When I first began wearing pointe shoes, we wore them twice a week for 15 minutes at the end of class, so one pair of shoes would last many months. By the time I was an upper-division dancer at the School of American Ballet I would go through several pairs in a week. At $60 a pop this was prohibitively expensive. (Today’s prices are even more so; a recent visit to the Freed of London website showed a current price of $94 per pair, and Capezio shoes ranged from $63-79 per pair).

 

Luckily the School of American Ballet provided a solution: the infamous shoe room. The shoe room was filled with shelf after shelf of New York City Ballet company cast-offs, those shoes deemed unacceptable by various company members for various reasons. Some were obvious, like a lumpy box on a pair of pointe shoes but most were serviceable. School of American Ballet students were able to avail themselves of the shoe room and purchase shoes for the incredibly low price of $15. It was a bargain that was too good to pass up.

 

However, using the shoe room came with a different price: an inordinate amount of time spent waiting. The shoe room was only open a few hours per week for two hours at a time and we were only allowed in to browse one at a time. (Why this was the case remains an unexplained mystery). However, we never questioned the rules and learned to wait patiently outside the door until Miss Finn, school secretary and steadfast gatekeeper of the shoe room announced our turn.

 

The shoe room was a tiny little room adjacent to the girls’ dressing room. Okay, it was a closet… but a luxuriously large closet as closets go – any janitor would have been overjoyed to call it headquarters… But this humble closet was a hot spot, the stuff of legend to any newcomer who had not yet ventured inside – it was the difference between affording a new pair of pointe shoes or trying to revive an old pair by pouring polyeurethane in the boxes and baking them in the oven.

 

Once inside, a decision had to be made as quickly as possible, since time was always running short and a line of other dancers waited just on the other side of the door. Anyone who took too long was sure to hear about it from the others. One boy took so long choosing his (leather) ballet slippers that the entire line of waiting dancers grumbled. “What are you doing in there?” someone finally asked. His muffled reply through door: “Killing the cow.”

 

Most New York City Ballet dancers wore pointe shoes from Freed of London. The leather soles of the shoes had symbols stamped into them, indicating the “maker” of the shoe. If you already knew which dancer’s shoes (and maker) you preferred, it was easy to grab a few pairs and try them on to see which ones felt best. When the selection(s) were made, you exited and paid Miss Finn and it was the next person’s turn.

 

It always felt satisfying to leave the shoe room with a pile of shoes. But then again, it also meant a whole lot of sewing since each pair needed ribbons and elastic. Even so, an armload of pink satin is a beautiful thing.

How pointe shoes are made… A clue to why they are so expensive…

Ashley Bouder, NYCB:

Though she’s not sure how many pairs she wears in a season, Bouder typically uses one pair per performance, but if she’s dancing a full-length ballet such as Swan Lake, she’ll use at least two pairs in one night.

 

Gaylor Minden’s guidelines:

The average life of a pointe shoe is somewhere between 4-12 HOURS of dancing. If your daughter is en pointe 15 minutes per class twice per week, her shoes may last 8-20 weeks. If your daughter is en pointe for a 1 . hour class followed by 2 hours of rehearsal 3 times per week, she may be lucky to get 3-4 weeks of use out of a pair of shoes.

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Soloist Callie Manning, Miami City Ballet on preparing shoes:

 

Every dancer prepares their shoes differently. It can take years of trial and error to find what works best for you. Some of my tricks include: using super glue to make my pointe shoes EXTRA hard and last longer; stitching around the tips (this is called “darning”) to make a nice flat platform; and I also sew an inch of elastic into each ribbon to give them a little stretch. When we are performing I can go through roughly 2-4 pairs per week (even after adding 8 tubes of super glue per pair). It can sometimes take me up to 45 minutes from start to finish to prepare my shoes.

 

I just finished reading Sophie Flack’s “Bunheads”, a gritty, true-to-life story about Hannah Ward, a nineteen-year-old ballet dancer who has been happily devoting herself to the rigors of ballet life with the prestigious Manhattan Ballet: classes, rehearsals, performances and complicated backstage relationships. When she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, her life changes, and she is forced to decide what she really wants her future to look like.

