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”
Tag Archives: dance
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”
The Day I Fell In Love With Ballet
I started ballet when my Grandma Winnie, my dad’s mother, gave me a month’s worth of lessons for my sixth birthday. A dance school had opened in Cordell, where Dad had grown up and my grandmother still lived, about 15 miles south of our home in Clinton. The teacher, Carol, offered ballet, tap, and jazzContinue reading “The Day I Fell In Love With Ballet”
Zoom In
As I think a lot of people are doing, I have been using Zoom (an application I had never heard of a month ago) quite a bit in the last few weeks. My sister, who works for Southern Methodist University, has had several Zoom meetings the past few weeks – with three on her scheduleContinue reading “Zoom In”
Switched at Intermission
When I recently blogged (in three parts) about a flu-stricken Nutcracker weekend, some of my friends initially confused that story with another time that our Clara became ill. That is also a funny story, illness notwithstanding, and after spending a good chunk of the day trying to update my C.V. after not touching it forContinue reading “Switched at Intermission”
Revelations
I have been in love with Alvin Ailey’s iconic masterpiece Revelations since I first saw it on video in the early 1990’s. I have watched it over and over, shared it with my students, studied it. I have seen Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II perform it live on several occasions, an experienceContinue reading “Revelations”
Penny Askew 