Articles - Inside Ballet Technique

November 13, 2010April 12, 2013

Richard Maddock CDs for Ballet Class

Richard Maddock, professional pianist and composer from the Toronto, Canada area, graciously sent me three of his CDs for ballet class and one called The Garden Within which is full of lovely, reflective musical selections. Most are longer and would be great for adagio or stretching, or even choreography. Music for Movement and Imaginations—Ballet Class & Creative Movement (for children ages 3 and up) is full of short segments that is sure to live up to its name by sparking the imaginations of young children who are exposed to it. Some of the segments include “Run Like The Wind”, “Bounce & Freeze”, and several thematic ones like “Dance-a-Story – Schoolyard”, “Dance-a-Story – Jungle Journey”, and more. This CD will not only grab the interest of children, it will inspire the teacher to come up with more content for creative movement class.

My two favorites are Ballet Studio Inspirations: Volume Two and Ballet Studio Inspirations: Volume Three. I was pleased to find several 6/8 time signatures (not sure why but this is my favorite!). I found the plie combinations to be quite slow, but most studios have variable speed players to up the tempo a bit, and I was also able to find a few other suitable segments for plies at a tempo that I liked. Other than that, everything was to my liking! I think teachers of dance would find these CDs to be a wonderful accompaniment to their classes. The Volume Three has 43 completely separate musical selections, including a warm up and at least two segments for each barre combination as well as two for turns en diagonale, three for petit allegro, three for medium allegro, and three for allegro.

You can find these and more of Richard’s CDs at his website, http://www.richardmaddock.com.

March 9, 2010April 20, 2013

Creating a Mini Ballet

When I was teaching at a private dance school, there was a performance every year in May that included all the genres of dance. At that school (Town and Village School of Dance in Paris, KY) the ballet program was a bit separate from the other classes. For example, students in the ballet program were required to attend classes either twice, three times, or four times a week, whereas most other classes only met once weekly. One of my favorite things about teaching there was that I was given full control over my part of the final performance of the year, which usually included about twenty minutes of stage time.

The most memorable ballets we created mini ballets from were Coppelia, The Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. We pulled wonderful moments from each ballet and made a story the audience could easily follow. The classes blended together without necessarily stopping for applause between each class, and some characters came onstage for parts even outside of their participation in a class dance. This way it flowed better, and at the end of the ballet segment we did a quick set of bows where each group or soloist came out for a bow in a finale with music, which normally only took about two minutes to insert.

Dubbing the music was really fun, as was making sure each student got ample amount of time on stage. Looking for or making appropriate costumes, making earrings to match for all the ballroom dancers, figuring out how to velcro diamond studs on a piece of fabric to a pointe shoe so the dancer wouldn’t have to change her shoes between appearances, and dressing up two fathers to play the parts of the step-sisters were all big highlights. But of course, doing the choreography was the most challenging and rewarding part of all. I tried to keep some of the original, traditional movements where possible, and we had a movie night at my house for all the oldest dancers so they could watch a professional version of the full-length ballet and recognize their roles in it.

Ah, those were the days!

February 24, 2010February 24, 2017

Teaching 10-12 Year Old Ballet Students

This can be a tough age for ballet, especially depending on how long the student has been taking ballet prior to this age.

Ballet Dress Code

When I was the director of the ballet program at Town and Village School of Dance in Paris, Kentucky, I had a dress code that seemed to get the kids excited about moving into the next level. I can’t remember the basic colors anymore, but everyone wore pink tights and shoes (the girls anyway–boys wore black leggings and white shirts with white socks and shoes), and each level had a different color and style of leotard. Some had short sleeved maroon leotards, others had camisole green, and the oldest group could wear any style of black. You wouldn’t think a simple thing such as dress code could motivate students, but it really did. And at the age of 10-12 was about the time they were allowed to start wearing camisole leotards instead of short sleeved or cap sleeves. They couldn’t wait to get into that level so they could look more grown up and wear a completely new color (it was like a forest green).

Ballet Exercises

As far as exercises go, this age group is looking forward to pointe as the next big step. It may not happen for the next 2-3 years for them, but explaining how releves can be done by snatching the foot underneath or by going over to the toes (and telling them that this is important information for them to know when they go on pointe), also piques their interest, because they know right around the corner they will be looking forward to pointe shoes. Sometimes at this age, if the students have been taking ballet previously, I would allow them to get the pre-pointe shoes that have a hard box and no shank, just so they can get the feeling of working in a pointe shoe without actually going up on the toes.

