Ah, Nutcracker: Everyone’s favorite holiday tradition, the reason many of us fell in love with dance in the first place and probably the most draining, exhausting, injury-inducing thing we do all year. Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Elizabeth Murphy and Jerome Tisserand (photo by Angela Sterling) But dancers know Nutcracker is more than a fluffy story that doesn’t actually […]
Ah, pointe shoes: We love those beautiful, glamorous torture devices! But pointework didn’t always look or feel the way it does today. In fact, pointe shoes evolved over the course of several centuries—with many fascinating (and some straight-up bizarre) stops along the way. Here are a few highlights of pointe shoe history. 1796: French dancer […]
1. You find out something new about yourself every day. Whether it’s good or bad, a strength or weakness, something physical or emotional, ultimately you grow stronger from it. 2. You get into fierce shape! 3. When you’re onstage, you get to create a fantasy world all your own. 4. You get to sparkle from […]