When you imagine a video game studio, you probably think of rows of programmers at rows of computers and a fleet of gaming consoles, rather than mirrored dance studios. But at Ubisoft Paris, there are both: The Paris branch of the video game company leads the creation and development of Just Dance, a game in which players are scored for how precisely and musically they can reproduce choreography to popular songs.
Originally published in 2009 for the Nintendo Wii console, Just Dance has since sold 80 million copies and engaged more than 140 million players all over the world. And while the game, which released its 2024 edition at the end of October, aims to make dance fun and accessible for anyone who picks up a remote, there are dozens of professional dancers and choreographers who help to make it happen.
Real Dancers, Really Dancing
Courtesy Ubisoft.
For every Just Dance song and its attendant choreography, players follow along with at least one “coach,” digital avatars with unique character design. You might assume these coaches are computer generated, but the routines that unfold in each Just Dance “map” start out as videos of dancers performing the choreography in full costume and makeup on a green screen. Though animation is added in postproduction, what you’re watching in the final game are real dancers, really dancing. The 2024 edition worked with 38 dancers and 17 choreographers, 7 of whom performed their own routines as coaches, to create the 40 new maps.
Finding the Right Choreographer
Estelle Manas, Just Dance’s director of choreography, began working at Ubisoft four years ago after over 20 years as a professional dancer in France’s commercial and musical theater scenes. She’s one of the creative leads involved in the process of creating each map from inception. “My role is to make the bridge between all the production needs and the artists,” she says.
Once the number of characters, mood, and story for a given song are determined, Manas puts together a brief with that information, as well as the planned difficulty (easy, medium, hard, or extreme), whether there are any accessories or props to be integrated, and an initial storyboard breakdown with the music. She then references Just Dance’s go-to list of freelance choreographers and finds the best fit. The selected choreographer goes into the studio with Manas and her assistant to create and film a prototype of the choreography.
Unique Choreographic Constraints
The choreography for a Just Dance map has to work within unique constraints. Because the console remote, which tracks the players’ movements to produce their final score, is held in the right hand, the choreography has to ensure that the right hand is always visible and actively involved in the dance. The movement has to be oriented to the front and be easily legible; keeping players facing the screen makes it easier for them to mirror the 2-D avatar’s moves, and makes for clearer pictograms, which scroll across the bottom of the screen in time with the choreography to cue players on which positions and motions are being scored for accuracy. Player ease is also why the choreography unfolds in relatively straightforward patterns: lots of repetition, fairly square musicality. Adjustments to accommodate the needs of other departments—from costume design to video artists to level design—also have to be seamlessly incorporated into the final version.
Courtesy Ubisoft.
Casting “Coaches”
Just Dance has a roster of dancers primarily found through periodic open-call auditions. Manas and her team consider the style of dance and the personality and look of the “coach” when deciding who to tap. Across the board, the dancers have to be not just good, clean technicians but also excellent at emoting, projecting energy, and conveying a story in a three-minute routine. Most important to the rehearsal process: “We need the dancer to have a really good memory, because we change the steps, the energy, the eye contact, all the time,” Manas says. They have, at most, four three-hour rehearsals in which to master the choreography as it’s being workshopped to accommodate notes from other departments.
What’s New in 2024
One new feature that will be beta-tested this winter is camera scoring, which will allow players to set up their smartphone to track them as they perform the routines from 15 tracks and score them based on their full body movement, rather than tracking just the remote in their right hand. (This gets at an early criticism of Just Dance: Couldn’t you just sit on the couch and wave your right arm around, rather than attempting the choreography?) The grading for this mode is based on an artificial-intelligence model trained on team members performing the choreography.
Another first for the 2024 edition: Collaborating with Baroque-dance expert Pierre-François Dollé for a new map set at the Palace of Versailles. Brought about thanks to the Cultural Olympiad program ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, “A Night in the Château de Versailles” celebrates a location that looms large not just in the popular imagination (Marie Antoinette, anyone?) but also in the history of Western classical dance. (Remember Louis XIV and Ballet de la Nuit from dance history class?) When Manas interviewed Dollé at the start of the collaboration, she was surprised to learn that Baroque dances like the minuet were not unlike the Macarena or Cupid Shuffle of their time, albeit for courtiers: “It was a really fun and sharing space, like: ‘I’ve heard this song, I know this choreography, let’s go!’ ”
The final result, set to a remix integrating a pair of contemporaneous compositions, evolves from a fairly straightforward homage to paired Baroque dances into a syncopated, hip-hop–inspired riff on the genre as the onscreen coaches move through the grounds and halls of the opulent palace. And the new Versailles map is a tidy encapsulation of what Just Dance is all about: taking something that might seem elite and out of reach—a Baroque dance performed by aristocrats, or, more broadly, dance as an art form—and transforming it into a contemporary, accessible, fun experience.
With the holidays just around the corner, Dance Informa wanted to give the gift of health advice for the body, mind and soul. Read on for our 10 holiday dos and don’ts for keeping yourself healthy over the holiday break.
#1. Do be kind and gentle with yourself, and allow time to breathe, to enjoy the little moments. Remember that even in the midst of holiday chaos, it doesn’t last forever. Do what is right for you as an individual. If you need to take a breath, do it.
#2. Don’t get caught up in what others are or are not eating. It’s your body – your choice. Just because someone close to you is following the latest diet trend or is talking about their weight, does not mean you have to be influenced by that. It does not have anything to do with you. That’s about them. The amount of calories and nutrients you need to sustain your energy and strength is unique to you. Fuel your body and mind in a way that supports your ability to get through the holidays in a way that you start January in a good place not a place of defeat or punishment.
#3. Do continue to eat regular meals and snacks through the day starting with breakfast. Even if you’re not dancing as much. This supports your metabolism, maintains muscle mass, and stabilizes blood sugar which results in better mood, less anxiety and less likelihood of overeating in the evenings. I know you’re busy. Eat breakfast anyway.
#4. Don’t keep too many sweets and treats in the house which can lead to overindulging. This potentially could set up a negative cycle of overindulgence, then feeling guilt about food, then restrictive eating.
