| Blue Diamond Dance site and content ©Copyright 1997-2003 Rosetta Magdalen | |
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Blue Diamond goes out across the continental US, but also finds a home in the hands of dancers in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Romania, Singapore, Switzerland, and Wales. Subscribers are now performing in local ballet companies, studio recitals, conventions, and competitions.
Getting the information you really want
In our special subscribers-only section of the website, subscribers vote online for topics they most want to see in the newsletter. Whatever most people want to know is what I write for the next issue. Every two months, you receive the newsletter by mail.
Everything in the newsletter is researched and written by me, a former newspaper features writer (who knows how to do her research). For more about me, click here.
And it's more than just the newsletter: Blue Diamond is a total support network for the adult ballet student. Subscribers have access to their own password-protected section of the website, featuring ballet video reviews, news of adult ballet summer workshops, tips on remembering combinations in class, Q&As where I answer questions from subscribers, and more. (Please note: Your subscriber password is not the same as the store password you create when you place your order. You'll receive a special user name and password along with your first newsletter issue, or if you just can't wait, e-mail me for your password after you complete your order. We're not big enough to be fully automated yet -- it's just one real person here, me -- so I'll get back to you personally.)
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So, what's the deal?
A subscription to The Blue Diamond Newsletter (8 1/2 x 11", 6 info-packed pages per issue) is $40 a year ($50 international): Less than the cost of a leotard and tights. Where else will you learn -- from a fellow adult beginner who is now a professional dancer -- how to achieve turnout, how to increase your energy and flexibility without adding hours to your daily routine, how to work on technique and expression simultaneously, and much more. And remember, you receive more than the newsletter itself, you also gain exclusive access to many areas on this website that the casual visitor never sees.
For a limited time, you can also receive the best of the back issues (that's 10 back issues) as well for an additional $36. So for the $76 price ($86 international) you get 11 newsletters right away (back issues plus the current one), with the next five to come throughout the year. As a free gift, when you order the back issues along with your current subscription, you receive a set of three Resist-a-bands, which are used in many of the conditioning exercises you'll learn.
See one sample page from a recent issue, and a second sample page. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to see the pages. To download a free copy of Acrobat Reader now, click here.
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Here's what's in the back issues you'll receive, plus the latest issue.
Vol. 1 #1: How to Achieve Turnout as an Adult
Vol. 1 #2: The Dancer's Diet: Lose 10-20 pounds while building energy
Vol. 2 #1: What I've been learning from Athletico, dance physical therapists who work with The Joffrey Ballet. Includes lower abdominal exercises, ballet training (adults vs. kids), and much more
Vol. 2 #2: Advanced Abs: advanced abdominal exercises (building on those in issue #7, exercises/concepts for keeping the ribs held, adults in dance competitions
Vol. 2 #3: Injuries and the Older Dancer: injury prevention plus some quick fixes to keep you going during rehearsals/performances, the inner thigh connection with exercises to get in touch with these important muscles, and much more.
Vol. 2 #4: Connecting the strength we've been developing in lower abs and inner thighs, focusing on a strong core/center in motion and turnout. How to get past a plateau in training, stretches to attain a longer line, and more.
Vol. 2 #5: Four-point, pre-class warm-up that's easy to do, setting you up for a great class. Exercises in this issue focus on strength and flexibility in the hip joint and rotators. You also get some unusual suggestions on breaking down muscle-bound quads.
Vol. 2 #6: Introduces our new 100-Day Pratique sheet, and invites you to join your fellow subscribers in a daily practice. Covers how to practice safely at home, and features exercises to increase turnout. Also: how to make a boring class work for you, how to access self-expression when you dance, and how to turn your limitations into assets.
Vol. 3 #1: Gives suggestions on what to do when you can't stand your ballet teacher, or are tired of your class; offers many techniques on how to use breathing to improve your dancing; details a batch of new exercises; and gives you some novel ideas on using music to jump-start your technique.
Vol. 3 #2: Focuses on new ideas to improve your pirouettes (and your turning ability in general). This issue also includes a self-evaluation questionnaire to help you assess your progress in dance, and some suggestions to keep you from choking when your teacher gives a challenging, super-fast combination.
New! Vol. 3 #3: More on pirouettes (this time, for beginners) with two unusual exercises that work like magic. Cover story on upper body/arm placement, technique, and expression. Special "orange visualization" and how to use it for pirouettes and any other challenging element of ballet technique.
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Coming up in future issues: Ways to improve arch and articulation of the feet, mega-article on improving your balance, and more. Exercises from dance physical therapists will be continuing through the next few issues, until the whole body is connected up and in peak condition to excel in ballet.
