Viviana Durante appointed director of dance at English National Ballet School

English National Ballet School has announced that the internationally celebrated Viviana Durante has been appointed as its new Director of Dance for the 2019/2020 academic year, commencing September 2019. Italian born Durante has enjoyed a distinguished career as principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Teatro alla Scala and K-Ballet. She has won multiple awards, danced many major roles, originated new work, and is largely considered one of the greatest ballerinas of her generation. Continue reading Viviana Durante appointed director of dance at English National Ballet School

Italy’s First Same-Sex Dance Competition

The Eurogames Roma 2019 saw a Same-Sex Ballroom & Latin dance competition head to Italy for the first time, and it welcomed dancers from as far afield as the USA. There is now an exciting three years ahead with the European Championships scheduled for Düsseldorf (2020), Copenhagen (2021) and Nijmegen (2022), as well as the very first Same-Sex Dance World Championship in Asia in 2022. Continue reading Italy’s First Same-Sex Dance Competition

The mental health of dance

Dance, whilst it can be incredibly rewarding and initiate wonderful feelings, can also have negative effects on the body and mind, causing injury, or issues in thoughts and feelings. It is not just a physically demanding career, it can affect mental health too. Professional and aspiring dancers are always looking to build up a thick skin, however this is not always possible and dance criticism can have a detrimental affect on the mind. Continue reading The mental health of dance

Understanding turnout

Often turnout can be both a physical and mental struggle for dancers. It seems that for most teachers, the words ‘turnout’ and ‘hips’ are their most commonly used, encouraging the dancers in their classes to turnout from the hips. Dancers sometimes only turnout from their feet, not engaging their knees and hips in the process, and in turn placing strain on these parts of the body. Additionally, perfect or near-perfect turnout can seem like an unattainable goal, along with 32 fouettés, 180 degrees extensions, and winged feet. Continue reading Understanding turnout

Elmhurst Ballet School pioneers ‘The Young Performers’ Health Trust Scheme’

Elmhurst Ballet School, the Birmingham-based vocational school in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet, is reflecting on a successful first year of pioneering and delivering a unique and bespoke healthcare provision for its young students in full-time dance training. The Young Performers’ Health Trust Scheme is now controlled as its own healthcare offer with almost 100% of students’ parents signing up. Continue reading Elmhurst Ballet School pioneers ‘The Young Performers’ Health Trust Scheme’

New national dance programme launched for working with pre-school children

Applications are now open for Little Big Dance, offering dance artists specialist support to develop high quality touring dance work with and for under five year olds – an age group historically overlooked and undervalued in the arts. Little Big Dance is a major three-year national initiative created by South East Dance in partnership with DanceEast, Take Art and Yorkshire Dance with more than £371,000 investment from Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Arts Council England. Continue reading New national dance programme launched for working with pre-school children