#5. Do allow yourself to enjoy sweets and treats in a social environment and enjoy this time of celebration. It’s a beautiful thing to have a few of your friend’s holiday cookies, or your grandmother’s special recipe, or a slice of that pie that only comes once a year. Enjoying a serving of something delicious is a healthy way to enjoy your life. That’s not the same thing as overeating alone at home.
#6. Don’t allow guilt over food to make you feel bad about who you are as a person. Our food choices don’t define our self-worth. Enjoying some holiday treats with friends won’t derail an otherwise healthy diet. Guilt all too often leads to restricting food which leads to hunger which leads to overeating. Drop the guilt, and keep your blood sugar stable by eating what your body needs when your body needs it.
#7. Do make sure you’re still getting a dietary foundation of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based proteins like beans, lentils, peas and soy. When your foundation is built on regular, healthy, high fiber plant choices, it doesn’t matter if you have an occasional holiday treat. This also helps maintain muscle mass so you will be starting January in a strong place. Have a big bowl of apples and clementines out on your counter to make for easy snacking. Make a point of eating at least one for a snack and pairing a fruit with a grain or protein if you need more energy.
#8. Don’t overconsume sugary beverages, coffee drinks or alcohol. This includes “energy drinks”. Some special holiday coffee beverages can have up to 600 calories. Consider them like a dessert. Fine on occasion but not something to have every day.
#9. Do keep up with your vitamins and supplements, particularly vitamin D. Since you’re not getting as much sun in the winter, it’s often necessary to supplement this one. Vitamin D is not only important in bone strength, but it’s also a hormone that boosts the immune system, mental health and focus.
#10. Don’t forget to continue to cross-train when you’re taking a break from dance. It’s a great way to keep supporting muscles strong and reduce injury risk when you return in January.
Emily Cook Harrison MS, RD, LD Emily is a registered dietitian and holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nutrition from Georgia State University, USA. Her master’s thesis research was on elite level ballet dancers and nutrition and she has experience providing nutrition services for weight management, sports nutrition, disordered eating, disease prevention, and food allergies. Emily was a professional dancer for eleven years with the Atlanta Ballet and several other companies. She is a dance educator and the mother of two young children. She now runs the Centre for Dance Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles. She can be reached at emily@dancernutrition.com www.dancernutrition.com
It’s 2009, and my high school self is in the studio choreographing a new duet with my best friend to Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” The company director pokes her head in and disparagingly tells us the song and movement choice makes us look like “a couple of lesbians.”
We stand in stunned silence. I grew up in a performing arts family and had never once correlated being gay with being bad. My director’s tone, however, tells me a very different story. My brain files the conversation under the heading “Being a Lesbian Dancer Is Not Okay.”
I wish I could say that after high school, my world opened up wide, and I saw an abundance of representation within the dance world. I didn’t. Though I had out-and-proud peers, they were the subjects of frequent whispers. I still didn’t see any female or female-identifying professionals out. I didn’t have my first queer female teacher until graduate school. I went through multiple dance history courses without so much as a mention of a queer female.
I came out publicly after completing my MFA. As I continued to study dance history, it felt odd not to see myself in anything I was reading and watching. It really seemed as though queer women were just absent from the dance history canon. In contrast, queer men were widely acknowledged—we know about Alvin Ailey, Bill T. Jones, Merce Cunningham, the complicated history around Vaslav Nijinsky. We have records of queer men in dance even if they lived in eras when homosexuality was punishable by law or shunned by society.
Why does the dance world celebrate the queerness of men while simultaneously suppressing its queer women? It drove home my internalized feelings that queer women were, in fact, not welcome in the dance community.
In 2019 I began to teach dance to high school students, and the more time I spent with them, the more I wanted better for them. I wanted them to see themselves in our history. I wanted them to see themselves represented, to see career paths beyond what I had chosen. Statistically, there had to be queer women in dance’s narrative—so where were they? Was their absence a fault in my education or memory, or in the field of history itself?
This year, I began to search in earnest for the queer female dancers of the past. (I’m nowhere near the first person to probe for similar answers in queer dance history; Clare Croft and Peter Stoneley are two trailblazers that spring to mind.) I had expected to unearth communities, modern greats who had “special friends” or “roommates” or “fellow spinsters with whom they lived their entire lives.” Instead, I found very little. And what I have seen, I’m baffled by. Why, when I learned about Yvonne Rainer, was her sexuality never mentioned? Though I do not believe we should “boil people down” to their sexual orientation, are we not considering representation for those in our classrooms? Why do we strip women of the same identities we applaud or at least acknowledge in men?
It feels like both a society-at-large and a dance-community problem. The dance world is so gendered. Its treatment of people according to their gender identities is painfully unequal. And we have historically gone through periods of acceptance, tolerance, and oppression of the LGBTQIA+ community, with no linear timeline. The side effect is that we have figures of dance history who could not come out, regardless of their wants and desires.
As I continue my research, I ask two things of the dance world: Can we create space for queer women to be out, celebrated, and acknowledged? And can we work together to find and recognize our queer female dance ancestors? When we root ourselves in our past, we give ourselves something to grow from.
If you have information about queer women in dance history to share with Wesler, please get in touch via her website: sammwesler.wixsite.com/sammwesler
Let’s talk about stage fright. Whether you’re new to performing or you’ve been in front of audiences for years, everybody can admit it’s at least a little nerve-wracking. And yet, it’s the culmination of all the work dancers do! So, as a teacher or studio owner who teaches your dancers all about technique and artistry, how can you coach them through the practicalities of performing, like performance anxiety?
Andrea Kolbe, studio owner of Art in Motion Dance Center in Long Island, New York, shares how she spots and soothes students who are feeling nervous. We also spoke with Chicago-based dance/movement therapist Erica Hornthal, author of Body Aware.
Andrea Kolbe.
Step one is definitely identifying the problem – and it can start even before you get to the theater. Nerves might be affecting your dancer onstage, backstage or even in the studio well before the performance. Is one of your dancers wobblier than usual the week before? Has their attitude changed in rehearsals?
