http://blog.dancedirect.com News, Reviews & Advice About Dance Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:00:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/05/19/life-after-training/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/05/19/life-after-training/#comments Sun, 19 May 2013 09:51:55 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=3939 After three institutionalised years at performing arts college, the big bad world on the other side of the studio door can seem a little daunting. Many students will graduate from college alongside their peers, only to be greeted with the graduates from all the other acting, musical theatre and dance colleges all over the world, [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/05/19/life-after-training/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/03/07/vocational-colleges/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/03/07/vocational-colleges/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:19:19 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=3506 For many dancers over the age of 16, the New Year spells auditions for vocational colleges. Many students who prefer to get their applications in early may have already heard from a college about whether they will have to pack up their tap shoes, ballet tights and jazz pants because they have or have not [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/03/07/vocational-colleges/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/01/10/pas-de-deux-secrets/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/01/10/pas-de-deux-secrets/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:36:24 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=3320 Whilst pas de deux may seem to be the most dynamic and exhilarating part of a dance performance, it is also the most demanding, technically, physically and emotionally. Whether it is classical in a tutu and pointe shoes or contemporary in unitards, the art of pas de deux does not seem to be a strand [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2013/01/10/pas-de-deux-secrets/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/12/20/shin-splints/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/12/20/shin-splints/#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:11:51 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=3258 “Shin splints” is the term for the ache and pain around the tibia and fibula which are the bones at the front of your leg that run from your ankle to your knee. They can be treated and prevented, but here’s the low down on the truth behind this troublesome condition. Dancers are prone to [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/12/20/shin-splints/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/12/04/fake/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/12/04/fake/#comments Tue, 04 Dec 2012 07:16:21 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=3205 In the twenty-first century, the world surrounding dancers and non-dancers alike contains the ability to ‘fake it’. Gone are the days of “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”, because now it is becoming increasingly easy to modify and improve more and more about us, and the world too – you can flaunt it anyway! ‘Natural’ [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/12/04/fake/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/11/27/zumba-dancewear/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/11/27/zumba-dancewear/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:05:04 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=3146 The Zumba craze has well and truly taken hold of the fitness and dance world, shaking up a storm and providing fun and fabulous calorie-burning workouts as a mix of dance and aerobic routines. Zumba is a dance fitness program created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto “Beto” Perez during the 1990s. This music is [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/11/27/zumba-dancewear/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/11/02/strictly-secrets/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/11/02/strictly-secrets/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:56:18 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=3032 In the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing series 6 in 2008, Camilla Dallerup and partner Tom Chambers were crowned the winners, with Dallerup going on to reveal some Strictly secrets. The shoes worn by the contestants, including those who have just begun their 2012 stint on the show have been developed over many years by top [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/11/02/strictly-secrets/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/18/body-conditioning/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/18/body-conditioning/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:59:42 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=2563 For dancers, being fit to dance is natural, inevitable, and above all stating the obvious. Hours taking class, rehearsing and performing are all perfect ways to hone your dancing body and become the greatest athlete you can. In terms of dance, that is: many dancers are only fit to dance rather than being fit in [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/18/body-conditioning/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/06/dancers-career-development/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/06/dancers-career-development/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:52:19 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=2473 The Dancers’ Career Development, founded in 1974, is a scheme which has been supporting professional dance for 38 years, helping them to make the transition from professional dancing to a new career by giving them the skills to continue working beyond dance as they hang up their ballet shoes. Initially The Dancers’ Resettlement Fund, it [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/06/dancers-career-development/feed/ 0 http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/01/fundraising/ http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/01/fundraising/#comments Sat, 01 Sep 2012 08:45:01 +0000 Jessica Wilson http://blog.dancedirect.com/?p=2375 With many young, hopeful dance students about to start auditioning for vocational performing arts colleges again, the question on most lips is, “how am I going to pay for this?”. Loan companies that students can apply to when they have secured a place at university are unlikely to offer loans to students attending vocational colleges [...]]]> http://blog.dancedirect.com/2012/09/01/fundraising/feed/ 0