Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Great dance resources

Yesterday, while searching the internet for a concise dictionary of ballet terminology I could use for my new basic beginning ballet class, I found some amazing sites:

Dianne's blog, Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes, is a tremendous resource for dancers of all ages, although she does focus on young dancers and the issues that face them. Truly, the information she provides is very, very helpful for anyone who dances. Plus, she put a picture of my leg warmers on there which I thought was an amazingly nice thing to do (Thanks, Dianne!).

My new class is for the very new dancer so I wanted to provide a list of common terms and maybe some helpful photos. I found Learn to Dance dot com which had some on-line instruction as well as this fantastic list of ballet terms, their pronunciations and their definitions.

And then I discovered a terrific compendium of images (Do vs. Don't), tips, and technique at Dance Hug. This was the material I cribbed ultimately since it gives the new dancer some very specific things to look for and mimic on their own bodies.