A quick update before I go out of town

I have an exciting dance-filled weekend, jam packed with performances, master classes, and hopefully a quick stop at my favorite dance store.

St. Louis's ArtSpace's grand opening is this weekend. The All That Dance! studio has a slew of dance related events going on tomorrow, times and details for which can be found at their website.

I don't know how I missed this, but Ekaterina Maximova passed away earlier this week. The Bolshoi website has a shot and to the point obituary that was posted a few days ago. Check it out.

Excitingly, there are only 20 more days until the SYTYCD5 season premiere. Unfortunately, I have dress rehearsal for a big performance that night. My call time is early though, and since I'm only in one number, I might be able to catch at least part of the new episode if my commute back home isn't too bad.

Sorry I haven't posted much lately-- I've been really easy, and it's hard to get back in to the swing of blogging after taking a long break.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dance Outlook Blog of the Weekend at Upstage Left!

This post is basically just a shout out to M.Butterfly at Notes From Upstage Left, who featured Dance Outlook as this week's Blog of the Weekend! So go check her site out. It's pretty amazing, and I'm not just saying that because she links to me.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Another post where I complain about pointe shoes

So right now, I have three pairs of pointe shoes in rotation: a pair of 10M Capezio Glisses in a "Regular" shank, and two pairs of Grishko Elites, one 6 1/2XX Medium shank and another 6XXX Soft shank.

After wearing the Elites for a couple weeks, I kept feeling like they were either a tad too big or a tad too wide, but I wasn't sure. I had gotten these from a different fitter than the one I normally go to (who has been strongly urging me to try both the Elites and the Glisses for months now) and wasn't sure I liked as much. So I went back to my normal fitter, told them what was going on, and got another pair in a half size smaller and a width wider. Bad idea. They felt fine in the store, but after trying to wear them in class, I realised that they're definitely too small and too wide. I don't think the width would bother me as much if these shoes weren't so square. I think if I get another pair of these, I'll get my original size, the 6 1/2XX.

After not being able to wear the smaller/wider Elites in class, I changed in to the Glisses which had been sitting in my dance bag since my early February performance untouched. They're SO comfortable, the shape is squarer than I would normally go for, but fits my feet almost perfectly, the shank and box are soft enough to mold to my feet really well but still be supportive, the vamp is long enough that I don't fall out of the front of the shoe because of the softer shank, and all of these factors combine to form a shoe that is both comfortable and supportive, and I am able to balance and get completely over the box in. It sounds like my dream shoe, right? Maybe, but with some platform Jet Glue and an Extra Strength shank. Needless to say, they died in that class that I wasn't able to wear the smaller Elites in.

While the Capezios are a tiny little tweak away from perfect, I think the Grishkos are more of a realistic shoe for me. They're significantly harder, but a heck of a lot softer than most Grishkos I've had, and a little squarer that the Capezios. Normally I would have a problem with this, but in these shoes (in the right size) I don't. The vamp is shorter, and combined with the stronger, Russian-style shank, also acceptable for keeping my feet from falling out of the front of the shoe. The most important thing, though, is that they make me work my feet a lot harder.

I think, ultimately, I'll end up in the Grishkos (and liking them). But, before I decide that for sure, I'm definitely going to order the ES shank Glisses and some Pointe Shoe Glue, just to see if I can perfect the almost-perfect pointe shoes.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

St. Louis Tap Festival 2009 and All That Dance! studio

The Robert L. Reed Tap Heritage Institute website was recently updated with the event and class schedule for the 2009 St. Louis Tap Festival. Information about a new dance studio, All That Dance!, opening in the St. Louis area to house the St. Louis Hoofer's Club was also posted.

Teachers for this year's SLTF include Robin Reed, Avi Miller & Ofer Ben, Logan Millen, Karen Calloway Williams, Bril Barrett, Denise Caston, Robert Reed III, Shannon Calderon, Robert L. Reed, Lynn Schwab, Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards, Mary Jo Clark-Cange, and festival honorees, Ardie Bryant and Miriam Nelson. Classes are scheduled to run Monday July 27th- SaturdayAugust 1st, concluding with the annual All That Tap show that Saturday night.

