Welcome back to our new feature “Dance Blog Spotlight” where we will be highlighting some of the best dance blogs on the web! Last month we turned the spotlight on Tendus Under A Palm Tree, and this month we have Henrik, the author/creator of Tights And Tiaras – another one of my all-time favorites!

Tights And Tiaras Creator, Henrik Lamark

1.      Can you tell readers a bit about your background in dance?

I have been dancing all my life. When I was a kid, my parents tell me, I was running around the house doing all sorts of movements all the time, and I told my mother I wanted to be a dancer already when I was three years old. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds, I was born with a severe hip-displacement, and went through extensive surgeries when I was about 6 to 8 years old. After a recovery-period, I finally started dancing ballet at a local studio. From there, it’s been a bumpy road, but always heading for the same goal I set out as a three year old: I’m going to be a dancer. And a dancer I became. Today I have been working professionally with ballet and dance since I graduated from ballet academy several years ago.

2. When did you begin your blog—and why did you start it?

I started my blog in January 2010, basically because I felt I had a lot to give, and I wanted to “enlighten” the world a little on the world of dance, and especially male dancers. From it’s very small beginning, Tights and Tiaras slowly grew into a hobby of mine, I started spending more time with it, learnt how the blogging world works (HTML coding is a pain in the buttocks), and slowly built up a certain readership, which I am still doing today, about a year and a half later. I am very proud of the blog, I believe it has lots of good information already, but I still have huge plans for the future

3. What does your blog cover?

My blog basically covers the life of a professional dancer (that’d be me), and what it means to live like I do. I want the world to get a bit more aquatinted with our art, and I believe us artist giving of ourselves is the best way to achieve that. In the end, Tights and Tiaras is ‘an insight to the life of a male professional dancer’.

4. What has been the best part about participating in the dance community online?

The online dance community is something I discovered first after I started writing my blog, and it’s been a great resource the whole way. There are lots of great blogs and sites on dance, from all perspectives, and it gives me both inspiration and information all the time.

5. What other dance blogs do you read?

Surprisingly few at a regular basis. Besides working as a dancer, writing and editing my blog and maintaining somewhat of a personal life as well, there is not much time left on my schedule. I do check in on a site called The Ballet Bag quite often, though, they have endless info up there, and I often use them as a resource. Otherwise, there is 4Dancers of course, and I have to mention two ‘late beginners’ that has been great inspiration to me – DaveTriesBallet and AdultBeginner, both with their own style and tone. There are a huge number of blogs and sites up on dance by now, and I find great articles on other sites regularly that I enjoy a lot. Twitter has been a great tool for finding and sharing such posts, and, like I wrote in a post a while back, it and still remains my number one source for info on anything dance.

Find and follow Henrik online at:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Tightsandtiaras

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Tightsandtiaras

Human Kinetics Book

BIO: Henrik Lamark is a professional ballet dancer from Norway, and the author behind the site TightsAndTiaras.com. He holds a degree in classical ballet from the Hungarian National Ballet Academy, and has been dancing for and with companies in several countries around the world. His list of roles span from classical princes, through the modern repertoire to more contemporary works with upcoming choreographers. He is currently working with the renown Győr National Ballet of Hungary.

His blog, Tights and Tiaras, is his way to share a unique insight to the life of a male professional dancer. Awarded the “Top Dance Blog of the year 2010″, it has become a popular site on dance online, and is continuing to provide dancers, students and audience a ‘peek through the keyhole’ into the until recently mysterious world inside a ballet theatre. 

Now, as I look around at the amount of dance blogs on the web, I find it very exciting. The online dance community continues to grow and expand, and it seems I can’t even keep up with the amount of sites that are popping up all over the place. There are some wonderful new voices, and many of those that have been around a while have grown and included contributors to round out their offerings. It’s wonderful.

So why this post, you might ask…

I’m reaching out here to see if you can help me. I’d like to hear what dance blogs you are checking out these days. Although I attempt to find the new ones, I am not always successful, and I really hope that I can be a part of spreading the word when I discover them.

So…can you post any links in the comments section here for me to check out? Please feel free to include your own blog in the mix–this is not just for me, but for 4dancers readers as well. Let’s all work together to help spread the word about what is out there to read–there’s so much!

