If you’re near Philly, check out these two posts I recently wrote for Geekadelphia about arts-related events:
August 28, 2014
Ballet Class Recap: August Slump
It’s been a bit of a rough couple of weeks. I’ve decided to pass on running the Philly 10K, since there’s no way we can be ready on time. While I’m pretty disappointed that it feels like I’m giving up (again)–I’m still glad that I’m making the right decision for my health. There is always next year.
Instead, I’ll be doing my favorite local 5K from last year at the end of September, which will benefit a group that runs with shelter dogs. I’m excited. So far, running without the pressure of trying to greatly increase my mileage has been going really well.
I feel like I haven’t consistently made it to ballet class consistently with vacation, moving and work (as well as lack of sleep) — although I’ve made it to at least one last class in the past three weeks. This past week I made it to two, thanks to some friends from class who texted me to get moving and get to class. I’ve been a little frustrated with how I’ve done in class (especially with jumping) but I’m hoping once summer is over and I’m more regularly in class things will be going better.
How has your August been?
August 27, 2014
Ballet Instructor Profile: Megan Berryhill
This week’s profile is of Megan Berryhill, who runs BalléNess, where ballet meets fitness in an online dance studio, allowing dancers to dance and work out from the convenience of their own home.
How long have you been dancing?
I’ve been dancing for 25 years.
Why do you dance ballet?
My husband and I were talking about this last night. (He is not a dancer). He asked me what is it about dance that I love and I said “first, if I didn’t do ballet my body would hurt. I will never stop. I can tell even after one day. My body tells me. “ The second reason I like to dance, specifically ballet, it gives you a creative outlet to let go of tension, energy, and emotions but in a controlled way.
Who/What inspires you to dance?
My students. All of my students definitely are inspiration to continue dancing and teaching. Another inspiration is music. Music always inspires me to dance. I find it difficult to listen to music and not have choreography forming in my head.
How long have you taught ballet?
I’ve taught ballet for ten years.
Where do you teach ballet?
I am originally from Pennsylvania and have taught in VA, OH, PA and NYC, but I currently am living in Baku, Azerbaijan. I teach ballet here but also online. With my lifestyle of traveling to different countries I wanted a way to continue teaching and keep training students that I have taught in person. So now I own an online dance studio at balleness.com and I teach the classes live and in real time. It’s great. I currently teach ballet to students all over the United States, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Qatar, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey. It’s also a good outlet for dancers that want private lessons or for adults that do not have the confidence to enroll at a ballet studio. I have some dancers that I have never met in person and I have watched them improve their ballet vocabulary and technique and we both feel that we know each other; but we have never met! It’s awesome.
Who do you teach (ages, gender, level, etc.)?
I teach 3 year olds through 103 year olds. All ages and all levels.
What other types of dance do you teach (if any)?
I teach BalléNess (which is a ballet based fitness class for adults), contemporary, modern, pointe, jazz, beginner hip-hop, and beginner tap.
Why do you teach ballet?
I love to teach ballet. Watching students grow and improve from your training is so rewarding and what is better than getting rewarded for teaching your passion?
What is your favorite ballet step to teach and why?
For the young dancers I love teaching pas de chat. Doing passe’s over and over in parallel and then turn out is just fun. Like marching, but jumping. And then acting as a cat with them to do the pas de chat. I really don’t know why I love it, I just do.
For adults, my favorite ballet step to teach is a super simple step: chaine and pique turns. When I show them adults are always intimidated and think they could NEVER turn as fast, and in a straight line like I did. And then after some practicing and training, boom! They always successfully perform chaine and pique turns. And then it is that smile they all get and relief that they did it! They actually did it.
What advice/tips would you give to adults who want to begin ballet for the first time/adults starting ballet again?
Don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t compare yourself to others. Often we become frustrated and hard on ourselves if our leg can’t get as high as the person standing at the barre next to us, or we can’t figure out how on earth that petite allegro combination goes…get over it. You came to ballet class for practice and repetition, and with that and your instrument you will get there.
