One Cool Cat
One of my goals this year is to launch an arts-in-education experience for our students. Twelve of our students participated in a choreography workshop during Christmas break and the first week of January, facilitated by visiting choreographer and teacher, Janice Hurley. She also happens to be my mom! She taught and staged the children’s contemporary ballet Danger, the Dog Yard Cat. She created this work while completing her master’s thesis at Lesley University in early childhood development and dance movement. It is based on a real cat who was the mascot of Libby Riddles’ dog yard. Libby was the first woman to win the iditarod in Alaska. The students thoroughly enjoyed Janice’s exuberant personality and teaching style as well as her various warm-ups using ballet barre exercises, pilates and yoga. I enjoyed watching the students fuse their acting skills with their dance technique. Stay tuned for the upcoming performance schedule.
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Port de Bras
These lovely Pre Ballet students beautifully incorporated port de bras (arm movements) during their dance to an excerpt from Mozart’s Salzburg Symphonies at the 2015 spring concert.
Read MoreSleeping Beauty
In the past year, three of our Ballet IV students have started pointe work along with their ballet technique classes. Within the curriculum of their pre pointe/pointe training, they have learned several variations from Sleeping Beauty as derived from the original works of Petipa, a famous French ballet master and choreographer during the late 19th century.
Read MoreAll Aboard!
The Tap II class delighted audiences with their expressive performance to “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”
Read MoreI’ve Been Working on the Railroad
The intermediate tap class dazzled audiences with their thrilling rendition of “New River Train” combing their tap technique with floor work and a hoe down sequence.
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