Tuesday 24 April 2012

Book Review: The Ballet Companion

Written by Eliza Gaynor Minden, The Ballet Companion is a great reference for any teacher, student or ballet enthusiast.
 
In an easy-to-follow format, it comprises of five sections:
·         to be a dancer,
·         ballet basics,
·         ballet class,
·         the healthy dancer and,
·         ballet literacy.

And with each section broken down from how to choose the right ballet school, what to expect in an audition, pointe work information, eating and exercising right, the major ballet classics, a historical timeline and lastly, ballet terminology, it really covers just about everything!

Explanations of the ballet fundamentals is also included, distinguishing between the major training systems and focus pages of history snippets, and general articles for the curious dancer on topics such as how to do stage make-up and hair.
Positions and steps are illustrated with 150 coloured photographs demonstrating perfect execution and technique.

The text identifies the traditional fundamentals along with new and updated information.
I have had this book for a few years now and find it a great teaching tool for showing students pictorial breakdowns of steps and the positions.
Definitely well recommended, and would make a great gift for someone at any level of the ballet world.

Caitlin

Thursday 19 April 2012

Back To Dancing

Well its back to dancing this week for Term 2.
I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and school holiday break.
Ive just come back from Sydney where I attended the ADV dance teachers workshop for four jam-packed days learning the new syllabus material and attending many professional development sessions on history, body science, forums with other teachers and stretching and pilates. While intense, it was great to meet many like-minded teachers from all-over Australia.

While I was too busy dancing and learning, to take photos here's one of the ballet teachers working through the syllabus.


For more information about assessments with Dance Align through ADV please see the assessment tab or click here.

Also here is an interesting article from the Dance Australia website regarding the ADV workshop and dance competency changes.


We have a few new students trying out some classes this week and I look forward to seeing everyone ready for dancing on Saturday!

Caitlin

Dance Align Principal