The Balanced Ballerinas Podcast: Recent Episodes
Georgia Dostal
This podcast is for ballet students and teachers who want to take ownership of their ballet practise, optimise their health and live a life filled with grit and grace! Hosted by Georgia, a qualified ballet teacher with over a decade worth of experience helping students change their life through ballet. Join the Balanced Ballerinas online and in-person community for classes, courses and workshops!
The big question is, are you attending the correct class to meet your physical and psychological needs?
It's SO IMPORTANT to choose the correct class level for YOU and this is what we discuss on the podcast this week...
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Prenatal, healing or beginner ballet student? This course was designed for you:
https://www.balancedballerinas.com/butterballet
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So today, I thought we should revisit the topic as a reminder to be positive about our periods and I'm going to offer some very practical suggestions for any woman who needs to wear a leotard and tights during that time of the month...
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Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here:
www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Prenatal, healing or beginner ballet student? This course was designed for you:
https://www.balancedballerinas.com/butterballet
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good fit for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here:
www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
My Instagram! @thebalancedballerina
Community Instagram! @balancedballerinas
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And join the SECRET Facebook group here:
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It was an absolute delight to welcome back the wonderful Sarah Kiely for her second appearance on the #balancedballerinas podcast!
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Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here:
www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Prenatal, healing or beginner ballet student? This course was designed for you:
https://www.balancedballerinas.com/butterballet
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good fit for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here:
www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
My Instagram! @thebalancedballerina
Community Instagram! @balancedballerinas
Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas
And join the SECRET Facebook group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/balancedballerinas/
An episode you've all been requesting!
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Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Prenatal, healing or beginner ballet student? This course was designed for you: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/butterballet
My Instagram! @thebalancedballerina
Community Instagram! @balancedballerinas
Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas
And join the SECRET Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/balancedballerinas/
Enjoy listening to a conversation with one of my online academy students Lesly today!
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Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Prenatal, healing or beginner ballet student? This course was designed for you: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/butterballet
My Instagram! @thebalancedballerina
Community Instagram! @balancedballerinas
Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas
And join the SECRET Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/balancedballerinas/
At the time of recording, I am currently 33 weeks pregnant but by the time this episode comes out I'll be 36 weeks!
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Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Prenatal, healing or beginner ballet student? This course was designed for you: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/butterballet
My Instagram! @thebalancedballerina
Community Instagram! @balancedballerinas
Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas
And join the SECRET Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/balancedballerinas/
This week I invite one of the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course graduates on the podcast!
Marguerite is from Ireland and has a remarkable story. Sit back with a cup of tea and be inspired by her journey...
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Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good for for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here: www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
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Podcast @balancedballerinas
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Let's talk about the giving and receiving of corrections in class today! _________
Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good for for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here: www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
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Podcast @balancedballerinas
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Hello Balanced Ballerinas! I know I've been a little absent this past month, but as you're about to hear it's been a BUSY one.
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Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good for for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here: www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
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Zara and I studied at The Australian Ballet School together and have reconnected in the last couple of years as she enters the world of teaching ballet.
Zara has a fascinating story, leaving the world of pre-professional ballet for life as a law student and lawyer, to eventually find her way back to ballet after experiencing some personal trauma.
I just love that she’s fallen back in love with ballet and sharing her passion for it with her own students now.
You can find further information about Zara on her instagram page @zaramlim and I think you’ll really enjoy this light but interesting conversation between two old friends catching up…
Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good fit for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here: www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
Instagram @thebalancedballerina
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Today we are going to talk about something a little different but something that’s actually really close to my heart.
I’ve been wanting to dedicate a whole episode to this topic for quite some time now in case it helps others in the Balanced Ballerinas community.
So let's talk about how I cured my eczema!
Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here: www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good fir for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here: www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
Instagram @thebalancedballerina
Podcast @balancedballerinas
Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas
And join the SECRET Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/balancedballerinas/
Join the Balanced Ballerinas FREE 5 Day Challenge here:
www.balancedballerinas.com/challenge
Book a Discovery Call with me to see if you’re a good fir for the 12 Week Adult Ballet Course here:
www.balancedballerinas.com/contact
Instagram @thebalancedballerina
Podcast @balancedballerinas
Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas
And join the SECRET Facebook group here:
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It's about time I invited Virginia (aka. Demi Pointe Dancewear!) on the podcast!
Virginia was one of my very first adult ballet students and continues to take multiple classes with me every week.
But what's really special is that Virginia started her small business out of my business!
I always receive messages from people in the #BalancedBallerinas community about my students fashion and in particular everyones skirts….
They are almost always by Virginia who creates custom, bespoke designs to suit a variety of ballet bodies and tastes.
It's an absolute honour to share not only Virginia's small business journey, but also her personal adult ballet journey.
Virginia is a wonderful client, student and friend who is a huge part of my studio and it’s very essence. I can’t thank her enough for the support over the past decade.
The best place to connect with Virginia would be to head to her instagram @demipointe_dancewear and find the links to her Etsy store there!
I also know Virginia would LOVE for you to drop into her DM’s to say hello or talk about creating a custom design for you!
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You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina
Podcast @balancedballerinas
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When I recently did a Q&A on Instagram, someone from the BB community asked me, "Do you regret not having a career as a professional ballerina?"
What a fabulous question to explore! In this episode I break down the reasons why (with hindsight) it was not the right path for me.
I'm excited to share my answer because it honestly highlights how much I love the work that I do...
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Whilst I'm sure you'll enjoy todays episode, it's really a selfish one as I want to capture this moment in time with my sister!
Sophie lives in the UK and a couple of times a week I'll give her a call during my morning walk when the time difference works out perfectly.
It was surreal to have her by my side during my morning walk this morning and half way through we decided to record a podcast episode today!
Sophie and I learned ballet together whilst growing up, but as you'll hear we were VERY different students.
This conversation is fun, light, sugary and full of sister love!
After listening (or during) we'd love you to let us know if you think we sounds the same! Can you hear Sophie's slight UK accent?
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Podcast @balancedballerinas
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I've had a massive few weeks with lots of new projects on the horizon! So I thought a very casual 'Ask Me Anything' episode was in order...
Today I answer some of the Balanced Ballerinas Community questions, talk about upcoming projects and even share details of my wedding - which is in two weeks!
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Welcome to another week of the Balanced Ballerinas Podcast!
Today we're talking about the value in simply practising ballet and not getting caught up in the 'all or nothing' mentality...
I think you're going to find this one really resonates!
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Dr. Linda Bluestein has been practicing medicine for over 20 years and has helped countless people restore function and improve their quality of life. Her special interest in treating performing artists (who are at increased risk of hypermobility disorders) stems from her many years as a ballet dancer and shattered dreams of turning professional due to her own hypermobility disorder.
An integrative medicine physician with certification in Performing Arts Medicine, Dr. Bluestein takes a unique approach to the evaluation and treatment of this highly specialised population.
Dr. Bluestein is an international speaker on the forefront of research on pain, hypermobility and dance medicine. Professional services include individual telemedicine visits as well as workshops and lectures for groups. Dr. Bluestein received her Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine followed by the completion of an anesthesiology residency at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and is board-certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology.
Personally I came across Linda's work when I was perusing dance related podcasts. She co-hosts the 'Bendy Bodies' podcast with Jennifer Milner and they cover a range of really useful topics for dancers, dance teachers and really anyone interested in optimising their health.
Now it was an episode about the connection between hypermobility and anxiety that really caught my attention and as you'll hear in this conversation I found Linda's discussion about this topic incredibly fascinating and useful when working with my own clients.
Linda is so smart, so driven and I really respect the work she's doing in this space. An absolute gift to the dance world and I can't thank her enough for her own podcast and content that she shares so freely. Thank you so much Linda for also carving out some time to share yourself with the Balanced Ballerinas community!
Happy listening everyone and as always you can reach out on Instagram @thebalancedballerina or find Dr Linda Bluestein @hypermobilitymd
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You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Hello Balanced Ballerinas!
Are you having a moment uncharacteristic of yourself?
Not following your own advice?
Not checking every box in your to-do list?
Going back to unhealthy situations?
Repeating unhealthy patterns?
Or perhaps you're doing things that aren't in line with your values?
Well this episode is for you! And me. And everyone who is human!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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I hope you're having a lovely January! And thank you for all your feedback on last fortnights episode. I'm so glad you enjoyed and it's always lovely to hear from the wonderful women (and men!) in the Balanced Ballerinas Community.
Today's guest is Caitlin Thamm who is the founder of Dance Care Australia. A space which has been created for dancers of all ages to be heard and understood in whichever capacity they need by someone who knows what it can be like to be a dancer.
Caitlin spent 15 years of her life studying to be a dancer. She began full-time training at the age of 13, which led her to finishing final years of high school at Queensland Dance School of Excellence. Following graduation Caitlin completed a year of Queensland Ballet's Pre-Professional Program in 2013 whilst participating in various company productions.
Upon graduating, Caitlin continued to train and traveled all over Europe auditioning for ballet companies in search for employment. Facing many struggles and disappointments she decided to return home to Australia and re-evaluate her future.
After making the difficult decision to stop dancing, a story so common, Caitlin applied for university and completed a Bachelor of Human Services in 2018.
During this time she began to notice the scarce amount of industry specific mental health support for dancers in Australia and decided to use her own experience within the dance world to support dancers going through the adversities the industry produces.
In December 2020 Caitlin graduated with a Master of Counselling from the University of Queensland and is now a registered counsellor with The Australian Counselling Association. Caitlin has a heart of gold and just wants to help young dancers flourish! I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Caitlin and I believe you will too...
As always, you can reach me on instagram @thebalancedballerina and you can also reach Caitlin @dancecareaustralia - she has the cutest, most sweet instagram full of feel good vibes, so be sure to check it out!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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I'm sure being the new year that you are bombarded with goal setting, habit trackers and all sorts of specifically new year new me topics, so I thought this would be a breath of fresh air to kick start the topics of conversation in the Balanced Ballerinas community...
Speaking of conversation within this wonderful community, please don't forget to join the 'Secret Balanced Ballerinas Facebook Group' asap! If you are not in this group, you are missing out!
It brings me so much joy to see conversation between ballet teachers, studio owners, parents of ballerinas and adult ballerinas. So go click join, I'll be sure to accept you (everyone is welcome!) and let's get into todays topic...
The question that kick starts todays topic is from Erin: "I'm interested in the makings of a concert, I'm sure there is far more that goes into it than we could ever imagine!"
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Today’s guest is Pacific Northwest Ballet Soloist, Jonathan Batista!
Jonathan started his training at a social project in Rio de Janeiro’s City of God slums. His talent was then spotted by his teacher which took him to a pre-professional dance division at Alice Arja Ballet School where he started his journey in Classical Ballet.
I won’t spoil the story about how Batista went from this humble beginning to performing all over the world – he shares this wonderful story in our conversation – but I will tell you that during 2017-2021 he has performed with Oklahoma City Ballet as a Principal Dancer.
Whilst with the company, Jonathan created two world premieres, winning ‘Best Choreography of the Year’ by the National Destined 2 Dancer Award and in 2021 he won the ‘Art Culture & Music Award’ by the TAF AWARD FOUNDATION for his contributions in representation, activism, work and contributions to the dance community in Oklahoma.
In this conversation we cover growing up in Brasil, the importance of having an entrepreneurial spirit if you’re going to have a successful career as a dancer and most notable his mission to create more diversity, equity and inclusion in the dance world.
Batista is a man with a mission and like all humans who want to make a difference in this world, he is incredibly focussed, driven and organised. We cover his insane morning routine and disciplined practices – but of course there’s some balance in there too…
I really loved chatting to Jonathan, in fact when recording was done we spent another few minutes sharing diary recommendations and organisation tips! I have a feeling we’re cut from the same cloth…
I wish Jonathan all the success in the world and would like to thank him for carving out some precious time to share his story with the Balanced Ballerinas community.
As always you can find me on Instagram @thebalancedballerina and you can find Jonathan @jonathanbatistaofficial – I love when people actually comment on the latest podcast tile on the official @balancedballerinas account, so come say hello and let us know what you enjoyed in this episode.
Enjoy my conversation with my new friend Jonathan!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Happy Thursday! In this weeks SOLO episode I go on a tangent about my thoughts on LEGACY. This is something I often think about at this time of year...
Are you thinking of changing dance schools? Quitting ballet? Or do you want to make a difference in this world and not sure how to go about it? I think this might be the episode you need to listen to...
As always, feel free to connect with me on Instagram and if you want to find the blog post about today's topic 'Why do I feel amazing after ballet class?' you can do so here...
https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2021/10/08/why-do-i-feel-so-wonderful-after-class/
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Penny is the Honorary Founding Director of Australian Dance Vision and registered training organisation Australian Dance Institute.
Penny's vision was to create a holistic education dance program via a creative and unique assessment process, while building both excellence and self-esteem for students and teachers.
Penny truly believes her syllabus gives students preparation for a professional career in dance (if they choose that path) with life skills that set students up for greater employment opportunities. Penny trained at the Scully Borovansky School, Sydney before becoming a professional dancer in theatre, film, modelling and television in Australia and the USA.
Later Penny followed her dance passion and became a teacher of classical ballet. Penny holds her RAD Teachers’ Diploma and a Certificate IV in Training & Assessment and a Certificate in Learning, Literacy & Numeracy. More recently Penny is a NEELI Higher Education Advanced Leadership Program graduate 2017.
Just as a side note; I love to share the qualifications of my guests because I think it's really important to recognise (especially classical ballet teachers) that go onto further education and seek professional development instead of simply teaching as they were taught. Being any kind of dance teacher is a career (it's not a hobby) and even though the industry is highly unregulated, anyone teaching without the desire for further education to achieve qualifications shouldn't be teaching.
Anyway, continuing on with Penny's story she was the proprietor and teacher in her own large academy of dancing (The Penelope Lancaster Academy of Dancing) in Turramurra, Sydney for over twenty years before creating and directing the youth dance company Ballet d’Action. This company performed in Sydney for ten years from 1989 to 1999 with 22 new dance works employing a number of prominent choreographers and musicians.
One of the reasons I wanted to have a conversation with Penny for the podcast is because I've been thinking a lot about syllabus lately - especially classical ballet ones. I've been researching and recognising those that do things really well and those that do things very poorly. It's a hot topic on my mind as I look toward to future of my own studio and as so many teachers ask my opinion of syllabi, I find it a duty of care to promote ones that are not only run professionally but also fairly for the health and wellbeing of students.
I hope to talk more about this topic freely in the future, but for now I want to focus on how Penny created and co-ordinated the development and implementation of five accredited, nationally recognized dance educational programs in classical ballet, jazz, tap and contemporary dancing. Her syllabus and it's process for examining students is really quite revolutionary. In Penny's own words...
“Created by qualified Australian teachers for Australian teachers. A unique holistic dance program for everyone who loves to dance. And isn’t that everyone!” Penny Lancaster, Founding President
During this interview we dive into some of the finer details that make ADV stand out from the rest, the importance of keeping up your academic studies (something I'm incredibly passionate about) and the importance of non threatening examination environments.
Connecting with Penny was truly a highlight of my week. I have so much respect for the work she does and the human she is. I can't wait to sit down over a coffee in-person one day soon. I feel like we'd have a lot to talk about...