I'm getting really excited for this. Once again, I have the dilemma of picking between classes when I have two I want to take in one time slot. The odd thing this year is that ALL of the classes I want to take seem to be at the same time, and then there are times when nothing going on in either studio really interests me. But, I know whatever I tak, I'll end up having fun and learning a lot.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Release: Parsons Dance Gala 2009

Via Michelle Tabnick Communications:

PARSONS DANCE GALA 2009

Celebrating Lynn Davis, Ellsworth Kelly, and
Dr. & Mrs. Edward

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7pm
The Times Center, 242 W. 41st Street

Linda Stocknoff, and the Board of Directors of Parsons Dance proudly announce Parson Dance's 2009 Gala hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7pm at The Times Center, 242 W. 41st Street, NYC. The evening will begin with cocktails at 7pm and will include a performance by Parsons Dance, a competition Dancing in the Streets, where donors take the stage for one-minute routines with Parsons dancers as their partners, followed by honors. Parsons Dance recognizes Ellsworth Kelly and Dr. & Mrs. Edward J. Prostic, the lead commissioners of Remember Me, the company's January 2009 world premiere collaboration with the lead vocalists and music of East Village Opera Company, and Lynn Davis, a dedicated board member of Parsons Dance since 2006. Dessert, coffee, cocktails and dancing will end the evening. Host Lin-Manuel Miranda is the creator-composer-lyricist of In the Heights, winner of four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score and recipient of a Best Leading Actor nomination for his performance as Usnavi. Other credits: West Side Story, Stephen Schwartz' Working (contributing composer), Freestyle Love Supreme (co-founder/performer). TV/film: "The Electric Company," "Sesame Street," "The Sopranos." PARSONS DANCE GALA COMMITTEE 2009 Members of the 2009 Gala Committee are Linda Stocknoff, Gala Chair, and Co-Chairs Barbara Rohdie, Froma Benerofe, Richard Kielar, Vickie Morris, and Fiorenza Scholey. Parson Dance's 2009 Gala will be held Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7:00 pm at The Times Center, 242 W. 41st Street, NYC. Tickets begin at $495 and are available by calling (212) 869-9275, by emailing gala@parsonsdance.org or online at nycharities.org/parsonsdance.

ABOUT PARSONS DANCE PARSONS DANCE is committed to building new audiences for contemporary dance by creating American works of extraordinary artistry that are engaging and uplifting to audiences throughout the world. The company tours regionally, nationally and internationally.

PARSONS DANCE HISTORY Since 1985, Parsons Dance has toured an average of 32 weeks per year, to a total of more than 235 cities, 30 countries, six continents and millions of audience members. Many others have seen Parsons Dance on PBS, Bravo, A&E Network, and the Discovery Channel. Millions watched Parsons Dance perform live in Times Square as part of the internationally broadcast, 24-hour Millennium New Year's Eve celebration. In New York City, Parsons Dance has been featured at The Joyce Theater, City Center, New Victory Theater, Central Park Summerstage, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and The World Trade Center. The New York Times called David Parsons "one of the great movers of modern dance." New York Magazine referred to him as "one of modern dance's great living dance-makers." David Parsons (Artistic Director/Founder) has enjoyed a remarkable career as a performer, choreographer, teacher, director and producer of dance. Mr. Parsons was born in Chicago and raised in Kansas City. He was a leading dancer with The Paul Taylor Dance Company, where Mr. Taylor created many roles for him in works such as Arden Court, Last Look and Roses. He is a recipient of the 2000 Dance Magazine Award, as well as the 2001 American Choreography Award, for his work as a co-producer of AEROS, a production featuring the Romanian Gymnastic Federation that was featured on Bravo. Mr. Parsons has created more than 70 works for Parsons Dance. He has received commissions over the years from The American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, the Spoleto Festival and Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, to name a few. His work has been performed by Paris Opera Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Nederlands Danse Theatre, National Ballet of Canada, Hubbard Street Dance and BatSheva Dance Company of Israel, among many others. In June 2007, Mr. Parsons was honored to be the very first contemporary choreographer ever to stage work at the centuries-old Arena di Verona, in Verona Italy, where he choreographed Verdi's Aida. The Arena is one of Italy's most respected operatic venues. In September 2007, he directed and choreographed Gotham Chamber Opera's production of María de Buenos Aires, which made its world premiere at a sold-out engagement in New York, at NYU's Skirball Center for the Arts. Parsons Dance receives support from Bank of America, The Blavatnik Charitable Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Friars Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund of the New York Community Trust, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, Nina W. Werblow Charitable Trust, The Shubert Foundation, Theater Development Fund, Trust for Mutual Understanding. For more information, visit www.parsonsdance.org.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

