Here is a paper I researched and wrote for my senior project with LEAP. The program allows for individualized learning, and I chose to research the potential of psychological factors on incidence and onset of injury. I was also fortunate to intern with the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries during my project. Although it is not of professional standing, I learned so much about planning, implementing, and presenting research; I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Biopsychosocial factors in injury: From an artist's perspective.

College for working dancers.

Although there are many great university dance programs, dancers often enter their professional careers without a college degree. I am among those whose eagerness to begin dancing forced an absence from academia after high school. 

But a dancer's career is short, and the benefit of a degree can have a profound effect on transitioning into the civilian workforce. Certainly going back to college after a dance career is an option, but now there are also programs which enable dancers to continue working in their professions while going to school.

One great option is a program called LEAP- Liberal Education for Artistic Professionals. It is a program affiliated with  St. Mary's College in California; a small, private liberal arts college. Over 300 dancers have obtained their degrees through the LEAP program in LA, San Francisco, and New York. There are also plans to expand the program to Las Vegas and Chicago.

The LEAP website states, "Founded in 1999, LEAP makes it possible for these working adults to receive a comprehensive liberal arts education and earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Mary's College in 3 to 4 years of part-time study. Courses are offered at convenient times and locations and the program's flexibility encourages dancers to pursue individual interests and explore different disciplines. Our alumni have continued on to graduate studies and successful new careers in a variety of fields."

For more information, email leap@st-marys-ca.edu or call 866-306-0395. Or you can post a comment or email me as I am a proud student in the program and intend to graduate next spring!

