7 Reasons to Vote for My Blog: #3 - Endorsements

As the voting round of Dance Advantage's Reader's Choice Top Dance Blogs 2010 approaches, I thought I'd do a post a day for a week giving you reasons to go ahead and VOTE FOR ME :)


Vote for Off Center
Reason #7: I'm Ancient
Reason #6: No Ads
Reason #5: Community
Reason #4: Writing Quality
Reason #3: Endorsements

A little self-serving bragging just for one sec (to convince you to vote! A good reason :)...

Vanity Fair has twice given a shoutout to the blog, calling it "one of the precious sources of inspiration" and "sprightly."

Career Transition for Dancers had me as a guest speaker for a seminar called, "The Art of Blogging" last year.

Media Bistro quotes me in an article about arts criticism, and The Huffington Post mentions my "prominent blog."

And even though the NY Times didn't mention the blog, I have to include that link here just because :)

Jennifer Ringer on the Today Show

She's wonderful. And beautiful.

And by the way she says exactly what I've been saying about dancers and weight loss and Black Swan...training that hard naturally makes you thin - and if you're too thin/don't eat you just can't do it anymore.

Experimental Rehearsal

A week or two before I found out I'd be getting surgery I got an email from an independent choreographer. He would be doing a residency at The Kitchen this fall and wanted to choreograph a new solo work on me. How exciting! I was looking forward to the prospect of working in a different style and having a solo opportunity in the city.

And then...the foot.

I emailed him apologizing up and down, emphasizing how grateful I was that he thought of me and that I hoped perhaps we could work together once I've recovered. We decided to meet for one rehearsal pre-surgery anyway, since he had already booked studio space.

And how nice it was! We chatted for a good 45 minutes before we did any moving - discussing the dance community in general, my background, his approach to choreography, gossip about dance critics, and so on. He explained that he saw something "real" in my article and that's why he wanted to work with me - I was honored.

I couldn't do much because the foot's been bad, but we spent a while going through a simple movement sequence with lots of walking and dynamic arm movements. It was nothing like I'd done before...no ballet here! But it was fascinating to work on something so pedestrian and make it art. He changed the timing of steps, the quality, the phrasing, the spacing...simple steps can be vastly different.

It's a shame I'll only have that one rehearsal with him for now and obviously won't be able to perform this work as hoped. It was tough to grasp what this was all about and to really make it mean something in just one hour - but he mentioned another possible residency in the spring, so hopefully I can try to be a part of that when I've recovered.

I was grateful at least to meet him and test the waters. Every minute in the studio is a chance to learn.