street jazz, hip hop, ethnic dance, etc. at Battery Dance Studios in Tribeca. Suggested donation is $5 but feel free to give what you want! Classes are open to all levels.

Liberated Movement™ classes are for everyone. We especially want to serve those who have not taken dance classes before, and offer them a supportive, welcoming environment where they can gain a basic knowledge of different styles without having to spend large amounts of money or make serious commitments.

I've been teaching for them this summer, and it really is a great environment. They have some cool styles that are worth a try, especially because of their price tag! As a teacher I have to tell you, the bigger the donation the...better, haha. But seriously, $5 or not, these classes are worth it. I particularly recommend their ballet and theater dance classes - fun!

Check out their schedule here, and if you go tell them I sent you :)

Teaching and NYCB Workout Certification

One of my projects for the summer has been working towards getting certified to teach The New York City Ballet Workout. I really enjoy teaching and I've been wanting to do more to build up that part of my resume, so this was a great opportunity.

I applied and was accepted last summer to the teacher training program at NYCB, but for financial & timing reasons I wasn't able to participate. This year, thanks to a generous friend, I've been able to start the certification process. Back in August I completed a training weekend at NYCB's gorgeous studios. What an enriching experience! Teachers from literally all over the world (Croatia, Japan...) came for the weekend to learn the format and technical requirements of the dance workout class and tips for improving teaching skills. I learned so much in just two days!

I've been teaching for most of my life, starting when I was very young at my family's dance studio helping demonstrate for the even younger students. I grew up watching my mother and grandmother run a dance school, teaching all ages and levels. I guess through osmosis those skills translated to me a little bit - when I graduated from The Rock School one of my favorite teachers there told me "someday you're going to be a great teacher." At the time I took that as a gigantic insult, haha. All I wanted her to say was that I was "going to be a great dancer," not a teacher. She went on to explain that I "knew so much" and could analyze things, which only now I find value in.

Since then I helped teach primary level students at Ballet Academy East where I got more hands on experience correcting and adjusting young dancers. From there I taught (and choreographed) for a NYC public high school class one semester. Then this summer I began teaching open classes for a new donation-based organization - which has been such fun! I do feel like I have a lot of information to share that has been ingrained in me from my many wonderful teachers. Now with this potential NYCB Workout certification I'll have even more to back me up.

After the training weekend I completed a written exam, and now the last step is the practical exam: teaching a class of my own. I'll be teaching Sunday 9/5 from 2:30-4pm, so if anyone out there is free, please come! :) Free class, what could be better?

interview for my students

So much to blog about and so little time! I'll catch up...some day.

I'm winding down my semester of teaching/choreographing for these high school kids and they interviewed me for the program of their performance next week (my NYC choreographic debut...haha). Just thought I'd share for filler content til I get back on track with posting...

1. Where did you grow up & where do currently live?

I grew up in a small town outside of Boston, MA and moved away from home at 15. I spent 2 years in Philadelphia before moving to NYC, where I’ve been the past 3 years.

2. Where did you go to college?

I just graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with my Bachelors degree in Communication Arts, NOT dance! I’m currently in my 2nd semester of grad school, pursuing my Masters of Science Degree in Magazine Publishing at Pace University.

3. When did you first start dancing?
My family owns a local jazz dance school in my hometown and I started taking their 8 year old ballet class when I was 2! I walked, and then I danced. It was just natural for me. I started taking it seriously when I was 6 and began attending Boston Ballet School. Dance has defined me since diapers.

5. What are you currently doin in dance?
Living and learning. I just finished an apprenticeship with RKB and am rehearsing for a few separate performances around the city this summer. I’m auditioning and taking class a lot – sometimes too much – with Kat W., who has become a mentor to me. It’s all about working hard while still enjoying the process, a constant tension.

6. What kind of career do you have?
Dance career? I’m just at the brink of it right now. I’ve worked with so many incredible people and am so thankful for the opportunities I’ve been given, but I always want more. It’s really tough to be a professional dancer and still survive (financially, physically, mentally) and I’m at a transition point at the start of my career.

Outside career? I’m a very busy freelancer. I write quite a bit about dance for various magazines and such. I’ve completed many publishing internships (most recently The New Yorker). I’ve done some work in public relations and marketing for dance companies. And multiple other odd jobs that I enjoy, even though they keep me busier than probably any other 19 year old you’ll meet (dancer, grad student, writer, intern, choreographer…the titles are endless).

