Top Dance Blog Contest 2013: Recreational Dancer

topdanceblog_2013Hello Readers! Every year the fantastic website Dance Advantage holds a contest to try and find the best Dance Blogs on the web. I’ll be entering in the category of “Recreational Dancer” since this blog focuses on profiling beginner ballerinas, my own experience, as well as tips for adult ballet dancers.

The Top 20 blogs with the most comments make it into the finals. Comment on THIS post to show your support for the blog. You can share why you read your blog, why you think it’s special, share your favorite posts or simply state “I love the Adult Ballerina Project.”

Thank you for your support!

The link to the contest can be found here, if you’re interested.

Beginner Ballet Tips: Strengthening Ankles

Français : Pied sur la pointe

Ankle strength plays a huge role in ballet, especially pointe. I’ve struggled a lot with my ankles so far, having to take some time off because of bad cases of tendonitis. However, I’ve been working to improve them through various exercises. Regardless of whether you’ve had ankle injuries in the past, these ankle strengthening exercises are useful to get ready for pointe work as well as ballet in general.

Prehab: Strengthen Your Ankles: While I was told to stay off my ankles in ballet, several of the different doctors that I saw recommended the last exercise in this article, writing with your feet. I find it’s super easy to fit this one into your routine because you can do it while watching TV or while lying in bed.

12 Ways to Build Ankle Strength:  This article, from Active.com lists a wide variety of ways to strengthen ankles, including Theraband exercises which are my favorite. Again, some of these, such as the balancing ones can be done pretty much at anytime.

What other exercises have you come across to strengthen your ankles?

Ballerina Profile: Joie of Some Assemblé Required

This week’s Ballerina Profile is Joie from Some Assemblé Required. She’s been dancing for an impressive 7 years now, since she was 21. Enjoy!

Adult Ballerina Project: When did you start doing ballet as an adult?

Joie Brown: Age 21– I’ve been dancing just about seven years now!

ABP: Did you ever take lessons as a kid?

JB: I took tap dancing for awhile, but no ballet.

ABP: Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?

JB: When I was a kid, someone told me I was “too big” to be a ballerina, and I took it to heart. I steadfastly refused to take up my mother’s offer for ballet classes, even though I desperately wanted to do it. Many years later, I decided, “Aw, what the heck! Why NOT? You only live once.” I then promptly signed up with the Atlanta Ballet Adult Division.

ABP: Where do you take classes?

JB: I currently take classes at City Dance Studios with Carla Escoda from Ballet to the People here in San Francisco. I’m about to move to Los Angeles though, and will be on the lookout for a great new studio there!

ABP: What is your favorite part about ballet?

JB: Getting to look graceful– it’s a nice change from my everyday clumsy clonking about. I also really enjoy performing even though I don’t get many chances to do it. Also, learning to dance in pointe shoes is totally a girlhood dream come true.

ABP: What is your least favorite part?

JB: The fact that adult bodies have limitations. There’s only so much flexibility and extension a 27 year old body can give. (Now, if I could just get up to 3+ classes a week, maybe it COULD change…)

ABP: Who/What is your ballet inspiration?

JB: Anyone that does it better than me. Which is just about everyone! Hehe, in all seriousness, watching any ballet performance gets me inspired to dance!

ABP: What motivates you to keep dancing?

JB: I’m a visual artist, and my brain is constantly crowded out with noise/creativity/excitement. Ballet gives me a good 1.5 hours of mental silence– if you think about anything other than what you’re doing, then you are NOT doing it correctly!

ABP: Do you take any other dance classes?

JB: I don’t at the moment, but have taken Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern, and Musical Theater before! (Plus the aforementioned tap when I was 6…) I would like to try a jazz class!

ABP: What are your hobbies outside of ballet?

JB: I’m an illustrator by trade, but I also draw in my spare time (for fun! I must really love my job). I also like playing video games, going on walks, baking, and reading voraciously!

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

JB: It’s gonna be tough, but remember to have FUN with it. That’s the whole point, after all! What helps me is imagining that I am dancing better than I am, and that I am wearing a giant pretty tutu with a tiara and sparkles, et al. On a stage. With lights. And people throwing roses at me! … thank goodness my other classmates can’t see inside my head!

ABP: Anything else you’d like to add?

JB: I have a ballet blog that I update occasionally at: www.blondieballet.wordpress.com. It contains my experiences in classes, random pictures and videos, and ballet-related drawings that I do. I’m also slowly adding in past entries from a journal I kept about ballet when I first started… so think of it as a blog that grows both forward and backward!

How-To Tips: Make Your Own Tutus

Super Fluffy Aqua Iridescent Tutu

(Photo credit: pumpkincat210)

Even though I’m 21 years old, I’ve still always wanted a tutu, even though I don’t need one for a performance or a class. I want one for a photos I’ll be taking for the blog in the future, although I’m a bit wary of spending $20 dollars for a cheap one on the Internet (although I love DiscountDance for many, many reasons), because I won’t e able to compare colors to my leotards.

While the idea of making my own has crossed mind, I’m not big on sewing. This tutorial looks great (and for the most part, it’s no sew–just sewing a ribbon, which I’ll do by hand). Although it’s not going to hold up to a lot of dancing, since there’s no elastic, it still looks like it’ll be great for a photo shoot (the creator made them for her daughter to run in a race).

Do you own any tutus? Have you ever considered making your own?

Looking for more Beginner Ballerinas to Interview!

English: .

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday and is getting their ballet-related New Year’s resolution’s planned out. Since it’s in the middle of a holiday week, I don’t have a new interview ready for today.

However, I’m in need of new ballerinas to interview. It doesn’t matter what your skill level is, you are still invited to be interviewed for the website. Don’t worry if you don’t have a photo of you in your ballet gear, any photo will do. If you’re interested, please either shoot me an e-mail (adultballerinaproject@gmail.com) or fill out this super-short form at SurveyMonkey.

Here are some profiles you may want to check out: