Tag Archives: dancer

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Skyline High Kicks it Off!

Skyline High Dancers, courtesy Stephen Woo

Tonight, our Kickoff Fundraiser for Adults in Ballet – Philanthropy for Dance takes place at Rumbo Al Sur here in Oakland, CA. It gives me great pleasure to be able to begin this journey and to be able to help one of the best known Bay Area High Schools around – the Skyline High School Dance Dept.

Skyline High School is one of the most diverse High Schools in the country. Skyline’s Performing Arts Department provides a performing arts education in drama, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, and technical theatre. A typical school-year season includes 12 large-scale productions, frequent off-campus performances, and multiple opportunities to compete. Performances are held in the 975-seat Farnsworth Theater. (courtesy of wikipedia.org)

The Dance Dept. is comprised of 3 levels, beginning, intermediate and advanced. All levels are by audition, save for the beginning level. Both the intermediate and advanced levels have the opportunity to perform throughout the year and a major component of all the classes is allowing the students to create their own choreography.

Recently I had the great pleasure of interviewing the Dance Dept. Director, Dawn James and her 2 Dance Captains, Hannah Ayasse and Yelena Keller – all very special people!!

This is Dawn James’, Dance Dept. Director, 20th year at Skyline High. Her focus at Skyline is a modern jazz style, with a strong ballet technique base. She gives her students a lot of traditional ballet terminology and uses her modern jazz style to do that. She loves to see “the passion just ignite in her students”. And, from all accounts, she receives very high praise from her students.

Hannah Ayasse

Hannah Ayasse, senior and co-Dance Captain, started dancing in elementary school and remembers her sister taking her to see Skyline’s dance productions and knew then what she wanted to do.  She’s put the strong emphasis on learning the art of choreography taught in the classes — to her advantage. She began choreographing her freshman year and since then has choreographed about two dances for each show. She’s found her true passion in story telling through movement and was awarded Best Choreographer her sophomore and junior years. In her own words:  “…[it was through] the amazing opportunity to choreograph that I discovered how dance has the capacity to carry great emotions and stretch the soul.”

Yelena Keller

Yelena Keller, senior and co-Dance Captain, also started dancing at an early age in elementary school Being a very creative person with interests in a variety of different forms and expressions of the arts, dancing to her means being able to bring it all  into one spontaneous moment – all different forms of the arts into one. As she puts it “…[dance] allows me to take on a role, the music – figure out a way to make the movement your own. A lot of creativity that goes into dance whether your choreographing or not you have to figure out a way to make the movement your own.”

As Dance Captain, their duties are integral to helping the classes run smoothly, the rehearsals and the performances – they’ve even created a Facebook group that they use to get the info out to students, and organize potlucks with fellow students Especially if there are sub teachers, they will take on more of the teaching duties. In short, they are Ms. James’ “go to girls”.

They both have a true passion for dance – Hannah is off to college at George Washington University in the fall and hoping to minor in dance and perhaps be a dance teacher one day. Yelena has been accepted at Sarah Lawrence College and will be joining their dance program, either majoring or minoring in Dance.

Dawn James

They both give very high praise to Ms. James for her work and dedication to her students and to the Dance Program – in Hannah’s words:  “All I know is that if I could have the effect on a child’s life that Ms. James has had on mine, I would feel extremely fulfilled.” And Yelena expresses – “…every day that I spend in Ms. James’s dance class is a gift that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

When asked about how they will put the donation from Adults in Ballet to use, the major consensus amongst all 3 ladies is they would like to start a yearly, ongoing scholarship for those students wishing to continue their dance training beyond their years at Skyline. And, secondarily, among other things, a new mirror wall is very much needed for the dance studios. Since Skyline depends entirely on private donations to keep operating, we are pleased to be able to help them.

Both ladies will be performing this week at their end of year dance performance – “Bodies In Motion” taking place this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 17 – 19, at 7:30 pm in the Farnsworth Theatre, on the Skyline High School campus, 12250 Skyline Blvd. in Oakland. Please click here for more information.

Brava Ladies!!

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History of the Pointe Shoe

There are many many brands and varieties of pointe shoes in the marketplace today. Each pair is so markedly different – primarily because the fit of toe shoes has to be so exact, that it needs to fit your feet like a glove – not an easy thing to do when its made of hard materials like leather, plastic, cardstock, burlap and glue. As a dancer, our entire body weight is balanced on that small space created at the end of the pointe shoe – it has to be a very secure fit. And, because every dancer has unique feet, with variations that include toe length and shape, arch flexibility and mechanical strength – most pointe shoe manufacturers produce more than one model of shoe.

