Tag: ballet parent
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So, Your Dancer Wants To Compete! What To Expect
When my son was ten, he came home from his first summer dance intensive and announced, “I want to get more serious about ballet and I want to do the Youth America Grand Prix.” What?! So, like any parent who knew nothing about dance, I went and looked up ballet competitions online. The first result…
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Ballet Competitions? Are They Worth It?
**This post has been updated to include a sneak peek at what we have planned for our series on ballet competitions that will be launching in mid-September! If it’s the beginning of the school year, it’s also the beginning of ballet competition season! That means it’s time for everyone’s anxiety closet to open. Every year,…
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Oh The Pressure!
How many of you have picked up your dancer from class only to find them in tears? Yep, every single one of us. Ballet is hard. Kids who are attracted to ballet are a different breed. Not only do they have an artistic slant to their brain, they are also laser focused technicians. And, this…
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Introducing Podcasts And Our New Series!
We are pleased to announce that Ballet Help Desk has added podcasts! Not only are all of our previous videos available as podcasts, we are also launching a monthly, multi-part series that will dig deep into specific subjects related to ballet training. Each series will feature blog posts as well as interviews with experts that…
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How Ballet Dancers Can Support Each Other
On the heels of our post about friendships in the ballet studio, our friend Elizabeth Sullivan is out with an article about how dance friends can support one another when hitting bumps in the road. One of the most common questions I get from dancers is “How can I support my friend who is having…
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Why It’s Important To Review Your Summer Intensive Even If You Didn’t Like It
In all my years working in corporate America and owning my own businesses, do you know what was the most helpful feedback? The bad stuff! Sure, it was great to be told that someone thought I was doing a good job or that they liked the service we offered. That was great for validation that…
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Friendships In The Ballet Studio
We’ve been seeing some posts on social media and also recently got some questions from parents about friendships in the ballet studio and how to manage them. This can be especially tough when some of your closest friends can also be your fiercest competition. It can sometimes get complicated, but we’ve got some tips to…
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Choosing A Residential Ballet Program: Part 2
On the heels of our last post where we talked about non-ballet questions to ask, let’s now turn to questions that directly relate to ballet in any residential ballet school. First, here’s the reality: dancers are going to go to the program they get into. We can give you a laundry list of things to…
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Choosing A Residential Ballet Program: Part 1
A while back, we talked about how to evaluate a local ballet program. Now that we’ve looked at local programs, let’s turn our attention to residential ballet programs. By the time your dancer is ready to head to a residential program, they’ve likely decided they want to pursue a professional career. Before your family takes…
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When Dancers Want To Stay For Year-Round After Attending The Intensive
Welcome to the Summer Intensive season. Your kids have been in their program for a few weeks, and they are no longer outliers in their social worlds. They are surrounded by like-minded dancers who are driven and love ballet. Maybe they have connected with a teacher at their SI program and your dancer is growing…