Busy!

Wow - as expected, the second I'm able to physically dance again and take class regularly is the second the blog goes kaput. Hrmmm...

It's been an insane two weeks...things are so busy! That's a good thing except for the fact that my foot can barely keep up, haha.

Two weeks ago I actually got to perform for the first time on the new foot. It was super exciting but very amusing: it was a huge hip hop event! SO not me. It was fun though...it was a promotion for the new Microsoft XBOX Kinect game Dance Central. Tons of dancers performanced in Times Square with these famous rapper people and such. It was a cool experience and SO fabulous to finally dance again.



Of course I hobbled more than usual the next few days after that.

But really, the foot is improving. Today marks 10 weeks since surgery - and 2 more until I'm supposedly "fully recovered." I've discovered that that really means "recovered for a normal human being," as in, able to walk pain-free. Ballet's a different story. I'm definitely making progress but there's no way I'm going to be fully back and in pointe shoes the way I used to be by 2 weeks from now. Sigh.

I AM, however, performing in just a week and a half :)

We have our semi-annual showcase at The Ailey Extension and I'm in hyper-performance-prep mode for that. Not just dance-wise but organizationally. I'm assistant director so basically...I'm doing everything, haha. So many details to take care of. So many emails. But we're getting there. It's gonna be a great show and I'm really looking forward to being onstage.

More blogging to come...I still have reviews to catch up on and other things in the works...

From Halloweens Past

My brother and I. I'm guessing 1993?

Halloween has always been a favorite holiday, mostly because ballet class on that day was just slightly less serious when you're all dressed up :)

Here are some of my favorites from years past...

Halloween 2009. The theme was "Food and Drink," so Alice and I went as cookies and milk. Yes, we did barre like that!

Halloween 2009 at Radio City Music Hall. We all wore shirts with our Dance Captain's headshot on them. Good times!



Halloween 2007. One of my favorites. Yes, I did class on my "yellow brick road."



Halloween 2006.





Halloween 2004. I still remember the look on my ballet teacher's face at this one...



Halloween 2003 at Rock. Check out my hair standing tall. What a baby I was!

 

Halloween 1991? Really a baby!

Yes, I'm missing photos from a big span of years in there but...I'm sure that's a good thing! Those costumes included Miss America, a butterfly, an Indian...and that's the extent of my memory. Haha!



Behind on Blogging

I'm super behind on blogging...the minute I'm allowed to somewhat dance again is of course the minute I have no more time to blog...hopefully tomorrow or so I can catch up on a few reviews, previews, and recovery progress reports...sorry for the delay :)

Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

 A very special Happy Birthday to my amazing mom today!

She has an incredible strength to her and I am eternally grateful for her constant love, support, encouragement, generosity, and role-modeling. She is a wonderful mother not only to my brother and I but to all of her many dance students who love her so. Thank you, mom, for all you do. Have a wonderful day!

    

PS- These are really awful pictures...for some reason we don't have a single decent picture from the past 5 years together, haha...

Interview with Richmond Ballet's Ariel Rose

© Liza Voll Photography/www.LizaVoll.com

Richmond Ballet's Ariel Rose has been around the world and back. At just 20 years old, he was a soloist guest artist at Ballet Municipal de Lima in Peru after training at ABT's JKO School and Ballet Academy East (where we trained together). His budding career in both ballet and choreography is enviable.

Read my interview below with Ariel about his experiences abroad and his new position at Richmond Ballet.
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What has the start of your ballet career been like thus far since BAE and JKO? Where have you been dancing, and what have been some of the highlights?

In 2008 I went to Boston Ballet to be a trainee for two years. However, as a trainee, I was luckily chosen to perform with Boston Ballet's corps in a few ballets such as Kudelka's "Cinderella,” Nissinen’s "The Nutcracker", Balanchine's "Diamonds" and "Coppelia" and the Royal Ballet's "Sleeping Beauty." During this time, my dancing changed dramatically, not only from the rep I was dancing but also because the incredible artists I was seeing everyday in class. When I took company class, I would study and try things that I observed from their different techniques. I was constantly inspired to push myself further and take myself to a new level I didn't think I'd reach.

You spent the summer dancing abroad with Ballet Municipal de Lima, right? How did that opportunity come about?