 

I have to admit that I felt a little bit ill reading some of the descriptions of Hannah’s life. It all brought me back to my own experiences as a ballet dancer. What many people don’t realize is that the life of a ballet dancer isn’t always pretty; it requires an inhumane level of work and dedication without offering much in the way of fair compensation. Ballet is an all-or-nothing proposition – there’s really no time for much of anything else.

 

While the practice of ballet has much to offer an individual (like balance, coordination, musicality, spatial awareness and discipline) the lifestyle does not. The dream of becoming a professional ballerina is quite alluring to many who remain ignorant of the cold, hard realities of a dancer’s life. “Bunheads” puts it all in the spotlight.

 

For instance, many ballet companies require dancers to work six days a week, with Mondays off. That’s more work days than most typical jobs in the country. It’s a well-known fact that a dancer’s pay is not very high, but most people probably don’t know that dancers go on unemployment every year for part of the year since most contracts don’t offer a full year’s worth of work. This is true even for dancers with New York City Ballet, one of the most well-known (and well-financed) ballet companies in the US.

 

Just as Hannah Ward’s character demonstrates, a dancer’s day starts early (around 9am, when they get ready for the obligatory morning ballet class) and ends late (often after 11 pm, after an evening performance). For most, it isn’t enough to simply show up for classes, rehearsals and performances. The ongoing pursuit of perfection (through extra dance rehearsals, pilates, yoga, and strength training classes) is an integral part of a ballerina’s job description. There’s just enough time to fall into bed exhausted, only to wake up the next day and start all over again.

 

Let’s not forget the added pressure of maintaining an ultra-slim physique, which is no easy feat to begin with and often involves developing some unhealthy eating habits. Smoking and binge eating are some of the techniques that the characters in “Bunheads” employ to stay thin. One of the principal dancers only eats white foods (and it comes as no surprise when she collapses and ends up in the hospital).

 

Then, too, there are the people who are in charge of running the whole show. In “Bunheads”, the artistic director constantly pits dancers against on another by giving them the same role, which forces them to compete with one another, upping the ante. There is never a word of kindness or encouragement uttered during the entire length of the book, despite the brutal workload – even after stellar reviews in the newspaper. The environment of the ballet company is highly competitive and completely lacking in positive reinforcement.

 

Over the years I’ve had several parents ask about how to help their daughters start ballet careers and I’ve advised them to really educate themselves about the realities before making that decision. “Bunheads” might be the perfect required reading.

 

 

 

Dancers are known for their strength and grace, but they don’t come without hard work. In addition to daily dance classes and rehearsals, dancers build strength through alternate methods such as yoga and Pilates. Both of these practices give dancers the extra boost they need to be better, stronger dancers and move ahead in their careers.

 

Yoga teaches practitioners how to link breath and movement, which is a very powerful tool for dancers. Working with conscious breathing adds more power to certain moves such as turns and jumps. An in breath helps with expansive moves and buoyancy – helpful when it’s time to leap across stage, while an out breath adds power to bends or grounded moves. Yoga teaches us how to live more fully in our bodies, to inhabit each and every cell while building strength, balance and coordination.Yoga has another obvious benefit; a relaxed state of mind.What dancer couldn’t use a little of that? Let’s face it; dancing is a very stressful career.

Says dancer Jennifer Stahl: In yoga (especially vinyasa) I was finally able to find a feeling of fullness to my movement—something I had struggled to attain in modern class, but never quite “got.” Once I became used to finding length in every position during the slow flow through the poses, I could translate that sensation back to the studio, and became able to move bigger, with longer lines. Yoga taught me to really feel what was going on in my body, and to become aware of where I was placing it in space.

 

 

Core strength is a key element for dancers, especially during quick moves and turns. Joseph Pilates, a fitness pioneer in his time, developed the Pilates system, which uses specialized equipment and exercises to develop and strengthen what he called the “powerhouse”, the muscles of the abdominals, lower back and buttocks. Other benefits include improved posture, and fewer back problems. The Pilates method has long been an inside secret for many dancers, but is now recognized as important and necessary- Pacific Northwest Ballet has two Pilates studios available to its dancers. (Read more about Pilates at PNB here).