Even if you don’t normally post comments, I’d really love it if you’d share just one or two dance blogs you read–

Thanks to my readers, and thanks to the online dance community–I’m happy to be a part of something so amazing!

Chicago has a rich dance scene and one of the highlights of the year is always Dance For Life Chicago, a fundraiser for HIV/AIDS prevention and care that also promotes the art of dance in the city. Participating companies this year include Ron De Jesus Dance, River North Dance, The Joffrey Ballet, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and Hubbard Street Dance.

If you have the chance to come out and support this event, please consider doing so. It benefits the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Dance For Life Fund – both are wonderful.

4:45 PM – 6:45 PM Gala Reception
7:30 PM Performance

Learn more about Dance For Life Chicago

Leopold Group by Matthew Gregory Hollis

by Lizzie Leopold

If this were real life I would shake your hand, say “nice to meet you” and maybe we would exchange phone numbers.  But here we are in the vast spaces of the internet.  So, think of this blog as a virtual hand shake.

I’m Lizzie Leopold, choreographer, writer, scholar and social media enthusiast and these are my thoughts on the “Business of Making Dance.”  The intersection of dance and business is busy, fast-paced and highly dangerous, so fasten your seat-belts.

This past week I attended the annual Dance/USA Conference in Chicago, the largest gathering of dance professionals in the country.  I attended as student (as a PhD candidate at Northwestern University), as an Artistic Director and choreographer (Leopold Group), as a part of a dance service organization (Audience Architects), a social media manger (SeeChicagoDance) and as an all-around dance nerd.  I left inspired, confused, clarified and exhausted.

I was inspired by opening speaker and writer Pico Iyer.  Drawing on his experience as a world traveler, he reminded me that dance is my home, “shards of culture creating a stained glass home.”  He spoke of the cross pollination of cultures and ideas.  Here begins the recurring theme of intersections.  I began with dance and business but what the Conference truly illuminated was the importance of these virtual, metaphoric and literal networks: share ideas, business cards, tech secrets and even stages.

Next was a session with technology and stress-management consultant Jennifer Edwards.  (Those two fields denote another complicated and essential intersection.)  She shared strong opinions about an intuitive approach to social media platforms.  It was a necessary reminder that doing it because “all the cool kids are” didn’t work in high school and it doesn’t work now.  Make these tools work for you and your purpose.  And if they don’t, move on.

Here’s where the exhaustion starts to set in (the most satisfying of exhaustions).  Research consultants at WolfBrown presented results on a study of Engaging Dance Audiences, 60% of which are dancers themselves.  This is both wonderful and terrifying.  I love that we are all supporting each other, but are we also chasing our tails?  As dancers we spend so much time in a closed room starring at ourselves in mirrors.  I am worried that if 60% of audiences are fellow dancers, this is just one more reflective surface.  That other 40% desperately wants more context: program notes, introductions from the stage, etc.  Let’s give it to them!  We need them.

The conference ended with inspiration once more, from author and speaker Patricia Martin.  How does dance stay relevant and important in this tumultuous time?  “Teach us to fly,” she says simply.  Inspire.

Now it is my turn and I better get to work.

Lizzie Leopold, photo by Matthew Murphy

Contributor Lizzie Leopold is a dancer, dance maker and dance scholar. She holds a BFA in dance from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Performance Studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with thesis work titled Choreography and Commerce: Tracking the Business of Dance Through the Rite(s) of Spring . In fall 2011 she will begin work on an Interdisciplinary PhD in Theater and Drama Studies at Northwestern University, continuing to focus on the intersection of dance and business, both historically and theoretically. Her writing has been presented at the Congress on Research in Dance 2011 Special Topics Conference, Dance and American Studies, and the Cultural Studies Association Conference 2011. She is also a contributor to the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University blog writing about their dance performance series.

Lizzie is the founder and Artistic Director for the Leopold Group, a Chicago based not-for-profit modern dance company. She was awarded Best Choreography for Green Eyes, a new kind of musical in the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival and has been in residence at the Workspace for Choreographers’ Artists Retreat in Sperryville, Virigina and at the Chicago Cultural Center through DanceBridge. In addition to choreographing, Leopold has danced with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also works for Audience Architects (www.audiencearchitects.com, www.seechicagodance.com) , a service organization working to build audiences for dance in Chicago, and is working to launch the New Books Network Dance Channel podcast. She currently serves on the Alumni Board of Governors at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theater and Dance.

