A very important woman in my life passed away this week. I haven’t blogged in a while for many reasons, but mostly because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about. But today, I knew – I wanted to write about Ms. Glenda, my mentor, my friend, my second mother. Glenda Brown was aContinue reading “The Queen of Everything”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Art and Revolution (Part 2)
In Part 1, I tracked the historical progression of ballet from its beginnings in the courts of Europe, in order to provide context for my quest to address current concerns of racism and inequality. I know why we are here from a historical perspective, but what else is currently preventing inclusion? And what steps canContinue reading “Art and Revolution (Part 2)”
Art and Revolution (Part 1)
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking in the past three-plus months about my life as an artist. I’ve been reflecting a lot on my past adventures, some of which I’ve shared through stories in this blog. More, I’ve been wondering where my artistic life is going and what it will look like, due toContinue reading “Art and Revolution (Part 1)”
Black Lives Matter
I haven’t written for a few weeks. At first it was because I was a little busier – some consulting work had come my way, I was laying some groundwork for future projects, and continuing to teach a few classes via Zoom. Then, just as I was starting to contemplate a new post, the GeorgeContinue reading “Black Lives Matter”
Dance Family
The title above may lead you to think I’m going to be sharing thoughts specific to my nuclear family, but I am actually going to venture into the topic in a more encompassing way for this post. I’ve been thinking a lot about “dance family” over the past few, somewhat difficult, months – about howContinue reading “Dance Family”
Energy Makes Energy
My first summer intensive experience was the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, a two-week auditioned program for Oklahoma teenagers involved in the arts. It is held at Quartz Mountain State Park in southwestern Oklahoma each June, and is a hybrid of summer intensive and summer camp. While now they have pavilions that house the various disciplines,Continue reading “Energy Makes Energy”
Please Do This Good
I have been fortunate to have taught a lot of really hilarious kids, so today I thought I’d share a collection of funny student stories. This batch is circa 2005-2008, in no particular order. ~~We were prepping for a performance at a small school theater that had several signs displayed noting that the use ofContinue reading “Please Do This Good”
Balanchine’s Apollo
New York City Ballet is currently presenting a Digital Spring Season, twice a week making certain performances available to view for 72 hours: https://www.nycballet.com. So far, they’ve shown George Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante, Justin Peck’s most recent work, Rotunda, and most recently Balanchine’s Apollo, one of my all-time favorite ballets. Created in 1928 for Serge Diaghilev’sContinue reading “Balanchine’s Apollo”
Penny Power
A student of mine, Sophia, gave this moniker to a mindset that she attributes to me. She described it to her mom, Teake, about a year ago in this way: Miss Penny can do anything, and she also believes her students can do anything, and if they keep working at it, they will get it.Continue reading “Penny Power”
On Technique, Artistry, & Bujones
Yesterday I came across a video of Fernando Bujones doing about 20 minutes of ballet class work. It was stunning. For those of you that might not know the name, Bujones was an American classical ballet dancer, considered one of the finest of his generation. He was the first American to win a gold medalContinue reading “On Technique, Artistry, & Bujones”
Penny Askew 