Kolbe says, “When we have our recitals, I can typically tell when the dancers are nervous because of the look on their face and being super jittery. Some will talk excessively, while others will be super quiet and focus inward. I also have some of the dancers verbalize that they are nervous to me or the other instructors backstage.”
If dancers can recognize for themselves and express to you that they’re not feeling their best, that’s fantastic. But it’s important to remember that nerves will look different on everyone. Different methods of dealing with those nerves might work better for some dancers, and other methods for others. Most dancers feel better after testing their shoes onstage and having time to try the choreography in the space. Some may need time and space to focus alone. Others might benefit from a connecting pre-show ritual with their group, like a huddle and pep-talk backstage to connect with their peers.
“Group camaraderie and teamwork definitely ease onstage jitters and nervousness,” notes Kolbe. “I’ve noticed over the past 13 years of teaching in a studio setting that dancers are much more nervous when they are performing a solo on stage.” In the scenario of solos, maybe take your dancer aside and learn what they personally need, whether that’s to burn off some energy, talk it out or do some breathwork.
Erica Hornthal.
We asked dance/movement therapist Erica Hornthal for her top three tips on dealing with those pesky jitters in the wings, or nervousness leading up to that moment. Her take?
#1. “Meet your emotions. Identify what/how you feel physically.”
#2. “Notice what the timing, rhythm and intensity of this emotion is. This will help you express it.”
#3. “Express it. This can be through shaking, tapping, jumping, bouncing, etc. There is no wrong movement when it comes to expressing how an emotion feels in your body.”
A simple 1 2 3, right? Well, if you want to make this method its most effective, it takes some practice. Mental health can’t only be addressed by three “top tips” when you’re already in the wings.
“Practice the above sequence at times when you are not feeling stressed, anxious or overwhelmed,” Hornthal encourages. “This will allow you to use it when you really need it.” Some of her other suggestions include moving in unfamiliar ways to build a greater emotional capacity, and checking in with your body regularly to identify emotions as they arise.
Andrea Kolbe backstage with students. Photo courtesy of Kolbe.
It’s about building good mental health habits. Be sure to introduce this to your students before the big day. When they’re feeling fear creep in at the studio, or before bed on recital eve or even when they’re not feeling stressed at all, they should use this method consistently so they know they can rely on it when they’re stepping onstage.
What does Hornthal feel is overlooked about performance anxiety? “Anxiety is a feeling. It’s normal,” she says. “You will never eliminate it. The key is noticing it, understanding it, even befriending it so we can dispel the fear and release the control it has over you. It is not something to be avoided, but rather confronted in a safe and compassionate manner.”
If only we had access to professionals like Hornthal in our studios! Few dance schools have the budget to have a dance/movement therapist on staff, but boy would it be helpful. Kolbe agrees that having a mental health expert come to the studio and give a lecture on recital anxiety would be beneficial to her dancers. If not a guest lecturer, what other mental health resources can we provide for our students? As teachers, it’s our job to set them up to do the best they can – and in a performance art, that includes giving them tools to dance without anxiety affecting their performance.
Often times in dance, we can be very goal-oriented. We’re perfectionists, always striving for a better line, one more turn, a little longer of a balance. And sometimes we get frustrated when it feels like we aren’t achieving those things. Studios can get a bit insular when your day is spent studying yourself in the mirror.
So today we’re going to step outside of the studious studio mindset and remind you of something: you’re human! All that training you do? It has effects that can’t be seen onstage; your family, friends, classmates and coworkers see it sooner than an audience member would. Truth is, dancing doesn’t just make you a better dancer, it helps make you a more informed, creative, and well-rounded person.
We touched base with Board Certified Dance Movement Therapist Sara R. van Koningsveld to hear how she uses dance in her therapy practice to benefit her clients. On top of her BC-DMT certification, she is also a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), a Graduate Laban Certified Movement Analyst (GL-CMA) and registered yoga teacher. She has a deep understanding of how and why movement helps us be better humans.
Sara R. van Koningsveld. Photo by by Chirs Ly/OddLy Captured.
Dancers have our own theories. It’s hard not to dance an exercise on one side, then the other, then reverse it and not feel at least a little smart. We count ourselves to be team players when synchronizing corps de ballet choreography or mirroring fellow dancers. Creative problem solving is practically our job, especially when choreographing. Our time management tends to be on par with the best and busiest. We pride ourselves on being hardworking. Partnering encourages empathy and a sense for consent. These skills are all byproducts of the cognitive, physical, social and emotional awarenesses that van Koningsveld helps her clients access and build.
Van Koningsveld defines DMT as “the integration of body and mind, through movement.” And it isn’t limited to dance – “Movement can sometimes look more like mindfulness practices, such as walking or breathing, and/or self-awareness practices focusing on the sensations of the body.”
Some of what van Koningsveld says of DMT supports dancers’ hunches about dance sharpening their cognition and other skills. And some of it points to a lack of awareness – such intensively physical training can sometimes put the emotional and mental benefits of movement on the back burner. When we get so wrapped up in the technicality and performance of dance, we may miss out on some of its natural benefits. So van Koningsveld is here to help us reconnect with the (not so simple) foundations of movement. Let’s start with what dancers do well. We’ve got coordination literally from the tops of our head to the tips of our toes. “In dance/movement therapy, as well as other mind-body professions, we call this physical intelligence or body awareness ‘kinesthetic awareness,’” says van Koningsveld. “Kinesthetic awareness is one of the main elements of my DMT practice, because from that awareness change is possible.” Our kinesthetic awareness is well honed; we practice it daily. When a move doesn’t feel right, we practice and adjust until it does.
But we make that change in our physicality for aesthetic purposes. What about changing our physicality for emotional purposes? Here’s something dancers could build on. “For a very simple example, you notice butterflies in your stomach. Do you like them, or do you not? Are these butterflies for excitement, or is it anxiety? As a DMT client, you get to make that decision for yourself, and then decide what to do about the butterflies. We may move the butterflies or watch the butterflies. Either way, we are building kinesthetic awareness. Your body is giving you information about your current emotional state through your physical state.”