7. In dancing where do you see yourself in a couple of years?
You know, for most of my life I was taught to believe that the only thing to aspire to in the dance world was to be prima ballerina at a major ballet company, with all the perfection and beauty that goes along with it. For a long time, that would have been my answer to this question.
But now after enriching my dancing with an entirely separate, though equally important, life I realize that I can never be that star with the perfect body and the beautiful feet. Nor do I want to be anymore. There are other friendlier, healthier, and more satisfying options for me, personally. I’ve learned through much rejection that life has a way of picking you up and leading you to places and people you never dreamed of, and from that I can say that I honestly have no idea where I see myself in a couple of years. But I know I will be dancing.

8. How was it working with the dance company?
It was a real joy to work with everyone in the dance company. One of my favorite teachers ever once told me that his job as teacher was to pass down the knowledge and support that his teachers gave him, and I hope that that’s what I’ve done in my own classes. The choreographic process was interesting because it was my first time directing such a large group, but everyone was very cooperative and willing to learn, which I greatly appreciate. The improvement from February to now is wonderful to see.

9. Do you have any advice to give to the girls...
My catchphrase is, “Follow your dreams. But why be a follower when you can be a leader?” You have to make things happen for yourself when you want something – dance or otherwise. And whatever you do, don’t let anyone, ANYONE, discourage you from seeking what you want. You may not get it, but there is still valuable learning in the process. It’s not worth having negativity hang over you all your life, and nobody deserves that power to control your emotions.
I hope we can work together again in the future. Best of luck to everyone in their artistic, academic, and life pursuits!

modern, & teaching

Two things to post about today to make up for yesterday's lack of blogging...

-This morning we had company class with RKB, our last one before their performances next week. It was such a good class...but it was modern, which I haven't done in quite some time. I'm going to be sore, but it was wonderful to not be at a ballet barre as a warm up for once, haha. Like when I first took her class in January, I noticed how different their style is and how not used to it I am, but things I picked up before started coming back. I really enjoyed the change of pace...probably should branch out more often but I barely get time to do enough ballet for myself (it's never enough actually - and some would argue I do too much..)...hmm something to think about.

-I went back to teaching right after rehearsal. I was out sick last week, and the kids have school vacation next week, so it's a little stressful knowing we only have 2 more rehearsals til they're onstage! The piece still needs a lot of tweaking, but I'm sure we'll pull it together in time. I noticed as we were going through and having come right from that modern class how much of an influence the people I've worked with have had on me, both in the way that I teach and the choreography itself. Sometimes I listen to myself babble on and I think, Oh my God, I'm [my teacher]! Funny stuff. Oh and we came up with a name for the dance today: "Let it Go." I actually let the kids determine the name because I couldn't think creatively of a title today. Many of the movements are about release and freedom within the body, and I'm always saying 'just let it go...' so it seemed fitting. I'm getting excited for them now that we're discussing lighting and costumes and such...this is my first time being in control of those issues. eek!

Off to night class the rest of the evening. My life is so funny right now. I have days where I'm writing all day, working at my internship, not even a flashing thought of dance goes by. And then I have days like today where I get up at the crack of dawn (well, it feels that way) to be in class before rehearsal, before teaching, before multiple other classes, and it's just dance dance dance. What's odd is that I love BOTH kinds of days...I'm just hoping they can coexist a little longer.

teaching without a voice

...is hard!

Being sick is no fun.

I slept in instead of drudging through rehearsal this morning, but I still had to get in gear and go teach this afternoon. It was nice out so I took my medicine and cheered myself up by walking in the sun up to the school (and getting ice cream for lunch to make my throat feel better, haha).

It's hard to teach when you can't talk louder than a whisper, haha. I did my best and we got through it...we're in the process now of cleaning up the choreography since we finished learning/teaching everything last week. I've been tweaking some phrases here and there that just weren't working for them, and now it's coming along. We still have lots of work to do but they all seem to be looking stronger, so that's good. We have an official performance date of May 16, so not too far away!

new class and more

Today was another super busy day.

I had rehearsal again this morning, and it was fine. Two of the dancers are going to be out next week, so I'm going to have to fill in for one or the other most days next week - so I had to really watch close today and try to learn everyone's choreography and traffic patterns. It's kind of hard with this piece becauase a lot of the phrases are similar with just minor changes in order and spacing for each person, so remembering who does what, when, and where is a challenge. Hopefully I'll get it all straight by next week, although all of them are still in the learning phase as well so I don't feel too bad.