Some steps I remember this age group enjoying were waltz turns that sweep across the floor, varying the arm movements and allowing them to really travel and feel like they are dancing. Also teaching them emboite turns is great at this age, and pirouettes. I always started out with pirouettes from 5th position, working on 1/4 turns first, then 1/2 turns and single full turns. They also enjoy learning jumps that have beats in them, such as royale, jete battu, as well as entrechat quatre and assemble battu.

At the Barre

At the barre, adding doubles to frappes is always a fun exercise, especially once they understand it and can do it. Also adding some simple turns at the barre is good at this age. It can be frustrating at first, but I think flic-flacs are great to teach to this age level, both en dehors and en dedans. Rond de jambe en l’air is great, starting out at 45 degrees so they can keep their alignment squared off, and having them do stretching exercises with a partner can also be helpful. The person holding the working dancer’s leg when it is 90 degrees side can learn how to tell if the person is using their turnout and letting go of the big muscles or not. “Let me have the weight” is a good thing to have them communicate, so the working person can relax the muscles and settle into a very square, turned out position that is right for them, before the other person lets go and allows them to imprint the feeling in their muscles.

Perk up the Ballet Class

Using fun music is always a good way to perk up class if you feel they are losing interest. Keeping them challenged is the most important thing you can do to make them feel that they are learning new things all the time and that they are getting ready for pointe work. Doing lots of releves on one or two legs to strengthen their calves and ankles is important. Working through the feet so they can articulate very clearly between a fully pointed foot and a foot pointed just at the metartarsal is good for strengthening their feet and toes.

Appropriate Level

Give them things that are too hard for them to do in the center, without the aid of the barre, such as entrechat quatre or even entrechat six, jete battu or assemble battu, sissone, etc. Maybe even allow them to observe your most advanced students in a class where they can see them doing these steps with ease will also serve to keep them interested in continuing their ballet education so they can make it to that point too.

Good luck and let me know if any of these are helpful tips. If you have more to add, please share them in the comments!

February 16, 2010April 23, 2013

My Musical and Theatrical Family

It’s not surprising, really, that I wanted to dance. My mom said when I was in the womb that I would either be a football player or a dancer, and she was right! I still don’t understand football, so it’s a good thing I liked to dance. 🙂

My mom and dad are both pianists. Mom also played violin and clarinet. My sister is a very accomplished pianist herself, and she and my mom both teach at a Music and Arts store in North Carolina. Lori and my dad are also singers, and my dad was the drama director at my high school and directed many community theater shows as well. My sister also played the flute, my older brother the drums (still plays, too!), and my little brother played the saxophone. I played the piano (a bit) and the flute for a few years. By the time I finished my freshman year of band I was so into my dancing that I didn’t have time to consider another year of marching band, so I let that one go.

Growing up we always had music in our home. People playing piano, drums, flute, sax, and singing filled the house from downstairs in the living room, downstairs in the music room, upstairs in the bedroom, and even out on the front porch steps and upstairs balcony. I love piano music and could listen to it all day, especially when someone is sitting at a piano playing it live. My parents played a duet on one piano using two octaves and four hands, my aunt Virginia would come and she and my mom would open the doors between the music room and living room and play two piano duets. It was awesome!

My next door neighbor, Jennifer, took ballet and tap. I took some gymnastics first, but was really taken by what Jennifer had to show me when we were about 9 or 10 years old. I had a pair on black patent leather shoes that I would pretend were my tap shoes and she’d give me lessons on the front porch. I loved it, and couldn’t wait until my parents said I could start taking lessons, too. When I was ten years old and classes started in the fall, they let me begin, and I was in love.

I started out at Debbie Wilkerson’s Dance Studio in Greenfield, Indiana. Her studio is still in business to this day and she will always hold a very dear place in my heart. I began with tap and ballet, and my favorite at first was tap. Eventually we added jazz, and then Debbie recommended I start taking classes at the Jordan Academy of Dance in Indianapolis. So on Saturdays, my dad would take me to ballet where I had so many new steps to learn and had to adjust to taking class once a week with girls who took everyday together. It was awkward and I really disliked it, but somehow I knew that by going there my chances of improving and making my dreams come true were brighter.