Van Koningsveld explains that Laban-Bartenieff technique takes kinesthetic awareness even further, building concepts of “body knowledge” and “body prejudice” from it.
“At any time, we can try on new movements and choose to either become conscious or remain unconscious about them. Here is another short example. In (western) culture, we do not typically bow when greeting someone; we are used to shaking hands. Imagine being in a situation where a bow is customary – we try on bowing to greet someone, and maybe it makes us uncomfortable. But do we notice that discomfort, or do we just continue about our day? To expand our body knowledge, we would acknowledge the discomfort, get curious about it and expand our self-awareness about why it’s uncomfortable. Is it because it’s something I don’t know? Or is it because I have problems with bending at my hips? We get to explore what makes bowing to someone feel so uncomfortable – physically, mentally and emotionally. Ignoring that sensation, ignoring information our bodies are giving us when we move in a new way, would lead to or reinforce body prejudice.”
Sara R. van Koningsveld. Photo by Nir Livni.
With all the kinesthetic awareness we engrain in ourselves for dance, we can apply that awareness to our world outside of the studio. We can pay attention to our physicality and foster our body knowledge, gain insight through our body into how the environment around us is affecting us, and either change our environment or change how we’re interacting with it. We can notice other people’s physicality, and help them feel more at ease or included. All through understanding how physicality links to emotionality and mental health.
For such a human capability, it feels almost like a superpower. Does it sound too ‘out there?’ What if you paid attention to what constitutes the absolute best hug, how it feels to be wrapped in the most comforting embrace you can imagine? That kinesthetic awareness, that almost choreographic understanding of an everyday gesture, can help you provide that comfort to other people.
Professional dancers of this day and age are considered athletes, and rightly so. But thinking solely in physical terms can limit the benefits movement has to offer. Dance is also emotional and creative. Of course moving your body has physical benefits, but it also gives you a sense you can tap into that provides feedback on how you feel. So every so often, dance outside of the mirror, and instead of thinking about how it looks, notice how it feels. If you’re looking for guidance on how to hone that superpower, talk to a Dance Movement Therapist like van Koningsveld about using DMT to care for your mental health, or even just to learn more about yourself.
Malak Shoeira went to her first pole dance class half-jokingly, after a friend’s suggestion. At the time she was a ninth-grader in Egypt, and almost everything she knew of pole came from American TV. But that was in 2017, when pole dancing was relatively new to Egyptian gyms and dance studios.
She ended up discovering a new passion. “I had never really found myself in something, and pole was so different from anything I had done before,” Shoeira says.
Today, Shoeira is an enthusiastic proponent of pole dancing as an art, a sport, and a means of self-expression. But not everyone in Shoeira’s life has been happy about her dancing. Her dad, especially, needed convincing. “We’d have fights,” she says. “But eventually, especially as I had started coaching, he became more okay with it.”
In many Western countries, pole dance classes achieved mainstream popularity years ago. Egypt’s pole dancing culture has been slower to grow—partly due to the country’s conservative society, and partly because it can be perceived as a Western take on “provocative” belly dancing, an art still facing its own stigmas.
Mirna Sharoubim (photo courtesy Sharoubim)
Though social media has helped Egyptian pole dancers tackle taboos, misunderstandings persist. Egyptians wanting to try pole dancing are sometimes suspicious, for example, of its shorter outfits, seeing them as unnecessarily revealing. Shoeira encourages her students to experiment with their clothes for their own confidence, but also emphasizes that bare arms and legs make it easier to move on the pole.
Sharoubim and Shoeira have different opinions on the women-only rules that shape dance culture in Egypt. Shoeira is among the few pole instructors in Egypt teaching mixed-gender classes. They have proved highly successful despite some initial negative reactions, and sometimes even draw more men than women. Sharoubim, on the other hand, believes that women-only spaces are crucial in Egypt, as they typically help women feel safer and free to take off their hijabs or wear form-fitting clothes.
Sharoubim’s students span a wide age range; she says she’s had several older pupils who were dedicated from the start. “One 62-year-old woman told me pole made her feel like she ‘was flying’ and that she became ‘20 years younger,’ ” Sharoubim says. A 45-year-old told Sharoubim that pole and its sensuality helped her love her body and herself. Across generations, Egyptians are finding a new kind of freedom in pole dancing.
With the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, we checked in with our neighbors north of the border, who are voting on a strike of their own. What do unions look like in Canada? Well, Canadian dancers now have a stronger voice in the British Columbia region, thanks to a recently formed Dance Committee under the established Film and TV union there, UBCP-ACTRA.
We sat down with Louise Hradsky in Vancouver, Canada, who is co-chair of the Dance Committee. Hradsky is a choreographer, dancer and advocate for dancers in the BC film industry – where many American shows get filmed.
Louise Hradsky. Photo by Karolina Turek.
Hradsky is accomplished, having choreographed for productions like To All The Boys: Always and Forever and Charmed. Her committee co-chairs Jeffrey Mortensen and Melena Rounis are equally accomplished, with credits on shows like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and Peacemaker, respectively. Most recently, Hradsky and Mortensen won a LEO award and have been nominated for an Emmy for their work as choreographers on Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. This is clearly an experienced group, but when did they finally feel established enough to take on this leadership role?
“For me, it was around my 15-year mark of being in film and TV,” says Hradsky. “Since my first job, I had been hearing dancers voice issues, but only amongst themselves, always maintaining this culture of ‘keep your head down, work hard, and don’t complain.’ I strongly believe it’s possible for dancers to maintain the great work ethic we’re known for, while professionally communicating certain basics required to do a quality job. Whether it’s appropriate rates or rehearsal time, discussing what’s needed to deliver high caliber work is important. After 15 years, I realized I was in a place as a leader in the community to foster something.”