Says Alexandra Dickson, ex-PNB soloist and Pilates Conditioning Manager at PNB: “I didn’t realize the power I was getting from Pilates until I did it three times a week after my pregnancy,” recalled Dickson during a recent break from private and semi-private workouts with clients. “I got back to the ballet and we opened with ‘Swan Lake’ (a demanding performance). I couldn’t have a made it back without the Pilates work.”

 

 

However, yoga and Pilates aren’t just for dancers; anyone can benefit from either practice. Both are particularly helpful to prevent and correct back pain issues. The benefits include:

 

Yoga

• greater strength and flexibility

• improved balance and coordination

• improved state of mind

• increased breathing capacity

 

Pilates

• improved posture

• greater core strength

• improved overall strength, flexibility and coordination

 

Strength and grace don’t come naturally, but there are tried and true techniques available for anyone (dancer or not) who wants more of either.

 

 

Zippora Karz is a former soloist ballerina with the New York City Ballet where she performed from 1983 through 1999. She was featured in a variety of roles choreographed by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins (The Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker being one of her favorites) as well as works choreographed for her by such choreographers as Peter Martins and Lynne Taylor Corbett. Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes in 1987, just as she was being featured in solo roles, she found a way to continue to live her dream despite her illness. She now serves as a teacher and repetiteur for the George Balanchine Trust, rehearsing and staging Balanchine’s choreography for a host of national and international dance companies. She is also a diabetes spokesperson and educator who regularly addresses major diabetes conferences and organizations worldwide. In addition to her memoir, The Sugarless Plum, published in 2009, Zippora writes a regular column for the Huffington Post. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

 

 

 

Which tools have been the most helpful during your most challenging moments?

I have always been passionate about health, physically and emotionally, long before I was diagnosed with diabetes. So when I was diagnosed I set out to learn everything I could about how to take care of my body. But equally important was learning to accept the things I could not control, as my life took an unexpected turn and I felt my dreams slipping away. It was a very long process, one I am still on, desiring to fulfill my personal potential, but having to redefine what that potential might encompass. For example, my potential as a ballerina before diabetes was different than my potential after my diagnosis. I had to learn to let go of the perfectionist voice in my head and heart that wanted to be the best I could be as I was before my diabetes, even though everything was now different. My new best would have to be good enough.

Describe the happiest moment(s) of your dance career.

I’m not one to get ecstatic over certain experiences. A sense of peace came about when I accepted my situation and found myself able to maintain my life as a soloist with NYCB, and as an insulin dependent diabetic.

But I will say that those youthful “happy” moments, if I looked for them, I would have to be before I joined the company, my school years at SAB (official school of NYCB). George Balanchine was still alive, as were many of the great teachers on faculty, like Stanley Williams, Suki Schorer (still there today) and Alexandra Danilova. Every day, in class, I felt inspired. The future held unlimited possibilities. It was a magical time in the ballet world. As that generation of greatness passed away, I felt personally less inspired.

How has your background as a dancer helped you with the work you are doing today?

The life of a dancer is full of discipline and rewards for hours of practice and focus. Dance teaches us that it is the process that is important. That the transition from one step to the next, not just how high you jump or how many turns you do are important. And so in life, it is the moments in between, not just the big events that hold great meaning.

How did you find the strength and willpower to continue dancing while you were struggling with diabetes?

My struggle was for many years. In part denial fueled my strength, and in part my passion for dance kept me going. In the beginning years I had absolutely no idea what I had ahead of me. Once I accepted my diabetes and realized how difficult it was to try to perform and dance all day on shots of insulin, even though I often wanted to quit, I just couldn’t. I had to try everything I could before saying I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to regret chances not taken. To dance was to live.

What are some of the key points that you share with people during your public speaking engagements?

I talk about my denial and the ways it put me in harms way, mis- judging how to manage my diabetes. How my denial affected my ability to properly discuss my struggles with my doctor. How vitally important it is for us to tend to our physical and emotional health. And of course how important dreams and passion are in life, and that by taking care of our health we can better achieve those goals.

