BAE Newsletter Posted

My former studio's newsletter that I was hard at work at the past few months is now complete and up online to download here. Of course I'd argue the print version is better, but since you can't necessarily have that without stopping by for a class, go to their website and take a peek.

Another project complete!


BAE Spring Show 2007 (i'm in the middle)

bae letter from the editor

So as I mentioned a while back, my old ballet studio called me in to produce an issue of their school newsletter, since it hasn't been done since early 2006. It was actually more fun of a project than I expected because I got to reminsce about performances from the past 2 years and go through pictures and programs.

Yesterday I sent the director a draft of all the copy, so I thought now would be a good time to share my letter from the editor. I have to say, this was one of the first things I wrote for it, and one of the hardest - for various reasons.

Anyways, see my letter below. When the whole issue is done and the pdf is online I'll link to it.

Tonight I'm going to see Diana Vishneva's performance for ExploreDance review...and tomorrow is our little studio showing performance. Should be fun...my mom and grandmother are visiting for it.

Letter from the Editor - BAE alumni Taylor ---
Dear BAE Students, Faculty, and Friends,

I’m excited and honored to be bringing you a new issue of the Graded Level Ballet Newsletter. When Julia asked me to work on this project I couldn’t say no -- it’s my chance to give back to the place that gave me so much in my two years of attending.

Though many students have grown up here, I stepped into this unique environment for the last leg of my ballet training. I came to New York in 2005 in search of opportunity, but what followed was unimaginable, both at BAE and beyond.

There are a few particular moments that remain imprinted in my mind like the permanent lines of pointe shoes on my feet. The chance to tackle Balanchine repertoire is something few other pre-professional schools offer, and learning and performing Raymonda Variations and Divertimento No. 15 were unparalleled experiences.

I remember being in the green room just after coming offstage from our first performance of Raymonda Variations in the Spring Show of 2006. All of the teachers came down to congratulate us. “Balanchine would be proud,” Peter --- told me. “He loved his dancers, and we’re just passing on the love.” To that point I had never felt such validation from a performance, and it could only have happened at BAE.

Similar excitement came when working with various guest teachers. Getting corrections from Cynthia Gregory, practicing partnering with Nikolaj Hubbe, learning movement from Christopher D’Amboise - how could a new New Yorker even imagine these kinds of experiences? Saying that my expectations were surpassed is an understatement.

Unlike most of my classmates, while polishing my technique I was enrolled full-time in college as well, aspiring to be a writer outside of dance. To balance homework and rehearsals, not to mention internships galore, was difficult, but the challenges motivated me to push harder for what I wanted. Since graduating from BAE in the spring of 2007, I have danced with two ballet companies, completed a project to be presented at the Dance Research Forum Ireland, interned at magazines like The New Yorker, written about dance for many publications, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Marymount Manhattan College with a BA in Communication Arts, and started grad school at age 19.

Busy as I may be, I’m excited to be sharing my writing career with BAE. Feel free to contact me with suggestions for the next issue, and I hope you enjoy the newsletter!

All my best, Taylor

audience alumni

Last night I went to see the studio showing performance of my old studio. They conveniently had it in the basement theater of the place I usually take class. It was quite interesting being in the audience for once, since the last 2 years I've been IN these performances.

I do miss performing. But I have to say that at this point I'm glad I've moved on from there. It WAS really nice to see my former classmates dance so wonderfully and to get a chance to speak more to my old teachers.

They did 2 big pieces and a lot of student choreography. I was noticing how -- as I was recently told and lectured about during a rehearsal -- the difference between dancing like a student and dancing like a professional. There's something about the quality and the presence of movement that makes certain dancers stand out, despite their age or experience. Seeing my classmates from a more objective eye (with 8 months time distance) made me think a lot about that, and about what I danced like when I was there versus how I dance now. Or at least how I take class now.

Anyways, I was very impressed by the performance and it made me proud to say that I came from there. I was glad to see certain teachers as well and catch them up on my new life.

I was kind of supposed to go their benefit party tonight, but I just wasn't up for it. I'm actually not feeling so well and the past few busy weeks are catching up to me finally, so I had to skip it. Congrats to all who performed, though! I'll be posting a brief article about it and about other studio stuff soon, as I'm almost finished with this issue of their studio newsletter.