In the meantime, it would mean the world to me if you subscribed, shared a screenshot or rated the podcast. This is a labour of love and your support keeps the podcasts coming! Now enjoy this interview with my new friend Penny Lancaster...
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I had the most delightful conversation with a gentleman by the name of Terry Hyde. I say gentleman because Terry came to the interview via Zoom in what looked like a very organised study in a wonderfully dapper suit jacket.
I on the other hand was in my pyjamas. Although my bed top is black, so it didn't quite look like pyjamas. But it was 5am in the morning for me, so my apologies if I take a moment to warm up in this interview. I really loved this conversation and found Terry to be so warm and inviting with his story telling and passion for his work. Let's face it, I love anyone who is on a mission. And Terry's mission is to provide counselling to dancers, teachers and artistic staff in the hope of creating better learning and working environments for dancers.
Terry Hyde is a registered psychotherapist and counsellor. Terry started dancing at age 6, joining the Royal Ballet at age eighteen before moving to London’s Festival Ballet (now known as English National Ballet) as a soloist and even performed in West End musicals, Film and TV.
Terry attained a Master of Arts in Psychotherapy, validated by Middlesex University in 2012, and in 2017 set up the website counsellingfordancers.com specifically to address the mental health needs of dancers. In 2021 he even created an app, which is called Help4Dancers and I highly recommend checking it out.
Terry understands the mental health needs of dancers and uses that in his one to one therapy sessions and in his proactive Mental Health Self-Care Workshops. You ca actually book an appointment with Terry via his website and if you feel drawn to him during the listening of this interview, I highly recommend doing so.
Terry is a little bit like my Mum. Very intuitive, very warm and very open to people sharing their stories, issues and idiosyncrasies. I can imagine a session with him would be incredibly rewarding. A huge thanks to Terry for making time during his busy schedule!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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This one is near and dear to my heart ballerinas!
You can view an entire transcript of this in blog form here: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2021/10/28/you-are-absolutely-allowed-to-call-yourself-a-ballerina/
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I have followed Annabelle's adult ballet journey since she started regular classes in 2019 - Annabelle became a regular listener of the podcast and through her support, comments and sharing across social media we began chatting back and forth in our DM's... In fact, if I go back through them now we've had wonderful conversations about the positives and negatives of taking photos in class, the realities of taking class at home on Zoom, the importance of period positivity (especially amongst young dancers), what to call my 'Seniors' adult ballet class, which I eventually just called 'Beginners' for so many reasons (but thats a conversation for another time!) and we even had a conversation back in March of 2020 where Annabelle thanked me for giving her a shout out in one of my episodes and divulged that it was one of her unofficial ballet goals to become worthy of being the subject of a whole episode! So here we are! But seriously, I think Annabelle has some wonderfully balanced points of view when it comes to the world of adult ballet and in this episode we cover her famous hashtag #BornAgainBallerina, the concept of 'imperfect practice', how pole dancing has improved her ballet technique and the realities of training from home during a pandemic. Plus so many more relatable and random topics that I think you'll all love. I absolutely loved this conversation and adore the social media friendship that we've curated over the past few years and if you'd like to follow Annabelle's incredibly balanced journey with ballet you can find her on socials @annabellebrittle Enjoy and let us know if you loved this conversation by commenting on the Instagram post that accompanies this episode @balancedballerinas
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Every year I re-write a blog post dedicated to the pointe work. This year I thought I'd break it down into five important questions to ask yourself before beginning your pointe journey!
I'd like to thank Sarah Kiely from the Living Well Studio who conducts the majority of my students pre-pointe assessments. Sarah is a constant source of inspiration and wealth of knowledge and I have pulled information from her teachings for this episode.
Sarah was actually one of my early guests on the #BalancedBallerinas podcast and if you haven't listened to episode #22 I recommend diving back into the archives.
In this episode I also recommend listening to episode #40 with the amazing Josephine Lee from @thepointeshop who is an expert pointe shoe fitter. Fitting pointe shoes is a fine art and students should never just buy pointe shoes online without a professional fitting.
THE FIVE QUESTIONS WE EXPLORE IN THIS EPISODE...
Am I being realistic with my dreams to study pointe work?
Am I willing to have a professional pre-pointe assessment and pointe shoe fitting?
Am I going to be okay if I don’t get the green light for pointe shoes?
Am I willing to run my own race and listen to my teacher?
Am I ready to dedicate a huge amount of energy and effort to this endeavour?
You can find the accompanying BLOG POST to this episode here:
https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2021/08/20/the-five-most-important-questions-to-answer-if-you-want-to-start-pointe-work/
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You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Louise grew up in country Lismore before heading to Brisbane’s Queensland Dance School of Excellence (QDSE) to finish school in full-time dance training. What I love most about Louise’s story is that although she started ballet late (12 years old is considered late in the world of ballet!) she was smart enough to realise that this disadvantage in the professional world of ballet didn’t rule her out completely in having a career within the industry…
After her first pre-pointe assessment, Louise always gravitated towards a fascination with physiotherapy and knew if she entered that space she wanted to remain in the dance world. The product of excellent parenting, Louise kept her academic grades high, contacts close and set out to complete her university studies and secure her dream role of working as a resident physiotherapist with Queensland Ballet whilst also building her own private practice – the pre-pointe physio. It sounds like a clear path, but there were a few twists and turns along the way which I’ll leave up to Louise to tell…
In this conversation we cover Louise’s personal journey from dancer to dance physiotherapist. And Im sure it will inspire any young dancers listening to keep up their academic studies. This story highlights the importance of education in young dancers and the beautiful possibilities that await anyone still wanting to be part of the ballet world if they decide a career as a professional dancer isn’t for them.
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Ever wondered why some weeks feel like you have boundless energy resources whilst others are completely flat? Well your menstrual cycle might have something to do with that!
Firstly, whilst I am an expert in ballet I am in no way an expert on health. However I have always been incredibly interested in how nutrition can impact my students and optimise their technique and training. One of the reasons why I started the Balanced Ballerinas Podcast is because it gives me the opportunity to pick the brains of experts in relation to dance science and nutrition and expand my knowledge in these areas.
I’d like to thank Dr Stephanie Potreck who has run her trained eye over this information I’m about to share with you. Her assistance and feedback was crucial to avoid the spreading of misinformation. I hope this post inspires you to get to know your body better and visit www.ausdancersoverseas.com for more comprehensive guides and courses that support dancers.
In this episode we cover the menstrual, follicular, ovulation and luteal phase of our cycle and explore some tips for taking class and setting goals that are in alignment with our needs during each phase of the cycle. If the episode inspires you to be more #periodpositive I'd love to hear from you!
Find the original BLOG POST HERE: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2021/07/04/tips-for-taking-class-and-setting-goals-in-line-with-your-menstrual-cycle/
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
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Today's guest is the gorgeous Jojo from Adult Ballet Collective, Adult Ballet Club and Ballet With Jojo. I'm sure you've heard of at least one of those, but they're so much more than just the instagram handle! Jojo started ballet at the age of 23 and is the poster girl for adult ballerinas everywhere, proving it's never too late to begin your ballet journey.
Jojo and I share some very similar beliefs; first of all that ballet is for EVERYONE and secondly that adult ballerinas come with the most incredible life experience which shapes their bodies and minds in a way that allows them to move with such maturity, depth and ambition. We also whole heartedly believe that ballet is a LIFESTYLE and that ballet can truly turn your world upside down (for the better of course!) by enhancing your life, sharpening your focus and getting clear with your priorities. This is why I feel connected and drawn to Jojo and why we've been working quietly behind-the-scenes together to bring you some pretty cool offerings!
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When a listener of the @balancedballerinas pod asked me to do an #AMA I must admit that I had to google what that meant. Apparently it means #AskMeAnything and it's supposed to be spontaneous, off the cuff and very honest. Sounds like fun!
My first honest admission? I missed last weeks podcast deadline because I have too many tabs open on my brain. There are so many topics I want to cover and big issues I want to tackle. So feeling paralysed, I didn't release an episode.
To get back on schedule I needed something a little self indulgent and dare I say 'basic', so an #AMA it is! Thanks for everyone who sent in questions and I hope everyone enjoys my honest ramblings about what I'm currently watching and reading, my favourite playlists for ballet class, why I don't wear a leotard when teaching, how long I've had my studio for and much more...
Love, Georgia
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I feel like todays episode will be as impactful as my one with Ally. Both Dr Nicola Keay and Dr Stefanie Potreck are pioneers and huge advocates of dancers mental and physical health around the world. And whilst Ally's episode comes with lots of personal stories and heartfelt messages, Nicky and Stephanie have brought all the facts to further strengthen that message. The dance world typically views 'getting your period' as a sign of unwanted weight gain or the end of the 'ideal pubescent body type' that especially the ballet world seem to be obsessed with. But these two amazing women have had enough and are spreading the message that periods are not only a marker of health but also crucial to mindset, recovery and performance.
Let's start with Stephanie who is a former dancer turned doctor and sports nutritionist specialising in the treatment of relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) and amenorrhea (which is the medical description for the absence of menstrual periods). Steph also offers a wonderful webinar called LEAP (with another former guest of the podcast, psychologist Philippa Ziegenhardt, hello Philippa!) that assists students and parents with the transition to living, eating, adjusting and performing when training overseas. Honestly, what a fantastic offering. Even though I didn't move overseas, the move from Queensland to Victoria for my own training was enough of a huge task, draining both physically and mentally and I would have loved to have a program like this.
And Nicky, well she is an Honorary Clinical Lecturer in Medicine at the University College of London, research fellow in the department of Sport and Exercise Science at Durham University, a member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine and a speaker on Dance Endocrinology for the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science. On top of all this Nicky is also a qualified ballet and pilates teacher and her aim is to redefine optimal health and fitness for the individual.
LEAP Program with Philippa and Stephanie: https://here2help.lpages.co/leap-overseas-landing-page-2021/
Stephanie's work: https://ausdancersoverseas.com/fuel-for-performance/
Nicky's work: https://nickykeayfitness.com/
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
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Born in Darwin, Meryl began ballet classes at a young age before heading to The Australian Ballet School. Shortly after being accepted into the company, Meryl took a leave of absence to work as a Principal dancer with the infamous Pina Bausch in Germany.
Eventually craving to be artistically challenged even more, Meryl then spent time between Germany and Australia appearing in television series for ABC television before finally returning to Australia to continue her love for choreographing as the Director of the Meryl Tankard Company in Canberra before moving onto the Director of Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide.
Meryl's work is nothing short of varied and colourful; creating Bolero for the Lyon Opera Ballet, commissioned by Tiffany & Co to produce a piece for New York's Museum of National History, she was also responsible for Nikki Webster's debut and the entire Deep Sea Dreaming piece in the Sydney Olympic Games opening ceremony, a piece titled Ocean Dance to welcome the Dalai Lama to Australia, the choreography for Broadway's Tarzan The Musical and finally but not even close to covering it all worked with Sydney Dance Company, The Australian Ballet, Sydney Opera House and Netherlands Dance Theatre.
Honestly, what you just heard only scrapes the surface of Meryl Tankard's credits. I haven't even mentioned achievements like a Helpmann Award in 2000 or Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019. I've just chosen a handful to share with you as otherwise this would be a very long episode!
I think todays story is a beautiful example of following your gut and that 'chance encounters' often take time and patience... and aren't really 'chance' at all! It was obviously wonderful sitting down for a conversation with Meryl Tankard however it was an honour simply meeting her. Much respect.
Please enjoy this conversation and don't mind a little background noise as we were recording in the art gallery and a small child decided to run circles around us as we recorded...
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In today's episode I share the most valuable lesson my mother taught me (in celebration of mothers day!) and I also read a very popular blog post that I wrote recently; It's not about choosing ballet over boys, it's about choosing yourself...
This original blog post which was adapted for this episode can be found here: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2021/04/30/its-not-about-choosing-ballet-overs-boys-its-about-choosing-the-right-boy/
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Joel is a beautiful ballet dancer that has trained extensively with The Australian Ballet School and Queensland Ballet Academy. In fact, we both share a deep love and respect for Paul Boyd who listeners of the pod are well acquainted with having both been taught by him for many years.
During our conversation we dive into Joel's experience as a Prix de Lausanne finalist and how he has decided to move away from the traditional route of becoming a professional ballet dancer to explore feature film opportunities, event management and anything else that tickles his fancy when it comes to shaking up this industry.
Can you see why I'm a big fan of Joel? Young and full of spirit with just the right amount of rebel in him that shows respect to the dance industry whilst simultaneously questioning past practices and look at reinventing the wheel. Because of this I'm officially a Joel fan and I think you will be too after listening to this conversation.
Joel's most recent endeavour is to bring the most talented ballet dancers from across the world together to showcase their incredible ability over a series of two intimate evenings at South Bank’s Piazza Auditorium, which is an incredible outdoor stage that's fully undercover. Perfect for covid times!
Shortened to BIG, the Ballet International Gala is the perfect mix of international and local partners with Julian Mackay (Principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet) and Lauren Lovette (former Principal dancer with NYC Ballet) amongst others bringing some international heat with the local likes of Mia Heathcote (Senior Soloist with Queensland Ballet) and Victor Estevez (Principal with Queensland Ballet).
Attracting art and ballet enthusiasts, this event is actually going to be like no other. Joel wants you to feel like you're at a ballet festival whilst celebrating the artists like rockstars and highlighting the importance of bringing ballet to the people.
BIG is on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th June of this year (I'll actually be attending the Friday performance!) and you can purchase tickets from balletinternationalgala.com - I hope to see you there and whilst I have only met Joel the once for this interview, I am so proud of this young mans ability to form an amazing team around him and shoot for the moon.
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This week I have a beautiful conversation with an even more beautiful soul, Margot Hallac! This is the identity behind the famous @pointebrush account on Instagram.
And yes, Margot was named after Margot Fonteyn. With a name like that you just have to dive into the world of ballet, but as you'll find out during our conversation ballet wasn't always on Margot's radar and whilst she danced as a child she has developed an even deeper passion for ballet as an adult.
Besides being the face behind Pointe Brush, Margot is a designer and a dancer living in New Jersey. She actually started Pointebrush as a side project and outlet to hone her skills as an illustrator and painter.
Margot graduated from Parsons School of Design with a degree in Communication Design and went on to work at several large design firms before starting her own design business with her husband.
Margot so generously shares some very personal losses and heartaches whilst we explore the concept of healing at the barre and although these are some heavy topics, I promise the conversation is as colourful as her watercolours moving from business to pleasure and paint to lipstick.
Pour yourself a cup of tea, add a biscuit if that's your thing and enjoy this one...
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I often find myself arguing in circles WITH MYSELF whilst pondering the topic of ballet uniforms. As an owner of a predominantly ‘ballet’ studio I find it difficult to comprehend a class full of mismatched or ‘baggy’ uniforms. But then I think, just because I’m conditioned to be intolerant of such a sight doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right. Perhaps I should do more to be inclusive. Perhaps I should be less lazy about coming up with more inclusive practices.
Listen while I argue for an against ballet uniforms and let's explore how we can do better together...
