August 21, 2013

Announcing the Adult Dance Studio Directory

Although we already had some reviews of dance studios here in the past (and you can still find them here for the time being), it’s kind of outgrown its basic function, so we’re launching a new site, the Adult Dance Studio Directory (it’ll eventually move to its own URL, don’t worry!).

You’ll be able to search by area, style of dance, and more as well as submit studio (and teacher) reviews.

Join our mailing list for more information and to get notified when we launch!

If you have a dance studio you’d like to be featured on the site, please contact Kristen at info@adultballerinaproject.com!

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Reviews Tagged With: , , Leave a Comment
August 16, 2013

Beginner Ballerina Profile: Joy Wrona

A couple of weeks ago, Joy wrote an amazing blog post here on Adult Ballerina Project that was one of our most well-received posts ever, Plus-Sized Ballet. If you want to learn more about Joy, check out our interview with her below:

1.29.2011

When did you start doing ballet as an adult?

Joy: Two years ago, I lamented to my best friend’s mom (who has been a dance teacher her whole life) that I could not find an adult ballet basics class.  She offered to teach one at her studio if I could recruit more students.  It was usually just me though so after a few months, I thanked her and went on the hunt again.  Didn’t seem right to be taking up that studio time every week.  Last year, I finally found my ballet home and am now taking two classes a week.

Did you ever take lessons as a kid?

Joy:  I remember taking a lesson as a wee tot in a school gym.  Then my middle school gave us weekly ballet classes but we spent more time changing into tights and leotards than actually at the barre.  I also took Irish dance for seven years of my childhood.

Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?

Joy:  I began losing weight and felt very clumsy and uncoordinated.  I thought ballet would help me find my grace.  But in truth, it has taught that and so very much more.

Where do you take classes?

Joy:  Festival School of Ballet in Buffalo, NY.

What is your favorite part about ballet?

Joy:  The grace – which leads to my second favourite part, strength.  You don’t realize just how STRONG ballet dancers are until you actual start attempting it yourself.  It looks so effortless (and really, isn’t that the point?)

What is your least favorite part?

Joy:  Slow improvement.  This is probably just me but I struggle with basics like a good second position tendu turnout.  Seems like no matter how hard I try, I never seem to get it!  But I keep trying all the same.

Who/What is your ballet inspiration?

Joy:  My ballet inspiration is my best friend’s mom.  She has been dancing and teaching for what seems like forever.  She’s so healthy and vibrant and she is in her 70s!  I want to be like that when I grow up.

What motivates you to keep dancing?

Joy:  My desire to keep fit, mobile and healthy just like my parents.

Do you take any other dance classes?

Joy:  I’ve taken hip hop and zumba but after knee surgery last year, those went by the wayside.  Though I do miss them and want to try them again.  I am also an avid swing dancer with my fiancée.  And it all started with Irish dancing when I was 6.

What are your hobbies outside of ballet?

Joy: Bike riding is a relatively new obsession.  If I can bike there, I’ll do that before I get in my car.  Better for me and the planet!  I’m also very blessed to be an actor with a day job.  I do anywhere from 2-3 shows a year.  I do better with straight plays but I enjoy the occasional musical too.  My dance abilities do me well at auditions.  I always say, I’m actor who can carry a tune and count to 8.

What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?

Joy:  If you want to do it, don’t give up!  Keep looking until you find that perfect dance studio.  Don’t think after the first class you can’t do it.  You CAN.  It doesn’t come easy, it takes work but that is the point.  But you can do it if you are willing to put the effort in.  I started dancing with FSB in February 2012 and then found I needed knee surgery in May 2012.  I thought for sure I wouldn’t be able to go back.  But I took class Thursday night, had surgery Friday morning and was back at the barre the following Thursday.  Nothing got in my way once I knew just how much I loved ballet.  Don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of doing something you love.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Joy:  Speaking of not letting anyone get in your way – don’t listen to the haters.  Random people on the street feel the need when they see my ballet school tshirt or hoodie, to comment on how I couldn’t be a ballet dancer.  I’m too heavy, I’m too old, whatever.  I’ve had it said to me at the grocery store, in traffic while I’m on my bike, heck even people I know have suggested I might be out of my league with ballet.  DO NOT LISTEN.  Listen to yourself.  I have felt for my entire life that I had a dancer in me.  It took me until I was in my late 30s to truly answer the call and feel good enough to call myself A DANCER.  I’ll be dancing till I die now, no matter what anyone says.

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Filed Under: Adult Ballerinas, Ballerina Profiles, Ballet, Interviews Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments
August 14, 2013

Squats Challenge and Splits Challenge

Although I’ve loved doing challenges (ab challenges, splits challenges, you name it), I’ve been horrible at actually keeping up with them. This time I have some fellow bloggers keeping me motivated with this awesome 30 day Squat challenge, and a competition with HQ of Run Play Sleep (my boyfriend) to keep me motivated to get my splits.

30 Day Squat Challenge

Syreeta of Sincerely Syreeta started this challenge on Instagram and invited other people to join her so we could keep ourselves motivated. Today is my Day 3.

squatchallenge

I’ve split my squats between plie/sumo squats and normal body weight squats.

If you’re interested in joining us, you can learn more and connect with Syreeta on Twitter. Read more about Syreeta in my interview with her for Campus Philly.

