Author Archives: tilly062

My First Job at a Dance Company

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We all have jitters when we get our first big person job right out of college.  I graduated from College at Brockport in 2008 which seems like ages ago now.  We all have those negative thoughts that nobody is going to hire us, and just hoping that someone will take a chance on a youngin and give you a job.  A company based in Rochester, New York took a chance on a young twenty-one year old girl with big dreams of starting her own dance company; me.  Granted those dreams have grown and changed, but I’ll never forget the people that took a chance on me.

Natalie Rogers-Cropper, Director of the Garth Fagan Dance School hired me as the her assistant.  It was a part-time job, but it was a starting point on getting my foot in the door to understanding the running of a dance company.  As her assistant, I organized and collected payments from students, managed scholarships, helped with grant writing, and had my hand in the three week summer program, where I worked with Natalie to layout the schedule for a three week intensive.  It was the best first big girl job I could have had because I had mentor who not only was a talented dancer, but was in the business world of dance too.

I moved up the ladder pretty quickly in the Company.  After spending eleven months as a part-time assistant I became the full-time Advancement Assistant while still working with Natalie in the School.  As an advancement assistant I got to work with marketing and development, assisting with press releases, writing grants and final reports, as well as helping with program layouts for events.  From there, I become Assistant Company Manager where I got to work directly with the Artistic Director and Executive Director on touring contracts, tour programming layouts, assist with marketing plans and marketing designs, as well as organize and manage our self-program performances and events.

Working for Garth Fagan Dance and getting involved with so many parts of the Company helped me to develop my own direction of where I wanted to go in life.  Even though I no longer work there, I am a big supporter of the Company and follow them online to see what they continue to accomplish.  The Company is going on its forty-fifth anniversary year.  What a landmark for a choreographer who has collaborated with so many musical and visual artists, and brought to life some serious pieces of work such as Griot, New York, Mudan 175/39, and Two Pieces, One Green (a personal favorite).

Garth Fagan Dance isn’t only a dance company, but an eternal apart of the Rochester community.  They work with underprivileged youth through community outreach, as well as provides scholarships for students to study with professional dancers of the company throughout the year.  One of the things I loved about the Company is how intertwined it is with the Garth Fagan Dance School, from the instructors to the students and families involved at school who volunteer at shows.  It is like a family pushing towards a success of a common goal.  It all goes back to the motto of Mr. Fagan – “Discipline is Freedom.”  With hard-work, drive, and a family behind you, the possiblities are endless.

If you live in the Rochester area you should check out the gala event that will be happening at the end of April.  You can purchase tickets here.

Concert Review – Walk the Moon & The Griswolds at the House of Blues (Boston, MA)

Posted in Bands & Music Artists by

On, April 11, 2015, I jumped up and down like an idiot at the House of Blues as Walk the Moon commanded the stage to a sold out crowd.  For those of you who don’t know who Walk the Moon is, they are a pop-rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio  and consists of members, Nicholas Petricca, Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman, and Eli Maiman.  Their name comes from the song ‘Walk on the Moon’ by The Police and gained their first hit on the radio airways of the alternative stations with ‘Anna Sun’ in 2010.  In 2014, their sophomore album ‘Talking Is Hard’ was released where the first single to hit the billboard 200 charts was ‘Shut Up and Dance.’

Now that you are educated back to the concert.  The opening act was an Australian group named The Griswolds.  This young band far from home has a young sound, but their music has a real 80s flare.  That techno sound with a mix of rock n’ roll of guitar, bass, and the drums as the musicians add in lyrics and simple backup vocals to give it that danceable beat.  A personal favorite of mine that they opened with was ’16 Years.’  A synthisized type keyboard with various rhythm instruments such as a tambourine and drums as you hear an elegant bass line and the guitar came in strong as they break into the chorus.  These Aussie boys I’m sure will be making waves soon in the states as they gain more confidence on stage and really learn to command the crowd at live shows.  What a band to learn from like Walk the Moon!