I have always had family in Peru (everyone from my mother's side that is.) Every year, we would usually fly down to visit them for a week; however, we never knew of the dancing going on within the country. During one vacation in which I couldn't afford to not dance for a week due to Boston Ballet's schedule, I found The Ballet Municipal de Lima online and asked if I could come take class for a week. In the summer of 2010, I was invited to guest with the Ballet Municipal de Lima as a First Soloist in Peru during their production of Alicia Alonzo's “Coppelia.” After being a trainee for two years, this seemed like a giant step forward but I did not hesitate in answering yes. A week after rehearsals, I was told that I would be learning Franz (the leading male role) due to an injury of one of their own principal dancers. Although a little intimidated, I went in head first, throwing all of my self-doubt out the window (I couldn't imagine doing a principle role any other way). I ended up dancing 5 performances of Franz (1/3 of the shows) and was pretty well received by the Peruvian audiences. When I look back, the jump from student to such an experience is actually frightening, but I feel that at least on an emotional level, I was ready for it and it was an experience that I needed. No, that I craved.

What was your experience like abroad?

Dancing abroad is something that I didn't think I would do at such an early age. Although I do not think it is good for every at twenty years old, I feel that it really brought me into the professional world. I went to somewhere completely new where I knew no one and in which the language was not English, and just engaged myself in ballet without anything else on the side. It was very easy to just focus and direct all of my attention to the art I was working on at the time and also find out what it takes to perform a three act ballet on and off the stage. Along with opening new doors, traveling to dance somewhere new really changes ones perspective on things in the dance world one way or another and to be perfectly honest, I think this is one thing that is necessary for a dancer to survive for a long time healthily and inspired. Along with dancing new and exciting repertoire, traveling abroad lets one meet new people, learn new languages, customs and more importantly, actually realize that ballet is done differently around the world. Yes there are different styles but people actually see and appreciate ballet in different ways depending on where you go.

(More plus video after the jump...)

Fun Tights

Photo from WeLoveColors.com

When I'm healthy and taking a zillion classes a day, I often get bored with my usual dancewear. Same old leotards, same old tights. I get creative sometimes with more patterned leotards I made at Class In, but the tights are always blah. But I recently came across We Love Colors, a company that offers all kinds of fun choices!

Their tights and leggings are SO comfortable. They really let you move and are fine to sweat in if you're dancing, running, or whatever your workout. And they're functional too...espescially this fall, leggings with boots are so in. You can wear these to class and then just throw a sweater over them to head outside. They're super cute in bright colors (though you may want to save those for jazz class...too bright for ballet!)

Photo from WeLoveColors.com

They also make leotards, shorts, gloves, and more. Their tank leotard is not the most flattering, but it's a good basic for any dancer to have. And check out all the crazy colors they come in!

Looks like they have some fun ideas for Halloween, too.

Recovery: Day 42 - Bootless!

Today's my first day without the boot!

It feels weird, haha. My foot is hurting but not too bad...it's mostly on the outside of my ankle from being stiff and not using it for so long. Supposedly that will go away. It's nowhere near as bad as it used to be pre-surgery, though, so that's a plus.

As I walk without the boot I'm still hobbling a bit. It hurts when I flex and stretch to the extreme, so rolling through my foot in normal parallel as I walk hurts. I walk with one turned out foot exagerating the step because I'm used to stepping onto a big platform boot with added weight. Strange. I'm sure I'll get over it soon (I hope, hah).

It's amazing to be free from the boot, and it was more amazing to try barre last night. I've missed making a bun and getting warmed up and standing in my usual spot. Class itself was sort of amusing because I can barely plie. I can't releve yet. And I tried to do 5th position but it hurt, so I did all of barre from 1st. Hey, it's a start. I made it through all of barre until frappes, when I used the "stop while you're ahead" tactic. I'm really trying to make an effort to listen to my body and come back slow because I KNOW I don't want to do that and I must. I do not want to get hurt again...I can't go through this again...

Recovery: Day 41ish - Goodbye Boot, Hello Barre!

I'm SOOO happy today!

I just went to my doctor for my 6 weeks post-surgery followup and it's all good news: I can stop wearing the gigantic moon boot AND I can start taking gentle barre!

It's very exciting. I've been getting more and more frustrated by the day with the boot and with not being able to move. I'm sort of scared to take barre because a) I do still feel some pain if I try to plie, and b) I'm going to be SO out of shape. But still...I'm happy. I've been taking pilates and half of yoga for two weeks now, and I'll continue with those things to supplement a few barres per week for now. This is much sooner than I was expecting to get to dance!

I see him again in another 6 weeks, by which time I should be back to full dancing he says. Right now the thought of jumping and pointe shoes seems insane, but...I'll get there slowly I guess. Of course I'll continue with PT, but now we get to add strengthening exercises. I'm headed there now to see what fun I'm in for...

Hooray for progress!

TAKE Dance: The Distance of the Moon

Photo by Kokyat

Takehiro Ueyama knows how to put on a good show. His contemporary company Take Dance, in collaboration with Pulse, presented "The Distance of the Moon" last week at Judson Memorial Church to standing ovations. And rightfully so: the evening offered intriguing choreography, strong dancers, exceptional live original music, and cool lighting in a great performance space.