I'm back!

After an all too long hiatus, Dance Outlook is back for good. Once I get back in the swing of blogging (and reading the more than 300 Google Reader items waiting for me!), posts should be on a regular basis as before. Thanks a lot for all the support from readers I got while not able to post for the past couple months. A lot has happened since then, and I have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm really glad to be back.

Stay on your toes,

Selly

Dance Outlook Hiatus

Because of personal and security reasons, Dance Outlook will be taking a hiatus for the next few months. I do not know when I will be posting again, but it will not be for a while. Thank you all for your continuous support during the time that this blog was being updated regularly.

Selly

NYCDA St. Louis, Ailey II, and loads of other stuff.

I haven't posted very much lately, but I have some very legitimate reasons: Two workshops, two performances (one my own, one I saw), a dress rehearsal, and the face that Google Reader hates me so I can't read any of the blog posts I normally do without using Internet Explorer.

So, if I'm going in chronological order, New York City Dance Alliance, St. Louis:
Classes were amazing, as always with this convention. It's cheesy and it's the same every year, but I still love Joe Lanteri's speech before scholarship auditions. Our teachers for the weekend were Joe Lanteri for Jazz; Mike Schulster for Tap; Jason Parsons, aka Bonnie Pink Bonnet for Contemporary; Jaimie Goodwin for GirlFrenzy; Lauren Adams (now Adams-Spinetti, I think, but it still just says Adams on the NYCDA site) for Lyrical; Scott Jovovich for Ballet; AC Ciualla for Fusion; and Dana Wilson for Hip Hop.

My favorite classes this year were Lauden Adams's and Joe Lanteri's which, coincidentally, I sort of hated last year. I think the difference is me, though. I loved the way both of them explained everything; it made total sense in my body, and I understood it. These, along with Jason Parsons's class were the highlights of my weekend.

Unfortunately, I thought the ballet and tap sort of sucked. The ballet guy was more concerned about us doing 12 (yes, TWELVE) "ice skater turns" and six fouettes pulling in to a quintuple pirouette than technique or maybe actual ballet. It was really disappointing. The tap was just sort of mediocre and boring. You could tell he was teaching to the girls in the back that don't take tap but spend lots and lots of money on competition entry fees. It wasn't horrible, and I took the class, but I definitely won't be seeking out another tap class from this teacher.

Even though there are a large number of bra/booty short costumed pieces at this convention, I really enjoyed watching the competition Saturday night. The type of competition studios at NYCDA are generally the type that have some legitimately good strong dancers that are more than 6 pirouettes and pitch kicks. Some of the props got to the point where the setting up was longer than the dance itself, and then the prop is never used, which wastes time and angers me. The only other thing that bothered me was the screaming. There was a certain studio there that screamed through every single one of their dances and talked through everyone else's. That's not annoying.

Even though I was exhausted and badly bruised at the end of the weekend, Dance Alliance continued to be my favorite workshop aside from The Pulse, whose faculty is simply amazing.


Ailey II:
I didn't take notes, and I had just driven 2 hours from NYCDA to get there on time. Even though I loved it, I was afraid I would fall asleep about 3 times. That's how tired I was. The dancers were top notch, only slightly less technically and artistically mind-blowing as the ones in AAADT. I appreciated Revelations much, much more after having taken a Horton class for the past few months. The whole evening was quite enjoyable.

Hopefully, having these things over, and only a few workshops left this season, I'll have time to post a lot more than I have been recently.

Stay on your toes,

Selly