After rehearsal I ran up to work with my high school kids. Since I was late from rehearsal their usual teacher gave them the warmup, so I just jumped into my choreography. We decided this week would be a review week, to go over everything we had done so far. They definitely needed it, and it seemed to be a productive rehearsal. I'm looking forward to moving on with the rest of the dance. The school is having trouble finding space for their performance in May, however, because they have basically no budget to rent anywhere (their usual place is being renovated). So if anyone knows of affordable performance space to rent for a night in May, let me know!

After that I came home to answer numerous emails and calls, etc. Sometimes I sit at the computer for hours and I have nothing to show for it really, but I am so busy as I sit there writing email after email about various projects. It doesn't help that my computer is super slow and keeps dying on me :( ugh.

Then later tonight I tried a new open class that I've never been to before. Since the usual teacher I take with (obsessively) is away this week, it was time for me to branch out. I am really glad I did tonight, because I found a great teacher! She is super Balanchine, which I haven't experienced in a few months now. It was SUCH a good class. Minus the fact that I'm still slightly out of shape, it went really well. I can already feel my inner thighs burning thanks to the strict Balanchine barre of a zillion tendus. As much as it is kind of a pain (literally and figuratively) I realized tonight that I kind of do miss that work. There aren't many other true Balanchine open classes in the city, and as much as I love my usual teacher (and the extensive benefits of her class) I feel like I need to have a little kick once and a while to push me in the way that tonight's class did. I'll definitely be going back later this week and whenever else I get a chance. Not only was the class good (and small...10 people or so! nice...with BIG studio) but she herself was nice and energetic. She asked me where I trained and told me to come back again. I'm glad I took a chance tonight, and I most definitely will be returning.

After my long day I came home to still more emails and calls. No complaining though :) Tomorrow is another crazy busy day, but luckily the weekend is pretty quiet.

choreography week 5

Today was another class of work with the high school kids I'm working with. We have a tentative performance date for May 16, and it's taken us a month to get a minute into the dance. Eek! So I knew it was time to crack down today and get lots of work done.

Luckily the kids were up for it. Because there are so many of them and we work in a very small studio, I had to break up the choreography into small groups so that they don't kill each other. I let the other groups sit down as I taught the phrase I was working with to a few of them at a time, so it kind of got noisy at times. I'm glad they listen to me though when I ask them to listen or pay attention. Since I'm only a year or so older than a lot of them I thought it might be difficult to be in the authority position, but fortunately it's all working out.

By the end of the rehearsal we did indeed get a lot done...almost a whole additional minute of choreography! It's fun to see them getting the steps and trying...when things work out it's like, yay! The piece is coming along...we have time.

Aside from that, the majority of the rest of my day was spent in class. Pointe class in the morning was quite good, because my teacher is trying to get me to work differently so that my foot will heal. Sometimes when I'm discouraged I feel like she can read my mind...she knows just what I need to hear, and I'm so thankful for that.

Originally my plan was to take a week off from class beginning tomorrow to rest my foot, since I'm going away for the weekend and all. BUT now that I found out I have rehearsals next week that plan is off. However while I AM away Friday-Monday, I won't be taking class so at least that's a few days...

I'm really looking forward to getting away...

choreography week 3

I went to work again today with the high school kids I've been choreograping on the past few weeks. Last week they had school vacation, so I was a bit nervous that we'd be thrown off this week, but luckily everyone came in refreshed and remembering all we had done.

Again I gave them a brief ballet class before diving into my choreography. Their attendance has been a little odd, with people showing up one week and not the next and so on, but I guess there's a lot of them total and only 16 today. We went over what I had previously taught them, and then I added a whole new section.

Since I'm pretty new to being the choreographer in charge, I'm still trying to figure out my approach to setting this dance. Mostly I make up combinations and steps from week to week and teach as much as I can of what I have prepared in the time I'm allotted. What I've had them doing is basically connecting a few phrases together back to back, with everyone doing it as a large group and then broken up into smaller groups so they can really use the (little) space they have.

Today, however, I realized it was time to crack down and start making it actually look like a dance rather than just a long combination. I taught them a new phrase that uses a lot of level changes, and then turned it around so that they do it in a big circle. It was hard for them to grasp which way they needed to face along the circle at different points. For instance, there's a part where they fall to the ground and lay straight out, but there was no space to do so along the circle, as if they were head to toe with one another. So I had them fall away from the center of the circle. This proved a challenging concept for some, but I understand since many have very little dance training.