If you're already convinced, click here to go to the Blue Diamond Store and order the newsletter. If not, here are a few recent testimonials. For lots more unsolicited testimonials, click here!
These are the newest testimonials I've received (2002).
From Jasmine Swann:
"I have received the [news]letters and am enjoying them so much. It is hard to pace myself. I want to improve so badly, and I feel I now have a treasure trove of guidance. I've only just returned to ballet at age 23 after taking 10 years off; I was advanced intermediate, just beginning advanced/professional courses when I quit, with four years of pointe behind me. I knew that I didn't have the right body type to go all the way. And I happen to be an all-or-nothing kind of woman! But now I'm returning, with high hopes! Not of going pro, but of getting back on pointe and perhaps getting to perform in a couple of years. I am so thankful to have your supportive site, and these newsletters that really get to the heart of things for a returning dancer like myself."
From Stephen Cooper:
"I'm really enjoying your newsletter, by the way, and the back issues are really helping me out a lot. My wife was a dancer in the Alabama Ballet before we got married and now she has her own studio where she teaches. We are a young couple (early twenties) and I've never thought about taking dance before, in fact, she never really wanted to be married to a dancer, but it's funny how things change. Now she is teaching me ballet and we're both loving it."
From Alis Fogarty:
"I love the newsletters! I am so thrilled to have them before our trip. And it is a pleasure to read something so well-written. I am looking forward to putting on some calming music while my 15-month-old naps and trying out the stretches you recommend. I have only had general (or modern) dance in my background, and I am returning to dance after an eight-year hiatus (and a 25-pound weight gain -- ouch!). It was very difficult to work up the nerve to even show up. But after about five weeks of three classes a week, I have lost some weight, am seeing some improvement, and best of all, am beginning to get corrections from my teacher!"
From Georgeanna Murgatroyd:
"I love this newsletter, and I love it even more now that I have moved to Belgrade, Yugoslavia!! There does not seem to be a whole lot of adult ballet opportunity here at all and I'm really upset about that."
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From Heather Campbell:
"First, I just want to say thanks for helping me so much in ballet. The newsletters really have helped me improve!"
From Amy Newell:
"Just received my new subscription (with back issues) of your newsletter and wanted to write and tell you (as so many others have, I know) how great it is. I just started taking ballet classes and your newsletter has answered so many of my questions that all those books geared toward 11-year-olds don't. In particular, I have been confused as to why, even though I have naturally very good turnout, I have not been able to access it except basically just when standing in first position. Now I see that my inner thigh muscles need to be strengthened in order to support the turnout. Your tips on remembering combinations (on the site) were also particularly helpful to me, since I have a really hard time doing that and that is the thing I am most sensitive about. Thanks so much! I will tell everyone in my dance class about your newsletter and try to get them to subscribe too."
From Nicole Mares:
"I have been ravenously reading your newsletters. I love them!"
From Italian subscriber, Paola Sapienza:
"My name's Paola and I recently subscribed to your newsletter, which I find a thorough and exhaustive publication for anybody who just loves to dance."
From Pamela Goodlow:
"I've been enjoying reading the back issues of the newsletters. I see that they will prove invaluable to me! I just turned 45 years old and began taking my first ballet class in September . . . I find the ballet lessons incredibly fascinating (and very, VERY challenging)! Thanks so much for creating a forum for all of us out here who've decided in our manic adult years to pursue our dance dreams, and finding out that we're not alone."
From Catherine Laurier:
"I've enjoyed every single newsletter. I'm amazed how much valuable information you cram into such a small space. I also like the way you weave in your own experiences. That makes everything seem so real to me, and gives me the encouragement of a real live person, and lets me know I'm not alone in what I go through. I have really enjoyed your clear explanations of technique. Also enjoy the articles that give encouragement to us adult who might want to dare consider performing."
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From Mary Jennings:
"I love your newsletters. I read them and then pass them among the members of my dance group (ages 40-60). We live in the "boonies" . . . and have no formal instruction unless we go somewhere or have someone come to us to do a workshop, so your newsletters are especially useful. What a wonderful resource. Thanks!"
George Janca writes:
"Rosetta, for the past year and one-half of receiving them, the newsletters have all been wonderful and I have retained each one for reference and inspiration."
Lorna Murdock says:
"[I've enjoyed most] the [newsletter] issues that addressed strengthening of core and abs and psoas. It's finally all falling into place for me, thanks in large part to your helpful hints and exercises."
From Suzan Wescott:
"I wanted to advise you of my new address so that I don't dare miss an issue of your fabulous newsletter. Keep up the great work!"
To read more testimonials, click here. To visit our secure-site online store, where you can subscribe to the newsletter (or just browse other products of interest to older dancers), click here.
