My Dance Place - Dancer Universe Blog:

Alvin Ailey loss

m@mystylestation.com (StyleStation) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:51:55 -0400

The Ailey family mourns the passing of Denise Jefferson, who, for the past 26 years, was the director and impassioned steward of The Ailey School. She died on Saturday, July 17 in New York of ovarian cancer.

Appointed as director by Alvin Ailey in 1984, after teaching at the School for 10 years, Ms. Jefferson was instrumental in identifying the potential in young dancers, and mentoring myriad students on their journey to becoming some of the greatest artists in the world.

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We Broke the Guinness Record for the Most Ballerinas on Pointe at One Time!

sondraforsyth@danceruniverse.com (Sondra Forsyth) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:20:34 -0400

Yesterday, August 2nd 2010, on a perfect summer afternoon at the Naumburg Bandshell in New York City's Central Park, 241 people put on pointe shoes in an attempt to break the previous Guinness record of 226 ballerinas on pointe at the same time. That record was set last year at City Center in NYC after the Youth America Grand Prix. We were determined to best it. Under the watchful eye of a representative from Guinness sporting a logo blazer, we assembled in ten reasonably straight lines. She was stern and businesslike with her pen poised over her clipboard while we waited for the command to releve. Oddly however, nothing in the numerous e-mails sent over the past few weeks by event organizer and uber ballet photographer Gene Schiavone had mentioned a key requirement of the challenge. We were all supposed to stay on pointe, ensemble, for a solid minute. Quick, what would you suggest as a way to achieve that end? How about just sous sous and bourree in place for sixty seconds? Good answer! Instead, though, American Ballet Theatre soloist Craig Salstein gave us a peculiar combination involving bourrees to the left with the left foot behind (!) and a back soutenu without a plie for preparation. I don't have to tell you that many participants, some of whom looked to be as young as 10 or 11, wobbled on the bumpy cement surface and came off pointe. And those straight lines? Not so much any more. But wait! There's a happy ending to this only-in-New-York idyll.

Read about it after the jump!

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Bali Bound on a Kite String

luhrsassocpress@verizon.net (BALAM Dance Theatre) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:52:37 -0400

by Carlos Fittante, Artistic Director, BALAM Dance Theatre

What does it take to pull together the international tour of a dance company? A dance enthusiast asked me that question, which got me thinking about the skills needed to organize Bali Tour 2010 for BALAM Dance Theatre.

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How To Create Awesome Online Videos to Promote Your Dance Studio Through Social Media

ashani@kinerenterprisesinc.com (kinerenterprisesinc) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:22:38 -0400

Day 62 in our 90-Day Social Media Success Challenge for Dance Studios...

A friend of mine, who I met through the wonderful world of social media, asked me the other day, "how do you create all of those great YouTube videos?" She wants to begin integrating video marketing into her company's social media marketing campaign, and she's interested in a step-by-step plan for how to create great online videos. So, I decided to write about it, in order to help her, and all of you as well.

If you read this blog regularly, you already know that I am a strong believer in the power of online videos to connect with your customers, make your brand (dance studio) more personal and tangible, and create a powerful online presence. I even suggested 5 ways that you can use videos to promote your dance studio through social media, in a previous blog post, and in a video (http://youtube.com/dancestudiosuccess).

But for today, I will give you the 5 essentials to creating great online videos.

1710 Hits

For a dancer &amp; choreographer, Passion trumps bumps in the road

Jennifer@BroadwayConnection.net (Broadway Connection) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:14:15 -0400

YOU MOVED TO NYC AND WITHIN FIVE MONTHS YOU WERE WORKING AS A PERFORMER AND CHOREOGRAPHER! HOW DO YOU DO IT?

I have always been the type of person to make things happen. I do not sit around and wait for that phone call. Instead, when I am not teaching, in meetings, or in rehearsal, I am emailing new contacts and taking class. Sure it takes time to establish a brand new network of people. Coming from Toronto where I was more established as a choreographer, and moving to a place where no one knew me was scary and exciting. I knew I could be an asset to the artistic world in New York; I just had to get my work out there.

More after the jump!...

1335 Hits

An Obstacle or An Adventure by Elita Sohmer Clayman

elitajerrydancing@verizon.net (elitasc) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:28:50 -0400

Is It an Obstacle or an Adventure?

By Elita Sohmer Clayman

Write down these two words on a sheet of paper or on the computer screen.
Obstacle Adventure

When you encounter stresses do the following. Think, is that stress an obstacle in my life
or an adventure to learn from. Adventure is a process from where you learn something even from an obstacle...

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BEYONCE`S &quot;SINGLE LADIES&quot;, the latest version

m@mystylestation.com (StyleStation) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:53:02 -0400

Single Ladies the phenomenon continues!

837 Hits

My Dance Place - Dancer Universe Blog:

Alvin Ailey loss

We Broke the Guinness Record for the Most Ballerinas on Pointe at One Time!

Bali Bound on a Kite String

How To Create Awesome Online Videos to Promote Your Dance Studio Through Social Media

For a dancer &amp;amp; choreographer, Passion trumps bumps in the road

An Obstacle or An Adventure by Elita Sohmer Clayman

BEYONCE`S &amp;quot;SINGLE LADIES&amp;quot;, the latest version

For a dancer & choreographer, Passion trumps bumps in the road

BEYONCE`S "SINGLE LADIES", the latest version