By the end of the rehearsal we figured out the circle and made some additional changes to what we already had for phrases to make it more like a performance. I'm happy with the way it's coming, but we still have a lot of work to do. They seem to be enjoying it though, which is definitely important. Their usual teacher, whom I'm working for, seems pleased with it as well. It's definitely a new experience for me, but I'm glad I'm tackling it.

Besides that it was a super busy day...class, meeting at school, etc etc.

choreography week 2

Today was my second time working with those public high school kids that I'm choreographing on...and it went much better than last week.

First of all, this time I was actually prepared to teach a class first rather than go right into teaching my choreography as I had expected last week. So I gave them a warm up barre and some things in the center. Again, most of them are not trained dancers, but they certainly do pick up quickly! I was impressed by the fact that they all remembered most of the choreography from last week, even though they hadn't done it at all since then.

After doing some center combinations to get them turning a bit, we went over the stuff I taught last week. It was nice that they kept it all in their bodies because we could add on some finer details and clean up the movements a bit before moving on. I then taught them about 16 more counts of the phrase and we put it all together with what we did before. I find that repetition is really the key with this group. They all seem to be trying really hard and they appear eager to get it right, so I try to give them the opportunity to really feel comfortable with the steps before moving on.

The tough part as a teacher is to do this for the less experienced ones while still keeping the advanced ones interested. Having been in both kinds of experiences (the worst in the class and the more advanced side), I hope I can use how I've felt in those situations to translate it effectively as I teach. Obviously I'm still just starting to find my "teaching tone" -as I referred to it last week- but that's my goal anyway. I find myself unconciously mimicking those teachers I've had in the past who have been most impressionable on me personally (a select few).

Anyways. The rehearsal went quite well and I like that they are already progressing. Next week they have school vacation, but after that it's time to crack down and choreograph more to put together so it starts to really look like a dance. I only get them 2 hours per week until their show in May, so it will come up quick. Will post performance details as they become available.

Speaking of performance details, reminder of the small studio showcase performance thing I'm in on Feb. 24th at 5:30. I've been working a LOT on my variation (Gamzatti from La Bayadere) the past few days with my teacher, which I really enjoy because, again, we get to go into great detail and find what works for me. Should be a fun little performance.

more teaching

Oh what a snowy day here in the city.

I've added some more teaching to my busy schedule. I'm starting to work privately with some beginner adult students from class. I like working more one on one because there are sooo many details to every step that it's nice to break things down and really dig in deep to the technique. It's too bad we can't do that all the time in regular class.

It's kind of fun being on the teaching end of things, too. I feel like I've learned so much from everyone I've worked with in the past and as I dance myself, I have all these little voices in my head (haha) reminding me of what's correct and what looks best. Now I can share those voices and add my own to help someone else. I'm also genuinely inspired by some of these new-to-dance adults I come in contact with often lately because they really love it and want to learn it for the art. I try to remind myself of this when I get discouraged.

I'm teaching/choreographing on those high school kids again tomorrow...better go prepare myself.

Happy snow day :)

attempt at choreography, week 1

Today was my first day wearing the hat of choreographer for this group of NYC public high school kids' spring performance. Their regular teacher is a teacher I had last semester at MMC and she asked me to come work with them.

Okay, I've taught before. My family runs a local school and I started helping teach when I was all of ten years old. And last year I was an assistant teacher at BAE with the little little kids. HOWEVER this is my first foray into being the actual main person in charge in the studio. And I like it!

Haha. If you know me you know that I'm not a very loud person. But somehow I managed to find a teacher tone today. I had to give them a short warm up class before diving into the choreography, which I was not exactly prepared for. It went fairly well though...making up combinations on the spot was interesting...it seemed to work somehow.

After they did barre I took them to the center of their quaint little studio space and we started with some choreography that I very thoughtfully tried to come up with yesterday in my bite sized apartment. I didn't get a chance to actually do any of my ideas full out, and the students aren't all actual dancers, so I was a bit concerned. It went quite well though...we got through most of what I had prepared and even though I took it down a notch level wise, they seemed to get it all and be enjoying themselves. They liked my music too, haha (it's the theme song from American Beauty...I danced the first pas de deux I ever performed to it one summer way back when and have loved the soundtrack ever since).

Anyway it was definitely a new experience but one I'd like to continue pursuing...this teaching/choreography business. I'll be working with them all this semester so it will be fun to see their progression!

Besides that today was really really busy...class all morning (good turning day for once!?) and then had a meeting at school later...I'm tired haha. Teaching for an hour and 45 minutes straight requires a huge amount of a different kind of energy that I'm not used to at all. It's different than what I use to take multiple classes every day. I have to get used to this!