It’s lovely to have original music to use, and this collection fits the bill. The tracks are expertly played by pianist and composer Ellina Akimova, who plays in France for the Ballet School of the Paris National Opéra, as well as the CNSMDP, at the CND, and at the Danse school of the conservatoire of the XVIIe district of Paris.

There is nothing quite like taking class with an accomplished pianist providing accompaniment, and if you can’t have live music, this is the next best thing. The phrasing is perfect, and the musical choices suit the exercises in a way that only someone who knows ballet well could choose, with perky music for tendus and a pretty selection for plies. Everything is well-matched.

The complexity of some of the tracks here make me lean toward recommending this CD to teachers with more advanced students. Some of the slower pieces may be a bit difficult for brand new students in terms of using the phrasing properly for movement. Advanced students will appreciate the opportunity to get into the spirit of things and practice their musicality. Akimova’s Russian roots shine through in her music, making the selections all the more beautiful.

This album features repeated tracks for easy instruction at the barre. There is a complete class here–barre and centre, with music for pointe and for tracks geared toward men.

This is what happens when you have an expert pianist at the helm–I can recommend this CD easily for ballet class. It would make a great addition to any teacher’s collection. The cost is $30, and you can find it, as well as other ballet music on Mediaphorie’s site.

Through the It Gets Better Project adults in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi and trans) community have been sharing their life experiences (through You Tube) with teens struggling with their own sexuality and all of the intolerance and ignorance that unfortunately can come along with it. (As if growing up wasn’t hard enough.)  The words that are repeated and reinforced in all of the videos are that no matter what hardships you are facing today – life will get better.  No matter how bad your situation is today- it is temporary.

There is so much love and life to live.  This message of love and hope has reached hundreds of thousands of lesbian, gay, bi, trans and straight people all over the world.

Information From www.itgetsbetter.org :

Dan heard about the suicides of Justin Aaberg and Billy Lucas and had a reaction so many LGBT adults had. “I wish I could’ve talked to that kid for five minutes before he killed himself,” Dan recently said. “I’d tell him that however bad it was in high school or middle school…it gets better.” The It Gets Better Project was born.

In September 2010, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry to inspire hope for young people facing harassment. In response to a number of students taking their own lives after being bullied in school, they wanted to create a personal way for supporters everywhere to tell LGBT youth that, yes, it does indeed get better.

Two months later, the It Gets Better Project (TM) has turned into a worldwide movement, inspiring over 10,000 user-created videos viewed over 35 million times. To date, the project has received submissions from celebrities, organizations, activists, politicians and media personalities…The website www.itgetsbetter.org is a place where young people who are lesbian, gay, bi, or trans can see how love and happiness can be a reality in their future.  It’s a place where our straight allies can visit and support their friends and family members.  It’s a place where people can share their stories, take the It Gets Better Project pledge, watch videos of love and support, and seek help through the Trevor Project( a project determined to end suicide among LGBT youth) and GLSEN (The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network.)

Here are some reasons why this project impacts you:

1.      Even if you do not think you teach kids that are in need of the information available from this project; you probably do. You just might not know it.  You might have a child that doesn’t appear to feel isolated or alone and when that child reaches out to you can be prepared with 3 simple words “it gets better.”  You don’t have to be a part of the LGBT community for those words to make an impact.   Kids in all sorts of turmoil need to know that there situation is temporary.

2.      Dance teachers are mentors, confidants and role models. You can be very influential in the lives of the children you teach. It is your responsibility to make your studio/classroom/theatre a safe place. Create a space that is bully free with a no tolerance policy for prejudice, hatefulness and judgment.

3.      Any teacher who instructs preteens/teens is working with a population that is questioning their identities and trying to find out how to fit in.  Some of what they are discovering about themselves can be overwhelming especially if they don’t know anyone in the LGBT community.

