Life Updates + Help me out by Guest Blogging or By Filling out a Profile

In case you missed it last week in my kind of quick update: my job recently hired me as full-time reporter which is awesome, but unfortunately it’ll mean a few cutbacks on ABP–mostly in the form of me posting less.

I’ll admit, I considered putting the project on hold for a little bit while I got everything sorted out. But I couldn’t do it. Everyone I’ve met through this project has been amazing, and that was extremely evident to me in the response to Bethany Keat’s post The Nouns and Adjectives of Ballet. If you haven’t read it yet, make sure you go do so ASAP–it’s a fantastic post. I have some other fantastic stuff in the works as well that I don’t want to give up, either.

Posting will probably go down to about 2-3 posts a week for a little while (instead of the usual 4-5). However, I’m hoping to eventually get the number back up to around 4-5 posts a week. If you’d like to help out–I’m always looking for more guest bloggers and people to feature in our weekly ballerina post. You can fill out a form to participate as either here!

What Motivates You to Dance? Allison DeBona’s #ArtWithAlli

Allison DeBona, a soloist with Ballet West (and star of the show Breaking Pointe), has started a campaign called #ArtWithAlli on her blog, Allison’s Pointe of View.  DeBona wrote:

“Dance is evolving so fast, the technique is more difficult, and you’re required to do multiple turns, jump higher and battement to the sky.  I appreciate all of those things, but for me, that is not what defines a great ARTIST.  In class I am always working toward improving my technique and physical abilities, but it seems to me that today young dancers are so focused on quantity that the artistry of our craft is often lost.”

DeBona said in her post that she’s going to challenge readers over the next 12 months, starting this month by asking you to exploring  your motivation for dancing and your contribution to our art form. 

You post your response in her forum, but also share your journey using the hashtag #artwithalli on social media. I’ll be working on my own post about my own motivation soon and sharing it both here, in the forum, and on social media, and I encourage you to do the same!

What motivates you to dance?

 

Ballet Class Recap: Back to Ballet

Sometimes, I really don’t realize just how much I love ballet until I end up missing a couple of classes.

It’s been a while since I’ve written a post, although I have good reason: my job recently increased from a part-time job to a full-time job last week. Before that, things were really, really hectic at work, so I didn’t have much time to write (or make it to ballet class either).

While I’ve made it to a few Monday classes during the past month, I haven’t gotten much a chance to make it to classes with my usual ballet instructor. Last weekend HQ and I ended up heading home for a long weekend to celebrate my sister’s 21st birthday, so I missed out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday classes.

This past Monday I went to an awesome event about anti-street harassment by a group I’ve written about a few times called Hollaback PHILLY. While the event was great, I unfortunately couldn’t make it to ballet.

I made myself go to ballet on Thursday finally–even though I was tired after a long week of work. I ended up having to grab a cheap snack–some lemon pound cake from Starbucks–just to give myself enough energy to get through the class. While the class was tough, I was happy that my legs did fine during the class and I seemed to be doing as well as I had been in past ballet classes.

HQ and I both went to class on Friday, which I felt I did better in because I knew most of the combinations from Thursday’s class. I always really enjoy Friday’s classes because they’re smaller and we often get to spend a little bit more time breaking things down. I’m also thrilled that my ballet instructor is going to start offering  pre-pointe classes on Friday evenings after our normal class. It’ll be an easy way for me to gradually get back into pointe work.

How have your ballet classes been going this month?

Interview with Clip ‘n Bands Founder

This week I’m featuring a Q & A with Clip ‘n Bands founder Christina Gavrilas-Pearson.  She’s currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to create the headbands, which come with little clips on them to help them from sliding–which is a huge problem I have–I often use bobby pins to keep my headband in place!

What background do you have in fitness?