You can find the original blog post about this topic here: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2021/03/27/episode-60-are-ballet-uniforms-problematic/
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Hello beautiful Balanced Ballerinas! I hope you've had an amazing week, kicking goals, taking class and taking care of your physical and mental health. Remember, a ballet class usually fixes both these things simultaneously... so keep doing what you love!
As you'll hear, my voice is still a little under the weather. I'll be honest, don't actually know what it is at the moment, having some tests (not covid related, don't worry!) but todays guest did say that he liked the husky tone and I tend to agree with him. Unfortunately though it's not my real voice and something is going on so I'll keep you updated.
Anyway, if you haven't already head on over to our private Facebook group titled 'Secret Balanced Ballerinas Facebook Group' so you can connect with like-minded people within this amazing community. Or if Instagram is more your style, head to @balancedballerinas for more BB content. I love connecting with you all, so never be afraid to reach out. I am also sharing a couple of listener voicemails in the next episode, so if you fancy send one through to hello@balancedballerinas.com - I love getting voice memos from you!
Now I am beyond excited to share todays guest. In fact, this episode wasn't supposed to air for another couple of months as I often record my episodes with guests way ahead of time and schedule them so I don't miss a beat. However this one is too good not to share straight away!
It was an honour to have a conversation with the one and only Gabe Stone Shayer. He is more than a Soloist with American Ballet Theatre, he is a creative, a producer, a choreographer, a fashionista, a pioneer, an advocate... and of course an artist! There's so much more than meets the eye when it comes to Gabe.
I spoke to Gabe only a few days ago whilst he takes up an artist residency in the Cayman Islands. However Gabe is usually a New York City native due to his title at ABT and passion for fashion which has him working with some of the worlds top designers, including a recent collaboration with Chanel. Gabe is the first and only African American to graduate from the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet Academy and now as one of the only black soloists in ABT, I asked him how it feels to be known as the first or the only... instead of just an artist. I think some of his answers will surprise you and I'd like to thank Gabe from the bottom of my heart for being so open and honest in his answers.
Gabe has performed for many dignitaries, including the President of Slovakia and US President Joe Biden on the Vice Presidential visit in Moscow, Russia, and is a regular dance partner of the remarkable Misty Copeland. And yes, you all know I'm obsessed with Misty so I did ask Gabe what she's like... I'm pretty sure my voice changed an octave as I fan girl-ed.
During a time when many dancers are untethered by the barre and able to explore other creative pursuits, Gabe has wasted no time. Recognised by the New York Trust Community Fund, he received the Levinson Arts Achievement Award and was granted $50k for his recent projects titled Creative Genesis, PAS DE DEUX a four-part docu-series supported by CHANEL Official featuring the Alicia Keys and his Ghana Project where he instructed ballet students and teachers in Ghana via Zoom and created scholarships through ABT.
Like I said, it's an absolute honour to have the opportunity to share Gabe's story and flow from heavier (and such important!) conversations about diversity in ballet to chat about fashion, art and Chanel pearls! Watching Gabe collaborate and incorporate his style, masculinity and choreographic voice into his brand and projects is like watching a young man step into his own. What a gift to speak to Gabe on the precipice of authentically inserting himself into the world of dance...
If you enjoy this episode, please make sure you tell a friend or take a screenshot to share on social media. A little bit of love goes a long way and inspires me to continue having and sharing these conversations.
Grit & Grace, Georgia
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Today you don't get just one podcast host. You don't even get two. Instead you have four podcast hosts all chatting about their love of ballet and MUSIC! Yes that's right, the team from The Ballet Piano Podcast have crossed over (from London to Australia!) to be guests on the Balanced Ballerinas podcast today.
I came across their podcast towards the end of last year and completely fell in love with its content, vibe and wealth of information. It's truly an amazing educational resource for anyone interested in ballet, but especially as a ballet teacher I found myself nodding along, learning and bringing more musicality knowledge into my classes. I have The Ballet Piano Podcast to thank for reminding me that students find this kind of thing really interesting and develops a more wholesome ballet education.
So to say that I was excited to talk to Akiko, Chris and Matt would be an understatement!
Matthew Gregory has been a freelance pianist for the past twelve years and has worked for English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet School, London Contemporary Dance School and The Royal Ballet School - just to name a few! Akiko and Chris Hobson have very similar credits and are both married and met through the profession (which is very adorable!). You can find Chris's ballet class albums 'Modern Ballet Studio Melodies' on Spotify - they're superb and I use them all the time! And Akiko also works full-time as a ballet piano accompanist and shares the most glamorous venture into this world during our conversation...
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Yes it’s true, the POD IS BACK! Personally I couldn’t think of anything worse than kicking off the year with a ‘new year, new me’ type of episode.
After the year we all had last year, that’s the last thing you need from me! Instead I’m sharing a fun solo episode about the top 10 ballet class enquiries I receive at the start of every year.
Whilst some of these enquiries will surprise you, others certainly won’t and I hope that my answers will either inspire, inform or make you laugh.
I also share some recommendations you might enjoy, some beautiful listener voicemails and drop a hint about my next guest (guests?) on the pod… Happy listening #BalancedBallerinas Love, Georgia x
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I've been meaning to have today's conversation for a while now. I just had to find the time to pin down one of my favourite humans in the whole wide world - Mr Paul Boyd.
Mr Boyd (as you'll hear me refer to him because I am absolutely incapable of calling him 'Paul') was my coach growing up from about ten to fourteen years old. At the time Mr Boyd was still performing with Queensland Ballet and continued to take me for private coaching as he entered retirement.
Mr Boyd entered my life during those pivotal years as a young dancer when you need the utmost attention and care if you're going to make a career out of ballet. You also need the perfect balance between tough love and kindness which Mr Boyd has down to a fine art.
Now, regular listeners of the podcast have heard me occasionally talk about having some extremely damaging ballet teachers who didn't have the best intentions when it came to their students and I want to clarify that Mr Boyd was one of the only teachers I ever had that I unquestionably trusted and can say with confidence made me the dancer and subsequently teacher I am today.
I was going to share a little background, but we actually delve quite deep into Mr Boyd's illustrious career both overseas and in Australia, working with some of the most world-renowned choreographers and artists. As a young student, you're so self absorbed and only occasionally explore your teachers past but never in depth, so it was so nice to sit down and learn more about the man, the artist, I admire so much.
I care more for this man than words can describe and I felt so teary towards the end of the interview as I reflected on how beautiful this man truly is. I remember performing in Queensland Ballet's Sleeping Beauty, one of my first professional performances, when Mr Boyd would watch me warm up side stage and check in to see how my nerves were. I'm certain that by the end of this interview, you'll be just as in love with Mr Boyd as I am...
As a teacher, you just never know the impact you can have on a student and I'm so glad that Mr Boyd was part of my life growing up. I endeavour to be as kind and impactful as he was to me for my students. Thank you Mr Boyd for your time to generously have this conversation and for continuously pushing me to reach for the stars.
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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It's my absolute pleasure to bring the Balanced Ballerinas community a beautiful story rich in Australian culture and ballet royalty today!
Mary Li was raised in Rockhampton, Queensland amongst the chaos of seven other siblings. Her parents sounded phenomenal, loving and down-to-earth. The perfect recipe for supportive parents of a budding young ballerina.
From the humble beginnings of a little ballet studio run by Ms Hansen in Rocky to the Royal Ballet School in London and Christmas's spent at Covent Garden, Mary went on to tour all around the world world with London Festival Ballet before taking a position with Houston Ballet, that subsequently led to meeting the love of her life.
Many of us know the story of Li Cunxin (current Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet), author of Mao's Last Dancer. But few of us know the story of Mary and the incredible sacrifice she made for love, for family and for their daughter Sophie.
Mary's Last Dance is the title of this very story and hit bookshelves last week. Mary's memoir is an insight into her wonderful Australian childhood, dazzling career as a Principal dancer performing every lead role imaginable, touring with Rudolf Nureyev and being coached by Margot Fonteyn.
As you'll hear, I was incredibly nervous going into this interview. I was interviewing Mary the day after her book came out and her publisher had sent me a digital copy a week prior. Amidst the concert season I currently find myself, I hurriedly consumed the pages to prepare for our interview.
Whilst inhaling the pages of her book, I learned just how incredible Mary's career was. This made me nervous. I was about to interview ballet royalty. Then on the day of our interview Mary was watching me set up my podcast equipment when I asked if she'd done many interview yet for the book release to which she replied, "Yes! I've just finished an interview with Sarah Kanowski for ABC's Conversations!" I almost died. I was interviewing Mary right after one of Australia's top interviewers... no pressure!
Nerves aside, I have to be honest. I absolutely LOVED this book. I knew I'd enjoy it, but I was expecting to absolutely love it. I didn't expect to feel as emotionally swept up by the pages as I did.
Whilst the glitz and glamour of Mary's life as a professional ballerina is fascinating, I actually loved the whole heartedness of her Dad waking her up for rehearsals as a young girl, her Mum helping her purchase a Winter coat in preparation for a life in London and the references to 'tallie' beers, Hills Hoists and barbecued prawns shone through for me.
Maybe it's the fact I turned thirty this year. Maybe it's the state of the world we currently live in. Maybe it's the trauma we're collectively feeling as a result of this world pandemic that's making me so nostalgic and sentimental for the small things in life. But Mary's story is another reminder about what's really important in life; family, friendship and love.
A beautiful story. A beautiful reminder about how incredible this country I live in is. An extraordinary woman. After our interview I half expected Mary to quickly get up and go about her busy day, but instead she instantly turned the tables on me - asking questions about my own ballet journey, the podcast, our community and my ambitions.
I'm sure you'll enjoy this conversation as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you. And as always you can connect with me on Instagram @thebalancedballerina or even better hit that green button on Spotify!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
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I'm beyond excited to share this weeks guest with you all. As you would have seen from the title, today I bring you a conversation with the Kathryn Morgan. Affectionately also known as Katie and the YouTube star who brought ballet to peoples living rooms before covid made it cool.
Kathryn is an American ballet dancer who started her career as a soloist at New York City Ballet. I'm going to let Kathryn share her story in her own words, but I will share that after being diagnosed with a thyroid condition she had no choice but to leave the world of ballet and its unreasonable demands behind.
Getting married and thinking she would live out the rest of her life as a happy wife, Kathryn endured immense heartbreak and used ballet to cope with the pain of her divorce. The remarkable part of Kathryn's story is her return to the stage at the age of 30 as a soloist with Miami city Ballet. An absolutely remarkable accomplishment after so much time off and a testament to her talent and skill.
I have wanted to host Kathryn on the podcast for a very long time now, but I'll often wait to approach a potential guest until they have something really important to say, celebrate or share. In this case Kathryn released a now famous video titled 'Why I left Miami City Ballet' and after watching I immediately reached out. This video hit a lot of raw nerves for me.
Kathryn should be beyond proud of her career. As I mention in our conversation, as someone who is also trying to turn an industry upside down and forge my own path, I look up to and admire people that through the power of social media and sheer determination manage to be the architect of their own life by designing a career and personal brand that previously hasn't really existed.
This is a long, but important conversation. So let's get into it!
But first, I'd just like to say thank you so much Kathryn for baring your soul, sharing your story with the world and for giving a voice to all the ballerinas who suffer in silence.
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Today's guest is the alluring recording artist Chelsea Pribble! Imagine being able to sing and dance so beautifully?
Chelsea's album is titled Second Movement with tracks aptly named 'Pas de Deux' and 'Prelude'. This is what captured my attention whilst browsing through Spotify one day and why I felt a pull to talk to this mysterious ballerina turned singer-songwriter.
I'm actually not going to spoil the story about how Chelsea landed her record deal with Sea Change Records. It's a fabulous story that I asked Chelsea to share in the interview - so I'll save it for her. However I can tell you that Chelsea studied ballet and music in Switzerland during her formative years before returning to the US to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts (majoring in Dance).
As you hear in this interview, Chelsea finds it difficult to seperate her love of dance and music which is why they so often interlock and weave amongst one another through her body of work. I think it's actually really beautiful and powerful that an artist like Chelsea can not only write, compose and sing their music... but can then also dance in their own film clip!
Few artists can create such a holistic end product that truly encompasses what they're trying to portray. And what is Chelsea trying to portray? Well there's definitely a hint of sadness about letting go of a dream to become a professional ballerina, but as you'll hear it runs a lot deeper than that.
Chelsea's childhood (which I tried to delicately and politely explore) had a few struggles and as someone who believes that art heals everything, I can see that Chelsea's body of work as an artist has created some focus and clarity amongst life ups and downs.
It was an absolute pleasure speaking with this delightful young woman and I highly recommend everyone go listen to Chelsea's album Second Movement on Spotify. From the album artwork to the actual music, Chelsea's work has a beautiful balletic quality that I think any ballet lover will not only appreciate, but enjoy.
I'll make sure I share Chelsea's recent film clip in the Secret Balanced Ballerinas Facebook Group and if you're not part of this awesome group, make sure you search for it on Facebook, click 'join' and I'll be sure to add you to the community of fellow ballet lovers and listeners of the pod. We share lots of fun things in there... and by 'we' I mean 'everyone else' who is so onto it!
Now without further redo, here's Chelsea Pribble...
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You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Today's guest couldn't be more on brand if I tried!
As you'll hear in this interview, Karis began ballet classes at age 2 before she joined The Royal Ballet at age 6 after they held a workshop at her primary school and picked her out of a line up of students. She continued through the school before graduating at 19 - but as you'll hear it wasn't all peachy.
After a serious spinal injury, the development of an eating disorder and severe depression Karis stepped away from the ballet world for a few years to work extensively on her wellbeing, physical strength and mental health. In hindsight the work she did during this incredibly traumatic time is (in my opinion) the reason why she is such a caring, committed and empathetic teacher with her adult ballet students and built an amazing following.
I've reflected on this many times before and Karis and I briefly bring it up in conversation. Do I regret (like Karis) experiencing any trauma as a young ballerina? I don't think so. But should it happen to another? Definitely not. But the reasons for not following through with a professional career as a ballerina are probably the reasons why we are the teachers we are today.
So perhaps thats why I feel so connected to Karis. A shared sense of accomplishment despite the odds, a reconciliation with ones past and a passion inspired by hope for the future...
In this conversation we discuss Karis's current working from home situation, or the 'zen den' as she likes to call it. We also geek out on some adult ballet teacher challenges, concerns and teaching techniques, all whilst gushing over our love of ballet and how it truly does heal both the soul and body simultaneously. Basically I loved picking her brain as I admire this smart, beautiful, spiritual woman so much.
I think you're going to love this conversation and now is as good a time as any to announce that you might be seeing a little Georgia and Karis collaboration in the future (when we're allowed to fly around the world again!) because Karis is based in London and obviously as the listeners know I'm in Australia. So hopefully one day in the future our two adult ballet communities can collide so we can continue spreading ballet love around the world together.
As always, you can find me @thebalancedballerina on Instagram and be sure to join our private Facebook Group, just search 'Balanced Ballerinas Secret Facebook Group' to connect with like-minded #BalancedBallerinas from all over the world! And of course go find Karis on Instagram @karisscarlette and check out her stunning new website which is simply karisscarlette.com
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the SECRET Facebook group too!)