Walk the  Moon is the whole package.  They are not only great musicians and songwriters, but they are fantastic entertainers.  The start of the show had these crazy neon lights of various shapes and sizes, as well as neon lights that surrounded many of the instruments.  These lights exploded on the stage in strobe like form as they opened with a song from their new album, ‘Different Colors’.  As I watched the crowd you could tell that almost everyone there were such devoted fans from the lip syncing of the lyrics, to the the dancing around, clapping to the beat, and the waving of arms side to side as each start of a song got the audience more and more excited.

Nicholas Petricca (Lead singer) was constantly interacting with crowd through each song transition.  As Petricca asked who was a Walk the Moon show virgin it felt like we were joining a cult.  As he asked all us to put our hands up in the air and let all the bullshit fly out and to just dance it out.  This led into their hit song ‘Shut Up and Dance,’ which is awesome.  They closed the show out with ‘Anna Sun,’ which goes to show that no matter what happens we always end up back at the beginning.

Check out the video below that MsTabularasa put together of some epic movie dance scenes as it is intertwined with Walk the Moon’s ‘Shut Up and Dance.’

Making Your Kid Responsible – One Ballet Class At A Time

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imageMany children, teenagers, and even adults lack discipline, responsibility, and the ability to fail and get up and do it again until they succeed.  Granted, this has to with how you are raised and your parents value system, but it also has to with what activities parents put their kids into at a young age.  For example, my brothers and I were all in team related activities growing up.  Team related activities promote competition, strength to improve as an individual, and provides a discipline to work hard and get better technically with every class, individual practice, or competition.

So why do kids today lack this?  Easy, they are involved in too much.  You know that saying, “A jack of all trades but a master of none,” that is currently what we are dealing with in society.  Now, I am not a parent, nor do I claim to be an expert on raising children, but teaching dance for the last ten years I have seen many children of various ages come in and out of my ballet classroom and they always leave for the better.  Ballet teaches you about discipline.  It takes discipline to go into a dance classroom everyday to work on pirouettes for an hour before you finally land a perfect single or double.  Then you have to try to replicate that over and over again till it is ingrained in memory from the weight shift of your body, to the height of your arms, to the position of your leg.  It’s all about calculations.  Is it tedious? Absolutely!  Then I think about that other saying, “practice makes perfect.”  Where is the drive to be best?  I feel like some kids that I come across in the dance classroom are lazy followed by back talk about how I know nothing about dance.  Firstly, if I talked to my parents/ instructor that way I probably would have gotten a wack on the back of my head.  Secondly, I am a ballet instructor with years of knowledge, technical training, and I’ll show you cool moves if you listen.

I had this one girl who was eighteen years old and had so much natural talent.  I pushed her everyday in class, from teaching her to pick up speed in her turns, to using her long limbs to utilize every piece of music to her finger tips.  She didn’t listen to me in class, and in fact she was a know it all like the five year olds I teach.  Needless to say, a year later she came back with a letter that she gave to me that said, “You taught me about responsibility, that others in the classroom depended on me to know my part.  You taught me about discipline and pushed me to be better everyday at the barre and through movement across the floor.  You taught me that we will always be stronger as a unit instead of tearing each other a part, and that constructive criticism isn’t a personal a attack, but a way to drive us.  I’m sorry I was such a brat and even though I wasn’t listening then I’m listening now.”

Ballet is more then just beautiful people on stage dancing for one night.  They were taught discipline, responsibility, and hard work which they have strived to perfect everyday.  So, if you are looking for that one activity that will motivate your kid (whether it is a boy or a girl) take a look at the ballet world before you look anywhere else, because ballet instructors will help you build a responsible adult one ballet class at a time.

Cinderella – The Musical is the Best Version

Posted in Film, Songs by

Dear future husband, if you want me to say yes to your marriage proposal don’t buy me a big diamond ring because jewelry is not my thing.  The way to my heart is a glass slipper and if you spontaneously bust into a dance, even better.  Recently, I saw Disney’s live action version Cinderella which explained a lot of things like, why the step sisters and stepmother didn’t recognize her at the ball?  Why Cinderella stayed with that horrible family after her father died?  As well as what happened to her mother and why her father married the horrible stepmother.