The It Gets Better Project is a lifeline to any teen that is seeing a world where it does not get better.  It shows teens that are being harassed because of who they are and who they love that they are supported.  They can survive the turmoil and look forward to a future that isn’t focused on bullies, stigma, rejection, isolation and intolerance.

As a dance teacher you help your students reach their full potential.  You help them become full expressive beings.  And you can help them if they can’t see a future for themselves.  You can be a lifeline.  Check out the website and the resources available there because it does get better.

Contributor Stacey Pepper Schwartz received her BFA in dance performance at Montclair State University and her MA in dance education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has taught as an artist in residency and guest artist in public and private schools for over twelve years.

Stacey Pepper Schwartz

Stacey is the Founder and Director of Leaping Legs Creative Movement Programs. The focus of Leaping Legs Creative Movement Programs is to help people regardless of age, experience or ability, become educated about their movement potential, develop kinesthetic awareness, and become more physically fit and healthy together as a family, and community.

Leaping Legs promotes its goal through the original Up Down & All Around DVD. The DVD received Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products Award and 10 Best Active Products Award. The DVD has also been featured in many magazines including Dance Retailer News, The National Dance Teachers Association dance journal dancematters, and Dance Teacher.

Before embarking on dance education, Stacey was a professional dancer and choreographer in New York City.

Get your hand-silkscreened canvas ballet bag now–before supplies run out! I have made 7 of these unique tote bags and will be selling them for only $8 each! Get one for yourself, or as a gift for someone you know–they make a great bag to cart your dance shoes and miscellaneous gear back and forth to the studio, or even to show your love for dance and “go green” at the grocery store.

I got into silkscreening a while back and have been working on developing dance designs for the past couple of years. It’s a long process from photograph to finished product, but I now have several screens and I’ll be sharing the designs with the dance community over the summer months. The nice part about these bags is that you will never see them anywhere else–these are all my own designs.

Soon I’ll add t-shirts to the mix as well, so keep checking back. I’d love to hear what people think about the design–and I’d love for you to help me spread the word!

Here are the specs:

Canvas (cotton woven)

Navy Blue

10.5 x 12.5 inches

$8.00 (plus $2 shipping and handling – continental US prices – inquire about overseas…)

If you’d like to purchase one of these bags, drop me an e-mail at info(at)catherineltully(dot)com and we’ll work out the details.

Thanks!

Starting a dance blog can be a very satisfying thing. If you love dance, researching and writing about the subject may be something you would enjoy. Getting a blog up and running is pretty simple, and it doesn’t have to cost you anything either. If you want to just try it out and see how it goes, here are some tips for getting started:

Think up a name for your blog

Set up a free account at WordPress.com

Brainstorm some topics you’d like to write about

Choose from the list for your category headings

Go behind the scenes and play around a bit

Write an “about” page that tells readers a bit about who you are

Write and publish your first post

It may sound simple—and it really is if you just want an outlet to express your thoughts and ideas on dance. Getting a more formal blog up and running can be more challenging, but starting out this way lets you play around with ideas and get your legs under you. If you find that you would like to do something a bit more serious, you can always upgrade your account with WordPress and get more features.

I started 4dancers on a whim—following the steps I just described above. I had no special knowledge of blogging, and I didn’t have a grand plan for what I was going to do with the site. I just jumped in.

If you are going to try your hand at a dance blog, I recommend looking at some other sites to see what they are doing that you like—and what they are doing that you don’t care for. It can help you pick some subjects and find a general direction. Here are some that you can peek at for ideas–or check out my blogroll:

Tights and Tiaras

Dance Advantage

The Ballet Bag

Trailorpilot

Dave Tries Ballet

If you do decide to blog, be sure and drop me a note—or leave a comment here so I can check out your site!

Faerie Dance by Andrew DeVries

Some of you may remember an interview I had on 4dancers some time ago about the talented sculptor Andrew DeVries.

I thought I would share with readers the fact that he has created a new exhibition of original bronze sculptures and drawings that feature depictions of contemporary dance and movement, accompanied by photographs and commentary on works ranging from ancient Greece to the days of Degas to today.

His 2011 collection and exhibition officially opened on May 13 in Lenox, Mass., in the heart of the Berkshires, an epicenter of arts and culture.