Are you an 'exercising' or 'training' ballerina? You'll have to listen to find out...
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the SECRET Facebook group too!)
Today's episode is a little different to my usual. But it's also my 50th episode (I'm quietly super proud!)
Whilst this episode is not how I thought I'd be celebrating '50' it's an important one that's close to my heart.
If you are a first time listener of the podcast I highly recommend you pick another episode before listening to this one because this touches on a very personal event that's happened in my life and dance community recently.
This episode is a tribute to my dear friend Cathy who recently passed away after her battle with cancer.
There's not a part of my dance community that Cathy didn't touch with her elegance, grace, humour and this episode is all about celebrating and saying goodbye to her.
Thank you for allowing me to grieve this way. The way I heal and process the world around me is by writing, creating and communicating. So I'm going to just that with this very special episode...
If this episode brings anything up for you please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or call a friend. It's important to talk about these things.
Grit & Grace, Georgia x
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You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with the gorgeous, vibrant and talented ex professional ballerina, master trainer and all round wonderful woman Louisa Paterson.
Like many guests I ask to join me on the podcast, Louisa and I first met via Instagram. Liking and tagging our way to a mutual understanding that we were all about the same things; balance, discipline, empowering women through movement and keeping it real.
And in the interest of keeping it real with my beautiful podcast listeners, I want to preface this conversation with the truth that I wasn’t feeling quite myself during this interview. It’s been a really rough week on the Balanced Ballerinas home front, loosing one of my closest clients and friends to dreaded cancer.
What they don’t tell you about in business school, is that if you’re lucky enough to cultivate a community you’re going to attract amazing humans and a handful of those humans will become your closest friends. So when you experience the tragedy of loosing someone you love within this environment, not only are you heartbroken yourself, but you also have the weight of your other clients heartbreak on your shoulders too.
It’s been a lot.
But I’m not going to talk about it anymore because I want to share more about who this beautiful client was in my 50th episode. Definitely not what I pictured for my 50th episode, but Cathy was the most elegant and graceful woman who deserves to be not only remembered but also celebrated. And I have the power to do so via this platform, so that’s exactly what I plan on doing in the next episode.
But for now, whilst everything is still a bit raw I SO welcomed today’s gorgeous guest with open arms. I’ve been wanting to e-meet and catch up with Louise (also known as Train Like A Ballerina) for so long, which is why I couldn’t possibly cancel.
Sydney born, Louisa’s career as a professional Ballerina took her to world stages where she danced Soloist and Principal roles alongside some of the worlds leading ballerina’s in Munich, Stuttgart and Berlin. Retiring at the height of her career at 25, Louisa studied chemistry, biology and nutrition whilst completing her Masters in Personal Training.
Why did she retire? Well, reading between the lines Louisa (like many) found out that life as a professional ballerina can be very unbalanced and with a burning desire to help others she embarked on a mission to empower women rather than sit back and become another broken ballerina.
And I couldn’t be prouder of her because she’s done just that! Empowering women globally through her Train Like A Ballerina method and new program delivering premium online dance workouts – Relevé. The launch of her new website is super sleek and I highly recommend checking it out.
But the reason why I love Louisa is because she’s more than her workouts and sexy new website. She’s the full package, a curious mind with a heart of gold. Open to learning and not afraid to be graceful in one breath and dorky in the next. I’m sure you’re going to love her too…
If you’re a long time listener of the podcast, it’s no surprise that I’m kind of into all things human optimisation. And amongst all the podcasts I listen to, documentaries I watch and books I read, a name keeps popping up… Wim Hof.
The best way to describe Wim is that he’s a dutch extreme athlete now in his 60’s. He’s a big ball of love, drinks beer and his work was inspired by the tragic suicide of his first wife.
Some of the crazy things he’s accomplished include setting the Guinness World Record for swimming under ice and climbing Mt Everest and Mt Kilimanjaro wearing only shorts and shoes. He’s proven time and time again to be able to resist the cold, suppress the immune system and most importantly teach people to do the same. All this craziness aside, the Wim Hof method was not developed so people can also do these insane adventures. No, it simply focuses on improving the quality of ones life through its three pillars; breath work, cold therapy and meditation.
I’ve dabbled in methods that focus on each of these pillars individually, but what I like about the Wim Hof method is that it covers all three. Now what has this got to do with dancers or our ballet practice?
Well, if you’ve ever been to one of my ballet classes you’ll know what focussing on breath is a large focus of class. I notice when people aren’t breathing, I notice when the breath doesn’t match the movement and I also notice when a student is in flow, mastering their breath.
On top of all this, I also have a lot of clients (young and adult) that suffer from serious mental illness or more mild anxiety and depression. Whilst ballet is a fantastic moving meditation, sometimes they need a little extra direction. Oftentimes I will incorporate some breath work into a private lesson or prescribe a cold shower (with legs up the wall) before bed…
These simple things work. And if I can help everyone find a little more balance and introduce you to a method that I’m personally experimenting with myself, then it might just change your life.
So today we have Queensland’s highest certified Wim Hof instructor Eden Lee on the podcast. Eden is the perfect person to talk about this method for the Balanced Ballerinas podcast because prior to being a pilates and Wim Hof instructor Eden was a professional ballet dancer and counts the likes of Steven McRae (Principal Artist with Royal Ballet) amongst his friends and clients.
So amongst all the cold therapy and breathing chat, you’ll enjoy an insight into Eden’s career and general ballerina chat that might make these concepts more digestible if this stuff is way out of your comfort zone!
Anyway back to Eden…
Eden has spent the majority of his life studying and refining his knowledge of many health and physical wellness modalities. He is an absolute wealth of knowledge and epitome of health!
Eden trains clients of all ages, abilities and talents on the Gold Coast at his studio Pilates Central in Bundall. His body conditioning approach endeavours to meet the individuals needs on the day and over time, based on the Pilates technique, the latest in scientific research and the decades of experience he has.
I really enjoyed this conversation and I have huge respect for Eden and his pursuit of mental clarity and calmness whilst improving or eliminating physical pain. You can tell he just loves his work and anyone who has a passion for what they do is someone I want to share with the Balanced Ballerinas community.
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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There’s so much in this episode that I don’t even know where to begin. It’s less question and answer. More of a conversation between two friends.
I’ve been meaning to catch up with Rose and record an episode of the podcast for a long time now. We go way back. Childhood friends dancing side by side for only a couple of years – but a couple of very formative years in our teens.
Before the pandemic hit, Rose was working on a feature film and HBO special which meant that she was constantly flying between London, New York, LA and Paris. So it was hard to lock down some of her precious time!
But like many, Rose has recently found herself with a little extra time on her hands. Of course the work of an artist never stops, but she’s certainly not travelling like she was before the lockdown. Currently Rose is settled at home in London.
We cover so many topics in this conversation and it was so nice to connect with an old friend who can relate to a time in your life that so few can. You’ll hear that we often dance around a few topics, a little unsure about what to share publicly in case it deters a young dancer from chasing their dreams…
But I want any young dancers listening to know that whilst there are still some shockingly abusive teachers around, they are so few and far between than back in my day. These days it’s so easy to expose indecent practices and teachers who are in this profession for the wrong reasons just can’t get away with what they used to.
My advice? Parents, do your research. Students, trust your gut. These days there truly are some beautiful ballet teachers who are constantly striving to produce more holistic and healthy dancers. When you find one, hold onto them for dear life.
Anyway, I admire Rose’s ability to so eloquently describe her thoughts and feelings around past events whilst forgiving, moving past and more importantly moving forward with her art, vision and purpose.
Now, this episode was recorded about four weeks ago during a time that studio owners like myself and freelancers like Rose were navigating our thoughts and feelings around online teaching. My studio is back IN the studio (thank god!) but I do share how we went about joining the online landscape whilst Rose shares some thoughts that I couldn’t agree with more.
But the main reason why I invited Rose onto the podcast was because she is a true artist. Sometimes I come across a young student who naively declares they’re going to ‘start a dance company’ or be ‘an artist’ when they grow up. But what does that even mean? What does that even look like? I’ll tell you what it looks like. It looks bloody hard! It’s filled with sacrifice.
Rose so kindly shares an incredibly vulnerable story of what it’s really like to be an Artistic Director trying to get a performance off the ground. So much can go wrong between that initial idea for a performance, it’s execution and the finished product – especially when the arts is so incredibly underfunded compared to other industries.
Let’s not sugarcoat this. It’s incredibly easy to have a dream or vision. It’s not so easy to execute. And most don’t have the guts, drive, determination or willpower to push forward when the world seems to be crumbling from underneath you. Let alone the grit to make it happen against all odds and the grace to ask for help when the purpose is far greater than you.
To me, this is what a true artist is. Someone who believes so much in what they are creating that it doesn’t matter what challenges they face – the show must go on.
Before I launch into our conversation; I’m proud of you Rose. I still look up to you as I did when I was a little girl. We have different dreams today, but if I walk through life with even half the grit you possess I’ll be pretty fortunate. _______________
Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Josephine is the Director of The Pointe Shop and the leader of a team of professional pointe shoe fitters that work out of her Orange County, San Diego and Oakland locations or they come directly to you. After recognising a need for more accessible and knowledgeable pointe shoe fittings, she started her traveling pointe shoe fitting company in January of 2014.
After our conversation I was desperately trying to figure out how Josephine could travel all the way to Australia to fit my adult and younger dancers! A bit of a pipe dream at the moment considering the world is in lockdown and most of us can't even leave our state let alone country.
So I guess I'll just have to continue consuming her content on The Pointe Shop's YouTube Channel - which is amazing by the way. Go check it out! And whilst you're searching all things Josephine, I highly recommend following her personal Instagram account @josephineylee
The thing I love most about Josephine is how inspirational yet relatable she is. And she always seems to find the right words to describe a thought I'm having or respond so maturely and gracefully to a difficult situation.
If you're a lover of ballet, enjoy this fabulous story with talk of pointe shoes woven in and out of the story line and if you're one of my younger listeners I want this conversation to inspire you to continue your ballet training with the mindset that you never know where it may take you!
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Now I’m really excited to bring you today’s guest because he’s one of those rare master teachers who can actually relate to dancers that begin their training as a young adult. I always have so much respect for those that find dance a little later in life and had to persevere and persist amongst other dancers who had been training their whole life.
I can’t relate to my clients who start ballet later in life as I began ballet classes from the age of three. I honestly don’t know what it’s like to not know what a plié is! Sometimes I find it hard to relate to an adult ballerina who begins their journey at the age of 25, 35 or 85 years old and sometimes I need to be reminded what it must feel like in order to teach with empathy and sensitivity.
Today’s guest has this in spades. I had the absolute honour of speaking with William Waldinger (who prefers to be called Bill) who teaches both Ballet and the Luigi Jazz Technique at the Joffrey Ballet School in the Ballet Trainee Program, the Adult Program and the Jazz and Contemporary Program.
Bill is also on faculty at the New York Film Academy and has served as the Director of Jazz at the Manhattan Ballet School and the Director of Ballet at the Contemporary company Cora Dance. As a performer, Bill has appeared in musical theatre, commercials, music videos and television.
Highlights include many regional and off broadway productions. His flare for Musical Theatre makes him an excellent practitioner when it comes to developing and laying down the fundamentals of classical ballet for his clients who may have a beautiful voice and stunning acting skills but are turned away at auditions because of their lack of dance technique.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a parent or student call me in a similar situation and I have to explain that there are no shortcuts when gaining a ballet education. In fact, Bill has written an amazing blog post all about this and I highly recommend checking it out on his blog (wait, how good is this title!) – classicalballetandallthatjazz.com
I also recommend checking Bill out on Facebook or Instagram. As a ballet teacher I find his musings and way with words so eloquent, inspiring and relatable. Usually when I’m thinking something (like magic!) he tends to post about it the next day or following week, summarising my thoughts exactly.
From my apartment on the Gold Coast in Australia, I spoke to Bill in his New York City apartment about his rather unconventional start in the dance world to his incredible journey into the world of teaching. We touch on his transition to online teaching during this time, but mostly we focus on his story, his passion for keeping it real and his thoughts around teaching both Ballet and traditional Jazz technique.
Now, sometimes you might need a pen and paper to jot down notes from a podcast episode, but this is more the kind that goes well with a cup of tea. So sit back and enjoy Bill’s fascinating story and passion for teaching. ________________
Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Jess Spinner is the Founder of The Whole Dancer and an ex-professional ballerina with Louisville Ballet.
Jess began her journey into nutrition and health coaching when she had to leave behind the world of professional ballet due to an injury.
Jess is a fully qualified Health Coach with over eleven years of experience behind her working with dancers from top companies such as New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet Company as well as aspiring young ballerinas and adult ballet dancers from around the world.
Jess and I have a lot in common. Our businesses were both born out of a gap in the industry. A gap that we only discovered because we experienced the pain and anguish of not feeling balanced... or whole. I love how the two are interchangeable throughout this conversation...
Like myself, Jess struggled with body positivity, confidence and food choices as a young professional dancer and through research, study, discipline and innovation with her business has created a community that supports and encourages young dancers to find their wholeness, their balance... their best body (which you'll find out in this discussion is different for everyone).
In this conversation Jess and I do focus on the additional challenges during this particular time whilst navigating food choices and body positivity. But Jess also helps us define health and success in the broader sense with a sprinkle of confidence boosters, common sense advice and helpful suggestions.
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Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/
You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com
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Ashley Ellis started her professional career with The American Ballet Theatre before joining the Corella Ballet as a Soloist in Spain. As you’ll hear in our conversation this is where Ashley spent many beautiful European days filled with dance and work whilst meeting her husband George.
Together they moved to Boston where Ashley is a Principal with Boston Ballet, mother of one-year-old Grey and the Founder of (in my opinion) the ballet worlds favourite leg warmers – RubiaWear which are worn by professional and amateur ballet dancers all around the world!
As a proud wholesaler of RubiaWear, I’ve been in contact with Ashley off and on for the past few years. But we’d never sat down to have a conversation. So this was a real treat for me as I’ve admired Ashley as a business woman and of course ballerina for a very long time.
We chat about her beautiful career as a professional ballerina, how she became an accidental entrepreneur, what training from home is like with a toddler and the transition to online teaching. We also discuss the importance of setting boundaries and keeping perspective during this difficult time as a professional dancer and generally speaking, human.
As always, I hope this episode brings a little balance to your day…
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www.balancedballerinas.com IG @THEBALANCEDBALLERINA IG @BALANCEDBALLERINAS
Finis Jhung! Where do I even begin?!
It’s been an absolute dream of mine to speak with Finis for over a year now and I always thought I’d contact him when I had plans to travel to New York so we could meet and perhaps do this interview in person...
However with the current pandemic, isolation blah blah blah (everyone’s sick of hearing about it!) I thought there’s no better time than the present. So I sent him a little message and was so delighted when he was not only quick but eager in his response.
Now I knew his story would be good, but I was not prepared for just HOW GOOD it truly is.
At 83 years old Finis gives us a glimpse into the 1960’s where the ballet world was very different to the world it is today!
During this conversation we begin with his love of practising Hula and Ballet as a young one to the time he spent serving his country in the war. Then we bounce from dancing and travelling around the world staying in 5 star hotels to his epiphany by a hotel pool which led him into Buddhism.