Ever wonder how modern-day pointe shoes developed into what they are today?

Here’s a brief history, courtesy of Wikipedia:  When women began to dance in ballet in 1681, twenty years after King Louis XIV of France ordered the founding of the Académie Royale de Danse, the standard women’s ballet shoe had heels. Mid-18th century dancer Marie Camargo of the Paris Opéra Ballet was the first to wear a non-heeled shoe, enabling her to perform leaps that would have been difficult, if not impossible, in the more conventional shoes of the age. After the French Revolution, heels were completely eliminated from standard ballet shoes. These flat-bottomed predecessors of the modern pointe shoe were secured to the feet by ribbons and incorporated pleats under the toes to enable dancers to leap, execute turns, and fully extend their feet.

The first dancers to rise up on their toes did so with the help of an invention by Charles Didelot in 1795. His “flying machine” lifted dancers upward, allowing them to stand on their toes before leaving the ground. This lightness and ethereal quality was well received by audiences and, as a result, choreographers began to look for ways to incorporate more pointework into their pieces.

As dance progressed into the 19th century, the emphasis on technical skill increased, as did the desire to dance en pointe without the aid of wires. When Marie Taglioni first danced La Sylphide en pointe, her shoes were nothing more than modified satin slippers; the soles were made of leather and the sides and toes were darned to help the shoes hold their shapes. Because the shoes of this period offered no support, dancers would pad their toes for comfort and rely on the strength of their feet and ankles for support.

The next substantially different form of pointe shoe appeared in Italy in the late 19th century. Dancers like Pierina Legnani wore shoes with a sturdy, flat platform at the front end of the shoe, rather than the more sharply pointed toe of earlier models. These shoes also included a box—made of layers of fabric—for containing the toes, and a stiffer, stronger sole. They were constructed without nails and the soles were only stiffened at the toes, making them nearly silent.

The birth of the modern pointe shoe is often attributed to the early 20th century Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who was one of the most famous and influential dancers of her time. Pavlova had particularly high, arched insteps, which left her vulnerable to injury when dancing en pointe. She also had slender, tapered feet, resulting in excessive pressure applied to her big toes. To compensate for this, she would insert toughened leather soles into her shoes for extra support and would flatten and harden the toe area to form a box. This made dancing en pointe easier for her, and although it was regarded by her peers as “cheating”… ironically, this practice became the predecessor of the modern pointe shoe we see today.

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Maintaining your Health to Keep Dancing

As an adult ballet dancer – considering myself at  an intermediate level – and a serious amateur at that, I think it’s worth saying that age should not be factor on whether you “feel” you should stop or get discouraged about dancing. In this blog, I am going to share with you my experiences on how I keep myself healthy to maintain limber joints and muscles so I can continue dancing.

Here is what I have found in my amateur ballet career – the  keyword is diet – keep it clean, as free of wheat, gluten and sugar as you can. Admittedly, I am human, so I occasionally have been known to “fall off the wagon” and indulge in a donut (or two)…  in general though, I focus on eating organic raw fruits and vegetables, healthy proteins and healthy fats. This helps keep the body free from inflammation – the precursor to degenerative disease – and in the long run will do a great deal toward keeping your joints and muscles young and flexible. I typically start out in the morning with a breakfast high in protein – and, as long as I do that, it keeps me going throughout my day.

Throughout the day I concentrate on smaller meals, oftentimes a snack is a handful of almonds, walnuts, filberts or a mixture of these or I might choose an apple, a cup of greek yogurt (yummy!) or raw or juiced vegetables. I also eat a full salad at some point in the day – the effect of raw vegetables really helps keep my skin feeling and looking its’ best, a definite plus and side benefit. Generally in the evening, I follow it with some protein, and again, raw fruit or vegetables. I eat very little or no bread – if I do, it’s gluten free.

I try to stay away from snacks before bed – unless I need something to help me unwind and sleep (and who doesn’t after those evening dance classes) – I have a great mixture of buttermilk powder that I mix in with hot water to make hot milk. I drink a cup of that and 30 – 60 minutes later, I’m asleep.  And, awake in the morning fresh and ready-to-go.

With these and other tips I’ll share in future blogs, are suggestions on ways to help keep your body healthy and ready for dance at any age.