Great Event hosted by Dance/NYC and the Taskforce for Dancer Health

Dancers' Bodies. Promoting Wellness. Richard Gibbs * Jared Angle * Jen Edwards * Melissa Gerson * Jenifer Ringer Monday, May 16, 2011 6:30pm - 8:00pm Abrons Arts Center Henry Street Settlement Playhouse Theater 466 Grand Street (corner of Pitt Street) New York, NY 10022 RSVP: http://dancersbodies.eventbrite.com/ Calling All Stakeholders in Dance! Dance/NYC and the Dance/USA Taskforce on Dancer Health invite you to join us in responding to the Taskforce's recent call to action to achieve the dancer aesthetic in a manner that promotes overall good health and protects the artist and performer. Led by Richard Gibbs, M.D., the town hall provides a forum to discuss case stories from the perspective of the health professional, cultural critic and professional dancer, including New York City Ballet Principal Dancers Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle. What words work to promote dancer wellness? What positive practices? What can we as a field do for our dancers? __________________________________________________________________________ Richard Gibbs, MD. After training with Perry Brunson and Vera Volkova, Richard Gibbs danced several years each with the Hamburg Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and First Chamber Dance Company. Richard then earned a degree in English from Harvard and an MD from Yale. At the invitation of the San Francisco Ballet in 1991, the Gibbs's created one of the nation's most progressive programs in dancer health in. Richard continues as the company's Supervising Physician. He lectures nationally on dancer health, and he continues to teach ballet having served on the staffs of the San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Harvard Dance Program and Washington State's Summer Dance Labs. Richard is the founding Chair of Dance/USA's national Taskforce on Dancer Health, and he is the lead author of the Taskforce paper, Guidelines on Nutrition for Professional Companies. In 2006, Richard introduced the idea of a standardized preventive healthcare screen for professional companies. Over 35 companies across the U.S. and Canada are now using the Taskforce Screen and working together to bring better health to those who dance for a living. In 1996, the Gibbs's founded the San Francisco Free Clinic where they provide free medical care for people with no health insurance. Jared Angle was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he began his dance training at age six with the Allegheny Ballet Academy. In the fall of 1996, he entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, and for the 1997-98 he continued his studies at the School as a recipient of the Rudolf Nureyev Scholarship. Jared became an apprentice with New York City Ballet in March 1998 and joined the Company's corps de ballet in July of the same year. He was promoted to soloist in 2001 and to principal dancer in 2005. Jared is a Princess Grace Dance Fellowship recipient for 2001-2002. In May of 2004, he appeared in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of "Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100," dancing in Liebeslieder Walzer, and his film work includes Columbia Pictures' feature film Center Stage. For Jared's complete bio, including a comprehensive list of featured roles with the Company, click here. Jennifer Edwards is a writer, culture critic, choreographer, and messaging consultant. She writes for the Arts and Living sections of The Huffington Post on topics including innovation in dance, culture, and wellness. The founder of JenEd Productions (jened.com), and co-creator of the Home/Body Project (homebodyproject.org), Edwards enjoys paring her passions for multi-media content, the written word, science, and technology. She will present her work entitled ‘Building Stages Across Platforms: How New Media is Changing the Landscape of the Performing Arts' this May in Austria for the International University conference, Performing Arts Training Today, and this July in Chicago for the annual Dance / USA conference. Her degrees, certifications, and accolades highlight her varied background and interests. Edwards holds a MFA in dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and was a professor of dance and choreography for several years. She holds RYT certification in Yoga philosophy, meditation, and physical practice and has taught yoga-informed stress management for the last 10 years for organizations including the American Heart Association and Columbia University Medical Center. She is a Spoken Word Slam Champion and an Award-winning performance poet and essayist. This September, Edwards will begin her post-graduate work in Organizational Change Management at Milano, The New School for Management and Urban Policy. Melissa Gerson, a national leader in the eating disorder treatment community, entered the field of mental health after spending many years first, as a professional ballet dancer. Melissa trained at the School of American Ballet and upon graduating from the Professional Children's School in NYC, joined the corps of the Miami City Ballet in Florida. She was soon promoted to Soloist, performing featured roles in over fifty ballets until she retired in her mid-twenties. Ms. Gerson returned to New York City to study psychology at Columbia University where she went on to graduate magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Melissa earned her master's degree in social work at New York University and completed NYU Psychoanalytic Institute's post-graduate program in psychodynamic psychotherapy. She continued post-graduate training at the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia and at the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis & Psychology. Melissa served as the primary mental health consultant for La Palestra Center for Preventative Medicine, NYC while concurrently building her private practice, with a specialty in eating disorders and body image concerns. In 2008, she founded Columbus Park Collaborative, a private eating disorder treatment center in New York City, where she now serves as Clinical Director. Since 2008, Melissa has developed, staffed, supervised and directed CPC's Day Treatment Program, an intensive treatment program for adolescents and adults with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders. She also recently founded and launched Columbus Park Behavioral Health, LCSW, LLC, which is a training initiative for clinicians in the field of eating disorder treatment and a clinic for individuals in need of affordable treatment services. Melissa maintains a private practice, in which she specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, depression, and anxiety, with a sub-specialty in the treatment of performing artists and athletes. Jenifer Ringer was born in New Bern, North Carolina, and was raised in Summerville, South Carolina, where she began her dance training at age 10 with local teachers. At the age of 12 she entered the Washington School of Ballet, where she studied for two years. After attending a summer session at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, Jenifer was invited to enter the Winter Session at the School on a full scholarship. She became an apprentice with New York City Ballet in October 1989 and a member of the Company's corps de ballet in January 1990. Jenifer was promoted to soloist in 1995 and to principal dancer in 2000. She is a guest teacher at SAB and the Artistic Director of New York State's Summer School for the Arts ballet program. In 2002, Jenifer appeared in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of "New York City Ballet's Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography," dancing in Mercurial Manoeuvres, and in 2004 she appeared in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of "Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100," dancing in Liebeslieder Walzer. Jenifer received her B.A. in English from Fordham University in December 1997. In July of 2000 she married former NYCB Principal Dancer James Fayette. For Jenifer's complete bio, including a comprehensive list of featured roles with the Company, click here. Dance/NYC is a satellite of the national arts service organization Dance/USA. Its mission is to sustain and advance the professional dance field in New York City-serving as the voice, guide and infrastructure architect for all local dance artists and managers. The organization achieves this mission through three core program areas: advocacy and research, audience engagement and professional development. As a convener, Dance/NYC aims to connect and educate our constituency-strengthening the collective voice for dance. Visit www.dancenyc.org to learn more about our programs.
Dance/NYC is grateful to the Abrons Arts Center for hosting this event. Dance/NYC Town Hall Meetings are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. The program is also supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

great link

Granted there are now many point shoe brands and even materials with which they are made. This is a great inside.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/02/02/ballet.pointe.shoes/

The BESSIE'S are BACK!

Dance/NYC 63 Greene Street, #605 New York, NY 10012 Phone: 212.966.4452
Fax: 212.966.6424
Web: www.dancenyc.org

August 1, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The New York Dance and Performance Awards, aka The Bessies, will take place Monday October 18, 2010 at 8 pm at Symphony Space in New York City. All lovers and supporters of dance are invited! Please come to celebrate dance work being honored and to find out what is happening with New York’s dance awards.