You can contact Megan by email(admin@balleness.com), on Facebook and Twitter!
August 18, 2014
Beginner Ballerina Profile: Mel Wong
Mel Wong has been invited to study Contemporary Dance at the prestigious conservatoire Trinity Laban in London, so she’s running a fundraising campaign to help pay for it. She’s also trying to set the world record for most consecutive grand battements!
Learn more in my interview with her below!
When did you start doing ballet as an adult?
I took my first ballet class as an adult in Easter 2011.
Did you ever take lessons as a kid?
I didn’t have any formal classical ballet classes as a child, but my jazz and musical theatre teachers would incorporate elements of ballet into their classes. I completed vocational training in dance and performing arts to BTEC National Diploma level, but due to a mental illness and life circumstances I never got the opportunity at the ‘right’ age to complete my training and start a professional career.
Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?
There were a few factors that made me decide to take up ballet as an adult, the first one being that for all my life I craved the opportunity to study classical ballet and after achieving a number of goals as a semi-professional athlete I worked up the courage to walk into my first ballet class. After I recovered from my illness I threw myself into training and competing as a martial artist, believing that I was no longer young enough or thin enough to go back to dance. But when I watched a UK company (the Northern Ballet) perform ‘Cleopatra’ something inside me just released and I felt the need to pursue dance training again.
Why are you running a fundraising campaign to support your dancing?
I have been invited to study Contemporary Dance at the prestigious conservatoire Trinity Laban in London, but it is very expensive and I am having to fund it alone since I have no relatives that I can rely on to support me in my studies. My age (I am 31) means that I am not eligible for dance scholarships, which I find incredibly unfair, and I am also not eligible for government support due to the internally-verified status of the course that I have been invited onto.
I have set up a fundraising campaign (http://www.gofundme.com/skydancerfund) to try and reach others out there in the world who understand my situation and want to see a dancer who doesn’t fit the mould in terms of age or ‘classical’ body shape achieve their ambitions. For any dancer pursuing full-time training is hard work, but I am ready to work! All my life I have been pursuing a dream to dance, choreograph and perform professionally and my experiences up until now have really prepared me for this opportunity and have given me the focus needed to knuckle down, complete my training and achieve my long term professional goals.
What is your ultimate goal with it?
When my training is complete my ultimate goal is to form my own artistic dance theatre company, which will give performance opportunities to other dancers like me who don’t meet set ‘standards’. I aim to create my own movement language, which will fuse classical ballet with more contemporary movement forms and martial arts to really push physical boundaries. I want to say something very clear with my work, I aim to show how male and female dancers can be equally strong and vulnerable and really showcase how beautiful and breathtaking dynamic bodies can be.
Where do you take classes?
I take as many open classes as my current finances allow studying ballet at my local dance studio – Hype Dance Company – three times a week and taking extra classes with the Northern Ballet.
What is your favorite part about ballet?
Ballet is so all-consuming, it requires total dedication and you can’t cheat or fake any elements of it. As a complete form of physical training, ballet develops the body in ways that other movement forms don’t encouraging strength, precision and expansion (which are things that I love). As an art form it is so versatile and offers so much room for expression and freedom, when I dance ballet I believe that I can really pour my soul and my heart into my physical movements. It facilitates so much more than jazz or contemporary styles.
What is your least favorite part?
I don’t have a least favourite part of the art or movement language itself, but I do have issues with the way that ballet is sometimes presented as an elitist privilege. Dancing ballet professionally is something that isn’t available to every human being on this earth, but that’s true of any gift or talent, and I don’t believe people who aren’t the ‘right’ colour, shape, age or gender should be automatically excluded from trying it. Yes, some professional companies will always require a certain aesthetic, but there is room in this art form for a variety of dancers provided they have something to contribute.
Who/What is your ballet inspiration?