In late 2020, the UBCP film union contacted their choreographer and dance members about forming a focus group, before heading into negotiations with producers for the British Columbia Master Production Agreement. The BCMPA establishes protocols and minimum rates for cast and some crew in BC Film and Television. These negotiations only happen once every three years.
“Some key members showed up enthusiastic and prepared for the focus group,” explains Hradsky. “We were articulate and concise with our discussion points. It became clear to UBCP, and to us, that we could really benefit from working together. Formation of our committee snowballed from there; we started chatting with different dancers and choreographers in our community, and had informal meetings on Zoom. We had incredible guidance from UBCP, and modeled the structure of our committee off of the existing UBCP Stunt Committee.”
The Stunt Committee is a force – when safety is on the line, voices need to be heard and respected. Stunts carry the risk of high impact accidents – but much like dance, it also affects your body over time, resulting in ‘wear and tear’ injuries. While dancers might not seek the same hazard pay stunt performers require, a bump in pay to account for the necessary physiotherapy, chiropractic and other body maintenance seems like a reasonable ask.
Louise Hradsky leading a warm-up. Photo by Jeffrey Mortensen.
Hradsky, an active member of the stunt community herself, was inspired by how much ground they’ve covered by coming together. “Other than risk, the job we do is very similar. You have to be able to learn choreography, perform for camera and figure out all the physical logistics. When I saw that parallel, and how cohesive the stunt community is, it inspired me.”
While Hradsky includes pay increases in her goals for industry reform, she makes clear that pay isn’t the only inequity that needs attending.
“Sometimes, there’s a feeling of disconnect with other departments on what dancers and choreographers bring to the table. I had run into dismissive attitudes towards our contribution many times, but all that changes once they see what we bring to a scene,” Hradsky notes. The Dance Committee seeks to solve that with education and representation, but also by shifting the culture inside the dance community itself.
“Professionalism on set is critical. In many cases, there’s an inherent youthfulness to dance which can be perceived as play instead of work,” Hradsky says. “We’ve trained our whole lives to do this, though, and we have a responsibility to conduct ourselves in a way that represents that to other departments, producers and directors.” Historically, infantizing dancers is a common issue, and with that comes silencing or disregarding their voices. But on a film set where there are so many moving parts, if you don’t learn to speak up, you won’t get what you need.
And choreographers are the designated spokesmen. “What we have to understand is the choreographer is the supervisor, the head of department for all the dancers. That means you’re responsible for their safety and wellbeing,” Hradsky says. “It’s something no one teaches you, but is critical to get a sense for.” Dancers need to feel safe voicing concerns to their choreographer, and choreographers need to feel comfortable addressing them with production so that they can be resolved.
Hradsky has built a reputation for taking care of her performers, advocating for what they need while working with production to make it happen. From figuring out the logistics of pointe shoes with the costume department, to ensuring her dancers aren’t asked to repeat demanding choreography without adequate breaks. The committee accomplishes this on a larger scale.
She notes that only pushing for change every three years when the BCMPA gets renegotiated isn’t an effective path forward. “What is effective is if we come together and decide what we want to work towards. Even if it never makes it into the written agreement, if all the choreographers agree that this should be standard, and all of the dancers understand that their choreographers should be providing that for them, then we are moving in a positive direction.”
Louise Hradsky at UBCP/ACTRA dance committee 2023 mixer. Photo by Emilie Grace Photography.
Then by the time that three year re-negotiation rolls around, there’s precedent established in the community already. “It’s important we’re all on a similar page about what it takes to deliver a job,” Hradsky says. “Contracts can vary depending on experience level and production budget, but if we can pin certain things as standard, we’ll gain power through consistency, regardless if they’re in the written agreement or not.”
These goals are similar to the ones the American WGA and SAG strikes are working toward. Hradsky recognizes, “I have some incredible friends and colleagues in the U.S. who are helping make huge moves. They’ve just formed the Choreographers Guild, so for the first time film and TV choreographers have the consistent opportunity to be unionized, which has been a big difference between working in the United States and Canada.”
The Canadian film and TV market is competitive in the global scene, and is taking steps for their dancers to maintain competitive compensation. “As Canadians, it’s easy to have stars in our eyes for other big cities in the world in terms of the caliber of dance and professionalism,” Hradsky says. “However, cities like Vancouver and Toronto have so much work flowing through them, so many artists gaining extensive flight time and experience. We have an incredible community of professionals, and the work we’re delivering on camera is second to none. The other layer to this is, what can we do to advance the perspective of what choreographers and dancers bring to projects.”
And that’s a global moral for dancers everywhere. We have to recognize our own value in order for others to see it, too. Organize within your community and advocate together – committees are formed from communities.
Does it feel too soon to think about your pointe shoes and back-to-school? It’s understandable that it might be daunting to think about the upcoming ballet season, but it’s never too early to reassess your shoes and get ahead of your fall classes. It might help to think of it as a tune-up for your feet, and what better time than in between summer programs and the start of fall classes?
Summer dance camps don’t offer a lot of free time to analyze what is happening with your pointe shoes, and when fall classes begin, there are loads of things to think about, including school and homework. That makes late summer the perfect time to take a good look and re-evaluate for the upcoming season because pumpkin spice lattes and Nutcracker rehearsals are just around the corner.
Approach your analysis like a lab experiment. Think of yourself like a scientist searching for the truth; rigorous testing is necessary to figure out what works for you and what does not. Start by finding some quiet time so you can focus without any distractions. Going through this process while you have free time helps you think through what it was about a particular style that worked or didn’t.
Take all of the pointe shoes you wore over the summer, even the ones that didn’t work for you, and place them in separate piles labeled “yes,” “no” and “maybe.” Set up your “lab” by using good mirrors, or several mirrors at different angles, along with a ballet barre so you can do classroom steps in each pair of shoes.
One great way to see yourself is to take short videos doing relevé, échappés and pirouettes. You can shoot into a mirror to get good angles in poses and during movement. The videos shouldn’t be for social media; think of them as a way for you to watch yourself in a completely candid way without the pressure of trying to look perfect.