After a hiatus last year, this year’s ceremony will honor the work of the past two years, and launch the format for the new Bessie Awards, which are now under the umbrella of DanceNYC.

Six full productions from 08-09 and six from 09-10 will receive Bessies.

The full creative teams behind each of the shows will be included in the award (choreographers, composers, designers, and performers). In addition, six outstanding performers from the past two years will be honored with Bessie Awards.

There will be speeches and announcements throughout the ceremony by esteemed members of New York’s dance community. They will talk about the historic value of the Bessies, and detail the changes that will be made going forward. Revisions to the Bessies include both new award categories and a new structure for nomination and voting.

The aim is to continue the invaluable mission of the Bessie Awards: to gather the community, to honor outstanding work in the field of dance, and to advocate on a national and international level for the extraordinary range of dance being performed in New York.

Dance/NYC 63 Greene Street, #605 New York, NY 10012 Phone: 212.966.4452
Fax: 212.966.6424
Web: www.dancenyc.org

Bessies’ new producers

For many years Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, and The Joyce have produced the Bessie Awards. Starting this year, the Bessie Awards will be under the umbrella of DanceNYC. As a wide-ranging dance service organization, DanceNYC is uniquely positioned to be a neutral, transparent, and inclusive home to the historic awards.

Lucy Sexton is the new independent producer of the Bessie Awards. She is working with DanceNYC and the outgoing producing organizations---Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, and The Joyce---during this exciting and invigorating transition period. Please contact her with any questions about The Bessie Awards: thebessies@gmail.com.

The Bessie Committee

The committee responsible for choosing award recipients for the 08-09 and 09-10 seasons is: Nolini Barretto, Barbara Bryan, Rashida Bumbray,

Lili Chopra, Nancy Dalva, Joan Finkelstein, Boo Froebel, Stephen Greco, Virginia Johnson, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Brad Learmonth, Stanford Makishi, Brian McCormick, Nicky Paraiso, Brian Rogers, Philip Sandstrom, Yoko Shioya, Sydney Skybetter, Ivan Sygoda, Charmaine Warren, and Susan Yung.

The Bessie Steering Committee

The Steering committee responsible for setting policy and shepherding the awards through this transition period is: Michelle Burkart, Judy Hussie-Taylor, Carla Peterson, Mikki Shepard, Andrea Sholler, Elizabeth Streb, Martin Wechsler, and Reggie Wilson.

All that and a party!

SCHEDULE

February 5, 2010

7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

WELCOME RECEPTION – Rubin Museum- Y2K Lounge.

150 West 17th Street

New York, NY 10011-5402

Hosted by Dance/NYC’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) and Arts & Business

Council’s Emerging Leaders of New York Arts (ELNYA)

February 6, 2010

8:30 AM – 6:00 PM

SYMPOSIUM – 3LD Art & Technology Center (80 Greenwich St. at Rector St.)

Includes General Session, 2 Break Out Sessions, and SmartBar one-on-one

conversations with experts in the field

THE GENERAL SESSION

8:30 – 9:00

Welcome & Registration; SmartBar Sign Ups

9:00 – 10:30

Opening Plenary

“The Changing Face of Dance Audiences”

Donna Walker Kuhne, Walker International Communications

10:45 – 12:15

IP & IT Workshop

“Latest Technologies Impacting the Dance Field”

Sydney Skybetter, Skybetter & Associates

Marc Kirschner, Tendu TV

Fred Benenson, Kickstarter.com

12:15 – 12:45

Catered in Lunch

12:45 – 2:15

Leadership Workshop

“Leadership, Start with the Why”

Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action

2:30 – 4:00

Town Hall Meeting

“Concert vs. Commercial Dance: Can’t we just get along?”

Panel: Sharon Gersten Luckman (Alvin Ailey), plus more TBA

4:15 – 5:45

Closing Plenary

“Telling the Story of Dance: Defining the Value of our Art Form”

Russell Willis Taylor, National Arts Strategies

Dorothy Gunther Pugh, Ballet Memphis

5:45 – 6:00

Wrap up & Goodbye

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

8:30 – 9:00

Insurances

Fractured Atlas

9:00 – 10:30

Health & Wellness

The Actor’s Fund

SMART BAR

10:00 – 5:00

Sign up to meet one-on-one in 30 minute increments with:

Lois Welk (Dance/USA Philadelphia), Peter DiMurio (Dance/MetroDC), Jodi Krizer

Graber (Bravo! Wellness), plus more TBA

RATES

FREE - Opening Reception on 2/5/10 *Registration Required

Breakout Sessions on Insurance and Health and Wellness

SmartBar one-on-one conversations with experts from the field

$100.00

The full General Session Package including the Opening Plenary, IP & IT

Workshop, Leadership Workshop, Town Hall Meeting, & Closing Plenary

$20.00

1. Each of the 4 sessions offered as part of the General Session will be offered à la

carte. Choose any session or session combination at $20 per session.

