And, this, ladies and gentlemen, is dance with purpose . . . 

pointe shoes, a comprehensive guide

*second photo courtesy of real_world_ballerina

Why should a young child take ballet? 

"The study of ballet will teach your child that things do not happen instantly. Hard work, focus, and dedication take time to show results. Doing things right - over and over again - is more important than doing a difficult movement once. The foundation is vital. If you don't have a solid foundation of technique you will struggle once you get to really dance . . . the same is true of life. "

~ Ballet Foundation

" 'I've appeared in character, modern, and classical companies, as well as in films and musicals. I think as a dancer I was probably searching for my own medium, and in this search an enormous interest in all kinds of dance was awakened in me.' She regrets that dance is inclined 'to be bracketed.' One of her ambitions, she says, is to instill a very full appreciation of all kinds of dance in her students. 'Dance, for me,' she states, 'is the greatest expression of art through movement and it cannot be confined to one form!' " ~Gretchen Warren, speaking about and quoting Anne Woolliams 

"You mustn’t be nervous in classical dance. It’s a very generous art. 

You must attack a piqué before it attacks you!” ~Anne Woolliams

"When you don't get into an audition, you cry -- tears are fine. Then, you learn how to cry in the next scene." ~Chita Rivera*

*She came to Meryhurst!!! and gave a private interview with the dance and theater majors and then a public interview in the Mary D-Angelo theater :) I may or may not post quotes from her talks for the next few days :)

"I see the Dance being used as a means of communication between soul to soul--to express what is too deep, too fine for words."

 ~Ruth St. Denis 

"We all know that in the powerful emotions of joy, sorrow, horror or despair, the body expresses the emotion it has received from the mind." ~Loie Fuller

honesty

The Blue Lake staff motto for summer 2013 was,
"Your talk talks and your walk walks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks".

When I initially heard it, it seemed like a good quote to me - a little silly in presentation (somewhat Dr. Suess-ish), but valuable in intent.

I was thinking about again this afternoon though and it took on a lot more meaning.

We always have the option to present things in language -in our words- which end up being entirely hollow.

Our walk, our motion, our movement is unquestionably honest. 

"As a matter of fact, motion has been the starting point of all effort at self-expression, and it is faithful to nature. In experiencing one sensation we cannot express another by motions, even when we can do so in words." ~Loie Fuller

“. . . it seemed very personal, because it was contained in the bodies of the dancers, and the body is so revealing. When a dancer comes onstage, he is not just a blank slate that the choreographer has written on. Behind him he has all of the decisions he has made in life. He has already met a million forks in the road. Each time, he has chosen, and in what he is onstage you see the result of those choices. You are looking at the person he is, the person who, at this point, he cannot help but be. All of the experiences he has had as a child and as a teenager, all the images his body has accumulate, these come up as colors in the dancing giving it sparkle and complexity. They come out through the eyes, through the pores.  . . . all dancers are self-revealing, and this is true no matter what the style of dancing.  . . . Within a minute, you are receiving a personal message.” ~Mikhail Baryshnikov

"It is interesting to note that modern dance began at the same time as silent movies--when people were becoming used to seeing expressive movement and gesture without the benefit of dialogue, and with one or more musicians playing background music." ~Charles H. Woodford