So, I told myself no more blogs. You have enough already, and they are already difficult to manage.(Yellow Like Asian) Then, I reminded myself I don’t have a free blog, and I don’t have a wordpress. This was enough to convince me to go for it. This blog is to educate aspiring dancers, audience go-ers, parents and other dancers on what is, and what is happening in the ballet world… AKA it is me ranting and raving about ballet.
As any first blog post, I should introduce myself. My name is David (personal site), and I LOVE BALLET. No, I am not some crazed fan, or gay man with some over the top extravagant lifestyle. In fact, I do have some legitimacy here. I grew up dancing ballet, and not just at a some dolly dinkle studio in podunk America. I actually went through the entire ballet process, and become a professional ballet dancer. In addition, I have taught ballet, and other genres of dance on many different levels across the United States. Finally, my entire curriculum for teaching is based off Cassa Pancho’s All Things Black and Beautiful and the Balanchine Aesthetic. Finally, I am embarking on starting my own ballet company, Redlands Dance Theatre, click here for more info.
I’m not sure where this blog is going to go, but I can tell you what it isn’t going to be:
1. It isn’t going to be me bitching and complaining companies I dislike in general. (Trust and believe there are a lot I dislike)
2. It is definitely not going to be advice to get into a company. (A Guide… maybe)
3. It probably won’t be a blog slamming eating disorders, cocaine and drinking. (Not that I condone those things.)
4. It is not going to be me sitting on a high horse and just saying things for the sake of saying things… That is why we have artistic directors, haha that was a joke. I will give explanations and so forth.
5. I will not be associated with youtub-ing, posting on IG, or even tweeting… I already have too many to manage.
Now, I can tell you what I want the blog to be:
INFORMATIVE, an education.
INSPIRATIONAL, a future.
INSIGHTFUL, a perspective.
INTRIGUING, a personality.
(If you can’t tell, I totally do PR and Marketing.)
One response to “A Ballet Education… It’s just not tutus and tiaras… Seriously”
Hi there. Another ex-ballet dancer here. I trained until the late 90s and even made it to soloist at a regional company. Then I got BOOBS (fairly late in life, but regardless, ain’t no DD-cup gonna dance Snow Queen, Swanilda, or Spring Fairy, nuh uh) so that was the end. I’ve been in digital design since the early 00s, currently based out of NYC. Hey, if you have to do a second career, might as well make it the best you can be, right?
Anyway I found your blog because I am considering going back as an adult, mainly as a hobby (and the camraderie, chance to meet like-minded individuals, and the sweat). In NYC, there are many good options; most locals recommend Joffrey or Steps on Broadway for adult classes.
I think dancers are often able to transition naturally to careers that require a creative aesthetic. Most dancers I’ve worked with/met in my life were naturally very good at a variety of artistic pursuits – musicians, cooks, hair stylists, makeup and fashion design, etc. etc. I was a painter for a while too, but I met too many “full of themselves” types to want to keep going down that road. Another thing about dancers: many of us are terrible spellers. Especially those of us who trained Balanchine. My theory is, we go too fast to think about things like “I before E except after C!” Guarantee you this has typos even with Google Spell Check. Love your blog and I hope to see many more entries. I spent a whole evening here!