My dad found out about a special program at Butler University while talking with some of the other parents in the waiting area one day. They had a program for high school students who attended college early, usually going half a day to high school and finishing out the day with dance classes at Butler. My dad knew this had to happen, and he made sure it did happen. He spoke to the principal at my high school and starting the second semester of my sophomore year, I began going to school early for independent study sessions, attended my other classes, ate lunch at noon, and then drove to Butler University for ballet class beginning at 2:00 until 3:20 Monday through Friday. There were a few other high school students in my position, but none were from my school, so I drove alone 35 minutes on the interstate each day. Twice a week we had pointe class from 3:30-4:30, and during Nutcracker season I stayed on for rehearsals for Snow or Waltz of the Flowers (or soldiers, my first year!) until even later.

Then, I’d go back home and get ready for play practice, because I wanted to be involved in drama club where my dad spent much of his time and where my best friends from school were every night. Sometimes I would also teach classes for Debbie’s studio, but I think those were on days when I didn’t have rehearsals at Butler or the high school, or were on Saturdays. My dad helped me put up a makeshift barre in our attic and clear out some space so I had my own little studio up there. It was hot in the summer, but it felt so wonderful to be up there doing barre, practicing my pirouettes or tap, and choreographing for the school talent show. I had a record player with lots of records and it felt so authentic.

By the time I finished high school a semester early, in January of 1986, I had 21 college credits and began my full time studies in ballet at Indiana University in Bloomington the same month. I went back to high school for graduation with my friends and classmates in June of 1986, even though I’d already been living on campus and had completed my first semester of college. It really was like a dream, and I continued dancing at the University of Arizona from 1989-1992 where I got my MFA degree in dance in Tucson. I got to do some awesome roles in Arizona, and was prepared then to begin dancing professionally.

I’m just thankful that my family is so artistic and theatrical; otherwise I’m not sure I would have been given the opportunities I was given to succeed in my area of passion.

February 8, 2010December 3, 2012

Dance Essentials

I was teaching at a dance school that was located in a former church, and I also made little stuffed teddy bears with tutus and earrings that I sold for $10. I guess the selling bug got to me, and over the summer I had the idea to use a room in the basement of the dance school to set up a trade of shoes. Many kids outgrow their tap and ballet shoes before they are really worn out, so we painted the words Dance Exchange on a long board and attached it to the railing behind the building where steps led down to the basement. We were blown away by how many people came from other dance schools, and how many people wanted to get brand new items from us.

So, being the enterprising people that we are, my husband and I found a few companies that would sell to us at wholesale prices! All we really needed was a phone number, and we already had an address to use for shipments. The studio owner said it would be okay, so we set up a real shop. One day we were in downtown Lexington, KY where we passed this small space for rent right beside a guy who sold stained glass. We started getting excited and called to learn more. It was 600 square feet and we could have it for $350 a month! This was in 1993 right before Christmas. My mother-in-law and her sister came to help us set up, and we found an old (but nice looking) case to use for our cash register and several rounders and other types of things to hold our clothing on and attach to the walls to store our tights and some shoes. There wasn’t a back room, so we had to have all our shoes and stock right out in the store, stacked clear to the ceiling. My parents decided to invest some money into the store, so we were able to begin carrying brands like Capezio, Bloch, Danskin, etc. For credibility, we asked all the professional dancers who shopped at our store to give us an 8X10 picture of themselves that they would sign. We framed each one and hung them near the mirror at the shoe trying on area.

Shortly after starting our store, I became pregnant with our first child. We moved into an apartment right next door to the store, which came in handy because we only had one car and Arthur was still in college. The following year, after Deanna was born, my parents decided to move from Indiana to Kentucky to help us out with the store and the baby. My father retired from teaching high school English, drama, and speech, and I was so grateful to have them nearby. In addition to the store, I was teaching at two or three private ballet schools. Our store took off! The other store in town wasn’t very accommodating to the needs of dancers, and we had a professional company in town, as well as many schools of dance. We got in canvas ballet slippers, pointe shoes from Freed, Grishko, Repetto, Sansha, Gaynor Minden (to name a few…we carried over 20 brands of pointe shoes!). I got more classical leotards than the other store carried (they catered more to aerobics and cheerleader-types).

In 1996, we decided to move our store to a better location with parking and more space inside. We also moved to an apartment close to that store. It had a storage room for shoes (yay!) and for a desk to do our behind the scenes work. We got more equipment from the outlet store in Mt. Sterling so we could display even more clothing and shoes and tights. We gained quite a few more customers and it was going great guns. My second child, Deborah, was born in 1997 and my mom and I worked at the store with her in her little carrier, while Deanna attended a daycare/preschool part time during the days. My dad also watched Deanna quite a bit and read to her a lot, which I believe is why she loves to read to this very day.