Pictures from LAST year's studio showing:
student choreography

in a piece by chris d'amboise

great Dane

Much of the talk around the dance blogosphere today is about Nikolaj Hubbe, a New York City Ballet principal dancer who will be retiring from the company this week to take on the role of director of the Royal Danish Ballet, the company where he first made it big.

Apprently there was an interview/q&a with him last night that I so sadly missed, but Philip and Tonya wrote quite a bit about it...

I thought it would be fitting to mention my memory of working with Nikolaj at BAE 2 years ago. For our Studio Showing he came to set parts of Bournonville's "Napoli" on us...and it was SO much fun!

(me in "Napoli")


First of all, that ballet is great. I had learned one of the little variations from it back at Rock a few years before, but the whole tarantella scene and everything that we did is so wonderful. The excerpts we did included this, a pas de six, and a few variations. Even though it's supposed to be the same six dancers who are featured in the tarantella, Nikolaj broke it up into sections so that each of the 20-some people in our version of it got a chance to shine. My part was with a kid who is now at PNB, and we were both kind of shy...apparently we were supposed to be the couple who were "married"...at one point Nikolaj wanted us to make eye contact or something and neither of us could do it and get the steps at the same time, so he stopped the whole rehearsal and did the combination with me alone, all the while laughing and yelling "look at me like you love me!"

It was his incredible energy, zest for movement, and charismatic humor that made working with him so memorable and fun. I know all of the other BAE dancers had many laughs during those rehearsals, and I think we'd all agree he was one of the best guest teachers we had! What an honor it was to work with him on a Bournonville piece, for which he is known and for which he will move on to with his directorship of Royal Danish Ballet.

I saw him last week in "Square Dance" and not only was I amazed by his dancing (of course) but I felt quite lucky to say that I had once been in a studio with him laughing and learning. I think that's the beauty of dancing in New York...getting those opportunities.

He will be missed by many when he retires on Sunday!

a good return

Tonight, after much anticipation, I went and took open class back at my old studio for the first time in 6 months.

Even though it's so close to me and I recently was offered free classes there since I'm working on their newsletter, I never go up there. I don't exactly know why, but I was kind of nervous heading in tonight. It's so familiar and yet so unfamiliar because I'm not actually a student there anymore and people have grown up and teachers have changed, etc.

I'm really glad I finally went though. First of all, class itself was good because unlike my usual classes I take, there were only 10 people in it. Granted it's a MUCH smaller studio, but it's nice not having to dodge around people all the time. And combinations and stuff felt good because it was all the old stuff I did repeatedly for 2 years, but now that I've moved on and changed some ways of doing things in my technique (to keep my body healthy, among other reasons) I really noticed the things I do differently. It was a good class, especially compared to the particularly bad class I had yesterday (my own fault...don't push when you're too tired).

Anyways I'm also glad I went because I got to see one of my favorite teachers I've ever had, whom I haven't seen since I left over the summer. It was a warm welcome back... even though I didn't see everybody there I probably should have said hi to.

Now that my schedule is shifting to the spring semester soon and things are (only a little bit) calmer I think I'm going to try to get up there more to take class. The dance world is too small not to maintain relationships with people and places you come from. At least, that's my positive attitude for tonight :)

A few memories from my time as a student there:

In Balanchine's Raymonda Variations (me on front right)...probably my favorite performance moment ever happened during these performances in spring '06


in Bournonville's Napoli, staged by the incredible Nikolaj Hubbe of NYCB...that one was fun because we had tambourines, haha


this past spring in Balanchine's Diverimento No. 15...pretty costumes :)

bae interviews

As some may know, I recently was asked to take over the studio newsletter for my old school, Ballet Academy East. I'm basically a one-woman team putting together an 8 page newsletter about studio events since the last issue came out in early 2006. It's quite a bit of work, but it's stuff I enjoy doing and for a place I spent 2 years of my life.

Today I interviewed a friend of mine, which will go in the newsletter in the alumni section. She graduated with me from BAE last year and currently dances at Vassar college.

Meet Amanda:

Taylor: Are you a dance major at Vassar?

Amanda: No, they don’t have a major in dance. I do get academic credit for dance classes and for working with the dance company though.

