Dear 15-year-old Jorie First of all, it’s me or rather you from 10 years in the future. As I write this it’s 11:08 Chicago time, which means it’s just after midnight in Miami (not factoring in any futuristic travel time changes) so you’ve probably finally drifted off to sleep after coming home from dance (hip hop tonight, right?) eating dinner and finishing your homework. Algebra … Continue reading Letter to my 15-year-old-dancer self
My studio apartment became a studio and my barstool turned into a barre-stool. Continue reading Dancing with Myself: My First Video Ballet Class
Obviously, if we’re having fun then the people have fun watching us, because ultimately we’re having fun and that’s what it’s about. Continue reading Blast from the Past: My Interview with Bruno Mars’ Choreographer Phil Tayag
After repeated side-eyes from my mother and incredulous reactions from friends, I finally made it to the theater to see Us, Jordan Peele’s latest thriller. The dancer and budding culture critic in me are both glad I did. Us is the kind of work where every bit of imagery carries weight. At the same time, every viewer has permission to draw their own … Continue reading Reflections: Jordan Peele Uses Ballet to Examine Duality and Blackness in ‘Us’
Sometimes being in the back is a good thing. Continue reading When not being front and center gets you centered
Unfortunately, my blogging journey as I know it will have to come to an end soon. Continue reading This is goodbye …An announcement from DanceTopia
If you don’t hear from me for a few weeks, I’ve probably packed my bags and moved to Europe to learn how to really tap dance. Continue reading Rapidfire thoughts on the ‘World of Dance’ Season Premiere
This post was actually tabled over a year ago but since I’m behind and need to find a way to make up the days, I finished it and it’s going to be my BEDS post for today. Enjoy! Today was not a good class day… I did what I normally do. I got up. Got dressed and went to 1 p.m. ballet class. … Continue reading BEDS 18: Thoughts on an “off” day
Yesterday marked my first day at a new teaching gig for a performing arts program for children. It’s the first time in over a year that I’ve taught kids and even though the first day went pretty much without incident, I’m still nervous. As I mentioned in my “What I’ve Been Up To” blog post a couple months back, teaching children has never been my … Continue reading BEDS Day 9: Starting over yet again
Hi everyone– I’ve been planning to do BEDS (Blog Every Day of September) this month. Traveling and getting back into the swing of things at work placed me behind, so to make up for my delay I wanted to do 8 quick “blog-lets” to get me caught up. These will be mainly updates/commentary on my dance life so, let’s get started. Day 1: Gigs Ever … Continue reading BEDS Day 8: quick blogs
So if you pay any attention to my Instagram (@dancetopiablog, follow me!), you know that Tuesday night, I finally endeavored to take my first heels class. Here’s some video evidence: And now for some main takeaways from my first time twirling in heels: Muscle Memory is REAL And Getting the Steps Wasn’t that Hard I have danced in heels a couple of time before. … Continue reading Thoughts After My First Heels Class
I’m thrilled to announce my latest project: DanceTopia: The Podcast! This is my new bi-monthly podcast where I’ll share news, musings, rants and ramblings about my favorite topic, and yours –dance. The show notes section is my place to brain dump anything I may have missed or need to clarify from the show and to provide additional context or information about anything that was said during … Continue reading ‘DanceTopia: The Podcast’ – Ep. 1 ‘On Fouettes and New Beginnings’- Show Notes
