September 25, 2015

Ballerina Profile: Dr. Karen Lambie

Screenshot 2015-09-23 10.33.05Profiles are back! We’re kicking off this week with a profile of Dr. Karen Lambie. Want to be profiled? Fill out this form.
When did you start doing ballet as an adult?
I started taking ballet about 2 years ago after a 30+ year absence.
Did you ever take lessons as a kid?
I did take lessons as a kid from the age of 4 to the age of 8. I started classes again when I was in my 20’s.
Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?
I decided to take classes as a 61 year old ( I am now 63) because I loved it so much when I was younger and felt I needed the exercise.  
Where do you take classes?
I take classes right here in my small town of Statesboro, GA.
What is your favorite part about ballet?
It is difficult to say what is my favorite part of ballet, but I have always loved being able to express the emotions I feel from music through the beauty of dance, especially ballet.
What is your least favorite part?
I suppose my least favorite part is wanting so badly to be able to execute a particular move and not being able to due to the level of difficulty.
Who/What is your ballet inspiration?
I get my inspiration simply from the beauty of the art of ballet. Some of the most inspirational ballerinas for me include Gelsey Kirkland, Sylvie Guillem, Margot Fonteyn and Svetlana Zakharova.
What motivates you to keep dancing?
What motivates me to continue is the feeling that runs through my entire body when I am dancing–I feel as though I am flying! No other kind of dance makes me feel like ballet and I believe that a good barre and center workout is about the best exercise there is!
Do you take any other dance classes?
Occasionally I go to a modern dance or jazz class.
What are your hobbies outside of ballet?
My hobbies include reading, making jewelry and I love playing around with drums.
What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?
What I would say to anyone starting ballet or who wants to start is that it is not an easy discipline. It is very challenging, however, it is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling endeavors ever! It can be extremely frustrating at times, but most of the time, you will have a wonderful sense of accomplishment at the end of a class or performance, so don’t give up! Let yourself go as far as you can! Even at the age of 63, I am still improving!
Anything else you’d like to add?
 
Additional information about myself: I am a retired teacher with 32 years of experience. I am a foster parent. I have become a public speaker concerning the fast growing crime of human trafficking. You may visit my Facebook page at facebook.com/Karen.AmbassadorOfHope. Thank you.

 

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September 23, 2015

Breaking In Pointe Shoes By Lisa Howell

Thanks to Pointe Til You Drop for sharing this on our Facebook Page!

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September 23, 2015

October 1 is World Ballet Day

Who’s excited for World Ballet Day?

Following last year’scollaboration for the first World Ballet Day LIVE, five of the world’s leading ballet companies will once again stream 23 hours of live, behind-the-scenes footage on Thursday, October 1.

The Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and San Francisco Ballet have partnered to provide viewers around the world with an inside look at professional ballet companies in the studio, on tour, and in performance. Here’s the trailer for this year:

Want to participate? There’s a couple of ways you can:

DANCE ANYWHERE CONTEST

Submit a video or photograph of yourself dancing anywhere! In your yard, on a plane, at dinner, in front of a landmark — wherever you are, dance! Tag your photo or video with #WorldBalletDay and post it on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram before September 30. We’ll pick our favorites and share them during the live broadcast! Have fun and remember, dance anywhere!

Then, join the conversation the day of World Ballet Day. You can chat with other ballet fans, while you watch the broadcast on worldballetday.com. You can also submit questions for the dancers or comments about the broadcast through Twitter. Just tag your posts with #worldballetday.

How do you plan to participate?

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September 22, 2015

What Did You Do This Summer?

Image via gfpeck on Flickr via Creative Commors

Image via gfpeck on Flickr via Creative Commors

It’s officially the last day of summer. A while back, I put out a crowdsourcing call on Facebook asking everyone what they did this past summer. Like I mentioned, while my summer was filled with lots of ballet (2-3 classes at least every week), as you probably noticed, there wasn’t much blogging.

Here’s what you said you did:

  • Many of you went on summer classes binges (like Louise who got a chance to try out the Sun King dance workshops — I’m so jealous!)
  • Some of you had off because of no classes offered, like Illene and Karen.
  • Others watched video classes like Celeste, who also couldn’t take classes during the summer.
  • Some of you took off, like Suzanne, because her body needed the rest (I took the first week of September off — the best thing I could’ve done!)
  • Others worked on putting together a ballet area at home to keep practicing at home.

Please share more about what you did in the summer in the comments — or share your own personal ballet story here — we want to read ’em!)

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September 21, 2015

How I Spent My Summer…

It’s been a really long while since I’ve posted a personal post — a really long time. I spent most of my time this summer dancing — including a performance at the end of July that went well and taking several classes a week since I had only been working two, part-time writing jobs (hence the limited amount of writing here — I found myself writing dozens of blog posts a week).

Now that summer is pretty much over (first day of fall is this Wednesday) — I’m planning on getting back into blogging, back into running profiles and working on getting the studio guide more complete!

I also spend the latter half of August (and the beginning of September) getting back into running. It made me forget how much I missed it and how useful all that cardio can be when it comes to long combinations in ballet). I might be starting a running blog to document the rest of my exercising goals as well…but I’ll share more about that later. Back to ballet.

How did you spend your summer? Dancing? Traveling? Share with me in the comments!

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