Dancing on Omotesando

Maria and the Boys à la hauteur in Tokyo

July 28, 2011

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Tokyo Metro commuters were temporarily stymied the other day by an unexpected set of turnstiles that sprung up at the entrance to the Omotesando station… no, wait, those aren’t turnstiles… those are [..]

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If Alberto Contador had only come to ballet class more regularly, he might be wearing the Maillot Jaune

Why cyclists should dance ballet

July 26, 2011

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8 reasons why ballet is the perfect cross-training for cyclists: Ballet strengthens the core without having to do those boring crunches. It stretches the hip flexors, which tend to get tight in the forward-lea [..]

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sarah-attitude

Biker shows attitude

July 25, 2011

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When not fine-tuning her braking technique down those devilishly steep bike trails in Marin, Sarah can be found tossing off triple pirouettes in the ballet studio. Here she demonstrates one of the more difficult ballet poses – attitude croisée devant – difficult because you can’t simply lift the knee, you have to fully engage your turnout, rotating the leg from the hip, dropping the knee [..]

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vicki-back-bend

Cambré on the streets of San Francisco

July 21, 2011

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  A streetwise ballerina like Vicki puts urban architecture to good use, supporting her cambré derrière (backward arch) on a stanchion. Doing a supported stretch like this is a good reminder that when we stand up and do the cambré unsupported, we sh [..]

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christine-ecarte

Ecarté in Vegas

July 20, 2011

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Christine takes a break from playing Texas Hold ‘Em and sunning herself poolside to demonstrate the écarté, one of the eight body positions in ballet. The body faces one of the downstage corners and the leg is extended à la seconde, or to the side, in the direction of the other downstage corner. The arm on the same side as the extended leg is raised overhead, the head raised slightly and t [..]

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Jambe a la barre

Jambe à la barre in Hong Kong

July 20, 2011

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Allegra and Paloma demonstrate a classic ballet stretch on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, after walking the 3.5 km around Lugard Road. In this position we work on rotating the lifted leg in the hip socket, engaging our maximum turnout. Our weight is centred over the standing leg, and we try not to sink into our standing hip but to lift out of it; lifting the arm helps. Having an inspiring view hel [..]

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oscar-knight

How to write an Oscar acceptance speech

July 18, 2011

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Don’t deny you have had this daydream in which you imagine yourself dashing up to the stage at the Kodak Theatre in your perilously high Christian Louboutins, nervously clutching a little slip of paper. Even without the cheat sheet, we all know that we must thank the director, the screenwriter, cinematographer, costume designer, make-up artist, hair stylist, our co-stars, agent, teachers, pare [..]

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desire

Desire, Death & Destruction (or just another day in the ballet studio) – by Joie Brown

July 16, 2011

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Stunning artwork from one of our multi-talented ballet students: in this triptych, Desire, Death and Destruction are 3 sisters – Desire can't go anywhere without Death and Destruction following her. Executed in watercolors and inks. Joie is a 26 year old San Francisco-based illustrator who is studying for a graduate degree at the Academy of Art University. She has loved art since birth and enj [..]

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2b4b2011

Bang for the Buck is back

July 15, 2011

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You may be capable of imparting great wisdom in 140 characters or less, but can you blow an audience away in 60 seconds? Ballet to the People is generally not a fan of dance competitions, but this one is different...