Create a document that you can easily edit and take detailed notes. You can organize it by the date, including the season, and each pair of pointe shoes can have a section that breaks down what happened when you wore them. You may find these guidelines helpful for your evaluation:
#1. How did the shoes fit?
Was the size the best for you, or was there an issue?
Too big is just as bad as too tight; it is important to figure out if you hit a growth spurt during the summer and adjust your size accordingly.
Calluses, blisters and some bruising go with the territory; however, the amount of pain should be manageable.
Pointe shoes are supposed to be snug, but if you have to keep stuffing the shoes with padding, that is a sign of a problem.
Pay special attention to what happened when the shoes were worn a few times.
If you are in so much discomfort you cannot get onto pointe, that signals that something is just not right.
#2. Were you able to execute the steps given in classes?
If pointe shoes are unsupportive, you can’t do a proper relevé.
If they are too hard, you can’t get over enough to feel all of your turnout muscles or fully stretch your lines.
If something didn’t work for a pas de deux class, maybe it will work for a Bournonville variation. If a pair was good for a challenging variation, maybe it won’t work for the Willis in Act II Giselle.
#3. Was it supportive in the box and arch?
It takes time to figure out if the shoe is losing support in the arch or in the box.
Everyone knows that shoes that break down after two barre exercises aren’t going to cut it in the long run.
Did you do everything you could with the shoes — gluing and drying out?
Maybe your ribbon placement could have helped with the support.
Did you buy square shoes even though you have a tapered foot? How did that work out for you?
It is important during this assessment that you are honest with yourself.
Sometimes things can be fixed with a harder, more supportive shoe, and sometimes something completely new is needed.
#4. What about your alignment? Did the shoes get in the way of you being up and on your legs?
Were you able to properly lift out of the shoe while still maintaining the feeling of the floor?
Were you able to be up on top of your hips and lengthen your spine, or did the shoe feel like it got in the way?
#5. Ballet aesthetics require a beautiful line.
Did the shoe augment your line, or did it look more like a street shoe?
Did you purchase a particular pair or brand because a famous dancer or influencer posted it on TikTok?
The best shoes enhance the leg line and give an ethereal look that is unique to each individual.
Finally, seek out someone you trust who will give you an honest, unbiased opinion. This could be a teacher, professional fitter or a mentor who understands the challenges of finding a good shoe. Dancewear companies are always coming out with new styles and innovations to help you and your technique. The plus side is that there are so many options that there is a pointe shoe style out there for everyone. The downside is that just because something is shiny and new doesn’t mean it will work for you. A good pointe shoe should make you feel like things are possible and not out of reach, and your notes and analysis will help you make sense of what is optimal. Finding the best shoe can be a career-long process, so don’t get discouraged if it takes awhile to figure it all out.
Mary Carpenter is a former professional ballet dancer who began her studies at CCM, the official school for the Cincinnati Ballet Company, and was on scholarship at the David Howard Dance Center. Mary also holds a BA with high honors in dance from Butler University. She has danced for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Ohio Dance Theatre, Granite State Ballet, Maryland Ballet, Lexington Ballet and Charleston Ballet, and performed in numerous off-Broadway shows. Mary has contributed to the dance community as a dedicated instructor in ballet, Pilates and Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), and served on the faculty of Broadway Dance Center, the Ballet Hispánico School of Dance, Barnard College and The New School University. She is current faculty for Ballet Academy East and the world-famous Steps on Broadway. Her classes for adult beginners are available virtually on the Dancio.com website.
With over three decades of experience, Mary has become a highly skilled pointe shoe fitter. She has worked with dancers from prestigious companies such as American Ballet Theatre (ABT), The Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet. Her expertise in fitting pointe shoes has led her to give lectures at renowned summer programs, including ABT/JKO, Dance Theatre of Harlem, NYSSSA and Oklahoma Summer Arts in Quartz. In 2015, Mary launched her YouTube channel, “Dancewithmary NYC,” where she shares her knowledge and expertise on pointe shoes through monthly segments. Her channel has become a valuable resource for dancers and teachers seeking guidance and advice.
Going hard in the studio and performing, and then weeks or months off: that’s the dance sector phenomenon of layoffs, one that seems largely underdiscussed. These periods can bring myriad challenges. Physically, it can benefit dancers to give their body rest, but it also behooves them not to be back to the studio in a way that takes them from 0 to 60. That can be a tough balance to strike. Mentally and emotionally, navigating one’s energy and time can be difficult – not to mention that dancer identity dynamic. (“If I’m not dancing right now, what am I doing…who even am I?)
At the same time, layoffs can be time for dancers to cultivate their interests, relationships and capacities outside of performing – perhaps entirely outside of dance, and even outside the arts more broadly. There can be opportunity in the adversity of time away from rehearsing and performing. To learn more about all of these dynamics, Dance Informa speaks with “The Broadway PT” Dr. Megan Wise (PT, DPT), dance career mentor “The Brainy Ballerina” Caitlin Sloan and NYC-based freelance dancer Kirsten Evans. Without further ado, let’s jump in!
The physical: Giving your body rest but staying ready for the studio
Dr. Wise gives a concrete and helpful timing guideline. If your layoff is less than a month, “take the rest,” she advises. “You’re not going to lose your fitness in that amount of time – and, in fact, having that rest might allow you to come back even better.” If it’s longer than a month, then it’s best for one to consider cross-training and getting back into class. It could actually be a great time to try a new training program or fitness form that sparks your interest. For example, if you’re not currently dancing, your body might have an easier time adjusting to using new muscles in new ways, Dr. Wise points out. You can even make a list of movement/fitness forms that you’d like to give a try, she suggests.
Caitlin Sloan. Photo by Nichole Manner.
A longer layoff could also offer time for physical rehab, or even “prehab” (injury prevention work), Dr. Wise notes – just be sure to work with your physical therapist to determine if the time you have is enough to do the work within best practice guidelines. No matter what, keep rest a priority – especially if it’s the only time that you’ll get for it in a long while, Dr. Wise adds. She also encourages, for those longer layoff periods that call for more than pure rest, goal-setting — be it with flexibility or an aspect of technique or any other dancer skill.