If I’m honest, this story (this journey!) is the perfect escape during a time like this. So I want you to pour a cup of tea, sit back and relax whilst enjoying Finis’ incredible story and infectious enthusiasm. And what an amazing story teller Finis is. In fact I usually put a few more details into these introductions, but to be honest I’m not going to spoil or share too much more as no one tells this story better than the man himself.
But what I will say is that Finis does what he believes in. Finis doesn’t care about the rules of classical ballet and yet teaches (in my opinion) one of the most pure versions of it. He is unapologetic and hates laziness. And because of these things, I absolutely love him.
You are going to love Finis and I usually reserve my recommendations to the end, but if you’re after more you can purchase his book directly from finisjhung.com
Grit & Grace, Georgia
IG @balancedballerinas & @thebalancedballerina www.balancedballerinas.com
Hello beautiful Balanced Ballerinas! How are you all feeling this week? I’ll be honest, I’m feeling better that last week.
If you ever feel like sharing your thoughts, feelings, questions or maybe even a photo of your current ‘home studio’ you can do so in the Private Balanced Ballerinas Facebook group… simply search, click ‘join’ and I’ll be sure to add you.
Now onto today’s guest…
Debra is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Dance Physiotherapist with 30 years experience in the assessment and treatment of dancers & performing artists.
Debra is also the Director of The Dancers Clinic in Sydney Australia and a lecturer in anatomy and injury prevention for dancers, teachers and allied health professionals.
In other words, she is the perfect person to bring on the podcast to discuss staying active, positive and safe whilst dancing at home during isolation.
Debra is also internationally recognised in the field of dance medicine, frequently presenting papers as an invited speaker at national & international dance medicine conferences such as the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) where she sits on the Board of Directors.
Now, if you follow me on social media or listened to the previous two solo podcast episodes since corona virus hit, you will have picked up that I’m a little concerned about everyone performing pirouettes on tiles or grande allegro in their garage.
This is why my dance studio didn’t automatically transfer our entire timetable to online in haste. Instead we slowly wound down and I did what I do best… consulted and spoke to leaders in our industry who I trust wholeheartedly.
One of my first phone calls was to friend of the pod Marie Walton-Mahon (Founder of Progressing Ballet Technique). In between converting her entire PBT syllabus into a family-friendly version complete with equipment substitutes (like skateboards instead of swiss balls!) to keep everyone active during this time, Marie so kindly took my calls and introduced me to Debra.
Little did Marie know that Debra has actually been on my list (yes I have a list!) of dream guests for the podcast for quite some time now, so I jumped at the opportunity to do a remote interview.
I think it’s really important to prioritise our physical and mental health during this time. To try maintain our condition, instead of kicking new goals.
As Marie so famously says, ‘The Body is Forever’ and to compliment that I think we need to consider another friend of the pods daily mantra ‘Slow. Tender. Surrender…’ Global Lululemon Ambassador Ally Maz mentioned in episode #36 of the podcast just how important it is to listen to our bodies for our mental health and #SlowTenderSurrender couldn’t be more pertinent to the current situation.
In this episode Debra and I discuss the benefits of staying active during this time, creating a safe space to condition and train and the importance of not playing catch up when this is all over.
Debra also provides some really practical ideas, solutions and suggestions whilst sprinkling the perfect dose of encouragement to all of us who are missing our studios so very much.
It was an absolute honour to speak with Debra and I’d like to thank her for being so willing to jump at the chance to appear on the podcast and I hope we can meet and connect in real life soon…
You can find Debra at The Dancers Clinic on Facebook and contact her via email at physio4dancers@ozemail.com.au
Grit & Grace,
Georgia
IG @balancedballerinas IG @thebalancedballerina
Download the BB #STAYHOME Schedule here: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/shop/
I think todays conversation is all about settling into this new norm as best as we can.
I hope this conversation helps you feel less alone.
I hope you're treating yourself with kindness.
Our goal? To try put ourselves in other peoples shoes before judging them and try to not judge ourselves.
If you want to do daily live classes from dancers all around the world, then go for it. But if you feel like crawling up on the couch to watch Disney movies that’s okay too.
We are all going through an intense moment of stress and anxiety together and we need to do what feels right. What feels good.
If you’re practising at home, please be safe. Stick to the basics, move a little slower than usual and I’ll be sure to see you on social media @thebalancedballerina if you want to join in the Balanced Ballerinas #stayhome schedule.
I love you all so much and whilst we can’t hug much these days, Im sending you all a big virtual hug across the sound waves…
Georgia x
I know. I know. You don’t need another blog post, podcast episode or piece of social media content about COVID-19. But here we are! Today we talk about turning inward.
Today we talk about powering down your devices if they’re making you anxious.
Today we talk about being sensible and hygienic.
Today we talk about the importance of humour and to not feel bad about trying to find light amongst the darkness.
Today we talk about the immune system and why it’s important to take your health seriously EVERY DAY – not just when there’s a health crisis.
I don’t know anything about the coronavirus, but I do know that there’s always a sliver lining and I have some ideas at the end of this episode for you to focus your energy on...
Don't be afraid to reach out and message me on IG @thebalancedballerina or @balancedballerinas
Grit, grace and love to all!
Described by some as an American choreographer with a Russian soul, Eric Conrad is most famous for his work with arguably the worlds most famous ballerina, Misty Copeland.
There are hours of videos on YouTube for free with Eric coaching Misty and they're an absolute gold mine of technical teachings. I’ve spent hours watching Eric break down the placement of a chasse pas de bourre or a simple tendu to a la seconde with Misty. As a ballet nerd, it’s fascinating.
Watching his videos, he often says to those he’s coaching, “Do you feel that? Do you feel the difference? Now, please don’t just agree with me. Tell me if you don’t and I’ll explain another way…” These kinds of comments, in my opinion are what make a phenomenal teacher and why I wanted to interview Eric on the podcast.
At any given time, I have many things on my mind… if I’m honest, it’s kind of exhausting. Thoughts about our industry, our training methods, our practices, competitions, social media, flexibility and how snobby and dusty the ballet world can be at times, especially when dealing with adult learners of ballet - just to name a few.
However I’m a bit different to Eric in that I tend to workshop my thoughts. I write and stew over notions before deciding on an argument, letting it simmer before releasing into the wild via this podcast, a blog post or social media. Oftentimes I’ll write a Instagram caption about something I’m passionate about and not post for months to check in with myself at a later date and see if I still feel the same way…
I feel like Eric is maybe the opposite of me, in that he seems to just say what’s on his mind, sometimes to his detriment, but nonetheless brave. Like Eric, I’m very sure of myself. But unlike him I tend to tip toe around certain issues for fear of hurting someones feelings. On the other hand, Eric see’s everything very black and white and that calling people out on their nonsense as a service for the better good. If I’m honest, I kind of admire this about him…
As Eric says himself, he’s not in the business of being a sweetheart. He’s in the business of speaking the truth. Wether you agree with his truth or not is another story. But I have respect for the man because he isn’t afraid to speak what’s on his mind.
In this conversation you’ll also hear from Svetlana (Eric’s wife, who started ballet only a few years ago). Ballet has saved her from crippling migraines and all sorts of pain. She credits ballet for her new found quality of life and as someone who deals with this on a daily basis with my own clients, I could completely relate to her and Eric’s passion for the importance placed on the work we do.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to share on the Balanced Ballerinas Podcast Instagram (@balancedballerinas) some of Eric’s quotes, which you’ll hear scattered throughout this podcast… he has a talent for summing up a profound thought into one sentence. So make sure you’re following if you don’t already do so…
You can find more of Eric’s work at balletconradinstitute.uscreen.io or simply head to @balletconrad on Instagram!
Let’s get into my chat with Eric Conrad. Master ballet coach and lover of turnout…
Say HELLO! @thebalancedballerina @balancedballerinas www.balancedballerinas.com
Today's episode is with my good friend Josef Brown!
Josef's professional career began as a Soloist with The Australian Ballet in 1994 before joining Sydney Dance Company in 1997. Then Josef's career pivoted towards acting when he took on the role of 'Johnny Castle' in the original stage adaptation of Dirty Dancing which toured throughout Australia and New Zealand. He was even part of the opening on London's West End and toured throughout the United States as part of the pre-Broadway tour completing 1500+ shows over 4.5 years. Incredible!
Josef then returned to Australia to take on the role of 'Patrick' in the multi-Logie Award winning series Dance Academy, 'Dale Canning' on Home & Away, 'Auctus' in Spartacus - Gods of the Arena and 'Daniel' in Sam's Story before playing 'Matt Turner' for over two years on the beloved Aussie drama, Neighbours.
This is why his face might be familiar to many of you! In fact, when I met up with Josef for our interview in Sydney a couple of months ago, I posted a photo of us on social media and very quickly got a text from my partner saying, "Why are you hanging out with Matt Turner the cop from Neighbours?"
Josef also has many writing and producing credits for various webisodes, ABC TV documentaries and was a sitting member of the NSW Ministry of the Arts Dance Board. He's one talented and exceptional artist with brilliant professionalism in dance and business.
Speaking of business, Josef is now the Relations & Development Director at one of my favourite dance brands ever... MDM! And this is how we became friends. In fact, he is the voice behind the MDM sponsorship ads you may have heard in previous episodes. Just for fun I'm going to play it again for this episode, not because MDM are sponsoring this episode or Josef's and my chat, but because I just love Josef, the MDM team and their products. We have a long, but super interesting chat that I'm sure many of you will enjoy, so let's get straight into it...
Say hello on instagram...
@balancedballerinas @thebalanceballerina
www.balancedballerinas.com
Most of the time when I do an interview, I upload it onto the computer and write the introduction at a much later date. Often the interviews are done weeks (if not months!) before I even release them.
But after speaking to Alex (also known as Ally) Mazerolle, here I am, writing away only moments after our conversation. This is how inspiring this remarkable woman is.
The best way to describe Ally is remarkable. Truly remarkable. Her candid nature is as striking as her aura (which I felt, despite Ally being all the way in New York City whilst I'm in Australia during this interview) and I can't help but leave our conversation feeling like I want to take over the world with her.
And by world, I mean the world of women... ladies... teens... tweens... the group who have been marginalised and told that their bodies are for others enjoyment or something to be embarrassed about for far too long. Well thanks to people like Ally, that's becoming a notion of the past. Women have woken up and we are now reclaiming our bodies, our space and our rights.
You see, there's a topic I've been wanting to cover for quite some time now. Periods.
Why you ask? Well it's a topic that I come across weekly within the four walls of my studio. Wether it's a parent coming in to tell me that their daughter won't get out of the car because she just got her period or a shy student ashamed to wear shorts over her leotard in order to feel more comfortable... I often think to myself, why is everyone so embarrassed and sensitive around this topic? Surely if it happens to all of us, we should be confident and at the very least coherent when talking about periods.
What I mean by this is the fact that parents will whisper to me, "My daughter got her period and I'm not sure what she should wear or do..." or another one I've heard many times, "She got her period. The poor thing. It's so unfair. Such disgusting things us women have to go through..." What surprises me, is that oftentimes these comments come from women who are confident, empowered women. So it always surprises me.
My question is why are we so repulsed, awkward and uncomfortable with this topic? Myself at times included. However, inspired by Ally I pledge to be more open about the topic from here on. I pledge to make my students feel confident, empowered and unashamed. I started this thought process last year, but this year I'm ramping it up. If you're a ballet teacher listening to this, I'd love you to consider making the same pledge too.
During our conversation, Ally discusses ways we can do this as teachers, as parents and as a community...
And for all my beautiful young ladies out there who are challenged with wearing extremely tight and often pastel coloured clothes during your period, I hope this conversation helps you navigate the intricacies of dealing with periods as a dancer. But most importantly, I hope this conversation helps you realise that you're not 'dealing' with your period. You're traversing the very normal (and somewhat beautiful) bodily function of being a woman.
Ally shares her story. I share mine. And hopefully through our less than desirable experiences we can help the next generation of young dancers and inspire conversations between mothers and daughters (because I know a lot of you listen to this podcast in the car together) or as Ally says, hopefully this even inspires conversations between father and daughter, grandma and granddaughter or friend to friend.
I'll be honest; half my battle was trying to find someone within my industry willing to even have this conversation with me. I was even going to do a solo episode. But just before I gave up finding someone, I was scrolling through Instagram and came across Ally who I've been following for almost eight years. How had I not thought of her before?
With a background in competitive dance and a story similar to my exit from the professional dance scene, Ally has created a beautiful community through her work - Girlvana Yoga, Ladyvana Retreats, Lululemon global ambassadorship and yoga teaching. Ally is also currently writing her first book and I am buying multiple copies the moment it's released.
This woman is exceptional. And what she's doing for young girls in the yoga scene, I want to do for the ballet scene. I think I have a bit of an uphill battle, but like I said, I've publicly taken a pledge now... so let's see what happens.
Towards the end of the interview, Ally and I both mention that we reclaimed our body confidence through various other practices outside the dance world. Wouldn't it be nice if we had of been able to do that in the dance world? Just a reminder, in case you've forgotten, this is part of why the Balanced Ballerinas brand, conversation, retreats and content exists.
As always, another conversation with another amazing human being with the intention of bringing us one step closer to balance...
Connect with us on Instagram...
Ally @allymaz Me @thebalancedballerina The pod @balancedballerinas
www.balancedballerinas.com
Firstly a huge thank you to friend of the pod (who became a real-life friend Dr Andrea Robertson from episode number 11!) who introduced me to her dear friend and Principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, Amber Scott.
Little did Andrea know, I actually used to watch Amber through the studio windows when I was a young student at The Australian Ballet School. So this made the introduction and interview extra special for me. I even brought to the interview a journal from when I was twelve years old with Amber’s signature. She had a giggle and noted how young her handwriting was. But oh my gosh, I’m such a goofball. I can’t believe I did that!
Anyway, this is how amazing Amber is…
I was meeting her at the Sydney Opera House as they were in the midst of Nutcracker Season. She wasn’t supposed to be performing that evening so we decided an interview in the afternoon would work perfectly. When I arrived, one of the company members was sick and couldn’t perform so not only did Amber have to prepare to fill her spot, but she also had to rearrange babysitters and all sorts for her daughter.
I told her that it was totally fine if we needed to cancel the interview and do it another time, but she was insistent that we have a conversation for the podcast because she loves the idea of sharing and passing knowledge down to the next generation of ballerinas. So with that we locked ourselves in her beautiful dressing room overlooking Sydney Harbour and had this conversation whilst she prepared her pointe shoes for the evenings performance. What a star.
A little about Amber in case you didn’t already know…
Amber Scott joined The Australian Ballet School at age eleven. After graduating as dux, she joined The Australian Ballet in 2001 where Amber was promoted to principal artist in 2011 after performing the Second Movement from Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto.
Amber has received a Helpmann Award nomination for Stephen Baynes’ Swan Lake in 2013, a Telstra Ballet Dancer Award and Telstra People’s Choice Award in 2004, a First Place at the Junior Asian Pacific Competition in Tokyo 1999 and a bronze medal at the Adeline Genée Awards in 1998.