I started playing competitive tennis when I was 9 years old.  Coming from a family of athletes, both parents where in the Olympics for Romania in 1972, I naturally have a competitive edge about me.  I traveled to tennis tournaments as a child and continued on to receive an athletic scholarship to college.  I now play tennis leisurely with family.  I also have taken up running and golf.  I like to stay active and healthy through sports.

Where did the idea for Clip’n Band come from? 

The idea originated one evening before going to sleep.  The next day we were to leave for vacation in Turks and Caicos where my mother lived at the time.  Every time my husband and I would visit we would play a few doubles tennis matches against my mom and stepdad.  Well as you know it can get pretty windy on the island and I always had trouble keeping my hair out of my eyes, even when I played tennis growing up.  I would use tons of clips but they never really held my fly-aways.  And forget about headbands they would always slip off of my head just as soon as putting them on.  So when I was lying in bed the night before the trip I thought of these clips that I had and thought to myself why couldn’t I sew these clips to the inside of a headband to make it stay on my head.  So I got out of bed, threaded a needle and that’s how Clip’n Band was discovered.

How does Clip’n Band work, and how are they different from a normal headband? 

Well Clip’n Band has three unique clips on the underside of the headband to grip the hair and hold it in place.  The clips have a unique function of opening, to receive the hair, and closing to comfortably grip the hair.

Why would dancers find these headbands useful?

It is my observation that dancers use many techniques to keep hair out of the face, especially their eyes.  With Clip’n Band the dancers can accomplish that and much more.  They can add character to their wardrobe or costume and never have to worry about it slipping off their head.

Who else are the headbands appropriate for?

The headbands are suitable for anyone!  Men, women, children, anyone who wants to wear a headband but couldn’t because they could get them to stay on their head.

Why did you decide to run a Kickstarter campaign?

Kickstarter is a unique way to generate revenue when launching a product.  It is also a great way also to generate interest in your product by giving donors a sample product with a specified donation.

What rewards will donors receive? 

Donors will receive a Clip’n Band headband with a $15 donation.

Are there other ways people can support Clip’n Band even if they can’t donate?

For sure!  If you know anyone who has trouble wearing headbands tell them about us, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.  We also have a website, www.clipnband.com for more information.

Check out her Kickstarter here, and find them on Twitter and Facebook, too.

How Yoga is Useful for Dancers (and Runners): My Yoga Works Review

Disclosure: I received a free six-month trial of MyYogaWorks in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Use code “Blogger14” to get your first month for $5, or sign-up for a free trial at My Yoga Works.

I’ve always known that I should be doing more yoga to help with my flexibility and injury recovery. The truth is–however–that I just don’t ever seem to find time between ballet, running, work, blogging and learning web development. What I love about My Yoga Works is the same reason I love Code Academy (which offers super quick coding lessons)–there are a lot of quick and easy short yoga videos for you to pick from, no matter what your skill level is.

I love all the different options you can search by--especially the time option--perfect if you only have 5-10 minutes!

I love all the different options you can search by–especially the time option–perfect if you only have 5-10 minutes!

The first video I picked was Lift With Your Legs by Alexandria Crow, a video I found via My Yoga Works pain-relief section. It turned out to be exactly what I needed, with lower leg stretches and strengthening moves for my sore calves and shins from running. I’ll definitely be incorporating this video into my routine a few times a week to keep my calves happier.

The next video I tried out was 5 Minute Hips with Vytas Baskauskas. I know my hips need a lot of work, but I don’t often have a lot of time, so I wanted to try this video out. While this gave a great explanation of some hip stretches (and how to do them correctly)–there wasn’t enough time for you to even test them out on each side. Happy Healthy Hips was just what I needed, on the other hand. It was a quick 14 minute sequence of hip openers that made my hips pretty happy.

I’m looking forward to using My Yoga Works in the future for short workouts to help keep me injury-free and more flexible.

Use code “Blogger14” to get your first month for $5, or sign-up for a free trial at My Yoga Works.

Do you use yoga as part of your ballet or running training?