Sloan has experienced both longer and shorter layoffs, she shares – and, indeed, she approached them differently. At Ballet Tucson, the scheduling was typically four to five weeks on and four to five weeks off. She’d do her best to take class during that period, but she also tried to prioritize making income at a second job. Another challenge was feeling like she was just getting her momentum really going when layoff came. Taking class during layoff did help her keep that momentum up, somewhat, she notes.
At Mareck Dance (Missouri Contemporary Ballet when Sloan was dancing with the company), layoffs were longer. She even had Decembers off to fully celebrate the holidays with family and friends. The work was very athletic, and rehearsal periods had her called into the studio many hours a week, so that rest was quite welcome physically. Toward the ends of those periods, she did what she could to get those “awkward phases out” by getting back into class regularly. She knew that going from zero to full throttle wouldn’t be good news. Sloan did all that in a way that acknowledged what her body needed at any particular time, she explains – thoughtfully calibrating the physical work at hand. “Try to avoid an all-or-nothing mentality,” she advises.
Evans details what helps her find that tricky rest/activity balance during layoffs – but also is careful to note that it’s what works well for her. Everyone is different, and no one should feel pressure to do what anyone else is doing because it’s the “right” way to do it (there really is no one “right” way!). She starts layoffs with at least one full day without any kind of physical activity – “coach potato day, soak it in.” Doing Pilates and restorative movement in the days following that “makes [her] feel really good.”
Kirsten Evans. Photo by Jon Doucette.
She also tries to catch a ballet class at least once a week during layoffs, and uses the opportunity to “push a little harder in these classes than I might if I were doing a full day of rehearsals after. This is your time to really work that technique and try to correct habits that a tired in-season body might not be up for tackling. Wear the pointe shoes, do the fouettés!”
For cross-training, she has “tried every cross-training workout from kickboxing to yoga to swimming, running, you name it” – but has really taken to Pilates. In sessions with her trainer, they “work on any weaknesses or injuries [that she] might be experiencing, and just try to build up…overall strength and stamina.” She also practices the form independently, several times a week, to stay “aligned, lengthened and strong.”
All in all, “I just try to live an active lifestyle when it feels good and rest when I need to,” Evans says. “I love walking for my mental health, and it has the added benefit of being pretty good for your body, too!” She encourages trusting that the “body is smart and it knows what to do without controlling it all the time. Lean back a little and listen to your body; let it surprise you.”
Sloan additionally encourages taking advantage of open studio time – if it might be available to you. Even if you just do a barre, that’s something, she affirms. And, in her experience, doing a barre can often lead to doing center – maybe even a full class for yourself! “Just get the ball rolling,” she says, “and make it fun!”
The mental and emotional: Taking care of yourself out of the studio
Dr. Megan Wise with a dancer. Photo courtesy of Wise.
Evans offers a cogent sharing of mental/emotional challenges involved with layoffs. “Early on in my career, I viewed layoff periods mostly as a physical challenge. But with more experience, I realized the mental hurdles that come along with layoffs are just as steep — if not even more rigorous — to overcome. There’s this feeling of guilt that can come with taking time off, or even a fear that you could be missing out on an opportunity, or falling behind. But the truth is our bodies and minds need that time away to rest and reset.”
And that’s not all that can challenge dancers mentally and emotionally during these periods. Decision-making over how to productively use your time can be a lot mentally, not to mention navigating factors like applying for unemployment or getting temporary work. On a deeper level, there’s that dancer identity piece – “who even am I if I’m not dancing?”
Evans believes that what’s sincerely helped her is a mindset of letting the “discipline serve you, not overwhelm you.“ For example, she regularly takes class during layoffs, but she also doesn’t “stress too much about missing these if life presents me with an opportunity to travel or experience something I wouldn’t typically be able to say ‘yes’ to during a dancing season.” She emphasizes how finding your ideal experience “is not linear. Try to give yourself grace. Try to have fun in the process!”
For that guilt piece, “remember that experiencing life outside of the studio will fuel your performance onstage,” Evans notes. “Think of this as a time to expand your artistry.” She also recommends discretion with social media use; say goodbye (unfollow, anything you need to do) to anything that makes you feel “devalued.” Instead, shift your focus to being present. “Notice how being away from your usual routine makes you feel, and really observe it,” she advises.
Sloan also encourages that sense of being present. That can, furthermore, allow new ideas to blossom; creativity can truly flow when we’re not in that daily grind. She describes how in those quiet moments, our first impulse can be to reach for our phones. Yet, it can be incredibly meaningful to take “time to be alone with our own thoughts.” Time in nature can be quite helpful for that (and summer layoffs can bring wonderful weather!). Such introspection can be incredibly valuable. “The more you know yourself, the stronger artist you’ll be,” Sloan underscores. In alignment, Dr. Wise notes how long layoffs can be an opportunity to be “human first, dancer second” — connecting with those parts of you that go much deeper than “dancer.”
Caitlin Sloan. Photo by LG Patterson.
Whatever happens, however your spend your layoff time, “you don’t have to overthink it, you don’t have to feel all that pressure,” Dr. Wise reminds us. Just breathe through it and enjoy it, as best you can! Sloan also recommends letting yourself feel however you feel about layoffs. “It’s okay if you love it, it’s okay if you hate it.” Let yourself experience joy and rest as well – because those are things are important, too. “Not that things making you feel good even have to be productive,” she affirms with a smile.
Finding the opportunity in adversity: How to leverage layoffs for growth
Yes, layoffs can come with a lot of challenge but also a lot of opportunity — discovering more of the world, as well as yourself, Evans notes. She names how dance “can be so all-consuming when you’re in it. You’re staring in the mirror analyzing your movement all day, every day, and it’s easy to forget how big the world is outside of the studio.” Explore a dance style that’s out of your typical genre, and even dig deeper into other art forms, such as going to concerts and plays, she suggests. Experience parts of life that call to you outside of the arts: from hiking to making ice cream to whatever that might be.