Do you use dance when you work with people who have diabetes? If so, how do you use it?

Not always, but sometimes I do little routines, simple exercise that get people up and moving. I like to remind them how fun it can be to move, exercise does not have to be something you have to do, and are in trouble with your physician if you don’t. It can be fun and a joy! Of course the kids love to move, so with them I like to challenge their balance and also push them with some fun yet difficult moves.

How did you deal with feelings of fear when you received your diagnosis? How were you able to move past those fears?

I was in such denial I didn’t really feel fear in the beginning. And when the denial wore off I didn’t feel well, so I’d say I felt more defeated and overwhelmed than fearful. It was daunting to imagine how I’d ever get back to feeling strong enough to dance the schedule demanded of me. Of course that changed as I learned to manage my diabetes and get my health in some semblance of control. Once I was on track the fear was in the form of a low level of worry, could I maintain this life as an insulin dependent diabetic? Everyday I wondered that.

And then, when I had a low blood sugar attack while performing the fear was much more immediate, throwing fast acting sugar in my mouth between entrances hoping I would not pass out on stage.

In your opinion, what are the most effective ways of dealing with diabetes?

Anyone with diabetes must check their blood sugar levels, take their medication (insulin or pills), eat a healthy diet, and tend to their emotional health. I find people have trouble sticking to a program, often due to emotional issues. The clearer we can be with what is in our hearts, the more we will be able to follow what our brain knows is the right path. But keeping close to normal blood sugar levels is important to avoid the devastating complications related to diabetes.

How and why did you decide to write the Sugarless Plum? How long did it take you to write the book?

I’d been sharing my story for about 10 years, and been told so many times I should write a book, that I had it in my mind to do one day. But it was only after my mother was diagnosed with Cancer that I sat down and began writing. Watching her go through many of the same issues, the denial, the mis-diagnosis, all the conflicting information, and the emotional confusion, I realized my story is not just a diabetic one, that the issues involved are universal.

Finding an agent who believed I had a story took 2 years. Actually I wanted to write a diet and exercise book, but could not find an agent. When I met my agent, she said she could not sell another self help book, but she could sell it as a memoir. The actual writing process took about 1 ½ years.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Finding a passion in life, something that makes us feel connected, that has meaning and value is important for us all. And we must take care of our physical bodies to be able to experience that magic that life can offer.

To find out more about Zippora or her book, The Sugarless Plum, click here.

 

 

 

Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet is not your typical ballet company for so many reasons. At the top of that list of reasons is mastery of fluid, flawless movement. The dancers are polished, amazingly capable athletes and artists. They are the closest thing to perfection I’ve ever witnessed.

 

At intermission my daughter noticed that I was crying (yes, they were that good. I’ve never cried at a dance performance before). “Why are you crying, Mom?” she asked.

 

“Because they are the most beautiful dancers I’ve ever seen,” I said.

 

I’ve never seen such a breathtaking and unusual array of dancers: wild-haired Spaniards, tall, lithe Amazonian pixies, long, willowy African American men and women; incredible athletes of every size, shape and race. This is not a company where each dancer is supposed to be a perfect carbon copy of the next. Instead, every individual’s strengths and style are encouraged and showcased.

 

King’s choreography is fine-tuned for each dancer; it is expressive and progressive. “It was ballet but not really,” according to my daughter. It is ballet, but it is so much more. King takes ballet and gives it modern-day relevance. The dance vocabulary is all his own, but it’s a language that today’s audience can understand and relate to. His collaborations with other master artists such as Zakir Hussain and Pharoah Sanders add further vitality to his work.

 

King’s choreography is demanding!! There were times that it was hard to believe that I was seeing what I was seeing. Yet the dancers pulled it all off seamlessly. Watching them move with an understanding of how much energy is involved is awe-inspiring… and the dancers were on fire! Every one of them worked to their limit to “bring it”.

