A Cool Cause - Brewla Bars

My friend and fellow dancer Rebecca Dengrove is working on a new line of ice pops called Brewla Bars (they're yummy!), and she needs your support through Kickstarter. You get cool prizes for donating. They were featured in The New York Times last week and you can find them all over the city at different outdoor markets. Help 'em out.

"Brewla Bars: Daniel and Rebecca are a brother and sister team. Rebecca is a trained food scientist with experience innovating for some of the largest food corporations in the world. Daniel is an automation engineer with a background in philosophy and molecular biology. The two siblings founded Brewla Bars in 2010 in New York City, and are dedicated to making the ice pop a delicious, fun, and healthy part of your diet."

NYC's Summer Secrets

Summer used to be my busiest time for ballet - I'd run off to an intensive (or 2...or 3) and dance all day long, everyday. Now, as a freelance professional dancer my seasons are reversed. This spring I was going nonstop, performing something new every other week. This summer, things are *quiet* for once.

I shouldn't complain - during the busy season (and upcoming Nutcracker season...) I'd kill for a day off after going weeks without so much as a free Sunday afternoon. And I do admit I'm enjoying the extra sleep. But...I'm getting restless. I've been back to taking class a lot, which I haven't been able to do basically since before my surgery a year ago. After my recovery I jumped right into performance mode and only took warmup classes or lower level classes because they fit my schedule. But I'm really enjoying focusing on technique for a little bit and getting feedback from some of the wonderful, knowledgeable, fun teachers I trust whom I hardly ever have time to take from.

Also luckily rehearsals start tonight for our Performing in NY Showcase at Ailey at the end of the month (which also means lots of admin work, since I'm assistant director of the whole shabang), but besides that I've been trying to find ways to enjoy the city in the heat.

I've seemed to discover 2 hidden NYC summer spots in the past two weeks that have been great fun without the crazy crowds I would've expected: Randalls Island, and Rockaway Beach.

I spent my birthday last Sunday playing mini golf at Randalls Island. It was a piece of cake to get there: a 10 minute shuttle van ride with no traffic. At $11 round trip leaving on the half hour most of the day, it was super convenient. And when we got there we didn't have to wait or anything. Being one of the few mini golf places around NYC (and only $7/game), I expected it to be packed on a sunny Sunday. Wrong! Why doesn't anybody know about this place? In addition to the mini golf with a fun waterfall, they have a driving range, batting cages, a ping pong table, old school board games (I won at Parchisi :), and a yummy restaurant/bar with comfy chairs that make you feel like you're enjoying your own private backyard. It was a great place to spend the day - so if you're bored in the city, go!

Then yesterday I spent a Groupon I had bought a while ago: roundtrip ferry tickets to Rockaway Beach in Queens. American Princess Cruises offers a 75-minute boat trip around Brooklyn on the weekends leaving from Wall Street. We took the 11:45am ferry out and there were not even 10 people on the entire boat. Amazing! And it's not a small boat, either (a little bigger than the water taxi). It was so nice to enjoy the sunshine and water with great views of the city. They have a cheap snack bar, too.

After passing the majestic Verrazano Bridge and cool Coney Island, we arrived in Rockaway. Because I was totally unprepared with directions, we ended up walking way out of our way before finding the beach, but good thing it was a nice day! There's not a whole lot around, though the beach itself is beautiful with big waves. It was my first (and probably only) trip to the beach this summer and even though I'm not a sit-in-the-sun person, I really enjoyed walking through the water. There's not so much as a hot dog cart for what seems like miles and miles, but if you pack a picnic it's great trip!

Still Kicking, 4 Years Later

Well, despite not writing for nearly 4 months this blog just celebrated it's 4 year anniversary! In July of 2007 I started this old thing for my ramblings, and here and there I've actually said something worthwhile. Though I've made sad attempts to revive regular posts, I really am going to make an effort this summer to get back in gear.

I have SO much to write about backed up in my brain from this past spring. It was my busiest dance season yet, and I had a lot of great opportunities working with over 5 *different* companies and performing almost every other weekend in various things.

On top of dancing, I've finished my Pilates mat certification and am teaching regularly as I continue with my equipment certification. I took my first trip to Europe (which was amazing), I had a major dance article published, and I've been working a whole lot.

I'll write in more detail on past things first, and then get back to the future with the next project...our August Performing in NY Showcase at Ailey. I've been co-directing these now for 3 years and we keep growing and growing. It's a lot of work to prep a show of 150+ dancers, but it's always fun.

Anyway, expect more posts soon :) Happy Summer!

Jacobs Pillow 2011 Festival Announced

Ballet du Grande Theatre de Geneve in R&J, from brochure

Summer seems oh so far away right now, but the wonderful summer dance festival at Jacobs Pillow has announced their season for 2011.

I love that they have so many international companies coming! 3e Étage: Soloists and Dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, Carte Blanche from Norway, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève in "Romeo & Juliet" (!!!), and some others. Plus a bunch of the major American modern masters: Trisha Brown, Mark Morris, Lar Lubovitch, and Larry Keigwin.

