formerdancer.com

Category: A Dancer

  • The Ideal Ballet Body

    What is the ideal ballet body? Let’s consider what the desirable attributes of a female ballet dancer’s body are. One must have legs that are straight but not hyperextended. This is for elegant lines. One must have the right types of muscles, tendons and sinews for both explosive jumps and extended, slow adagio work. Backs…

  • Dreams of Greatness

    My son recently told me that he loved that I still had hopes and dreams. I could take this as a sign that he thinks I’m impossibly old (he is 25) but instead I am choosing to take it at face value. Is it true? I wondered when he said that. It is true. One…

  • Are We Our Bodies?

    What does it mean for your body to be the instrument of your art, as it is often said of dance? A human body is not an inanimate object, like a puppet. Yet your body is part of the material world. In the sun, its skin will burn and blister. In the rain, it will…

  • Reuniting with Dance Friends by Jennifer DeLuca

    I don’t know what it is about 2025 but all of the people that made me who I am keep showing up and I am so here for it! I shared a conversation with a friend recently asking why this coming together feels so good and I think we both realized that in high school,…

  • Dancers and Horses

    Last Saturday was the 151st Kentucky Derby where I live in Louisville, KY. I don’t know that much about breeding, raising, and training racehorses or how they are treated or what their lives are like. So that won’t be the focus of this blog post. Instead, I want to make a loose analogy between top,…

  • A Dancer Is Not A Person Who Dances

    What’s the difference between a person who dances and a dancer? Let’s start with a person who dances. A person who dances: Will socialize with non-dancers. Might have short hair or long hair. Listens to their body’s cues, and stops when something hurts. Will consider nutrition but does not diet. Is a “normal” person. May…