Let’s be real, the best Cinderella is the 1965 made for television musical version with Lesley Ann Warren, Stuart Damon, and Ginger Rogers.  Granted the set design is a little cheesy, but Rodgers and Hammerstein music is perfect and Lesley Ann Warren was an excellent lead.  Her first song, “In My Own Little Corner” helps her deal with her awful home life by bringing her to imaginative places and a better life.  I mean who doesn’t dance around with kitchen ware and duck around furniture while vocally singing?

I’ve been thinking a lot about fairy tales in general lately and how they relate to real life.  Cinderella is really about oppression, treating others how you want to be treated, and that karma always comes around.  The song “Impossible” that Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother sings touches on how anything is possible.  The lyrics say, “But the world is full of zanies and fools, Who don’t believe in sensible rules, And won’t believe what sensible people say…Impossible things are happening every day.”  This song gives Cinderella the confidence she needs to go to the ball.

The one thing I don’t’ understand that is in every Cinderella story is how can you fall in love with someone in ten minutes?  Granted, I am not a believer of love at first sight, and I don’t think the prince and Cinderella talked about their values, morals, children, or careers either.  Every fairy tale has its positives as well as its flaws and we can’t take everything in these stories literally.  Being a girl and being swept off your feet by the love of your life is something that we all dream about, plus I love getting lost in fairy tale movies.  An escape from reality is never a bad thing, and what a movie to get lost in like Cinderella.  For those of you who haven’t seen the 1965 version, come out from under your rock and get educated because it’s the best version out there, and we can all use a little 10 minutes ago…

Summer Dance Intensives – The Choices You Have for a New Dance Experience

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The academic year at the studio is coming to an end, and competitions are in a countdown to the last one.  Now, it is time to start asking yourself the hard question; what summer dance program do I want to attend?  There are numerous camps, intensives, or short dance programs around the world that you could chose.

A few things to take in to consideration – What style do you want to focus on?  Do you want to travel out of the state or country for the experience?  Do you want to work with a specific company or instructor?  Do you have a budget that you need to stay in?

Over the years I tried many different dance intensives some that have last three weeks while others have lasted the whole summer.  First you need to decide how much time do you want to dedicate to your passion of dance.  When I was thirteen years old I went to my first dance camp in Tyrone, Pennsylvania at an all girls boarding school for three weeks (Grier Summer Camp).  There I got to study jazz, ballet, and lyrical and meet some great friends as well as participated in talent shows, and explored other art related activities like yoga and creative writing.

After my first dance camp experience and throughout high school, I stayed closer to home and attended summer long camps at various studios in my home town area of Syracuse, New York.  These various studios brought in experts from Julliard, NYCB, Boston Ballet, and the Russian Ballet.  The prices of dance intensives can be crazy expensive especially if there are no options of scholarships.  In many cases there are not any available or if there are, they are limited and may only provide you funds for the intensive but not for room and board.  Don’t knock out your local area studios as potential options, you never know when studio owners may have a great connection to bring in amazing artists and instructors at a more affordable price.

Once I got to college, I worked over the summers to put together funds for summer dance intensives that were focused around specific companies.  One company that is still one of my favorites is Paul Taylor Dance Company (now Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance).  I did an intensive in New York City with the Taylor Company where we learned three pieces of repertoire, technique classes in both modern and ballet, as well as conditioning classes such as Yoga and Pilates.  We danced eight hours a day, five days a week.  Luckily, I had family near the City that I stayed with but my commute was about forty-five minutes into the city and out each day.  I had long days getting up at 5:00 AM, but it was worth getting to work with dancers such as Suzanne Farrell; what a dream!

Don’t let money hinder attending a dance intensive.  There are ways around it.  If you want to go to one in a big city spend the summer before saving up for it and figure out if you have family you can stay with in the area.  Don’t knock out the ones close to home either because they can give you some great insight right in your own backyard, and finally be smart and take care of your body at these intensives.  Don’t spend all night going out.  You need rest and healthy eating to keep your body at top performing ability.