But more recently Amber has been awarded the title of mother. Giving birth to little Bonnie just over a year ago now. Fun Fact! Bonnie’s father (and Amber’s husband) is fellow Australian Ballet Principal Artist Ty King-Wall. I remember Ty from my Australian Ballet days – he was always so boundless and impressive with his movement and was accepted into the company when I was in Level 6 at the school. I can only imagine what amazing ballet blood is within Bonnie already with a Mum and Dad like hers!
Not only do Amber and I discuss her career, but we also discuss motherhood and the intricacies of having a partner who has the same difficult working hours as you. It’s a fascinating situation and Amber gives insight into the life of a classical ballerina trying to balance pirouettes and prams.
And because I know so many of you are David Hallberg fans, I had to ask Amber what it’s like partnering one of the worlds most famous classical ballet dancers (which she has done many times). I love her answer, so you’ll have to keep listening to find out.
As Amber sat across from me I couldn’t help but notice her refined and effortless elegance. Sans makeup, dewy skin from rehearsal, wearing a simple singlet and shorts, she was absolutely glowing. The kind of glow that comes from a kind soul.
It was truly an honour to interview this gorgeous ballerina, human and now mother. So thank you Amber for sharing your precious time (especially as you’re now a working mother!) and Im sure the listeners are going to love this one!
Find the #BalancedBallerinas Community on Instagram! @balancedballerinas @thebalancedballerina www.balancedballerinas.com
Happy New Year Balanced Ballerinas and welcome to 2020!
With a new year (hey, new decade!) I thought now is as good a time as any to talk about goals, intentions, vision and of course… balance.
It’s always around this time of year that people jump on the bandwagon of dissing ‘goals’, saying they’re a waste of time and I couldn’t disagree more. I find that the people who don’t bother setting intentions for the new year (especially the ones vocalising their distaste for them!) are the ones that are quite unhappy with their lives. If I’m honest, I always imagine these kinds of people sitting on the couch all day, hate following people on instagram whilst eating last nights Chinese takeaway and a tub of ice-cream every night.
Do you really want to be that person? I didn’t think so.
I recently asked the Balanced Ballerinas community to send me some questions about stepping into the new year. The request was rather vague but the responses all had a resounding theme. Johanna (who is one of my gorgeous adult ballet clients) and an original listener of the podcast asked, “I’d love to know your goal setting & planning routine, plus recommendations for doing this…”
Find the 'Intention Setting Worksheet' and continue reading here: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2020/01/04/how-to-choose-and-design-your-life-free-intention-setting-worksheet/
Instagram @balancedballerinas @thebalancedballerina
www.balancedballerinas.com
Merry Christmas beautiful ballerinas! And boy do I have a Christmas present for you today – my present to you is the delightful, inspiring and absolutely marvellous human being that is Marie Walton-Mahon.
Now, I’m going to let Marie share her story because she does such an incredible job of this during our conversation! However for those that have been living under a rock in the dance world, let me introduce Marie and her incredible work.
Marie is the Director and creator of Progressing Ballet Technique – a global phenomenon that is currently being taught in over 40 countries worldwide – and I was going to say ‘to ballet teachers and dancers all over the world’ but the program has now surpassed the dance world and is being used across many disciplines, medical practices and activities.
Marie’s work in this field through PBT is so groundbreaking and now imperative to the Australian landscape of movement and conditioning that she’s even been nominated for an Australian of the Year award back in 2017.
When I met Marie for our interview in Sydney she was teaching a class of eight budding young ballerinas at Tanya Pearson Academy. I was all too ready to wait outside, however Marie bounded out to greet me and ushered me inside before asking the students to greet ‘Miss Canning’ – for a split second I thought my Mum might be in the room. Very rarely am I ever called Miss Canning, but it was beautiful and such a testament to the traditions and etiquette that Marie instills in her classroom.
I find Marie’s work with Progressing Ballet Technique so inspiring. It truly is remarkable and as an entrepreneur she is groundbreaking within the industry. However when I sat down to watch the last 20 minutes of the class she was teaching, I left with so many nuggets of wisdom that I’ll cherish forever as a ballet teacher.
From the way Marie follows a stern correction with a soft word of praise, to describing musicality as the ability to feel the music (because once you start counting you’ve lost it!) and how her eyes study every students face to see if they’re truly understanding what she’s saying, not just nodding their head. Then at the end of class she spent a couple of minutes talking about the fire and the environment, stressing to her young dancers the importance of keeping up their fluids and looking after themselves.
Marie is so much more than an extremely successful founder. She’s also humble and kind to the core. I left thinking, be more like Marie. My goal for 2020? To constantly ask myself, ‘What would Marie do?’
@balancedballerinas @thebalancedballerina www.balancedballerinas.com
I have a very special episode for everyone today. It's special for many reasons, but especially special to me because as a young ballerina in training at The Australian Ballet School I used to peer through the studio windows and watch Lucinda Dunn every spare moment I got.
As you'll hear in this conversation, at the start, in the middle and at the end... I'm a bit of a gushing mess, because all of a sudden I realised I was sitting across from the ballerina I most admired growing up. When you've spent hours scrapbooking photos of someone and studying their every move to then years later be interviewing them for your podcast, it's a a very surreal moment.
Lucinda Dunn received her early training in Sydney with Tanya Pearson before going on to win a Prix de Lausanne scholarship to study at The Royal Ballet School, London. While in London, Lucinda performed with the Birmingham Royal Ballet before returning to Australia in 1991 to join The Australian Ballet. In 2002, Lucinda was promoted to Principal Artist and danced many roles in all of the major classical ballets such as Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake and Coppélia, Sleeping Beauty, Firebird and Nutcracker.
Lucinda has won numerous awards including Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance 2008, Helpmann Award nomination for Dance Performer of the Year in 2007 and 2004, Green Room Award for Best Female Dancer in 2005 and a Helpmann Award nominations for Best Female Dancer 2011, 2010. In 2015, Lucinda won an Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer for her performance in The Australian Ballet’s Manon.
As Australia’s longest-serving ballerina, Lucinda announced her retirement in 2014 and received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), for her service to the performing arts through ballet. That same year Lucinda was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Tanya Pearson Academy and the Sydney City Youth Ballet.
It might surprise some of you that Lucinda wasn't initially interested in becoming a ballerina. Inspired by her mothers performances on West End in London, her heart was actually set on Musical Theatre. We chat about this and many other topics, like how she almost left The Australian Ballet (many times!), her ridiculously high expectations of herself returning to the stage after having children and wether its harder to make it as a ballerina today...
I think some of you will be shocked by how honest and candid Lucinda is with her answers, I know I was, but if I'm really honest I shouldn't have expected anything less from this stunningly unique and fiercely determined woman. I'm always attracted to this kind of person and it's no wonder I couldn't stop starring at her through the studio windows as a 15 year old... I'd like to thank Lucinda for her time during my visit to Sydney and for being such an inspiration to me when I was a young ballerina trying to find her feet in the tough world of professional ballet. Honestly, Lucinda is the epitome of grit and grace. Even though I chose a different path, I'd like to think a slice of my strength and determination came from being in her orbit all those years ago.
I wish Lucinda all the very best in her new role as Artistic Director at Tanya Pearsons Academy in Sydney. When I was there to interview Lucinda I had the pleasure of watching some of the classes and it had a beautiful old-school vocational training vibe, rich in history with a heart at the nucleus. A beautiful place for any budding young ballerina with talent oozing out the studio doors.
As always, enjoy this very special conversation...
Instagram @balancedballerinas + @thebalancedballerina www.balancedballerinas.com
Thank you to this weeks sponsor www.mdmdance.com
So this weeks podcast is a little different…
We won’t be talking about famous ballets, differences in technique training or the importance of research and development when it comes to pre-school or adult ballet classes.
No, you’ll be hearing from my now friend Glenn Azar - Founder and Director of Adventure Professionals, Project 180 and his very own podcast, The Building Better Humans Project.
About a month ago now, I travelled to Canberra to do what Glenn calls the ‘Aussie 10 Peaks Challenge’. The weekend was supposed to be ‘Type 1’ fun, a difficult but relatively enjoyable hike around Australia’s highest peaks.
Instead, we were only able to accomplish 5/10 of the peaks due to some pretty fierce weather. As Glenn described it, the worst weather he’s seen on Australian soil in over over ten years…
We experienced ‘Type 2’ fun. Whats ‘Type 2’ fun? It’s the kind of fun that absolutely sucks in the moment but in retrospect becomes one of the highlights of your life. On a side note; I think ballet actually provides this kind of fun from time to time…
On this particular weekend Aussie 10 Peaks with Adventure Professionals certainly slapped us in the face with some Type 2 fun which served us a big fat plate of internal work.
What do I mean by that? Well… when I was embarking on this adventure, my friends in the (I guess you could call them hiking and adventure) world kept making fun of the ‘easy’ hike I was going on. Compared to other mountains I've climbed like Kilimanjaro, everyone (in good faith) was making fun of my little walk in the park. So when we didn’t make 5 of the 10 peaks, I was shattered. I've also been working incredibly hard this year and the trip (the only weekend away I've taken all year!) was supposed to lift me up and instead I was feeling very sorry for myself.
Standing by the buses at Lake Crackenback Resort saying our goodbyes to the team, Glenn (our team leader) said, “Well team I truly believe that adventure is the best form of personal development out there and you certainly received some of that this weekend…”
In that moment, I thought two things… firstly, YOU’RE SO RIGHT and secondly, I need to get this guy on my podcast.
So here’s to adventure. Here’s to experiencing adventure however it unfolds. Except in the case of ‘Type 3’ fun which is James Franco cutting his arm off in 27 hours… no one wants to experience that kind of fun.
In this conversation, Glenn and I chat about the trip, it’s difficulties and my own personal reactions. We also talk about the importance of failure and letting go of the outcome and learning to love the journey. We also discuss his four pillars; mindset, planning, fitness, recovery.
Look, Glenn and I come from very different worlds… but as I pointed out to him, I think we’re in the same business - the business of creating and building better humans. Enjoy…
www.balancedballerinas.com IG @balancedballerinas & @thebalancedballerina
One of my favourite things about starting this podcast is the fact it’s given me a platform to celebrate and highlight people who are doing incredible work within the industry, but often fly under the radar or are incredibly humble about their success.
It gives me a chance to share their story, celebrate them and help them stop to reflect on the amazing work they’re doing.
Todays guest is Nicole Grant, who I have crossed paths with before, but we really got to know one another when I recently completed the Queensland Ballet Petit Pointers teacher training. I wanted to invite Nicole on the podcast to chat further about the program because as anyone who regularly listens to the podcast already knows, I’m a huge advocate for Queensland Ballet and all the community programs they provide… but as the conversation progressed, I realised how truly inspiring and incredible this beautiful woman is.
Sitting across from Nicole, I couldn’t help but notice she has the incredibly enviable balance of grace and softness with determination and drive. A combination I’m always trying to achieve. I was inspired and especially if you’re a ballet teacher, I’m sure you will be too…
www.balancedballerinas.com IG @balancedballerinas
A huge thank you to this episodes sponsor (and one of my favourite dance shoe brands) MDM Dance!
Bill Piner graduated from Butler University's prestigious dance program in 1982 and had a wide and varied professional performing career with companies such as Ballet Austin, the Hartford Ballet and Dance Kaleidoscope, Indiana's only professional modern company. And as a member of the Actor's Equity Association, Bill also enjoyed a career in musical theatre before retiring to direct Ballet Austin Academy. He has been teaching extensively since 1982, including seven years on faculty at Butler University's Jordan College Academy of Dance in Indianapolis. In 1992, Bill was appointed director of the Ballet Austin Academy. Under his direction the Academy has grown to become one of the largest classical ballet schools in the country.
With this in mind I had a conversation with Bill about cultivating a healthy space for younger dancers, how to balance the uniformity of studying ballet whilst still ensuring students be strong individuals and how to balance teacher, student and parent expectations. We spoke about many other things, but you’ll have to have a listen to find out!
As you’ll hear Bill is a very busy man, so I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Bill for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule.
www.balancedballerinas.com @thebalancedballerina @balancedballerina
Today’s guest is Cati Angela, also known as @edrecoverygurl on Instagram.
Cati has been a long-time listener of the podcast and when she reached out I knew we had to collaborate, share her journey and spark discussion around eating disorders within the dance world.
I’m not going to lie. This is an incredibly hard conversation to navigate. Not only am I hyper aware of presenting information in a factual and informative way through this podcast, but am also very aware of the young and impressionable part of the Balanced Ballerinas audience.
However today’s topic is an important one and it’s very close to my heart. So it’s difficult for me (as you’ll hear) to not be a little bit angry and passionate about the topic.
I’ve momentarily discussed this in passing with other guests on the podcast, but one of the reasons I gave up life as a professional ballet dancer was because I had an eating disorder.
If I’m honest, I’ve only been able to say that out loud in the last couple of years. Even harder to say out loud is the fact that my eating disorder was only developed because of insensate and constant remarks about my body from certain ballet teachers whom I idolised.
Every ballet student idolises their ballet teacher. When I step into the studio I am hyper sensitive and aware of the words and actions I exhibit amongst impressionable young women. Unfortunately, others are not.
Many within my profession will say that the eating disorder topic is a load of rubbish, needs to be put to bed and that it’s not as prevalent today. I’m in this industry and especially through the podcast I have witnessed and heard many comments that are made when the mics turn off that suggest otherwise.
During my conversation with Cati, we often refer to pre-professional or finishing schools as the main culprit for this breeding ground of negligence between a young woman and those that are supposed to be responsible for shaping them into a confident and strong dancer.
Not all pre-professional schools are like this. Not all ballet dancers feel this way. I don’t act like I have all the answers and Cati certainly doesn’t either. This conversation is simply two young women sharing very similar thoughts and feelings despite being on other sides of the world.
This alone tells me that we’re not the only ones feeling this way and therefore the discussion needs to be had to spark change and inspire healthier relationships with our bodies.
I’d like to thank Cati for being so honest and so brave. I love that Cati still participates in casual ballet classes whilst studying a Bachelor of Business at University and I wish her all the best in her recovery, her journey, her business and her happiness.
Before we go any further, if this conversation triggers any harmful thoughts of feelings please call the Butterfly Foundation for Eating Disorders Hotline on 1800334673 or if you’re in Canada where Cati is from you can call the National Eating Disorder Information Centre on 18666334220
www.balancedballerinas.com IG @thebalancedballerina / @balancedballerinas
Yes, it's true! Sometimes I get a little unbalanced too. I hope that in sharing my story you find the inspiration required to continue your own journey of self-care and wellbeing.
You can find the blog post I refer to in the episode here...
https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2019/09/08/lets-be-honest-committing-to-self-care-is-cheaper-than-therapy/
Edna Reinhardt is a very special human. I instantly fell in love with her as she approached me across the lobby of the hotel I was staying at. She’s a tiny frame with a big aura.
Edna is the principal and founder of Over the Moon Studios in Castlemaine Victoria and has been teaching yoga and creative dance to students from 2½ to 20 years old since 1975. Incredible.