Taylor: What is your schedule like?

Amanda: I have ballet 3 times a week, which is definitely different. And I’m going to try to take a Grahm class this semester. Most of my time is spent in rehearsals 5 days a week.

Taylor: Do you get to perform a lot?

Amanda: We’ve had a few performances. In October we had our first showing, which was mostly for works in process. Then in November we had our final showing that included all of the work choreographed by students and professors. In March we’ll have our big show with costumes and everything.

Taylor: Do they have a theater right there on campus?

Amanda: They just recently renovated the dance building and they have a theater. It’s a big stage, but not really the biggest audience. It’s really nice, though, and you don’t have to go far to get to performances.

Taylor: How are the teachers?

Amanda: They’re really different. There’s only 1 ballet teacher and she’s been there for years. It took a while to get used to having only 1 teacher. I thought I might go insane having only 1 for all 4 years.

Taylor: Do you have to audition to get into the classes?

Amanda: You audition for classes but you do to get into the company. They had auditions right around when we started classes and I was really nervous. There are about 25 girls in 10 boys, but none of the boys are very balletic. It’s mostly modern.

Taylor: How has BAE prepared you for your experiences there?

Amanda: The ballet at BAE teaches you discipline and how to accept corrections and correct yourself. They expect you to act a certain way and that trained me how to act at Vassar. We have bigger classes there, so we don’t get as much attention.

Taylor: What do you miss most about BAE?

Amanda: I miss the teachers a lot. They are all so different, and I grew up at BAE so the atmosphere in class is like family. I also miss the high level of the classes. There aren’t as many serious dancers at Vassar and we don’t do as much pointe.

Taylor: What do you do to keep your technique up?

Amanda: I try to keep pushing myself as hard as I can. Even if the classes aren’t that challenging I sometimes add beats or something to make it harder. It’s also good to go back to a lower level sometimes to analyze yourself.

Taylor: How has the college experience been outside of ballet?

Amanda: It’s really different, and it took a while to get used to it, but I love it now. It’s such a change. You’re always with this huge student body and the academics are harder. But dancing constantly makes it familiar and I don’t get too bored.

Taylor: Was it hard to set up your schedule with all that?

Amanda: I’m insanely organized and over compulsive when it comes to that. I made lots of lists and managed to work around everything.

Taylor: Do you have any advice for future BAE graduates who are choosing between companies or college?

Amanda: You need to think about what you really want to do in the future and think honestly about where you’ll be happy. For me, I thought that college was the best option. It’s important to be organized in the college process to make it less stressful, even when you have lots of BAE rehearsals going on!

Taylor: Anything else you want to add?

Amanda: I miss BAE a lot and everyone who’s still there should appreciate the time they have there, because once you’re gone you really miss it.

studio newsletter & headshots

Finally life is picking up after the holidays. I guess vacation is good, but I think I prefer real life (even though I'm getting a cold yet again...). Two things new today.

First, one of my new projects for 2008 started: taking over the studio newsletter of my old school, Ballet Academy East. I went up there for the first time since August (!) to meet with the director to plan it out and it should be fun. We're shooting to get an issue done by March, and it's more or less the same work I've done for Rock's newsletter and Marymount's newspaper, too.

A lot of what needs to be done for it is to get in touch with alumni for the news section, so this will force me to be better at keeping in touch with people. Usually I stay in touch easily with people from my past, but the past few months have been so insane that I really haven't been able to. I guess this project will make me jump back into that world again...

On another note, my big article for movemnt comes out in a month and they asked me to be on their 'contributors' page as well, so I sent them a bio but they needed a headshot as well. The last (and only) time I got professional headshots done was when I graduated from Rock in '05 and even though I still look like I'm 16 (or younger), I don't look exactly the same as I did then. And all of my recent pictures were too small for print, so I did some new (not professional) headshots tonight. The outtakes are below, for a laugh.

Back to real life after the holidays tomorrow: second to last day of my internship at Q&S Magazine and the start of the January session of school. It's my last 'first day' of college. And I graduate 3 weeks from tomorrow.

holiday update - finally

Okay, sorry again for not posting for a few days. Even though things weren't too busy I tried to take some time away from the computer instead of my obsessive excessive attatched-at-the-fingertip hours on end online. Haha.

