Adult Ballerina Project Ballerina Writer Program

Up until now, I haven’t really had a formal contributors program, I’ve just had people submit ideas via email when they think of them. We’ve gotten a lot of great pieces this way and I’ve had quite a few regular contributors write for the blog over the past couple of years.

However, I’m looking develop even more of a base of regular writers.

Like all of the other writing for Adult Ballerina Project, I still, unfortunately cannot pay for submissions from contributors (I don’t make any money myself on this project).

How The Program Will Work

About once a month, writers will receive an email from me asking for pitches on future posts for Adult Ballerina Project. As long as the idea fits with the blog and hasn’t been done before, I’ll ask you to write a post about it.

I don’t expect everyone to pitch or write every month, but my hope is that these writers can make a very loose commitment to writing about every three months (I’ll of course, be very happy if you can write more than that!).

However, you won’t get kicked from the writers group if you don’t submit something once every three months.

Who Can Join?

Anyone! Writers who haven’t yet been interviewed for an ABP profile will be asked to do so. You’ll also get a bio and description on the contributors page. Fill out this form to sign-up.

Not interested in the program, but still have an idea you want to write about? Send me an email at adultballerinaproject@gmail.com.

We’ll also potentially have a formal internship in the summer for ten weeks (details still to come). However, if you’re interested in doing an internship in the spring or summer, send me an email at adultballerinaproject@gmail.com.

Ballet Blog Roundup: January 21 Edition

Just some ballet related stories (and blog posts) from around the Internet this week. Feel free to add to the list!

Jan 20, 2015 - loveballet89.wordpress.com - 96
I've known for a while that I'm not exactly a guy who lives inside the box. Most men my age who are active do things such as softball, golf or maybe bowling. Some are a little bit bolder and still play some soft of sandlot football ...
Jan 20, 2015 - adultbeginner.wordpress.com - 101
Took a class at Heartbeat House the other day, but before I talk about that I wanna talk about this other thing. Ok, Heartbeat House has this deal for new people. First class costs five dollars, and all the other classes you take within your first week keep on costing just five dollars.
Jan 20, 2015 - atthebarre.net - 88
Ballet is Boring
A friend and colleague recently posted a quote on her Facebook page and it got me thinking. Mr. Balanchine once said: "If you don't feel challenged, it's because you're not doing enough. Ballet should never feel comfortable. Comfortable is lazy! If you're comfortable when you dance, you're not pushing yourself hard enough.
Jan 20, 2015 - nytimes.com - 90
Mariinsky Ballet in 'Cinderella,' Under Alexei Ratmansky
The differences between danced versions of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" - a mainstay of ballet repertory - tend to be relatively subtle. The Capulets and the Montagues usually meet in Renaissance Verona, and the individuals tend to quarrel, laugh, fall in love and die at more or less the same passages in the music.
Jan 20, 2015 - dancewell.wordpress.com - 88
Hey guys, I'm looking for stories. Your stories to be specific. See, one of the things I love about dance is that it's different for everyone but there's no right or wrong way to be a dancer. So I'm interested in your stories of being a dancer.

Video: Ballerinas By Night: Improving Low Arches

ballerinas-by-night

If you haven’t already checked out the Ballerinas By Night Youtube Channel–do so now! They’ve got everything from how to improve low arches (video below) to practicing cambres and more.

Thanks Lisa for posting these in our Google+ group!

What’s your favorite ballet YouTube Channel?

Updates: Nutcracker, Back to Basics, Friends in Ballet

Back in December and early January, my ballet class was working on choreography for the Spanish dance in the Nutracker, which was really fun. My instructor even brought in fans for the final classes we practiced it in the first few days of January.

Soon after that, we dove back into the basics for the yearly crowd of newcomers as the new year began. Surprisingly, it’s been really tough going through the class relatively slow (tough but good). The first weekend of those classes I made it to three classes in one weekend and was super sore. This weekend I found myself sick and barely made it through two classes.

This weekend I did make it to a pointe class, too, despite being sick. That was tough, especially since my last class in December was really tough and painful (I’m still not sure why).

I’m happy that in this weekend’s class I managed to keep my pointe shoes on for the entire class (and not have switched to flat slippers), but I know there’s still a lot of work left to be done there. I’ve tried to keep up with strengthening exercises everyday at home and trying to make it to every class that I can.

I’ve also had one of my coworkers join me for a class, and I’m looking forward to her joining me for more. I love bringing new people to class.

How’s your first half of January been? Please share updates in the comments–I love reading them! 

Haven’t taken the reader survey yet? Check it out here.

2015 Reader Survey

Last year around this time I ran my first reader survey. I received a lot of great responses that were really helpful to me in figuring out what type of posts I should be writing. You can check out some of the results here.

This year’s survey has some of the same questions and some new ones as well, so I’d appreciate it if you could take the time to fill it out again.