 

Many years (okay, decades) ago, a friend brought me to one of Alonzo King’s classes. I’d been studying classical ballet for more than 13 years at the time, 6 of them at the prestigious School of American Ballet and San Francisco Ballet School. I distinctly remember how difficult I found his class- mostly because the moves were so foreign- I couldn’t make my body do what was being asked. It was ballet, but not exactly… or rather, it was contemporary ballet as opposed to classical… something else entirely.

 

Those of us who live in the Bay Area are fortunate to have such an amazing gem in our midst. I plan to partake of that good fortune as often as possible.

 

New York City Ballet’s offshoot company, New York City Ballet Moves, has completed their inaugural season. The new program is a return to City Ballet’s history of touring, especially its frequent travels in the United States in the 1950s through the early ’80s. The small group performs works that can easily be accommodated by more modest sites, like university auditorium, which will open up new horizons for performing opportunities for the dancers and replace work days lost during their short summer season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Moves gave its first performances on July 31 and August 1 as part of the 2001 Vail International Dance Festival, which is under the artistic direction of former NYCB principal dancer Damian Woetzel. Following the engagement in Vail, New York City Ballet Moves performed in Jackson, Wyoming, August 5 through 7, at the Center for the Arts.

Two programs were presented, consisting of George Balanchine’s “Duo Concertant,” Jerome Robbins’s “Dances at a Gathering,” Mr. Martins’s “Fool for You,” “Hallelujah Junction” and “Zakouski,” and Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain” pas de deux and “Polyphonia.”

A rotating group of dancers from every level of the company make up Moves. The roster of dancers for the inaugural season featured NYCB Principal Dancers Jared Angle, Joaquin De Luz, Robert Fairchild, Sterling Hyltin, Maria Kowroski, Tiler Peck, Amar Ramasar, Daniel Ulbricht and Wendy Whelan; Soloists Adrian Danchig-Waring, Erica Pereira, and Rebecca Krohn; and corps de ballet members Chase Finlay, Anthony Huxley, Lauren Lovette, Brittany Pollack, and Taylor Stanley.

Looking to see New York City Ballet at a discount? Subscribers to New York City Ballet’s Fourth Ring Society for the 2011-12 season starting on Aug. 29. The program requires a $20 annual membership fee. Performance tickets will cost $15 (plus a $2 facility fee). They can be purchased by phone or at the box office and will not be available online. Members are able to purchase two tickets per performance (there will be some blackout dates). For more information, visit: http://new.nycballet.com/ticket_info/fourthringsociety.html

Rebel ballerinas. The two words may at first sound like the world’s greatest oxymoron. In tribute to the celebration of our country’s independence, this month’s posts will feature dancers and choreographers that are the living embodiments of independent artistry.

Sylvie Guillem may well be the greatest ballerina ever- but she is known just as well for her unexpected departure from the ballet world to pursue Modern dance. A rebel at heart, her non-conformist approach meant that after leaving the Royal Ballet, she refused to be aligned with any particular company as she moved into contemporary dance.

Guillem became an étoile dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet when she was 19, and now at the age of 46, she continues to create and perform new works… her way… at an age when most other dancers have long since retired.

She was blessed with every gift a dancer could possibly hope for: perfectly arched feet, long, lithe legs that are so flexible they brush her ears at the peak of her extensions, a well-proportioned strong physique, flawless technique. But it is her energy and passion, her artistry and intelligence that define her as the dancer that choreographers still yearn to work with. Choreographer Mats Ek says simply, ‘She has a blue flame within her.’

She gained the nickname Mademoiselle Non during her years in the Royal Ballet when an argument with Kenneth MacMillan was accidentally broadcast over the opera house speakers for all to hear. Although her tenure with the company was far from short (1988-2000), she left when she realized what she ‘could not take there she would do somewhere else.’

But does she ever think of stopping? ‘Mais, oui,’ she says, looking astonished. ‘All the time, and for many, many years. And sometimes you think, why do I do all of this? Because you feel a little bit lost, a bit tired. But then you wake up a bit more and you go and you are excited by what you do.’ She pauses to consider how to describe what drives her on. ‘It’s because when finally you achieve something, then you are alive and you did something that only you can do.