Why you should come if you are a….

DANCER

Attend FREE sessions that focus on various insurance options and dancer health and wellness. Drop in on some

of the general sessions for just $20 a pop including a Town Hall Meeting on concert dance versus commercial

dance and bring awareness by contributing your opinion and giving testimonies on your personal experiences.

Meet with people who are coming to meet with YOU! Attend a FREE opening reception with the entire dance

community of New York including managers, board members, funders, and fellow dancers.

MANAGER

Here is an opportunity for us all to be together under the same roof for important information sharing and

problem-solving conversations working towards general advancement for the entire field. If you attended

Dance/USA’s Winter Forum last year in New York, you know the value of the New York dance community coming

together to share groundbreaking information, reports, and ideas, and the great importance of the

communications and connections that are made when we unite.

BOARD MEMBER or FUNDER

The Symposium will alert you to the most pressing issues and initiatives in the field and connect you to the work

going on the ground to see how it effects the organizations you represent and are supporting. The sessions

offered will help you to increase effectiveness and awareness as a leader in the field. Also, it is an opportunity

for you to unite or re-unite with dancers and dance organizations working outside of your organization and help

you to get a sense of where the field at large currently stands.

DANCE STUDENT

Begin your professional networking early and obtain a greater sense of the professional dance field of New York.

Meet established dancers, dance managers, and dance community members and learn about the numerous types

of jobs available. Learn new information, get ideas for school project topics, and expand your point of view to

bring back with you to classroom discussions.

Dance/NYC’s Mid-Year Symposium is open to ALL members of the New York dance

community as well as any member of the arts or for-profit business communities who have an interest

or do business in dance. In order to make this most beneficial to those we serve, we extend an

open invitation to everyone.

Please join us!

CLICK TO REGISTER HERE!!

*You must register even if you plan to only attend FREE events. Thank you!

At the Martha Stewart Show

Live Blogging at the Martha Stewart Show.

So being a freelance dancer now in New York free venues of entertainment are very valuable.

The audience build up is quite an entertaining people study. The "warm-up guy" as he calls himself is very funny - a fairly sharp voice but easily engages with audience members. It is amazing how many people want their moment of fame on TV! The audience was instructed to "dress to impress"...quite a New York feat for 8 am on a weekday morning (well, at least for a dancer who often beats the streets in athletic wear).

Martha apparently blogs everyday. The guests include the "Whatever Girls" one of which is Martha's daughter.

Seeing the show I am even more interested how the production end happens....there are 6 cameras and the show and it is edited nearly live. From the end of the taping there is only about 30 minutes for a final edit. Sheesh!

I can't tell who is using the TelePrompTers from where I am sitting.

Here's the run down of the show....

I was just tossed a freebie- which is definitely exciting.

Now we are learning how to make Pad Thai with Pim Techanuanvivit

1/2 c fish sauce

1/2 c tamarind

chili powder to taste

little vegetable oil

cook shrimp, a pinch of garlic, puffy tofu, a spoon of the sauce- put aside.

add more oil, pickle turnips, a few Tbls sauce- constantly stir.

Reintroduce proteins, sprouts, garlic chives. (where's the egg and peanut?)

Other guests include: Alexis Stewart- Jennifer Complemenhut, Jeff Blumencranz- Andrew Ritchey- Brianna Campbell.

Oooh. I just learned how to cut a cake or pie. Take out the second piece that you cut. Very valuable for a dancer right!?

Next was a brief yarn card segment....it seemed like it was cut short somehow....I guess we are behind schedule? It's all fairly well orchestrated though...I suppose there is no room for error on these expensive television slots.

After the taping there was a little personal time for Martha with the audience. She took questions and really engaged. She is actually really funny....she made a great coy (well, overt) remark about her 6 inch heels.

Then there were promos....Martha is quite an experienced performer. She did make a single mistake with the script. Next is an exercise show...maybe I can get on to market Gyrotonic!

All in all, the Martha Stewart show was a blast. And free! Go to her website to try to score some tickets!