A year or two later, the tenants in the small shop beside ours left, and we decided to rent that space and tear down some walls to make our store even bigger. We moved our shoe section into that space, as well as all our children’s wear. We also added a little table and chairs and a basket full of toys so that when shoppers came in with their young children they were occupied while they shopped. We made laminated discount cards for all the teachers, and were generous about giving the low paid professional dancers 25% off their pointe shoes. Many of those dancers also worked at our store part-time, and we didn’t pay a lot per hour but we gave them 40% off anything they wanted in the store. It was wonderful, because it gave our store a lot of credibility, and teachers trusted our employees to fit their students into new pointe shoes properly. We also knew the dress codes at schools that used them so we’d have those items in stock, and knew what types of pointe shoes teachers liked to start beginners out in.

It was such a wonderful time, working with my parents was the highlight, as well as being able to have my children there in the store. In 2003 we sold the store and it continued to run for a few years. The last time we drove through Kentucky we passed by the store and it was empty. Now the dancers from Lexington go to Louisville to get their new pointe shoes. It was a lot of work, and I doubt we’d have done it if we’d known what was involved! But I’m so happy that we did this as a family.

January 19, 2010February 13, 2017

Interview with Broadway Dancer Carolyn Ockert-Haythe

Carolyn was a fellow dance major with me at the University of Arizona many years ago! We were also roommates for a year. Now she is dancing on Broadway and was willing to share some advice and inside information for my readers. Thank you, Carolyn! And congratulations on a wonderful career on Broadway!

Inside Ballet: You are currently dancing on Broadway in Shrek. What was the audition process like?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: The audition process for Shrek was long. They needed people who were very diverse. I first went in and danced 3 combinations. About a week later I came back and danced those 3 plus another. Once I had passed all the dancing I had to sing for the Musical Director. I sang both pop rock and a high soprano. Once I passed him I then went in to read for the Director. We were given sides for a few of the fairy tale creatures. Once I passed him I had to come in one last time and dance, sing and act for the entire creative team and the producers. We started with about 180 women and at the last call there were 4 of us.

Inside Ballet: How often do you perform?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: I am what you call a swing/dance captain for the show. We do 8 performances a week with one day off in that week. I am usually on for at least half of those 8 shows.

Inside Ballet: Do you know several roles for Shrek and have to perform at the last minute?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: I cover 9 women and 9 men. I only go on for men in an emergency, but it does happen. However since I am a dance captain I know everyone on the stage, 23 people. I go on with a few hours notice or in the middle of the show with no notice at all, when an injury or illness happens.

Inside Ballet: What types of dance training do you think are most important to have under your belt going into a Broadway audition?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: I think the most important dance training going into a Broadway audition is a combination of Ballet and Jazz. If you are a really strong ballet dancer you will really do well. However, you need to be able to be funky as well. Now a days you also have to be able to sing and act. You don’t have to be amazing at all things but you do need to be able to do all things. A Jack of all trades.

Inside Ballet: What other shows have you been in?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: This is my 7th Broadway show. I have been very fortunate and also worked very hard. Some of the other shows that I have done are: CATS, Footloose, The Music Man, Annie Get Your Gun, Wonderful Town, Pajama Game and The Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

Inside Ballet: What advice would you give to someone who was hoping to move to NYC to dance for a living?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: Advice that I would give to someone who wants to come to NY and dance, don’t give up. It takes about 100 auditions to get one job. That number goes down the more you work. Always strive not necessarily to get the job but to get kept so you get your picture and resume on file with casting agents. If you get cut at an audition, and you will, don’t take it personally. It is never about your talent. Always come prepared to an audition. And last but not least be nice to everyone that you encounter. Treat everyone with respect. You never know when that person is going to be sitting behind the table choosing who to hire for a show.

Inside Ballet: Is there anything about dancing on Broadway that is different that you expected it to be?

Carolyn Ockert-Haythe: You know I never knew I wanted to dance on Broadway so I had no expectations as to what it would be. I wanted to be a ballerina but I just was never good enough. I kind of fell into this and knew this was where I was meant to be the first time I hit the stage. I always say it is like playtime for 2 1/2 hours every night. I love what I do and I believe we are all capable of doing it.