She performs this week through July 9^th at Sadler’s Wells in London. For more information, click here.

Becoming a professional dancer requires one to have certain characteristics and abilities. How do you know if you’ve got what it takes?According to the U.S. Department of Labor, they are:

• self-discipline, patience, perseverance, and a devotion to dance
• good problem-solving skills
• an ability to work well with others and function as part of a team
• good health and physical stamina
• flexibility, agility, coordination, and grace
• a sense of rhythm and feeling for music
• creative ability to express themselves through movement
• finally, be highly motivated and prepared to face the anxiety of intermittent employment and rejections when looking for work.

It can be argued that this list is incomplete because it fails to mention one last key ingredient: body type.

In 2001, eight-year-old Fredrika Keefer auditioned for the San Francisco Ballet School and was told she did not have the “physical attributes that the school looks for”, namely “a well-proportioned, slender body.” Fredrika’s mother filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging size-biased discrimination. The lawsuit created a heated debate among feminists and advocates of affirmative action, as well as professional dancers. Toni Bentley, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, asked rhetorically, “Should music students be admitted to the Juilliard School who are tone deaf and to medical schools with C and D grade averages? Should short guys be hired by the NBA? Should round little girls be admitted to professional ballet schools, thereby being subjected to a competitive discipline for which they are at a disadvantage?”

Ballet companies are particularly notorious for being particular about issues of weight and size, particularly after the introduction of the Balanchine ballerina, a willowy, long-limbed, long-necked creature that has become the industry standard in the decades. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of dancers fit the bill.

The professional dance world looks for slender dancers and there is no escaping that reality. As dance students mature and look for employment in dance companies, the demand for perfection and physical prowess becomes all the more intense. Weight management is expected – and discussed any time a dancer’s weight fluctuates enough to tip the scale of disapproval.

In other words, weight is a constant issue for dancers. In essence, the San Francisco Ballet School did Fredrika Keefer a favor by preventing her from entering an arena where she could not hope to compete. If an eight-year-old dance student already has weight issues, chances are there will never be a place for her in the professional ballet world.

Why not examine other options? If a child loves ballet, then she can take classes at a different ballet school that is not so highly competitive. Ballet classes hold obvious merits for all types of dancers and athletes, and learning to move gracefully is a lifelong gift for anyone. A firm foundation in ballet technique will serve any dancer well as they pursue other forms of dance that may not be quite so strict about body type. Modern dance, theatrical dance and traditional or folkloric dance companies are a few examples to consider.

In the end, dancers choose to dance because of their love for it. While an individual may not be cut out for a spot in a leading professional dance company, there are countless other stages and opportunities available if one is willing to look for them.

For info about a dancer’s diet, click here.

Dancers really are different than the average human. In a study published in the American Journal, Public Library of Science Genetics, Psychology Prof. Richard P. Ebstein, head of the Hebrew University Psychology Department’s Scheinfeld Center for Human Genetics in the Social Sciences and his research associates have shown, through DNA examination, that dancers show consistent differences in two key genes from the general population.

Consistent differences were noted in these two key genes: genes that provide the code for the serotonin transporter and arginine vasopressin receptor 1a. Both genes are involved in the transmission of information between nerve cells. The serotonin transporter regulates the level of serotonin, a brain transmitter that contributes to spiritual experience and feelings of well-being, among other behavioral traits. The vasopressin receptor has been shown in many animal studies to modulate social communication and bonding behaviors.

Dancers were compared with athletes as well as those who were both non-dancers and non-athletes. (Athletes were chosen for comparison since they require a good deal of physical stamina like dancers.)
When the results were combined and analyzed, it was clearly shown that the dancers exhibited particular genetic and personality characteristics that were not found in the other two groups. The dancer ‘type’, says Ebstein, clearly demonstrates qualities that are not necessarily lacking but are not expressed as strongly in other people: a heightened sense of communication, often of a symbolic and ceremonial nature, and a strong spiritual personality trait.

The obvious question remains: will science soon prove that dance makes humans happier and more cooperative? If so, it might just be America’s next big thing. Which might not be such a bad thing, after all.

More about DNA: