September: Juwan Alston

September: What did you do with dance this summer and what are you looking forward to most this year?

My summer break began May 1st. I gave myself about a week off and I just slept and enjoyed life from the sofa. I am such a busy body, that a period of rest was exactly what I needed. I then went to Texas to spend time with my family and taught about 9 master classes. Boy did I have a great time. I love teaching and being able to pour into the lives of others. It is always so refreshing to work with dancers that you have never worked with before, as well as dancers that you have not worked with in a long period of time. When I came back home to Charlotte, I continued teaching and begun taking classes again to get back in shape preparing for our summer Chautauqua Residency. Rehearsals began June 6th and I spent 2 weeks beginning learning the rep for the first show. After 2 weeks I then spent 4 weeks in Chautauqua, New York. In those 4 weeks I danced 5 different ballets, 2 of which were brand new. I had about 6 days off once I got back from New York, which I spent taking class with the Charlotte Ballet Summer Intensive students. Then the magical day came for me to return to UNCSA to teach at the Preparatory Summer Dance Intensive for 2 weeks. While there I was able to work alongside some incredible teachers, and well as some incredibly talented dancers. It was such a learning experience in really allowing me a new perspective on how I approach my teaching, as well as how I approach the way that I work in my technique classes. Upon finishing at UNCSA I received a phone call about an injury that happened in Chautauqua, and so I caught a plane the very next day back up to New York to begin rehearsing for a show that would be performed 6 days later. I was fortunate to have danced the ballet before, although dancing many parts than I didn’t before was a great experience. I learned a lot about myself and what I am really capable of and I am really ready to go back into this new season and just kick some ballet bootay!

This new season, I am ready to go back and continuing growing not only technically, but as an artist. I am also excited to explore new cross training opportunities. The rep for the season is nice and versatile. I am most excited to perform in one of my favorite ballet’s Sleeping Beauty! This year is all about celebrating Jean-Pierre (the Artistic director of Charlotte ballet who is retiring in June of 2017), and I am honored to have a part in helping make this season as special as Jean-Pierre is to all of our hearts.

September: Haley Ivy

September: What did you do with dance this summer and what are you looking forward to most this year?

Hello TFDE members! I am excited to be a professional mentor this year and I hope what I have to share is helpful or at least interesting to you.

This summer was a little different for me because I didn't attend a ballet summer intensive for the first time in 7 years! YIKES! I would've like to have gone to another summer intensive but the truth was I couldn't afford it even with the scholarship I got. And I was already stressed since the Georgia Ballet ended in early march last season. (So I had a terribly long summer with no free dance in sight.) I ended up taking open class 2 times a week at Atlanta Ballet, student classes at my company, random hiking and doing yoga and Pilates in my living room. Thankfully I got to go back to Texas in April to celebrate my 21st birthday and guest perform Les Sylphides with my old studio for a week. I also had two jobs in the summer to help make ends meet. I taught a 4 month long outreach program for dance at an elementary school and worked at a church daycare helping look after toddlers. The glamorous life of a broke ballet dancer... But I somehow managed to stay in shape and get some dance in before our season started.

Now that the 16'/17' season has started, the company is back doing class and rehearsal 5 days a week. (Plus 3 side jobs for me ;) ) I am really looking forward to performing Peter Pan in October and Sleeping Beauty in the spring; Daet, my director has some exciting choreography that is very challenging in the corps de ballet. I feel that I will improve a lot in his Peter Pan, it's also a very playful ballet so it's fun to act out all the pantomime scenes AKA being a pirate. Sleeping Beauty is one of the most classical ballets out there so I am definitely thrilled to do the full ballet in all it's glory. The company is also pretty small so for sleeping beauty that means each company member will have lots of different roles to rehearse. Which means I will be dancing a lot, which obviously makes me happy.

September: Sarah Steinbacher

September: What did you do with dance this summer and what are you looking forward to most this year?

Hello TFDE Members! I can’t believe another year is here! Time is flying by and I am so excited to be apart of your amazing organization. This past summer has been a busy one, which is probably why I feel like it has flown by us. You know how that saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun and this summer has been filled with fun! This summer I finished my undergraduate degree and walked the stage at Texas State University to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Business Administration. Now that I have my degree, I am in the process of getting my teaching certification to be able to teach dance in middle school and high schools and have been preparing for my content exam through out the summer. I am the Drill Team Program Coordinator and the Director of Legacy Dance Company at Acrotex Cedar Park, which means I have had a busy summer at the studio as well! With the start of summer classes to choreography camps to conditioning a new team, I have been kept on my toes in such a positive way! My competition team, Legacy Dance Company, is in their third season and started their training this summer. We started lots of technique work and endurance exercises to help them get ready for the upcoming 2016-2017 competition season. Getting ready for this season has been the most challenging for both the girls and me! The girls on my team range in ages from 7 to 11 and have been working so incredibly hard. They have won lots of awards at competition the past two years which include overall high score, judges choice awards, and many others but this year we are pushing even further to be greater than we have been. We have added in two extra routines for them to perform at competition and most of them also have solos to prepare for as well. While getting them ready for competition season meant a lot of work for them both physically and mentally, it also meant a lot of behind the scenes work for me including editing music, choosing costumes and hairstyles for the company girls and soloists, ordering team gear such a jackets and little things for costumes, getting payments and communicating with parents and choreographing their upcoming competition routines and scheduling all practices for the upcoming season to send out to parents. In the midst of all the team to do lists, I also choreographed numerous solos for dancers for this upcoming competition season and worked with numerous dancers one on one to help improve their technique for the upcoming year. This upcoming year, as cliché as it sounds, I am most excited to watch my students grow individually as well as dancers. There is nothing more rewarding than helping someone achieve his or her goals while watching them learn valuable lessons at the same time. My favorite part of being a teacher is really building up each student so they can not only crush their dance goals, but also crush every goal they make for years to come!

Are you a working dance professional that would love to mentor young dancers? Our TFDE organization is currently looking for Professional Mentors for a monthly blog post as well as collaboration on any event planning/teaching you are available for. Please see our website for more information and to apply.

April: Heather Hardesty

April: What are you plans for this summer both in relation to your dancing and personally?

By: Heather Hardesty – Professional Mentor

Summer is almost here and I don’t know about you, but I’m very excited.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and I love teaching but a break is sometimes needed.  Quite a few years ago I made the decision to not teach myself over the summer.  There are many reasons why which include:

1.       Avoiding burnout

2.       Creating extra time to go to conventions to train

3.       Having more family time

4.       Enjoying not having a schedule

I’m very fortunate that I can hire teachers to teach for my business so I don’t have to and that the studio I teach for understands my need for summers off.  My summer is jam packed with things that are meant to nourish my mind, body and soul.  This summer I will start with a week-long singing tour in Canada with my choir.  A year ago we were asked to do this and now it’s just weeks away.  This is one of those bucket list items for sure!  I’m excited to visit Canada (I’ve never been there before) and I’m learning a bit of French to be able to converse with the locals. 

Following that trip, we take our annual vacation as a family.  This year we are going to the Grand Canyon.  We are also super excited as none of us have ever been.  This will be the first half of our vacation while the last half will be spent in Scottsdale, AZ at Camp Pulse Nationals.  My daughter and I will take part in 3 ½ days of dance training and the resort it’s at is super nice!  

Late in July my daughter and I hope to make it to Dallas for Hip Hop Fest and from there we are traveling to L.A. for a week at Monster’s of Hip Hop – L.A. Tour Finale.  Hallie received a scholarship in January to attend and while she’s in class I’m going to fit in some classes at the Edge.  After L.A. it will be back to home and planning for the new season and choreography camps.  Although our summer is busy, there’s lots of time for sun and fun!  It’s just what I need (as well as my family) to start the new year out fresh and ready to go.  Have a wonderful summer everyone!

April: Juwan Alston

April: What are you plans for this summer both in relation to your dancing and personally?

New Beginnings

As my first season as a professional dancer comes to a close, I can only reflect at how much I have grown personally and artistically. I have been challenged to push myself even more. I have learned how to fuel myself according to the demand of what I am working on, after all our energy comes from food. I have learned how to soak everything in and the importance of paying attention to detail. But the most important thing I have learned is how to work smart and be patient with myself. Overall I feel that I have had a very successful year and can’t wait to see what next season has in store for me.

Check out this video on why I joined Charlotte Ballet:
Juwan Alston on Why He Joined Charlotte Ballet

This year my summer starts on May 1st, and boy am I excited for it. I will be taking some much needed recovery and rest time for my body. As many of you know, I will be returning to Texas to teach a series of master classes and spend time with my family. As well as doing some guest artist work. Then the company will begin rehearsing for our summer Chautauqua season in June, and I will be in Chautauqua, New York for a month. Following that I will be teaching at 3 different summer intensives. The grand finale of my summer, is just taking time to myself for relaxation and pure enjoyment of the summer weather before I go into hiding inside of a dance studio again.

I hope all of you have had an incredible school year! A special congratulations and shout out goes to the class of 2016. I wish you all great success in where the next step in life is for you. Have a wonderful and safe summer!

March: Juwan Alston

March: What does your professional schedule look like for next year, what kind of classes/event will you be taking/participating in and what are you looking forward to about next year?

Growth, Growth, and Growth

It has been a crazy time here in Charlotte. We just wrapped up The Little Mermaid which was absolutely incredible. It was such a visually compelling ballet, that it was truly enjoyed by everyone old and young alike. Being able to bring this ballet to life was truly an honor, the set pieces and costumes, choreography were all just right on the mark. Hering all of the laughs, gasps, cheers, etc. from all of the children made every single special and allowed us to continue to keep it fresh!

Now we are preparing to perform our final show of mixed rep. It will consist of George Balanchine's Who Cares?, Sasha Janes’ We Danced Through Life, as well as a world premiere by Dwight Rhoden.

Next year for me is going to be, yet again, a very exciting year. I will continue dancing at Charlotte Ballet in the first company, working hard and continue growing as an artist and a dancer. I am looking forward to the rep that we will be dancing. It is Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s last season as the artistic director of Charlotte Ballet, so I know the entire season is going to be exciting! I plan to spend the summer dancing with the company in our summer Chautauqua season, as well as exploring different teaching opportunities.  So my new “year” starts in June!