| Ballet / Dance Links Nothing but the best links for adult dance students Last updated 29 December 2000 |
| Still wading through the cyberdance wasteland out there? It's incredible how difficult it can be to find dance sites that offer more than pictures and platitudes. Well, I have managed to find a few. Check out the following places. I guarantee you will find something good (and sometimes, something wonderful). What's new? I've removed the blockbuster dance links sites that used to be here, simply because a quick trip to your favorite search engine will probably do the job just as well. Besides, what fun are links sites? So, below you will find a range of sites -- the common denominator: each one has something of interest for adult dance students. New additions to the list come first.
A Day in the Life of a Dancer. Ever wonder what a professional ballerina's day is like? How many hours of class? How many hours of rehearsal? What does she eat? Follow a Pennsylvania Ballet soloist from morning makeup and hair through multiple rehearsals, a mid-afternoon nap, more rehearsals, and a well-earned glass of wine at day's end.
The Yoga Site. Wondering if yoga might help your flexibility (or lack thereof)? This very nice site gives basic asanas (poses), teacher listings, research on how yoga impacts conditions from carpal tunnel to asthma, and a backgrounder on various styles of yoga so you can choose what's best for you.
From Russia With Love: Costumes for the Ballets Russes 1909-1933. Starting to think about costumes for that competition that accepts adult entries, or your debut in the local recital? Take a look at what are undisputably the most fabulous dance costumes of all time. Bow down before the altar of Goncharova and Bakst.
Scenery Collection of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. And what about scenic design? Take a look at two dozen backdrops of the masters, plus additional scenic drops in the Butler University collection. These are truly dazzling.
Figure Skating Journal: Reflections of an Adult Figure Skater. Did you think you were the person with the strangest avocation on your block? Yes, hoary danseuses and danseurs, you're not alone anymore. Enter: the adult beginning figure skater. Check it out; you'll enjoy reading about the perils and pleasures of Kay as she continues to go for the double axel.
Adult Skating FAQ. Okay, why another figure skating site? But, this is a really good one with many parallels to the beginning ballet experience. A fabulous FAQ dedicated to the inspired lunacy of adult figure skating. Here's an excerpt:
ballet.co. If you've been wondering, "Well, exactly what IS British ballet?" and "Is it really as boring and stuffy as I've heard?", it's time to go directly to the source. Here you'll find gorgeously written bios of British ballet legends; lots of reviews; pages for many British ballet companies; nice, long, dishy interviews (this month, Sylvie Guillem) with that self-conscious, detail-oriented, witty Brit feel; and devilish bits by a wag called Blandine. Plus very helpful video reviews, many of them comparing various versions of ballet classics (e.g., a comparison of three versions of Giselle). You won't be disappointed.
Don McClane's Dance Photography. If you've visited The Men's Page here at Blue Diamond, you may have read Don's story. He's a former adult ballet student who was sidelined by an injury. Since then, he's channeled his love of ballet into a passion for dance photography. In his pictures, you'll see that he has a talent for capturing the heart and soul of movement and its instrument: the dancer. You may be inspired to interpret dance through one of the visual arts yourself.
Cheryl Cowan's Ballet/Dance. This is a wonderful site with scads of information: teacher training programs, ballet history, technical tips, and much more.
This Month in Dance History. I just love this page because you can check out who-did-what-and-when for any date in the current month. Mentally celebrate (or go out and toast) the birthday of your favorite dance luminary!
Tom Parson's Ballet-Modern FAQ. Part 2 is especially great for someone wondering if he/she can begin ballet or modern dance as an adult. Covers what to wear, how to build a ballet barre for home use, how to survive your first dance class, and much more. Also, click on Confessions of a Ballet Junkie for Tom's own odyssey as an electrical engineer discovers the joys of ballet class.
Pavlova's Dog: A Regular Guy's Book of Ballet. To those who appreciate highly individual use of language: you must visit Keith Knox's most excellent site. I submit that Keith is hardly a 'regular guy,' with the La-z-Boy inhabiting, paunch-scratching images that term implies. The site is a collection of Keith's posts from various dance newsgroups; more accurately, I'd call them glorious, often amusing, essays of various lengths. Men starting ballet: Make sure to read the essay 'Leap of Faith: Memoirs of a Ballet Guy.'
Miguelito's Wonderful Website for Flamenco in Washington, DC Huh? That's what I thought. But if you are into flamenco, imagine, you'll actually have fun at this site. No shirt-ripping, gut-wrenching ay-ay-aying. No 'I-can-imitate-gypsies-better-than-you' attitude. It's graphically beautiful, has lots of fun features (which I won't ruin for you by describing), links to most of the major flamenco websites, gives international sources for flamenco stuff, and, get this: Insiders' how-tos for taking a flamenco excursion to New York including classes, clubs, food, and cheap places to stay. (Miguelito has recently written in to say that he's not updating his NY information as frequently as he had hoped, but I'm leaving this link up simply because his site has much more content that most for the flamenco aficionado. Check out the new Desert Island feature, and contribute your own list of top ten flamenco CDs you'd take with you to Survivor Island.)
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I occasionally feature a Blue Diamond Site-of-the-Month. Actually, I'd do one every month, if I could find that many good dance-related sites. So, yes, I'd like to find more wonderful sites for this page! Good, meaty sites with real content. Let me know.