So here's what's been going on and what's coming up, bullet style:

*went home for Christmas and it was a nice, relatively quiet holiday



*since coming back to the city I've gotten to catch up with some old friends spending some time here and it has reminded me how small and tight-knit the dance world is, and how close everyone really is. Even though I go months at a time without seeing some of my closest friends, we get together and it's like we haven't missed a beat. I love that.


*I got an email from the director of my old studio asking if she could hire me to take over the studio newsletter, writing and designing the whole thing. I'm meeting with her next week to discuss details, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it, which will get me back involved over there after a 6 month absence (well, maybe not quite that long)

*remember how my foot has been bothering me? Well, my left Achilles tendon has been hurting on and off since about April, and it was only on Christmas Eve morning that I finally had a chance to get it checked out (mostly because insurance doesn't cover out of state, and I'm hardly ever home long enough to make it to a doctor there). So I have Achilles bursitis. It's basically inflammation of the bursa, a sack of fluid between the tendon and the skin, and there's not much to be done besides rest, ice, and anti-inflammatories. My main concern was that I wasn't making it worse by dancing on it, and the doctor said I'm not, so that's good. I should be starting PT soon so I should be just fine.

Coming Up...

*understudy/apprentice with Rebecca Kelly Ballet. I forget if I mentioned it on here, but I auditioned for her a while back and had some vague dialogue later, but she emailed recently asking if I'd understudy a little showcase they have in January and also come to her choreographic workshop as a guest the following weekend to learn some rep. So I'm looking forward to that.

*Dance Research Forum Ireland. Again, forget if I mentioned it but I submitted my senior thesis dance journalism proposal to this big dance scholarship/research thing and they accepted it and want me to present it via poster at their conference in Ireland in June. Yay! Work paid off. It's expensive though, so I'm not positive I'll be attending yet...

*starting to rehearse for a little student showcase with the people I take class with all the time, to be on February 24. Fun. I love them.

*internship at The New Yorker starts pretty soon after the new year. I'm sooo ready for that, but I'll miss my current internship.

Ah. Well, I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but there's an update for now. I'm back in the city and sore from class (since I took almost 2 weeks off besides a single class here and there). It's nice to have a few days of "vacation" to enjoy the city before getting back to school and work and such the day after new years.

And I officially graduate in 4 weeks.

PA Ballet

Tonight 2 of my friends and I went to see Pennsylvania Ballet's performance for me to review for ExploreDance. It was such a nice night!

The performance itself was quite beautiful. They did Seranade (that music gives me goosebumps) and Matthew Neenan's Carmina Burana. Very different from each other, but both really well done. Full review to come.

It was nice to the company here after doing Nutcracker with them back in my Rock days. Familiar faces of those I admired as a Hoop in Nut...and also some friends who were at school with me there who are now apprentices. How small this ballet world is.

Speaking of that, during intermission I ran into Darla and Julia, the directors of BAE! I haven't seen or heard from them since I left in June when the year finished (actually, Julia was around a bit over the summer when I worked there, but it's different). It was nice to catch up with them and it made me realize how much has happened and has changed since I left there. Seems like forever ago.

Afterwards my friends and I went to dinner and laughed a lot. It was fun because I hardly ever have time to go out at all any more! I really didn't even have time for tonight (thesis, stats project, and 2 articles due on Tuesday..eek!) but it was worth it.

Nutcracker rehearsal all day tomorrow as usual. More insane busy-ness for the beginning of the week before I go home for Thanksgiving on Wednesday!

(Computer's Back) Moving Story Class - And an Update

(my emotional map for Moving Story class w/ Chris d'Amboise)

I’ve been without a computer for the past 2 weeks because my laptop crashed, so I apologize for not posting lately. You don’t realize HOW much you depend on technology until you are forced to be without it (I’ve been lost without it…I spend hours on end online!). Anyways I wanted to write about an article I saw in the newest issue of Dance Teacher Magazine (no I’m not a teacher but I read it anyway) and then give you a quick update because I have a lot of new stuff going on.

Moving Story Class

In the September issue of Dance Teacher there’s an interview with choreographer Christopher d’Amboise, a former NYCB Principal dancer and son of ballet legend Jacques d’Amboise (and sister of Broadway star Charlotte D’Amboise). In the interview he discusses his unique concept of choreography and “making steps your own” through is workshop class, “The Moving Story.”

