Tag: ballet studio
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Finally—Real Reviews of Local Ballet Programs
Until now, if you wanted to get a sense of the ballet training available in your local area, your best bet was to ask around. Maybe post in a Facebook group. Maybe text a friend-of-a-friend. Hope that the reviews from ten years ago on Yelp are actually real? But real, detailed insight into what a…
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Addressing Neurodivergent Needs In the Studio
*We are joined by our guest blogger, Chelsea Weidmann, better known on social media as the Geeky Ballerina. Chelsea has agreed to contribute some articles on neurodivergent kids and ballet. We hope you enjoy them! Hi, I’m Chelsea and I’m a ballet teacher and mom to a neurodivergent kid. As I’m writing this, my heart…
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Happy Anniversary To Ballet Help Desk!
One day, about 18 months ago, Jenny and I were out hiking. We got to talking about how many people were calling us to ask for advice on sending their students to San Francisco Ballet School. Since our kids had been there for four years, apparently we were considered some sort of resident experts on…
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An Open Letter About Boys In Ballet
We have some exciting news! Today, we are launching two podcast episodes dedicated to addressing the issues that affect young boys in ballet. The first is an interview with Peter Stark, sometimes referred to as the Pied Piper of boys ballet training. As the President and Director of the Rock School For Dance, Peter discussed…
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Strength Training, Injury Prevention and Injury Recovery Through Pilates
When my physical therapist suggested I start a Pilates program, I laughed. “I’m a former athlete,” I told her. “If you don’t sweat, it isn’t exercise.” She smiled at me and gently suggested we try one session of it to see what I thought. If I didn’t like it, we could look at alternatives. So,…
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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…
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Finishing The Ballet Year Strong
The end of the ballet year is looming and we know your dancer has all the feels right now. And, clearly you’re seeing it as well because we recently got several questions about how to support your dancers through the home stretch. Are you noticing that your dancer is seeming a bit unmotivated to go…