Hello all! Good day and welcome back to my life. I've been thinking a lot recently about the culture differences between ballet and ballroom. As I gear up to teach another 'season', if you will, of the SU ballroom team, I reflect on what I've done in the past, as well as what bits I [...]
Good morning and welcome back to my life! Today I'd like to explore the quirks of one of the better-known ballroom dances and the many hats--er, shoes--it wears. If you ask me "what is waltz?" there are four equally valid answers to give--though in reality I'm not likely to explain all of them in person. [...]
We come at last to a very influential choreographic project in the development of Holly the artist. The year was 2010, and I was a senior in high school. I was also something of a failure. How, you ask? Well, in my ballet company, there were very few graduating seniors, as members either dropped out [...]
I don't believe in fate, but sometimes projects pop up at just the right time, when we are in the head space to need them--and I start to understand why there are those who believe their lives are directed by unseen forces. I've been debating whether or not the discussion of this particular project falls under [...]
Today’s installment of Past Performances is going to be a little different--less visual, a bit less about dance, a bit more introspection. Many years ago, circa 2006/2007, the ballet company of which I was a part performed, among other things, an original ballet in four movements by Carla Wuthrich. It was titled “Requiem” and was [...]
Welcome back to another Friday Video review! Today I’m going to poke at Sergei Polunin’s solo to the Hozier song “Take Me to Church.” This video went viral about a month ago, and yes, I know that’s basically centuries of internet time. Still, it’s relevant, so let’s have a chat, shall we? If you haven’t [...]
A year after my first piece “Day & Night” premiered, I created another piece in more or less the same situation. Same summer intensive. Same show. Different people. The band Mannheim Steamroller has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember, and not just for their infinitely more recognizable Christmas music. [...]
There are many differences, subtle and overt, between ballet and ballroom dance. As a student of both styles, I get to pick and choose which parts I like better. To me, one of the more irksome disparities is that of the manner in which people bow. Ballet, as an art, developed for the audience. In [...]
Welcome to the first post of another feature: Choreography. These articles will start out discussing choreographic pieces I’ve created, and once I run out of those I’ll probably move into talking about other modern/classic choreography in the world today. In the theme of ‘firsts’, today I am going to recall the very first piece I [...]
In our journey through my collection of choreographic exploits, we flash forward another year to another summer intensive. Little Holly is now 15 and wants to go ‘abroad’ for the summer, rather than staying at my home ballet school. I really wanted a program that seemed to focus on choreography, and so I ended up [...]
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