Splits Challenge

This is more a competition than it is a challenge. Hq and I are competing by safely stretching every day to see who can get their splits first. The person who achieves them first owes the other a dinner out. I’ll be posting updates relatively frequently on this challenge.

How do you motivate yourself? Do you participate in challenges like diet bets and 30 day challenges?

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Info, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , Leave a Comment
August 7, 2013

Thoughts on Breaking Pointe’s New Season

Breaking_Pointe_Logo

There has been a lot of controversy over Breaking Pointe this season, partnered with a lot of disappointment when the first episode aired–a lot of the ballet community was upset over how little ballet there actually was. I think Rebecca King captured how a lot of how I felt on Tendus Under a Palm Tree (she’s a professional dancer, too) after the first episode.

Now that we’re three episodes in, I’ve decided to share my opinions, too.

Ballet Becomes More Widespread

I think one of the most important segments of the first episode was of Adam explaining each part of the ballet company in relation to high school classes. At first, I thought, “blah, blah, blah. If you know anything about ballet already, you’d know this.” Thinking back on this, that’s not the point. As King quotes Allison DeBona as saying: “We originally set out on this endeavor to help rejuvenate the public’s interest in ballet and it feels like we are serving our purpose.” I think the show is definitely serving it’s purpose, although it’s doing it in a way not all of us are happy with.

People are learning more about how a ballet company operates because of Breaking Pointe, and the pain that goes into producing a ballet. Take Rex Tilton and Ronnie Underwood’s injuries and Joshua Whitehead’s disappointment of not getting the role of Napoleon(which he desperately wanted) for example. Both injuries and disappointment’s are a huge part of the real ballet world. I love learning more and more about what company life is like.

…but it’s still “reality TV”

I’ve seen a lot of people get upset over how Beckanne Sisk has gone from being the polite, new young dancer to the evil villain of this show and the bitchy girlfriend (taking over DeBona’s role, essentially).  We realized last season that DeBona isn’t exactly the evil queen she was played out to be (and in fact, they haven’ shown that angle at all this season). There’s also the apparent “extreme tension” we’re apparently going to get to see between Christiana Bennet and Christopher Ruud in future episodes, which I believe they’re obviously over-dramatizing as well.

Producers feel they need to create drama in order to appeal to the reality TV masses…but I’m okay with that. As a ballet fan outside of the world of Breaking Pointe, I’ve accepted that the CW needs to add the unneeded drama and partying–as long as it means I still get to see quality ballet as well.

Are you happy with the new season of Breaking Pointe so far?

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , , , , 5 Comments
August 5, 2013

Can you be TOO flexible as a ballet dancer?

OY VEY! I am so sorry that I’ve sort of “slacked off” on my stretching series. I’ve been sick for the past week and then I just sprained ankle on top of it. Apparently I can dance better than I can walk. 🙂 So while I’m taking a little hiatus from dance and intense stretching to let my body heal from the illness and injury, I figured I’d bring up a topic that seems to be controversial at the moment- can you become TOO flexible or overstretch when it comes to ballet?? I found an article about how the positions of ballet have changed over the years and how they require a different level of flexibility and it raises interesting questions about the pressure it puts on dancers to be crazy flexible. I’ll fess up… one of my guilty pleasures is following a ton of little ballet Instagrams that are likely run by 12 year old girls (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m “old” in comparison so it makes me feel a little silly haha). So my Instagram feed is overrun with pictures of girls doing tilts, oversplits, and various other insane in the membrane stretches.

One of the first pictures on google image search of "oversplits"

One of the first pictures on google image search of “oversplits”

Part of me is blown away at the awesomeness of the stretches. It’s really amazing to see what the human body is capable of when you stretch it out and push its limits. The other part of me is really curious as to the concerns and dangers associated with stretching to extremes. I am, of course, a huge advocate of stretching as I find it’s very important to keeping a healthy body as well as progressing in ballet. I am also very cautious and try to make sure to weigh the costs with the benefits before I do anything. For me, the biggest concern that I have with these extreme stretches are the dangers involved. Could you imagine if one of the chairs in the above pictures slipped out during the process of getting in this position?! Holy pain, Batman. Or when I see people stretching their arches by sticking their foot under a couch and forcing it down I can’t help but wonder how much potentially “unnecessary” strain they are putting on their joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles that could later lead to serious injury.

When trying to do research on the topic I found some really weird mixed messages. A lot of sources say that you can’t really be too flexible and that you should try and push and push until you can get further. A lot of other sources say that being overly flexible is neither necessary nor helpful in ballet because it actually makes you need to work harder to maintain the classic lines that make ballet seem graceful rather than looking contorted. Although I found a lot of opinions of parents of dancers, adult dancers, and teen dancers, there aren’t a whole lot of easily accessible resources based from more reliable “official” sources. So, because I am no expert and definitely cannot give you advice on the matter, I advise that you weight the pros and cons yourself before attempting any stretches of that magnitude and always recommend caution. But I figured it could be an interesting point of conversation. Do you feel that these extreme forms of stretching can help or hinder ballet? How do you feel about the ever increasing flexibility requirements of ballet and how it changes the way the lines of the body look?

 

On a more fun note, I also decided to do the ABC survey Kristen posted to tell you a little more about myself after the jump 🙂

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Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Info, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , , 7 Comments