The program was broken into seven sections with varying moods choreographed by Take himself and Jill Echo, Kile Hotchkiss, and Julie Tice. Each was deliberate in establishing a theme throughout the movement - contemplation, intensity, friendship, humor...all paying ode to the versatility of this company within a set style and vocabulary.

Hotchkiss' "Penumbra" was the most forceful and memorable of the selections, especially with it's start: Light! Five dancers stood in line facing a single stream of brightness on the left. It was a jolted start from blackness that sparked curiosity. Slowly the dancers held onto each other, slithering up and down in the shadows of Jake Warren, the tall dancer at the front. As the lights came up they separated into intense duets and solos of swoopy movements. Jason Jeunette's fantastic lighting cast their shadows larger than life on the three walls.

Following this was Echo's excerpt "Evening Song" for five women. In a circle, they swung their arms and threw their heads back, rotating around like clockwork. Their huddle broke to reveal their more playful personalities. Elise Drew has a particularly compelling stage presence. Yumiko Sunami's twinkly music was the most enjoyable of the evening (though JC Sanford's music in "Long Night Moon" also stood out).

Photo by Kokyat

It's always fun to see humor in modern dance, and Take's "And Dance By the Light of the Moon" did that well. Two dancers in white start hunkering around the stage like cavemen, shifting their weight side to side as they walk with bent knees and stiff torsos. As they round the upstage corner another comes out to the audience's surprised giggle. They go on to dance powerfully with subtle touches - a confused facial expression, an awkward movement - that called for laughs. It would've been just enough had the part when a dancer strolled by crouched on a skateboard in a just black shorts and a strange silver mask been omitted.

That hokey-ness and the pseudo-acting in the bar scene of "Moonshine" could've been skipped. Like many ballet, contemporary, modern, and musical theater works seen over the years, this last piece set a table and chairs on one side and a makeshift bar at the center to create your typical bar dance scene: the flirty girls, the suave guys. The cliche story and "acting" was saved by a clever duet for Warren and Mariko Kurihara. About 2 feet different in height, their partnering was comical in the best sense. Kurihara was hilarious, standing barely to her partner's ribs.

Whatever the work, Take Dance always is a joy to watch. The dancers have wonderfully uninhibited movement and flow. And live music and creative lighting made "The Distance of the Moon" a great success.

Photo by Kokyat

Exit 12 Dance on Reuters

I've been dancing/working with Exit 12 Dance Company since February and I'm so excited to see today's Reuters interview with our director, Roman Baca! Check it out above as he discusses the piece "Homecoming," which we performed in August and also in May in Connecticut.

I'm on the left at 2:12 dancing as the mother!

ABT's 2011 Met Season Rep Announced!

Very exciting! Details here.

Today ABT announced it's repertoire for the 2011 Met Season (aka my favorite time of the year).

Ratmansky and Wheeldon will each have a world premiere, and Millipied will have a U.S. premiere.

Then the season starts with some of my favorites: "Don Q" and "Giselle." Next comes "Lady of the Camellias," which I missed the last time they did it recently. Then comes Freddy Franklin's "Coppelia," Kudelka's "Cinerella" (I think they use supers for this one...yay...), the gorgeous "Swan Lake," and finally "Sleeping Beauty."

Plus Jose Manuel Carreno retires with Swan Lake on June 30. Osipova and Cocojaru are back.

Upcoming: NYCB Wellness Workshop

This Saturday New York City Ballet is holding a Dance Wellness Workshop that looks really interesting.

As a dancer recovering from a serious injury, and an almost-certified New York City Ballet Workout instructor, I'm really looking forward to this:

A one-day series of interactive presentations focusing on the care and healing of the dancer’s extraordinary instrument of art—the body.

Saturday, October 16, 2010
10 AM – 6 PM

New York City Ballet Rehearsal Studios
Samuel B. & David Rose Building, 8th Fl.
70 Lincoln Center Plaza

Registration open to students, professional dancers, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Top 5 at Fall for Dance

Last week City Center's annual awesome Fall for Dance season wrapped up - and what a fun season it was! I was lucky enough to see 4 of the 5 programs this year (the most I've ever seen at these festivals) and it was such a treat to see the diversity of dance and the genuine enthusiasm of audiences across the board.

Because Fall for Dance tickets are only $10 it seems to draw a different crowd than the typical concert dance lovers. These people hoot and holler and give standing ovations to nearly every artist - and though many deserve this fanfare year-round, it's only at the festival that people really show that support. It makes for a fun atmosphere and a good time. The cheap drinks and cool people watching in the Fall for Dance lounge certainly help, too!