From a background in contemporary dance and drama, Edna studied yoga and creative dance with the esteemed educator, Dorothea Mangiamele at Mangala Studios in Melbourne from the early 1970s through to the 1980s who focussed on the concept of mindful movement in improvisation. This association profoundly influenced Edna’s approach to yoga and dance education.
Edna is the author of the Yoga Education Resources Series. This yoga syllabus informs the yoga education at Over the Moon and is used in many schools and therapeutic settings around the world. Edna treats every class like a ‘work of art’ and her teaching style takes skill, craft and an enormous amount of time and energy. For this reason alone I respect her process immensely. The way that Edna teaches is not only enriching for the students, but any the teachers who orbit this remarkable woman.
We cover many topics about contemporary dance, movement, yoga and the importance of a studio philosophy. However it’s the question, what are you curious about right now Edna and what keeps you motivated that intrigued me the most…
Edna is passionate and obsessed with her legacy. A topic I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. The concept of what’s left when I’m gone and who continues the work I’m so passionately doing. I’ve always approached the topic from an archival point of view…
Take this podcast for example. It makes me smile to imagine a student when I’m long gone consuming these podcast episodes with the care that someone in this day and age might play a record.
But Edna has a different plan. She’s investing time and energy into educating the next generation of teachers in her orbit and I must admit, during the little time I spent with her, I also felt like a student sitting across from the master.
Enjoy this very special episode with my new friend Edna.
www.balancedballerinas.com IG @BALANCEDBALLERINAS
Todays guest is Amanda Falson, the creative director of Wondergarden Dance in Melbourne, Victoria. And boy is she creative!
Wondergarden dance is a holistic pre-school ballet program that’s designed to plant the seeds of wonderment, mindfulness and love of movement into the hearts of families. And I’m telling you right now, the classes match up to the description.
In a Wondergarden Dance class children will find nature themed classes that celebrate Australian flora and fauna, beautiful props, musical instruments and story telling. But I can’t get past some of the little ones dressed up as actual gum nuts! You can also find the Wondergarden dance teachers sprinkling leaves over the children as they meditate. It’s incredible.
I first found Amanda’s beautiful classes on Instagram and I can’t remember who reached out first but we started a little friendship over the gram. So when I was coming to Melbourne, I insisted we meet in real life and sit down to chat for the podcast.
Amanda is the perfect example of how all parts of our journey lead us to the work we’re supposed to be doing. Amanda goes into great detail about her hardships and triumphs and is the epitome of combining all your talents and winding up somewhere you least expected…
I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Amanda and I urge everyone to check out Wondergarden Dance on Instagram or through her website www.wondergardendance.com.au
For a parent of a little one, it’s a good example of what dance at a preschool level should look like and as a dance teacher it’s an excellent source of inspiration.
I’m certainly inspired by Amanda and I can’t wait to see her business continue to flourish and grow. It’s one of those beautiful businesses that was built with values at the forefront and Amanda’s wholeness and passion for what she does makes her the most beautiful leader in this field.
www.balancedballerinas.com IG @BALANCEDBALLERINAS OR @THEBALANCEDBALLERINA
I am so excited to share this interview with the Balanced Ballerinas community because I know there are a lot of adult ballerinas out there who listen to the podcast!
Dianne Harrison is the principal of Elancé Adult Ballet School in Melbourne, Victoria. And as you'll hear, she is an astonishing woman.
When I arrived at the Mitcham location (Elancé has two studio locations in Melbourne) Dianne took me for a tour of the premise. And it was what adult ballet dreams are made of! After being greeted in the foyer, clients walk through to a designated stretching area with a change room to the left, studio to the centre and a beautiful kitchen and boardroom to the right! Yes, that's correct Dianne has an adult ballet boardroom.
After sitting down for our interview, Dianne was making me a cup of tea and I was packing up my podcast equipment. Now, I must have had my thinking face on because Dianne said, 'You look deep in thought, are you okay?' To which I replied, 'I think so... I'm just in awe of what you've built... and a little jealous!' To which she replied, 'My darling, this has taken me 17 years!'
And whilst the facilities are amazing, it's also the vibe of Elancé that I find so special. Creating a space exclusively for adult ballerinas is a beautiful thing and as someone who also teaches adults I know the amount of work that goes into creating a space where adult ballerinas are not only seen and heard, but respected.
But seriously, what Dianne has built is nothing short of amazing and after our short time together I can say that without a doubt, Dianne is one of the most eloquent, classy, organised and inspiring ladies I've ever met. I truly hope we are friends for years to come.
Dianne and I cover a lot of topics in this conversation; starting with her own personal ballet journey, which I'll let her share. We also touched on why adult ballet is having a real moment in the dance world and offer some advice to those embarking on their own adult ballet journey.
Personally I thoroughly enjoyed Dianne sharing why she loves teaching adults and she even shared some of the funnier teaching stories, so make sure you listen right to the end for those…
I think you're really going to enjoy this one - especially if you're an adult ballerina - but even if you're not, Dianne's tenacity and drive will inspire anyone to follow their heart and foster a life of fulfilment.
Sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy Dianne Harrison!
www.balancedballerinas.com Instagram / @balancedballerinas & @thebalancedballerina
The following advice is mostly in relation to ballet auditions, because that’s the kind of environment I know best. If you’re about to embark on a jazz, musical theatre or commercial dance audition these tips will be useful, however I’d do some further research into your genre.
Without sounding super braggy (I’m pretty sure that’s not a word but let’s go with it) I was accepted for every program and performance I ever auditioned for. So I thought it might be useful to share some of my top tips for successfully auditioning for a summer intensive, course, gala or full-time program.
The biggest tip I could ever give a young dancer is ‘preparation is key’. Yes, you most certainly need talent but a confident dancer is a prepared dancer and if the most talented dancer in the world doesn’t have confidence then they’re useless in the dance world. After all, dance is a performance!
For a full list of my Top 10 Tips, follow this link > https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2019/08/06/top-10-tips-for-auditions/
www.balancedballerinas.com IG @balancedballerinas + @thebalancedballerina
Todays guest is super cool! Sarah Kiely is a physiotherapist, pilates instructor, dance teacher and qualified dry needling practitioner. Sarah completed both her Bachelor of Exercise Science and a Masters of Physiotherapy at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. Which is why we run in the same circles (without realising it!) however as most connections these days I came across her incredible work and passion for helping dancers on the gram.
After many years of dance training, competing, performing professionally and continuing to teach dance herself, Sarah is super passionate about the treatment and management of developing young dancers, cheerleaders and gymnasts. Basically anyone whose bodies are subjected to the extreme flexibility, strength, fitness and endurance.
Sarah wishes to combine her personal experience and Physiotherapy knowledge to help these young people through the demands of their athletic training. She uses manual therapy, Pilates, injury management, strength and conditioning, pre-pointe assessments, safe flexibility programs and technique goals to achieve results.
This is why I thought Sarah would be a perfect guest on the podcast because as you’ll hear she’s extremely passionate about her work and could talk for days on the subject. She was so easy to interview and I feel like we could have talked for hours.
We sort of centred around an important theme; the theme of building your team. As we begin to start strategically looking at ourselves on a more holistic level, it’s becoming increasingly important to build an amazing, supportive team around you.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy my conversation with Sarah as much as I did! As always, come join us in the private Balanced Ballerinas group page on Facebook if you want to discuss any of the topics. I’m sure if you have a burning question, other balanced ballerinas will too… I’ll even see if Sarah can jump on and answer them.
Now, sit back or drive safe (depending on where you’re listening from) and enjoy my chat with Sarah…
www.balancedballerinas.com Instagram @balancedballerinas
Today’s lovely guest is Philippa Ziegenhardt, counsellor at The Australian Ballet School and creator of Stage Minded.
Philippa’s own dance background as a professional ballerina with the Hamburg Ballet makes her the perfect person for little ballerinas to confide in - because she knows exactly what they’re going through!
As Philippa mentions on the Stage Minded website, like many performers her identity was always wrapped up with being a good dancer. Philippa knows what it’s like to have a good day or a bad day in the studio and how thats often predicated by whether you feel fat or skinny in your leotard that day.
For over seven years, Philippa has been helping young dancers develop a strong mindset capable of tackling stage fright, self doubt and the ever popular inner critic. Because these days, it’s not good enough to just have strong legs and feet. You also need a strong mind!
The thing is, it’s always been this way. However nowadays there’s more of an emphasis around training the mind and developing tools to navigate all the emotions that come along with dance training, which is fantastic. The dance world is so fortunate to have leaders like Philippa. As you'll learn in our interview, Philippa is so incredibly passionate about helping the next generation develop mindset tools and radiates empathy and compassion for her clients. I really enjoyed our conversation and love meeting people who want to help dancers perform at their best and build resilience.
Through Philippa’s online program ‘Mindset School’ you can also be one of Philippa’s clients. So after you’ve listened to the podcast, jump on stageminded.com to explore Philippa’s amazing resources further.
Developing mindset amongst dancers is a massive topic to cover and as you begin exploring one area a whole set of sub-topics appear. For example, we honestly could have spent a whole episode just talking about ‘combatting stage anxiety’!
Instead of spending all our time on one topic, I asked Philippa if we could cover as many key topics as possible so it may inspire a conversation between a mother-daughter in the car or help someone identify a mindset weakness that needs some further attention.
I hope this episode helps and remember ballerinas, mindset is absolutely everything!
www.balancedballerinas.com Instagram @balancedballerinas
I am so excited to share this beautiful conversation with the even more beautiful Lina Kim - Soloist with Queensland Ballet.
Lina was awarded the Most Outstanding Dancer and Queensland Ballet Scholarship Winner back in 2007 upon joining the Queensland Dance School of Excellence. After her studies, Lina immediately landed a trainee contract with Queensland Ballet in 2010 before officially becoming a company artist in 2011.
As you’ll hear in our interview, Lina comments on her rather linear path from school to company being ‘boring’ - but in my opinion, it’s nothing short of amazing!
What a lot of people don’t understand is that most dancers dream of a contract in a company close to home. Contracts in your home town (especially in Australia!) are very sought after and if you don’t receive one you have to move overseas to pursue this extremely competitive career.
Most dancers don’t have the opportunity to come home to family and friends, let alone have them come to performances and see all their hard work on stage. Therefore Lina’s linear career path from school to company is a testament to her amazing work as not only an artist, but also a beautiful human being.
I heard Lina speak a couple of years ago at a Queensland Ballet event and I was blown away with how beautifully she articulated difficult truths within the industry and even more impressed when she told the audience she designs and makes handmade dance wear as a hobby.
Well, that hobby is now a budding young business that ships all over the world and when I see women walk into my adult ballet classes carrying her bags and children at workshops wearing her leotards - it makes me smile. You can see and purchase her beautiful pieces at Lina Dancewear here!
Ever since I started the podcast I had my sights set on interviewing this wonderful woman. I’ve been blown away by her performances many times and have always admired Lina’s ability to juggle a career as a Queensland Ballet Soloist with a successful side hustle.
So without further redo, enjoy this special episode with Lina Kim!
Instagram @balancedballerinas Website www.balancedballerinas.com
In this weeks solo episode I share three news headlines from the dance world that have me intrigued! We also break down the intricacies of starting your pointe journey...
Starting pointe work is an extremely exciting period for any young dancer or adult ballerina. However there are many steps before slipping on that first pair of pointe shoes and I thought it would be helpful to give parents and students an insight into this next step from the ballet teachers perspective – especially because students require our blessing before going anywhere near pointe shoes!
You can read the original article here > https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2019/06/13/a-must-read-before-you-go-en-pointe/
Todays guest is the gorgeous Kate Histon who owns a dance studio in beautiful Byron Bay called Dance Dynamics. For our overseas listeners who might not know where Byron Bay is, it’s home to some of the most beautiful beaches and holistic practises in the world!
Growing up, my family spent many Summers staying in the caravan park by the beach in Byron and it’s always held a special place in my heart. Now I come in contact with studio owners all the time, but the reason why I wanted to interview Kate is because I’ve followed her studios story on social media for a long time now…
I resonate with a lot of her teachings, practises and overall studio philosophy, so I selfishly set up this interview so I could meet this incredible woman. And Kate is INCREDIBLE. From the moment we met she poured her heart out and we connected as often studio owners do… because it’s a bit of a lonely job and after about an hour and a beautiful tour of Kate’s stunning studio, we sat down to record this very special episode.
I’d also like to thank Kate for being so beautifully honest about her own personal experiences as a young dancer, I know it takes guts, but it’s also important, because it’s how we learn.
www.balancedballerinas.com www.byrondancedynamics.com.au
A couple of weeks ago two of my favourite things collided - books and ballet! I’ve actually had a copy of Kerri Turners debut novel, ‘The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers’ sitting on my beside table for months. So when I heard Kerri would be in town, I thought it would be an opportune moment to not only take some time out for myself and actually read this incredible book, but also interview Kerri for the podcast.
When I sat down with Kerri I was half-way through the book and now that I’ve finished, I would like to say, ‘WOW!’ What a read. I thoroughly enjoyed this one guys and if you’re an adult ballerina this is a book you won’t want to put down.
Set in Petrograd in 1914, the novel is about two Imperial Russian Ballet dancers who fall in love during World War 1. Now if like myself, 'Petrograd' doesn’t ring a bell… it’s also known as Saint Petersburg, home of the Marinsky Theatre. The city has changed it’s name back and forth and during 1914 it was known as Petrograd. There you go, you learn something new every day - or at least I have!
I had an absolute ball reading this book as I learnt so many new things about the ballet world! I truly didn’t know, until now, just how luxurious and wealthy the life of a ballet dancer was back then. Very different to todays standards! And I had no idea that most Principle Ballerinas had what they called a ‘protector’ - someone that paid for their lifestyle and influenced the theatre and their roles in the company in exchange for sharing their bed. Kerri carefully uses actual famous ballerinas of this time mixed with fictional characters to share this side of the ballet world, so it truly is an incredible insight.
The book is definitely not for young children. I’d say it would be okay for the teenagers. But this is the precise reason why I think any adult ballerina will absolutely LOVE this read. So many books written about ballet are targeted at children, so it’s nice to have a little scandal and romance for the older age bracket of ballet lovers.
Kerri and I chat about her writing process, her own ballet journey (she now teaches adults!) and the wonderfully exciting world of ballet in the early days! I really enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too.
The word ‘dance Mum’ has been hijacked by awful shows like Dance Moms and poor behaviour from Mums at competitions with ‘dance Mum’ encrusted in rhinestones on their back… but its undeniable that a dance Mum is so much more than this stereotype.
It’s mothers day today and I want to celebrate the Mums who just want what’s best for their child, who know when to push and when to step back. The Mums who learn to sew ribbons on ballet shoes and the Mums who YouTube how to do the perfect ballet bun.
Today I want to celebrate the more balanced dance Mums and I couldn’t think of a more perfect role model in front of me, than my Mum.
What a lot of people don’t realise is that Mum is the other half of the Balanced Ballerinas brand. My Mum Sharron Canning is the quieter side of the brand. Whilst I’m always at the forefront of the content we produce, Mum is the one who orders our merchandise, organises for it to be printed, posts it off to interstate buyers, makes sure all our accounts are up to date and ensures I have enough money to live and keep doing what I do best, be creative.