View their full season brochure here, and see more info about the full festival here on their website.

I haven't been to the festival in years but I really hope to get out there for some of it this summer...

Miami City Ballet in NY

This weekend Miami City Ballet is performing on Long Island. I so would love to go see them but my weekend is already jam packed with performance-going, so I can't make it...

Take a look at this Newsday feature on MCB principal Jennifer Kronenberg by Apollinaire. Jennifer is absolutely gorgeous and amazing! When I went to MCB for their summer intensive a few years ago (2004? wow, a lifetime ago it seems!) she was my level's main teach and she staged the friends dance from Copelia on us, and I (and another girl) got to do Swanhilda. It was so wonderful working with her...she's an incredible dancer and she is so sweet! And a great teacher. I would love to see her perform...those of you who are going to their Long Island performance, let me know how it goes. They're doing Twyla Tharp's "In the Upper Room" which is an amazing piece I saw ABT do a while ago. Should be a great performance.

Home, (Bitter)Sweet Home

(me and the family - brother, grandmother, mom)

This past week was literally my first time having more than two days off from life in exactly one year. Between rehearsals, extra school courses, internships, and everything I haven’t had a chance to breathe until now. To start of my 3 weeks of freedom I went home to Boston to visit my family whom I haven’t seen since Christmas (imagine, they’re only an hour flight away and I never see them!).

Since leaving home four years ago I’ve always missed everyone but dreaded making the trip to visit home. It’s just something about reverting back to the old ways…even for just a short period of time. Going from big city independence to small town boredom isn’t necessarily something to look forward to. There’s not much to do in our area, and since I don’t have my driver’s license (God bless public transportation) I can’t really be free.

However, this past visit was really nice. Unlike most visits, I had no looming pressure of school or performances ahead, so I didn’t feel like I was missing anything by taking time off. And being summertime, all of my family and friends had time to reminisce. We had a lot of laughs and it was a nice break.

(friends reminscing and dancing in my living room)

We celebrated my (belated) birthday, and I got to visit my mom’s new dance studio (it’s quite pink inside, like tradition…the last studio was pink for 50 years!). I got to see all my friends I grew up with and even relive some old dance routines (haha).

(me dancing in my mom's studio)

As I was growing up in my small town driving 2 hours a day to commute to ballet I always regretted not being born in a big city. Looking back, though, as a New York City resident (with high rent and hardly enough space to stretch out) I love that I have that alternative to look forward to for a change whenever I visit. No matter how far I go in this world, that place will always be my home.

(my mom and I)

Ballet Counselor: Just for Kids

me as an assistant teacher & summer counselor

Having attended numerous dance “camps” growing up, I’ve met my fair share of counselors and mentors. It wasn’t until this summer, however, that things changed: I WAS a counselor (I guess the old saying is true: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em)! I have spent the last 6 weeks working as a counselor and assistant teacher for 18, 7-year old ballerinas, and yesterday I said goodbye to many little friends and memories.

I was a bit skeptical about the job at first. I have been assisting in ballet classes twice a week over the past year, and many of the teachers and administrators complimented my ability to work with the kids. It made sense for me to take the position, but before the camp started, and possibly more so after day 1, I wasn’t so thrilled about it. As the summer progressed, though, it turned out to be almost as fulfilling of a “camp” experience for me as it was for the little ones!

The days were long, but once we got into the swing of things it got easier. I was supposed to be at the studio at 8:45 every morning, with the kids arriving for check-in at 9am. I always ended up getting there at 8:30 to do the necessary preparations for the day (set up coloring supplies, lay out ballet slippers, line up tap shoes). The other 3 counselors and I would laugh over something one of the kids said the day before as we guzzled our coffee and got set up.

Then the herd arrived. One by one they trickled in, kissing their mothers in pearls goodbye (this is the Upper East Side, after all…). After taking attendance and going through the routine of “what did you do over the weekend?” with each one, we finally got to the dance activities.

Though it IS considered a regular summer camp, including other things like crafts, origami, gymnastics, swimming, and games, it is first and foremost a ballet school. With that in mind, it was interesting to me to see the schedule of events each day. Our group, the oldest of 3 age groups, was there Monday-Thursday, 9-3:30. In all that time they only had 2 ballet classes!

To supplement the short time for being on their toes they had a range of other dance classes: jazz, tap, modern, and choreography. Of course they each had their favorite of the selection, but they were all required to participate in each discipline. Granted these were beginner classes and attention spans were short. But the amount of material and choreography these children were exposed to was unbelievable.

I think it’s really important for people to experience a wide variety of styles so that we don’t become one dimensional in our art form. It is wonderful and so fortunate that these children were given the opportunity to learn about different ways of moving and creating movement at such a young, influential age. They even had their first Yoga classes (and, as funny as it is, it was MY very first time taking yoga as well)!

Once I got over the shock of responsibility to the these kids and the amount of constant attention they need, I was able to enjoy myself. Not only did I befriend many of them (and get babysitting jobs as a result) but I got to observe the process of teaching and learning dance from a new perspective. Over the course of the 6 weeks I saw physical improvement in each of them, not necessarily in the challenges of ballet, but in dancing in general.