Though there were quite a few pieces on the various programs that stood out, here are my top 5 Fall for Dance 2010 favorites:

1. TIE: Miami City Ballet
and Dresden Semperoper Ballett
Okay, I can't decide. I just love Tharp and Miami's "The Golden Section" was thrilling! I really like their dancers and they had killer energy throughout the whole piece. It was also cool to see dance to David Byrne's music, whom I danced with at Radio City a while back! But I also enjoyed being introduced to Dresden Semperoper Ballett in the Forsythe piece "The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude." Those dancers were so smiley and looked like real people rather than cookie-cutter ballerinas. Both works are ones I'd just love to dance, and being injured made me appreciate them just a little bit more, I think.

2. Gallim DanceTheir piece "I Can See Myself in Your Pupil" was definitely a crowd pleaser and...I fell for it. Andrea Miller's super athletic go-go-go choreography is in your face. The dancers, in bright colors, each had a personality of their own that shone through strongly. They were a hit!

3. Keigwin & CompanyI like everything I see by Keigwin. It's easy to literally be blinded by the light in his piece "Megalopolis," with its set of flouresant lighting. The dancers had sparkly, robotic-looking costumes and danced in sharp, angular, otherworldly movements. Very cool.

4. Russel Maliphant CompanyI always wonder at these things why some companies choose to (or are chosen to) show a long solo at Fall for Dance. Both this year and last year there were a number of solos that just...could've been shortened or, better, cut out completely. But Maliphant's "Afterlight (Part 1)" was gorgeous! The images onstage looked like an optical illusion. The dancer spun centerstage below dim projected light patterns, his strong arms rotating fast like a flip book. It was haunting.

5. TIE: ABT and San Francisco Ballet

Both are beautiful ballet companies, and both presented gorgeous pas de deuxs. I saw ABT's "Thais Pas de Deux" at the Met with the same cast last spring (Hee Seo and Jared Matthews) and it was just as lovely. Hee Seo has the most luscious bourres and footwork. But it was my first time seeing Yuan Yuan Tan from SFB and wow, she's huge! I mean, skinny, tiny, but so tall! I sat literally in the front row center just beneath her, which I guess made her seem even more tall, but wow. Such beautiful lines and smooth partnering. The piece itself was just okay ("Diving into the Lilacs") but the dancers really make it. 

Runner-Up: Paul Taylor"Company B" is always a favorite, but I was excited to see newer works by other companies this time.

Side note: To be fair, the program I didn't see included Company Rafaela Carrasco, NYCB, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane, and Companhia Urbana de Dança.

Looking forward to next year's Fall for Dance!

Nutcracker in 3D

Has anyone heard of this? Looks interesting...no dancing though. How can you have Nutcracker without ballet?!

Recovery: Days 32-35 - 5 Weeks, Frustration, & Floor Barre

Today marks 5 weeks since the surgery!

It's been a long 5 weeks, too. Especially this past week or so I've been getting extremely antsy and more frustrated by the second at not being able to do anything. I watch Fall for Dance or Nutcracker rehearsal or Rodeo rehearsal for a November show and it *kills* me not to be able to move. It's complicated...

Part of it is that I'm tired of sitting still. Part of it is that dance is my form of expression - of love, frustration, joy, and concentration - and I have no other effective outlet for that right now. Part of it is seeing so many friends moving on happily and improving while I've lost so much strength. Part of it is desperately missing the daily-ness of class and I'm missing out on all that happens there.

The last one is about the only problem I can solve at this point. Even though my physical therapist said I should just start gentle yoga when I get out of the boot, I couldn't take it any more. I started yoga last week (nothing standing up though) and after that I was like a bat out of the cage. I've taken two classes a day for the past 3 days - yoga, pilates, and floor barre.

Now that I've found some options I feel like I'm finally making progress. It feels SO good to work my muscles again after so long off. Ah, that soreness is wonderful, haha. Saturday I took back to back pilates classes at DNA's Free Class Day and afterwards my abs were burning, but I felt so strong. Yesterday I also did double pilates. I'm not sure why I ever stopped taking pilates (no time?) but I really ought to keep up with it even when I'm healthy because it's such a good alternative workout with really focused muscle work.

Sunday in addition to yoga I tried floor barre. It was an interesting class...I've never taken it but it was nice and low impact. You're laying on your back basically the whole time and it targets the rotation and turnout muscles. I enjoyed it, but I think if I'm gonna have to start paying big bucks for classes (why oh why are classes so expensive in this city?!) I want something more physical that wears me out, haha.

Anyway...I go back to PT tomorrow after a week off from him and I'm really hoping this is the end of the giant boot. Then next Monday I see my doctor again and that's when we should start strengthening. The foot hasn't been too bad, though it does sort of hurt in the usual place if I flex and plie...hmm. In my head I'm hoping that means another week or so before I can try basic barre. It'll probably be longer but...fingers crossed.