Being there brought back lots of wonderful memories. The studio looks exactly as I remember it although a few things have changed. There is now an additional dance studio in the basement and a new marley dance floor covers the wood floor. And I don’t remember the paint in the dressing room being such bright colors. But those are just minor changes to the appearance of the facility. The knowledge and love of dance is still being shared.

Of course there is a different director of the studio. Over the years the studio has changed hands many times. When I began my lessons, Elizabeth Schneider ran the school and was Artistic Director of Dutchess County Ballet Company. She had to sell the studio due to health reasons, so in 1969 Mme Seda Suny and Tom Adair ran the studio. Tom Adair also had a studio in Poughkeepsie, NY and was the artistic director of Poughkeepsie Ballet Theatre. All students of Ballet Arts Studio performed with Mr. Adair’s company.  I was very fortunate to study ballet with these excellent teachers and to have the opportunity to dance in many ballet performances.

Mme Seda ran the studio until 1985 when she retired from teaching ballet at the age of 80. Valerie Feit bought the studio. I never studied from her, but from what I have read and heard, it was a thriving dance studio. Two and a half years ago Valerie passed the studio on to her dance colleague, Alex Bloomstein.

Mr. Bloomstein is carrying on the tradition. I watched as he worked with several young students and could see how passionate he and the students are about dance. They are already rehearsing for the school’s spring recital. I just may have to attend that recital! (And I’m sure that my mom would love to go. She also spent lots of time at Ballet Arts Studio working as the office manager.)

I hope that these young dancers will still find a dance studio here if they visit thirty years after they have stopped taking lessons.  I can’t imagine anything else in that building.

Learn more about Ballet Arts Studio at www.dancebeacon.com/

One of the interviews was with the young children playing the lead roles of Marie and the Nutcracker Prince. Both are ten years old and this is their second year performing these roles. What a thrill it must be to perform lead roles with the NYCB at such a young age!

It makes me wonder what the future brings for these two young dancers. Will they end up dancing with a professional dance company when they are older? Will it be New York City Ballet? Or will they go on to do something totally different? Either way, I’m sure that  they will always have amazing memories of this experience.

I never had the opportunity to perform Nutcracker with a professional company, but did dance in a local production of this holiday classic.  Those performances usually included a couple guest dancers from professional companies. I would watch backstage in awe when they danced.

And now, whenever I hear the Nutcracker music, it brings back memories of that fabulous time.

I try to take Kathleen’s Balletone class whenever we take our son back to college in Cambridge, MA. It’s so much fun to take a class for a change! As an instructor I sometimes feel like I get stuck in a rut and offer the same sequences over and over in class.

I want to keep my students interested in class by keeping them challenged. Kathleen’s class has given me some new ideas and new material. Her choreography is always interesting and she pulls in movement that I would never  think of. The steps are tough, but fun.

I can’t wait to teach Balletone tonight so that I can share some new choreography!

Be prepared, students!

This is a special live broadcast from Lincoln Center and will be shown in High Definition (HD) format. This is the first time that a New York City Ballet performance will be broadcast live in theatres. It gives families across the United States a chance to see the New York City Ballet perform this classic holiday tradition.

For more information about this performance go to http://www.fathomevents.com/performingarts/event/nycb_nutcracker.aspx

As I write this entry another live broadcast of is being shown at  Crossgates Stadium 18 and also Proctor’s in Schenectady, NY.  (I would have attended this if I had known sooner.)  It’s the Bolshoi Ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty and will be shown again this week.

As I was researching the live NYCB broadcast, I learned that there are several other ballet performances scheduled at both Crossgates Stadium 18 and Proctors. Here is a link to information about upcoming movie theatre ballet performance broadcasts in Albany and the surrounding area:

http://www.balletincinema.com/search/#for=theaters&near=Albany%2C%20NY%2012205%2C%20USA&within=100mi

We all loved her even though she was very strict. I was poked with her stick many times because my body was not in proper alignment. And boy would she yell if a student came to class with gum in their mouth! She always had a twinkle in her eye, though. And we would all rush up to hug her after class.

She didn’t miss a thing. Sometimes she would play the piano while teaching class. Somehow she still managed to see what we were doing and would yell out directions and corrections.

I also had the opportunity to take character dance classes from Seda. This is the type of dance that one sees in the peasant dance scenes in the full-length classical ballets such as Giselle and Swan Lake. We often performed the character dances at nursing homes or festivals. We wore beautiful costumes that were hand-sewn by Madame Seda.

I can still picture her teaching class;her stick pounding on the floor with the beat of the music and Seda calling out directions and corrections. How I would love to take class from her now. Or better yet, I’d love to have my students experience her class.

Madame Seda teaching class in 1983.

Listen to an NPR interview of Jacques D’Amboise and Jennifer Homans, author of Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet. Jacques talks about Madame Seda in the interview.  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131625160

In addition, there is a wonderful interview with Edward Villella, Artistic Director of Miami City Ballet: http://video.wmht.org/video/2130779031
Don’t miss it!

As you can guess by the title, it is geared towards dancers who are preparing to go on pointe for the first time. However, the exercises are great for any dancer or athlete. We don’t always think of strengthening the feet, but it is important.

All my younger dancers that are preparing for pointe work or who are already studying pointe do these strengthening exercises. I also incorporate them into my Balletone classes, which is a barefoot workout.

Do you exercise your feet?

Jerome Robbins Award Statue

On September 30, 2011, the Jerome Robbins Foundation honored thirty ballerinas who worked with Jerome Robbins. I had the pleasure of being in the audience as twenty six of them accepted their award.

What a treat to watch each dancer walk across the stage and take a bow as Chita Rivera introduced them!  Some of the dancers are up there in age, but they all looked elegant.

In addition to a wonderful slide show of the dancers working with Robbins,  the audience received a brochure that listed the dancers’ thoughts about working with Robbins. I’ve read that Jerome Robbins could sometimes be difficult to work with, but all of these comments were positive.

Every time we curtsy in the classes that I teach, I think about those lovely ballerinas. It was beautiful!

To see what ballerinas were honored and to read their comments about working with Robbins, go to http://jeromerobbins.org/foundation/jerome_robbins_award .

I’m not sure what I think of the line-up, though. It’s very different from what The Egg usually has. They are featuring contemporary choreographers who mix it up with live music, videography, spoken word, and performance art.  Maybe this is a way of trying to reach out to a broader audience.

Here’s what’s scheduled:

For more information:  http://www.theegg.org/events/dance

Are you planning to attend any of the shows?

A couple of years ago I read something about Peter Martins and Paul McCartney collaborating on a full length ballet and it caught my interest. Well, Ocean’s Kingdom will premier tomorrow night at the New York City Ballet (NYCB) Fall Gala.

How exciting to have two icons from different art forms working together!  In addition, Paul McCartney’s daughter, Stella has designed the costumes for this work.  Sir Paul has also released an album  which is due out October 2011.

I’m anxious to read the reviews and hear what one of my friends has to say about it (she will be attending the Gala).

Here’s a brief article and a video clip http://www.gigwise.com/news/67147/Paul-McCartney-Previews-Oceans-Kingdom-Ballet—Video