He actually brought this workshop to us back in June at Ballet Academy East and so I thought I’d share my personal experience learning with him. We had worked with him back in the winter, when he choreographed an original piece, “On the Edge” for our Studio Showing. For most of us it was our first time working with truly contemporary choreographing and it was definitely a challenge to move in different ways while still maintain our ballet technique. One of the major things Chris emphasized while working with us then was that we had a freedom within the choreography to individualize it. At the time, it was confusing and a bit intimidating to have that task: To this point, I had always been taught to conform to a choreographer’s wishes and do things exactly as I was told. Here he wanted us to take his movements and manipulate them, however slightly, to make them comfortable in our bodies and personalities.

It wasn’t until he came back to teach the Moving Story class that I was fully able to grasp this concept. He began the first session without speaking a word. He demonstrated a series of steps and we automatically imitated them. After a while he began to repeat the steps one at a time while saying what appeared to be random words. Soon the connection was clear. Each step was supposed to look like the object or action he was saying. For example, “fly swatter” was a loud clap as if you were literally swinging at a bug. “Jump over the fence” was a Jerry Robbins inspired jump (think the opening number in West Side Story) where you pretended to be going over something.

Over the following sessions we developed a “movement language” as a group. Every step we did had a name that we established together. Similar to the ballet vocabulary, every step led to something else and the connections and in between steps were important as well. The hardest part of all this was that not only did we have to work our way through the foreign choreography but, as we danced it, we had to speak the names of the steps out loud! It was truly a challenge, especially for me because I am quiet. I remember he actually made me dance and speak alone the very first lesson. He pointed to me and made me go first, and all I remember was that my mind went blank. I did the steps and said the words without even thinking about it, and all of a sudden it came so naturally. It was a very odd feeling - dancing and speaking without thinking. I don’t know if that was the intention, or even if I did the sequence correctly, but from that moment I knew this technique was something I wanted to explore and incorporate in my dancing.

As the workshop progressed we learned how to convey different emotions through movement and eventually how to create short stories through dance. It was very specifically not an acting workshop - the point was to create feelings through our bodies. For example, if you do something sharp and strong it might mean you’re angry, whereas a slower, legato movement might convey exhaustion. He had us create “emotional maps” and use them in his choreography to make the combination “our own.” The result was 15 very different interpretations of the same movement and a clear example of the point of the workshop.

He also spoke a lot about back phrasing and front phrasing, namely playing with the music to decide which particular steps are “important” or emphasized. Already I did a bit of this naturally, but after hearing his explanation of this I found myself considering new ways to hear things, even just in ballet class. I can honestly say that since taking the Moving Story workshop I have implemented some of the concepts I learned about movement analysis and it has added a whole other dimension to interpreting choreography and even basic steps in class.


On another Note…
An Update

September is always exciting and full of new beginnings, but this years seems to be exceptionally busy. Here’s a few things that I’ve been up to and that are coming up soon:

-Last Semester of College!
This week I started my final semester at Marymount Manhattan. I really can’t believe I graduate in just a few short months. It went by too fast (only 2 years!) and in some ways I don’t feel like I’ve even had the college experience. I’m taking an overload schedule to finish all my required courses. I’m also working as the Features Editor of our school paper, The Monitor, so we’re getting set up for a new issue.

-Starting Grad School!
My school has this special program where you can take graduate courses in your last semester that will count for credit as both undergrad and grad school, so I’m also taking courses in Magazine Publishing at Pace University. We had orientation the other day and I’m really excited about the program. It lets me really focus in on what I want to do after dancing.

-Benefit Performance
Details for this are still in the works, so I’ll post more later…but on October 24 I’ll be dancing in a benefit performance for the Tyler Dunne Foundation. More on that soon…

-Nutcracker, already?
Next weekend I start rehearsals for Nutcracker with the Albano Ballet Company in Connecticut. Performances are in December at Mohegan Sun, one of the biggest arenas in the northeast!

-Ajkun Ballet Theater
I also officially start as a Trainee with the international company Ajkun Ballet Theater in a few weeks. Not sure what that will bring, but it’s an exciting new beginning!