The green monster: Dealing with the Ego in Professional Dance

The life of a professional dancer is as much a psychological and emotional struggle as much as it is physical. We have all at one point or another experienced those ugly emotions we know we shouldn’t feel, but somehow, in some way, something in dance brings them out from the deepest and darkest places; “why did she get that part?” “How come he got that job?” “Why didn’t they hire me?” Understanding the Ego and how to utilise it best in day-to-day life can be mighty helpful in the ongoing development of a dancer’s career.

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Holding on my feminist values in the dance industry. A personal view from a dancer

Conflating ideas on sexuality and dance is an important, albeit conflicting, issue for any female/professional dancer nowadays; especially in today’s social and political climate and, amidst a profession spent glorifying and often essentialising the human body. As a female and as a dancer, the ever-present reality of displaying sexuality is a constant phenomenon, either in the direction or expectations of others, or the image we believe we are expected to portray.

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How Not to End Up in My Trash Folder, or Gentle Suggestions of What NOT to do When Applying for an Audition

With audition season upon us, I am receiving more and more emails every single day from dancers looking to promote their talents and catch my eye. And trust me, many of you do, but unfortunately, not always through positive means. I would like to help you (and me) out. The following is a list of suggestions to make sure that someone like me does not roll his or her eyes at your careless mistakes, and immediately send your application to the Trash folder…

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Daniel Mariblanca: A transgender voice in dance

I am 36 years old and I have lived 34 of those years as a woman who identified as a lesbian. Those are very solid pillars in me which I have defended with strong emphasis. Then five years ago, I started to get in contact with a lot of Trans people in Barcelona who inspired me deeply. That was when I started questioning the pillars of my live. In some way it was like getting to understand the relation between pieces that weren’t yet connected. We could maybe say that being a woman and being a lesbian was a massive cover up under which I felt encouraged and secure. By then being Trans was an inaccessible idea to me, something difficult to understand.

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HKICAROS & Hong Kong International Choreography Festival – Where east and west meet. A space to question, discuss, explore and develop choreography; creating its present to envision its future.

HKICAROS (Hong Kong International Collective Artists in Residency for Opportunities and Sustainability) and Hong Kong International Choreography Festival is a tandem, a five week choreographic residency followed by a three day festival happening in the symbiotic city of Hong Kong from May 27th to June 29th 2019.

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In the in-between…how to survive between dance contracts

We’ve all been there, those times when you’ve finished an awesome dance contract; you’re enjoying the rest and looking forward to jumping right back into the next one. Except the next one is taking a bit longer to come along than you would like. With each negative audition outcome comes a reassuring voice in our head, ‘too tall’, ‘not the right build’, ‘they wanted more classical dancers’ etc.

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Being (il)legal #2: A Dancer’s Run-in With the Authorities

If anyone can attest to the throws of bureaucracy in Europe, it is she. Holding a New Zealand passport proved fruitful for Tessa’s arrival in Europe eight years ago, but has since been the bane of her artistic career as a contemporary dance theater artist. She has been through just about every legal scenario to stay in Brussels and pursue her art – only once escaping deportation by a mere 20 days.

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Being (il)legal #1: A Personal Account of an American Dancer in Europe

Being a foreign freelance artist is difficult in Europe. As a dance artist, I want to base myself in Brussels. More than Berlin and London, this is where I feel most accepted, most inspired, most intrigued, most challenged, most supported. And for what?–– For my art, my research and practice.
I have spent the last three months expending countless hours of energy trying to navigate the Belgian bureaucratic system…

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Being (il)legal: Preface | A multi-part series looking at foreigner’s pushing the legal limits to pursue their art in Europe

Being (il)legal is a multi-part series where I look at the different lengths artists are willing to go in order to pursue their art. The main focus is on non-Europeans in Europe and why Europe is such a “mecca” for the Western (and sometimes Eastern) art world.
From stories about bouncing around from country to country or staying put and hiding from the authorities, this is Being (il)legal.

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Another Summer of Dance – 10 “Must Try” Summer Dance Intensives for any Experience-Hungry Dancer! (2019)

Another Summer of Dance –  below are the most popular and interesting contemporary dance intensive of 2019. Some of them happening very soon or almost selling out. So, have a read and hurry up before it’s too late.

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PROJECT | CONNECT – ‘Uniting the conversation between what has happened, what is happening and what is going to happen in dance.’

Summer 2019 will see the launch of PROJECT | CONNECT an unprecedented dance festival taking place in the magnificent city of London. What began as a reunion of ex-colleagues and friends orchestrated by Robert Dungey, has bloomed into a three week summer intensive which brings together the international crème de la crème of dance.

Robert Dungey has gathered an exclusive faculty of artists from Netherlands Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, American Ballet Theater, Alvin Ailey, Compañía Nacional de Danza, National Ballet of Canada, Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Staatsballett Berlin and Batsheva Dance Company amongst many others, to come together and help the new generation of dance artists dive into the profession. To accomplish this goal, PROJECT | CONNECT has programmed an intensive schedule of master classes, which range from traditional ballet to Ohad Naharin’s unique Gaga style, repertoire workshops exploring the works of renowned choreographers such asGlen Tetley, Hans van Manen, Maurice Béjart, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek and Nacho Duato, choreographic residencies and career advice.

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Van Legakis, Unity Space and this summer’s “Interdisciplinary Festival of Embodiment” East Point West

The festival truly is interdisciplinary in that classes involving painting, dance on film and massage are also offered in the program schedule. Separated into performance workshops, and elective classes, participants are given the freedom to build their own experience by selecting from the diverse line-up of guests. Each artist in the performance project series will be sharing their individually developed processes: Anton Lachky with Puzzle Work, Edivaldo Ernesto with Depth Movement, Judith Sanchez Ruiz with Your Own God, Inaki Azpillaga with Powerful and Fragile and finally Vangelis Legakis with Embodied Unity.

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