It made me think back to my early days of summer dance camp. I attended regular day-camp at our local high school when I was really young, but I began traveling an hour out of town for dance camp at the age these kids are now: just 7. I don’t remember the specifics of what these days were like or even if I particularly enjoyed them, but I do know that they inspired me enough to enter that ballet school for my first year of pre-professional training that fall.

As far as I can recall, we didn’t have such a wide variety of classes outside of dance. It was truly ballet based, but we did get our jazz and modern classes on occasion. Another difference from today’s camp is that (to my knowledge) we only had one teacher in the room with us at a time, whereas here the kids had a teacher, and assistant, and at least 2 counselors in the studio at all times to help learn the steps. I think this factor may be truly unique to this camp, in which case it is really outstanding because the kids have that sense of personal connection and attention while dancing.

This sense and the notion of variety truly diminish in the later years of ballet training (even summer training). Gradually teachers become distant from students, both physically and emotionally. Perhaps some of it is about being politically correct, but that can’t account for all of it.

There is a major shift in attention and interest as students age. In addition to this change, the emphasis on diversity is replaced by a desire for a cookie cutter effect of perfection. Jazz and modern classes are often seen as a distraction rather than a useful cross-training supplement to strict technique.

Perhaps if the principles that make a youthful dance camp so successful were applied to older summer intensives I, and others, would be able to respect and appreciate ballet in a renewed way. But for now, I think I’ll remain in my role as counselor/teacher. As they say, “Those who can’t do, teach!”

Another Ballet Birthday

performing Little Swans in 'Swan Lake' at an intensive on my 14th birthday (me on far right)

Today was my 19th birthday. Not only do birthdays make me feel like life is passing all too quickly before my eyes, but they make me think back to how I spent my past birthdays. I’ve had a lot of laughs over the years, but there isn’t a single birthday I can remember that hasn’t revolved around dancing.

The earliest birthdays I have concrete memories of are around age 8 or 9, when I would have my close group of friends over (which remained the same set of people for years) for a sleepover. Maybe “normal” kids play silly games or watch movies at their parties, but growing up under the dance reign of my family‘s studio, my parties were quite different. We would MAKE movies! I remember assigning each of my friends to a different dance in our remake of “A Chorus Line.” In another one, we all did a dance and lip sync to our favorite singers (I admit: many a Spice Girl theme…). Though not musical in nature, another of our birthday films that stands out in memory is “Who Killed the Rabbi?” at my make believe Bat Mitzvah on my 13th birthday (don’t ask hahaha)!

As the years passed, however, I started attending ballet intensives for increasing amounts of time over the summer and was almost always away for my birthday. My first summer away was for two weeks at a performing camp in upstate Vermont, beginning on the Monday of my birthday. Not only was I thrilled with the immediate independence I had by turning 12 years old away from my parents, but I was so happy with the surprise party my counselor, roommates, and new friends of 24 hours had thrown me! I still remember the moment when they locked me in my room to set up the common room with balloons.

I spent one more birthday at that camp before attending a different camp a year later: one where I would soon spend 2 full years of my life. My two summers here were perhaps the most fun I had because I made 3 really close friends who remain pen-pals to this day. For my birthday during both summers they completely surprised me by cleaning and decorating my room with streamers and confetti. Also, the year I turned 14 I got a later curfew for “coming of age” and so we went to get ice cream late (8pm?) just because we could. Another summer I remember staying up until midnight on the 30th with my roommates just so they could sing to me when it officially turned 12:01am on my birthday.

More importantly, during these years (as well as all birthdays since) I was always dancing. We would have a regular full day of classes and rehearsals at whatever camp I was at, and most of the time I was too shy or quiet to tell the teachers of my birthday. I would treat these ballet days like any other day of work, and only celebrate later back at the dorms. Even though other dancers had their birthdays during the intensive and got to wear special leotards or have the class sing to them, I always seemed to remain quiet during ballet. Even my birthday couldn’t disrupt the work.

Unfortunately (or, maybe fortunately?) this remains true years later, today, on my 19th birthday. I spent the day working at ballet, even though I did not attend an intensive (for the first time in 13 yrs) this year. Though the little kids at the ballet camp I’m working at sang “Happy Birthday” 3 times and I received several homemade presents and cards, it was still work. Yesterday in open class they sang to me as well, an unexpected surprise. But later this afternoon, for reasons unknown even to me, I decided to take the open ballet class that I don‘t particularly enjoy anymore. Maybe I felt it was tradition that I dance on my birthday, or maybe I just felt like I shouldn’t take a day off.

Either way, it was work. Dancing, and being in the dance world in general, has become work rather than play - even on a birthday. It’s interesting to see that on a day of celebration I still feel the annoyances, frustrations, and pains of ballet - and at the same time, there’s nothing better I can imagine doing on my birthday than dancing. It is the element that has remained a constant throughout the years.

a birthday before the ballet days