Layoffs can also offer opportunities to cultivate relationships – especially those outside of your company and even outside of dance, something that Dr. Wise highly recommends. As an example of that, Evans tries “to use [layoffs] as a time to say ‘yes’ to other things and spend more time being social with friends and family I don’t see as much during an on-season.” Whatever it might be, take advantage of the time you now have – because it very well may not be there when you’re back in the studio and the theater, she adds. There is “so much to explore in the layoff period, so many ways to be involved in the world; it doesn’t have to be a ‘blah’ time,” Sloan affirms.
On a more practical bent, Dr. Wise points out the ability to cultivate new skills with layoff periods – the sort that could lead to a post-performance career. “You’re not going to be a performer forever,” she reminds us. “Hobbies can also bring more to your craft [as a dancer],” she adds. Yet, she’s also careful to point out, trying new things doesn’t have to lead to new ways to make income (any kind of “side business”), or even make you a stronger artist; it’s more than enough for it to bring you joy! “Play with something else, try something else, be a beginner at something!” she urges. “Beginner’s mind can be vulnerable but also rewarding.”
How do we manage all of that potential? A lot of possibility, in and of itself, can bring that overwhelm that Evans describes. She suggests making plans, getting something on your calendar even before layoff starts. Echoing Dr. Wise, Sloan recommends making lists of things you like doing outside of dancing (watching movies, writing poetry, listening to music, anything at all!), as well as lists for media you want to take in (books to read, shows to watch, podcasts to listen to, for instance).
Dr. Megan Wise working with a dancer. Photo courtesy of Wise.
That approach can help you to jump right into those activities that help you experience the world, and learn more about yourself, rather than being stuck in “Okay, I have this time, what do I do now?” On the other end of the spectrum, another thing that can cause overwhelm – especially for goal-oriented dancers – is feeling like if you start something in your layoff period, you have to finish it. Yet, Sloan calls that into question. “Just start something – just do one thing, and it’ll come,” she urges.
Yet, another thing that can cause overwhelm in layoff periods is time stress, something Dr. Wise notes many performers do feel — this sense that there’s so much to do in such a short amount of time until layoff ends. “Yet, there’s an abundance of time!” Dr. Wise says. Be open to how much time there really is available when you’re not in the studio, and – to the best of your ability – use it wisely, she urges.
Sloan has some great words of wisdom to close us out. “Find what you need to strike that balance. Remember that you do have a job to get back to. What do you need to do to recover but also get back to it? Remember also that it feels different every day for a dancer in class – sometimes you’re really on your leg, feeling great, and sometimes you’re not. That applies to layoffs, and to life! Every day can feel different. With being present and listening to yourself, what you need will start to become apparent.”
There’s no shortage of dance-based nonfiction on seemingly endless topics, but fiction shelves have seen a recent influx of stories set in the studio and backstage. Whether you’re craving an escapist romance or a historical thriller, a dreamy fantasy or a piece of contemporary literary fiction, these novels keep one toe in the dance world as they paint vivid imagined realities.
Nocturneby Alyssa Wees
Cover image courtesy Penguin Random House.
Set in 1930s Chicago, this darkly romantic fantasy follows Grace Dragotta, an orphan who rises to become the prima ballerina of the fictional Near North Ballet. Her world takes a turn for the uncanny when the troupe’s new, mysterious patron takes an interest in her career, and the fairy tales and folklore of the ballets she dances are revealed to hold more than a sliver of truth in reality. Pitched as Phantom of the Opera meets Beauty and the Beast, Alyssa Wees’ lyrical second novel explores grief, friendship, and the power of art to soothe, heal, and build a path forward in the wake of life’s inevitable tragedies.
Dances by Nicole Cuffy
Cover image courtesy One World.
At a fictionalized New York City Ballet, 22-year-old Cece Cordell is catapulted to a new level of visibility when she becomes the first Black ballerina promoted to principal in the company’s history. From the outside, she seems to be at the pinnacle of everything she’s ever wanted, but her interior life reveals a more complex landscape: nagging perfectionism, a constant questioning of whether she truly belongs, the daily physical negotiations of life in ballet, the shifting nuances of her relationships—in particular, her memories of her older brother, who had encouraged her interest in dance as a child but vanished from her life shortly after she landed her apprenticeship. At turns lyrical and raw, grounded and ephemeral, Nicole Cuffy’s debut novel offers a finely etched character study of a dancer learning to embody her whole self.
Pas de Don’tby Chloe Angyal
Cover image courtesy Chicago Review Press.
Chloe Angyal, author of the incisive Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers Is Saving Ballet From Itself, brings her deep knowledge of the ballet world to a romantic comedy set at two fictional elite companies. When her onstage partner and fiancé is caught cheating with a young corps member, New York Ballet principal Heather Hays takes a guesting gig at Australian National Ballet—the only company willing to hire her without her “American ballet royalty” ex—and meets Marcus Campbell, a soloist working his way back after a horrific onstage injury. Sparks fly as Marcus shows her around Sydney, but there’s one problem: Pas de Don’t, the nickname for the company’s strict no internal fraternization policy. Like many of the best works in the genre, Pas de Don’t uses romance to explore a broader range of experiences— grief, healing from emotionally abusive relationships—while also celebrating the power of dance and unpacking pervasive issues in ballet culture, including unhealthy power dynamics, sexual harassment, and sexist double standards.
The Spectacularby Fiona Davis
Cover image courtesy Dutton.
Marion Brooks risks estrangement from her father, sister, and soon-to-be fiancé when she bucks expectations of what a pretty young woman in the 1950s should do with her life and accepts a gig as a Rockette. But when the infamous “Big Apple Bomber” targets Radio City Music Hall, Marion is drawn into the investigation alongside psychologist Dr. Peter Griggs, placing her exhilarating and exhausting new life as a Rockette at risk as they race to unravel the bomber’s identity. Inspired by the real-life “Mad Bomber” case and steeped in the storied history of the Rockettes, Fiona Davis’ intricately woven thriller is, at its core, a love letter to Radio City Music Hall and the families found and made backstage.