Mum is also my business partner, the office manager at our studio and a loving Mother figure for over 200 little girls and boys!
www.balancedballerinas.com
Are you new to ballet? Or do you just need a gentle reminder about what's appropriate and what's not appropriate in a ballet class?
Entering a ballet class can be an interesting experience. You quickly learn there are so many unwritten rules!
Few sports or activities mimic the sanctity of a ballet studio. As a newbie you could be very overwhelmed as you quickly start learning the in’s and out’s of whats acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in a ballet class.
Do I enter the studio when I arrive? Should I ask before entering? Can I wear sneakers? Can I stand here on the barre? Can I ask the teacher a question? I don’t like that step, can I do a different one? Can I take a selfie during the exercises? Can I film that girl who seems to know what she’s doing so I can practise when I get home?
The list goes on… it can get confusing… you might be standing on someones toes without realising it…
This episode explains 10 important rules to follow during a ballet class! The rules help the flow of a class and ensure both teachers and students feel respected.
As always you can find the podcast on Instagram @balancedballerinas and I'd love to hear your thoughts...
For BB merchandise and other fun articles all about ballet, visit www.balancedballerinas.com
Rosina Andrews is the author of ‘Pirouette Surgery’ and ‘Leap Surgery’. But don’t let the titles fool you - there’s nothing clinical or too complicated about her approach.
Aimed at dance teachers and educated little dancers, these books break down the technicalities and process of executing perfect pirouettes with commentary and anecdotes from the world record holder for number of pirouettes and dancers in The Royal Ballet.
Besides being a published author, Rosina is also a coach, mentor and choreographer working in the UK. Her strength and passion lie in classes, intensives and workshops that inspire dancers to dance smarter and favour safe dance practices over trends and fads.
We sit down to discuss a range of topics from mindset to leading by example. We even talk about our mutual dislike of turning boards and dangerous stretching tools that make us cringe. In relation to this discussion you can find a list of great items to buy for a dancer on the blog here…
It was lovely connecting with Rosina and I hope you enjoy our little chat!
You can find all Rosina’s books and mentorship opportunities at rosinaandrews.co.uk
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@balancedballerinas @thebalancedballerina
www.balancedballerinas.com
Did you know that dancers are 12.4 times more likely to develop scoliosis? And that ballet dancers are at a higher risk of developing scoliosis than the general population? I had no idea.
A few weeks ago I received an interesting information package from my local Chiropractor. The facts and figures intrigued me so I decided to contact the clinic to see if Dr Michael would be willing to have a chat for the podcast, as I believe this information is really useful for young ballerinas and their parents.
I’d never met Michael before, but I’m so glad I now have! He’s passionate, enthusiastic and makes complex information more digestible. Since our meeting I’ve sent a few students his way for a check up and his feedback and understanding of dancers is impressive.
As a ballet teacher, you often pick up on parts of a students body that aren’t symmetrical that may need a second opinion or treatment. After all, we’re constantly trying to attain symmetry of the body and are starring at students in leotards all day!
Dr Michael and I touch on parents feeling shame for not ‘picking up on’ their child’s scapula abnormality or differing leg length or curvature of the spine. Parents, you have enough on your plate! Don’t feel ashamed for not picking up on a slight curve. As a ballet teacher, it’s literally my job to analyse your child’s body in a way that (unless you’ve studied ballet) simply don’t. So don’t feel ashamed! Just make sure you go have it checked out if your ballet teacher thinks something’s up.
In this episode we cover...
* Why are dancers 12.4 times more likely to develop scoliosis? I thought it was a hereditary condition…
* Also, why is scoliosis more prevalent in young girls?
* Do you have any exercises or habits that can prevent this?
* I have many adult ballerina clients; can you develop scoliosis as an adult?
* What does treatment look like for someone with scoliosis?
* As a ballet teacher, I often send students off to the chiropractor or physiotherapist who I suspect might have scoliosis. Whats some other tools I can use to help with early detection?
* Sometimes when I ask a parent to get their child's spine checked out, they don’t do it for several months or even years! What is the effects of putting off a diagnosis and treatment?
Do you suffer from scoliosis? Was this episode useful? Don't be afraid to send me a message via email or the Balanced Ballerinas instagram @balancedballerinas
Welcome to the #BalancedBallerinas 6 week challenge!
Try and complete at least one (ideally all!) of these simple but effective habits that contribute towards a healthy, mindful and most importantly BALANCED life...
1. START YOUR MORNING WITH LEMON WATER
Yes we should be avoiding processed foods at all costs, but if you're new or struggling to adapt to a healthier way of eating, how about we start simple... one glass of lemon water as soon as you wake up!
2. CALF RAISES
The benefits of this VERY simple exercise are numerous for anyone wanting ankle strength and stability, improved lower body performance and to prevent common injuries. Let's all do 16 calf raises every day!
3. BODY SCAN MEDITATION
A body scan is the perfect way to start or finish your day! This bonus episode is a chance to take a few minutes for yourself and develop a heightened awareness of your body.
4. MOVE YOUR BODY
Remember, move it or loose it! Ideally we'd love to attend a yoga, ballet or pilates class every day but sometimes life gets in the way and we just can't get there. How about a 20 minute walk though? Everyone can do that!
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You can find more inspiration and useful resources on the BB instagram @balancedballerinas and on the BB website www.balancedballerinas.com
I don’t know about you, but networking, making new friends in my industry and opening myself up to new opportunities really makes my day! I had one of THOSE days when I recently met the lovely Dr Andrea Robertson.
Andrea is the owner of Southside Clinic which is also the home of The Barre Clinic in Adelaide. Dr Andrea is an Osteopath, Nutritionist and my new best friend. You know those people that you meet for the first time and feel like you’ve known for years? Yep, that!
We spoke about many things I’m passionate about; thoughts on nutrition, pre and post class snacks, we even assessed what I eat in a day which was really interesting.
Then we deep dived into what exactly an Osteopath actually does and the importance of conditioning, managing and listening to the body.
We touch on exercises for pre-pointe assessment and the importance of teachers not body shaming their students.
In a nutshell, I loved every bit of our chat and left feeling inspired and motivated to keep pushing the whole foods and healthy bodies message.
You also have to check out the Balanced Ballerinas instagram, because as you’ll hear in our interview, I pull out my camera to film Andrea. She did such a great job of holding the microphone whilst demonstrating exercises - it was hilarious!
I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed interviewing the lovely Dr Andrea Robertson.
Hey everyone, guess what?! The Balanced Ballerinas podcast went abroad! Well, not really… however I did interview fellow adult ballet teacher Julie Gill who runs an adult exclusive ballet studio in Denver, Colorado.
As much as I would have loved to sit face-to-face with this incredibly intelligent and passionate woman, we had to settle for a web interview (which is why the sound quality of this episode isn’t like my other episodes). However its quality conversation and thats all that matters!
As you’ll hear, Julie has quite an amazing story behind her journey into the adult ballet world and has many great insights and tips for any current or aspiring adult ballerinas out there.
I really enjoyed talking to Julie and I hope you get as much as I did out of this conversation.
Check out Julie's personal instagram @julietheballerina and let us know what you thought about the conversation. And as always, you can catch me on instagram @balancedballerinas
If you’ve listened to my 2017 TEDx Talk, you would have heard me talking about my impending trip to Africa. A couple of weeks after that talk, I packed up all the amazing leotards and ballet shoes that my dance community had donated and jumped on a plane to Nairobi to teach ballet classes for Annos Africa - a children’s arts charity running educational arts projects for children living in the slums of Kenya.
It was an experience I’ll never forget that completely blew me away. It solidified my ‘why’ - why I teach ballet, why I’m such an advocate of adult ballet and why I campaign for everyone to understand that ballet truly can be for everyone.
Part of this mission included a trek up Mt Kilimanjaro (one of the worlds seven summits) to help raise money for Annos Africa with our partner World Expeditions. I say we, because I dragged along my Dads really good mate, Mike Lang.
Mike is todays guest and you may hear me refer to him as Uncle Mike, this is because when we were travelling people kept asking if he’s my Dad and I thought it might be easier to just call him Uncle Mike. But to be honest, even though we are not related by blood, Mike will always be family to me. After all, he put up with my moods whilst travelling and sat through many ballet classes whilst I taught!
I would call Mike Lang and adventurer - he’ll blush at this grand label, but he really is. Mike owns and operates The Outlet Homewares and Furniture, and in between buying trips and family time, he always makes room for daily micro adventures and more exotic trips climbing some of the worlds tallest mountains. You can find all these adventures documented on Zero Vanilla - a company he started for the average Joe who needs some inspiration to find the time.
I’m always asked by people what it’s like teaching in Africa or reaching the top of one of the worlds tallest mountains, so I thought this might be a conversation worth recording.
Happy Valentines Day everyone! In this solo episode Georgia sits down to talk about the three main reasons why she loves ballet so much - health, performance and community!
As always, it would mean the world if you could rate and subscribe if you enjoyed this episode. We also love hearing and seeing where and when people are listening and what you thought of the episode. So take a screenshot and tag @balancedballerinas or @thebalancedballerina - thanks for listening.
Not only is Hannah Rigby my gorgeous friend, but she is a beautiful classically trained dancer who works for the biggest touring circus in Australasia, Circus Rio!
This multi talented dancer, singer and actress is also a beautiful human being, always bringing positivity and light to young performers through her social media. But the life of a performer can sometimes be really lonely and when Hannah posted a reminder on her social media a few weeks ago, I thought I need to get her on to talk about it.
When you’re a young adult, it might seem exciting or even preferable to move far away from family and the familiar. However that can soon wear off if you’re not accustomed to moving from one place to the next…
Hannah and I chat about her wonderful and colourful work with Circus Rio, what it’s like being a travelling performer, tips for anyone thinking of a similar career and what you can do as a family member or friend if you know someone working far away from loved ones.
We go deep, it gets a bit intense, but it’s such an important discussion to have. If you’re a parent or student looking at moving overseas for work or dreaming of a life that’s constantly on the move, then this is an episode you need to listen to in order to make a fully informed decision.
Find Balanced Ballerinas on instagram at @balancedballerinas and Georgia at @thebalancedballerina
You can find more resources and Balanced Ballerinas products at www.balancedballerinas.com
Non Copyright Intro Music // Last Summer by Ikson
As everyone starts heading back into classes for the year, this is the perfect episode to remind everyone to be nice to themselves in class and stop comparing!
Especially if you're an adult ballerina this can be a hard task. But making sure your goals are realistic and aligned with your attitude is super important.
This episode is an audio version of Georgia's most popular blog post 'Why your pirouettes don't look like mine...' which can be found at www.balancedballerinas.com
As always, it would mean the world if you could rate and subscribe if you enjoyed this episode. We also love hearing and seeing where and when people are listening and what you thought of the episode. So take a screenshot and tag @balancedballerinas or @thebalancedballerina - thanks for listening.
Christiaan Bettridge is one of my dearest friends who used to study at the same full-time dance studio as myself when we were younger. I was a total bunhed growing up, with Christiaan being the opposite. She actually didn’t really like ballet all that much, but understood it’s what she needed to do in order to succeed in the arts.
Christiaan is one of those people who can do everything. She can act, sing, model and of course dance with ballet being a pivotal tool in her success and many accomplishments. As you’ll hear in this interview, Christiaan is so humble and hates talking about herself, but I made her because she has an amazing career and I’m so very proud of her.
From ballet to the Moulin Rouge and Lido in Paris, Christiaan is now a stunt woman for leading actress, Gal Gadot in movies such as Wonder Woman - even snapping up a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
As you’ll hear, Christiaan thinks her career is all luck and is constantly thanking the amazing team around her that believe in her. However I’m quick to remind her that it's all her own hard work, with only a little sprinkle of luck and a beautiful personality to tie it all up.
I hope this episode inspires students to study dance with an open mind, knowing that the opportunities are endless and vast and you never know where you might end up!
As always, it would mean the world to me if you could rate and subscribe if you enjoyed this episode. I also love hearing and seeing where and when people are listening and what you thought of the episode. So take a screenshot and tag @balancedballerinas or @thebalancedballerina - thanks for listening.
This is a special bonus episode which follows on from our discussion with meditation and yoga teacher Laura Trimble-Thompson in Episode 3.
This guided meditation spoken by Laura herself has been specifically designed for dancers that find themselves in stressful situations like a competition or audition setting, where a little extra calm and focus may be required.
So if you currently find yourself in either of those situations, please find a quiet corner, pop your ear buds in and get in the zone with Laura’s soothing words of wisdom. I hope you can use this episode from time to time to calm those nerves and and achieve peak performance level. You've got this!
Todays guest is a fitting person to begin the new year as her zest for life and inspiring productivity will surely get you off your seat and ready to tackle the new year.
Laura Trimble-Thompson (also known as Laura TT or Miss TT by her younger students, is a school teacher and yoga teacher, on a mission to help young people reach high performance targets with less effort and stress… amazing!
I have worked with Laura several times on workshops and classes that bring a sense of balance, flexibility and mindfulness to our ballet community. In this episode we cover Laura’s passion for yoga and teaching, her dive back into the world of adult ballet and the importance of natural ‘active movement’ and meditation.
Speaking of meditation, I'm dropping a BONUS episode with a guided meditation designed by Laura specifically for dancers in a performance or audition setting. Hopefully it’s something you can refer back to and visit whenever you’re in those stressful situations that require some calm and focus. I was SO CALM just listening to Laura whilst she recorded the mediation.
Remember to rate and subscribe if you enjoyed listening and since dropping the first few episodes I’ve loved seeing everyones screenshots and tags on instagram. Thanks for sharing the love guys.
Find Balanced Ballerinas on instagram at @balancedballerinas and Georgia at @thebalancedballerina
You can find more resources and Balanced Ballerinas products at www.balancedballerinas.com
Non Copyright Intro Music // Last Summer by Ikson
As a child, Sonia York-Pryce studied at the Elmhurst Ballet School before attending the Royal Ballet School in London. These days Sonia works on her PHD research, titled “Ageism and the Mature Dancer” - which investigates the role of the dancers who extend beyond the industry expectations of acceptable age and analyses the contribution that they are making to the current dialogue relating to ageism in the dance world. So she’s basically a doctor of adult ballet and contemporary dance! We discuss what it’s like to have ballet in your life, the body, taking class, the most important part of a performance (charisma!) and how Margot Fonteyn used to peek through the Convent Garden studio window into her class.
Find Balanced Ballerinas on instagram at @balancedballerinas and Georgia at @thebalancedballerina
You can find more resources and Balanced Ballerinas products at www.balancedballerinas.com
Non Copyright Intro Music // Last Summer by Ikson
The podcast for ballerinas, adult ballerinas, parents of ballerinas and everyone in between. Enjoy discussions with industry leaders and interesting individuals that help you live a more balanced life with grace and grit.
For our first episode, we hear podcast host Georgia Canning talk about why the podcast was launched and why she's aiming to break down the elitist barriers often associated with ballet.
Find Balanced Ballerinas on instagram at @balancedballerinas and Georgia at @thebalancedballerina
You can find more resources and Balanced Ballerinas products at www.balancedballerinas.com
Non Copyright Intro Music // Last Summer by Ikson