I’ve been inspired by so many dancers throughout my life. As a youngster I idolized the glamourous stars of the 20thCentury – Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gelsey Kirkland, Natalia Makarova – and as I grew older I fell in love with Sylvie Guillem, Alessandra Ferri, Darcey Bussell and Nicholas le Riche. Now I would say my main inspirations are the dancers who are surpassing what’s expected of them and the way that they move, so Guillem remains an inspiration as does Natalia Osipova, Tamara Rojo, Junor Souza and Marianela Nunez. And I wouldn’t be where I am today without my ballet teacher Emily Talks!
What motivates you to keep dancing?
I’m alive so that’s motivation enough for me! Seriously, dance is my life, it inhabits every moment to the point of obsession.
Do you take any other dance classes?
I have take as professional an approach as I can manage with the resources that have been available to me so in addition to ballet class 3-4 times a week, jazz and contemporary classes a few times a week and also daily practice in Yoga and Pilates.
What are your hobbies outside of ballet?
Aside from reading, watching movies and socializing with friends, I use a lot of my spare time outside of class for conditioning. So I attend Pilates and Yoga classes and one-to-ones regularly, and also work out at the gym to maintain my fitness.
What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?
For anyone who is thinking of starting ballet you really just have to do it, don’t put barriers in the way of yourself. So what if you don’t have legs like Sylvie Guillem, you still have value as an individual dancer and ballet might just be the right art form for you. For anyone who’s just started ballet I would say stick with it, be as interested as possible in everything that you do in class, use YouTube to learn from the ballet legends and masters and never lose your beginners’ mindset!
Anything else you’d like to add?
Before I head off to dance school I am planning to set a new world record for the total number of continuous grand battements (the current record is 1,199!). I am fundraising for the record attempt with a Kickstarter page:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1671982406/world-record-attempt-grand-battements and I hope to raise enough money so that I can make charitable donations to the Cats Protection League and MacMillan Cancer Care.
Do you have a blog?
I have a website: www.skydancermel.com where I blog about dance, movement, mental health and anything else that springs to mind! I also have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MelSkydancer and Twitter account https://twitter.com/MelMAOW.
August 8, 2014
Beginner Ballerina Profile: Grace of Little Prince Billy
![n223402569_9096648_2152200[1]](https://adultballerinaproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/n223402569_9096648_21522001.jpg)
This week’s profile is of Grace, who runs Little Prince Billy–a dance and lifestyle blog. Check it out–and learn more about her below!
When did you start doing ballet as an adult?
On my 18th Birthday (I’m now 24).
Did you ever take lessons as a kid?
Yes, when I was very little for about 6 months. I was a little chick in the school’s performance of The Wizard of Oz…!!
Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?
Reaching my 18th birthday, I felt old. It was all very dramatic…! I was someone I felt I should be, not the person I wanted to be. I set myself resolutions, and the first of these was to learn what I’d always dreamed of – how to dance.
Where do you take classes?
Usually at Pineapple Studios in London, as it’s all drop-in so I can make it work around a full-time job.
What is your favorite part about ballet?
The discipline – there are no short cuts, you just have to work really hard. And if you want it enough, you can be successful. It’s a great lesson for other areas of life!
What is your least favorite part?
The injuries! I was very sadly injured about 8 months ago, and I’ve still not yet been fit enough to return to ballet. Gosh do I miss it!
Who/What is your ballet inspiration?
Darcey Bussell – my mum took me to see her dance at The Royal Opera House, London when I was very little and I was completely mesmerised. I met her many years later, and she was lovely!
What motivates you to keep dancing?
The fact that I’m in love with it! That and a drive to be the best I can be. I feel happiest when I’m in class, it’s a feeling like nothing else.
Do you take any other dance classes?
Yes – Commercial Jazz and Technique classes. I also do Contemporary when I have the time too.
What are your hobbies outside of ballet?
I love to write, and run a London Lifestyle and Dance blog – www.littleprincebilly.wordpress.com. I love to bake (when I’ve got an audience) and have recently perfected Cookie Monster cupcakes.
What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?
Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing – everyone had to start somewhere, and just focus on your own process. It is never too late to start ballet, and it will be tough, but oh so worth it!