A number of events surround the exhibition, as well; For instance, Andrew will unveil his latest works such as Apollo, a half-life-size depiction of a male dancer, on June 5 at a reception that will include performances by Boston Symphony musicians. Dancer-model Ruslan Sprague modeled for this sculpture, which was inspired in part by Jennifer Homans’ NY Times bestseller Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet.

DeVries Fine Art International gallery is located at 62 Church Street, Lenox, so if you get the chance to go–by all means drop by.

In addition, DeVries will unveil Apollo at Ventfort Hall, The Museum of the Gilded Age in Lenox on June 5. The gallery is open in the spring on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. On June 27, the gallery will expand its hours to span six days a week, including weekend evenings. For more information, visit his website.

Andrew will also host open studio sessions on August 13 and 14, which will feature a live bronze pour.

Frances Hellens McDonald, co-founder of DancestoGo.com

Can you tell readers what DancesToGo.com is, and who it is for?

DancesToGo.com is a unique website featuring a collaboration of award winning choreographers, talented performers and teachers. It offers specialized and exclusive choreography for all age groups in a variety of dance styles. Whether you are a studio owner, dance teacher, performer, or school teacher, DancesToGo offers excellent choreography and musical dance activities. Our notes are easy to read and our suggested music is linked directly to iTunes from DancesToGo.com. Obtaining, reading the choreography and purchasing related suggested music from iTunes becomes very easy and convenient. We also offer some videos of the routines and will be producing a larger selection. DancesToGo is proud to be a monthly choreography contributor over at DanceStudioOwner.com.

What types of dance are covered by DancesToGo.com?

DancesToGo.com features a wide variety of dance styles including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Hip-hop, and Pre-School. We even have The School House Rocks section for choreography and upbeat dance and learning activities for grade school. The dance world and dance studios are our primary focus.

What are some of your most popular items?

At the moment our Pre-School and Ballet categories are very popular and are creating the best shopping cart sales. There is a high demand this year for Junior and Primary Jazz and Tap recital dance productions and studio class routines. We plan to offer a wider selection of instant downloadable junior and primary choreography this summer at our DancesToGo.com website, and more video selections.

Can you tell readers a bit about your company philosophy?

There has always been marvelous choreography available to purchase but acquiring it was not easy and it was expensive. Now, utilizing technology, dance notations and videos can be downloaded instantly. Busy studio owners and teachers can use iPads, laptops, phones or any device whenever they get a minute, to purchase at very reasonable prices, our routines. So revolutionary distribution methods link our choreographers and dance teachers very easily and instantly the purchaser has the product.

We are developing relationships with dancers who are choreographers so they can do what they do best and earn from the legal distribution and sale of their work. I work with each choreographer for continuity in notation and excellence in choreography. I am having fun, and they are earning even while they are sleeping! I hope our dance world is benefiting through the use of technology to distribute instantly downloadable superb products. I have taught and choreographed in dance for over 45 years with some of the great master teachers and I want to honor them by offering only quality products.

What new things do you have coming up?

We will be increasing our choreography collection. More of our guest choreographers will have their work ready to go up, and some will add videos as well.

With the help of our newest guest choreographer, Cassiah Parker-Pegg, we’ll expand our choreography to gymnastic coaches in a section called “Dance for Gymnasts”. Cassiah will help gymnasts and their coaches create poise and presentation in their routines, as well as strengthen and perfect turns and leaps. Here’s a little more information about her background and experience:

Cassiah Parker-Pegg, choreographer

Cassiah works with National and Provincial Gymnasts choreographing floor routines, beam routines and creating poise in their overall presentations. Cassiah has studied under National gymnastic coaches. Canadian National High Performance athletes such as Dominique Pegg, and Emily Bigras have had the privilege to establish their technique under her direction.

Cassiah has obtained her BA Honors in Drama & Communications, Media and Film, and is currently studying towards her teaching certificate and Bachelor of Education, all while choreographing, teaching and performing on the side. She has excelled as a competitive dancer, choreographer and teacher, with her strengths highlighted in Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, and Hip-Hop.

At DancesToGo we are looking forward to our upcoming season, and hope you will visit the site for our exciting changes and additions. We also will feature some of our newest guest choreographers as their work becomes ready. All the best in your new season!

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