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In classical ballet, a “pas de deux” means “step of two”. It’s when two dancers perform steps together. Readers, I want to thank you for engaging in a pas deux with me this semester by visiting my blog as we covered a variety of topics, dancers, and famous ballets. This post is the concluding part of our performance – the final act.

I hope have enjoyed learning about the world of ballet this…

Purdue Grand Alternative - Krannert Culture Festival

Last Friday, the sound of accents and multi-cultural music filled Purdue University’s Memorial Mall. Delta Sigma Pi hosted the bi-annual Krannert Culture Fest last week, and it was a huge success.

I had never been to the Culture Fest before, so it was a fun, new experience. There were countries from all around the world represented at different booths, and I was able to go up and “visit” each…

I can’t believe there’s only one week until summer break! If you’re from central Indiana like me, you might be wondering where you can go this summer for ballet classes. My professor, Melodie Carr, provided me with a list of some great options:

If you live in the Lafayette area, the Lafayette Ballet School comes recommended from the professors in the Purdue Dance Division, and they offer summer…

Wednesday blog

Yesterday, the New York Times released an article about some fantastic behind the scenes ballet photography. What makes these photos so special is that they’re not shot by an outside photographer – they’ve been taken by Daniil Simkin, principal dancer at the prestigious American Ballet Theater. Instead of feeling posed, his insider-status allows him to capture photos backstage that are so…

Pointe Shoes on City Streets

When you think of ballet, you probably think of dancers in graceful, elegant settings.

Not for New York photographer Omar Robles. He shot a series of amazing photos of dancers in gritty, urban settings. His background is in musical theater, and he loves “creating stories without words”. To celebrates how classical dancers express themselves and create beautiful lines, he took them to settings…

Misty Copeland has taken the ballet world by storm. She famously became the first female African American dancer in 20 years to become a soloist at the American Ballet Theatre. Last week, she made her debut performance as the lead role in Swan Lake for ABT. Although many words could be used to describe her, she chose the word “perseverance” in an interview with the Washington Post. When you begin…

Whether or not you’re a ballet fan, you’ve probably heard of the infamous Swan Lake ballet. This ballet is a long-standing favorite of many dance lovers , and it is a classic that will continue to endure. Because it’s such an old ballet, it has a lot of rich, interesting history:

The beautiful, haunting music was composed by Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky in 1875.

Tchaikovsky was heavily…

Get excited – another great ballet is coming soon to Indy! The pre-professional dancers of the Indianapolis School of Ballet, a professional dance instruction school in downtown Indianapolis, will soon be performing “From Swans to Splendor”, and I’m really hoping to see it!

What caught my eye about this performance is that it’s not strictly Swan Lake. The performance is describedas a “Mixed…

I hope these make you smile! And if you’ve got any that I didn’t put below, I’d love it if you commented and shared them with me. Enjoy!

Earlier this semester, I wrote about the upcoming Purdue Spring Dance Works. This show is a really exciting time in the dance division because it features choreography by our wonderful Dance Division faculty and is performed by the talented students.

I’ve got some new details to share with you about tickets! The Purdue Events Calendar has some helpful details about ticket prices: tickets are $14…

Fondu Demonstration with Purdue student Savannah

Last week I had an opportunity to film a few ballet videos. One of my favorite ballet moves is called a fondu (nope, not the cheese or chocolate kind – it’s a real move!). It’s a fun, slow move that takes a lot of balance and proper timing.

I got to sit down with my ballet instructor, Melodie Carr, in Purdue’s Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts. She talked through the steps of a fondu, so if…

Nick from COM407 tells me his favorite dance movie:

Before class, it’s important to warm up with cardio and upper body training. This can help you achieve nice, toned arms and a strong upper back. One standard workout is pushups, and my class does between 40-50 at the beginning of every class.

But I need surgery on my right wrist. I can’t bend it and put weight on it without experiencing a lot of pain and swelling. My professor showed me a modifie…

The one and only "flingé" is at Purdue

Here at Purdue we’ve got a ballet move you’ve never heard of – the flingé. The flingé is our fun name for a grand battement variation. My ballet professor has a funny story of how this name came about. One semester, she was teaching the move to a group of DANC102 students. They thought the move needed a fun name, and the word that came to mind was “fling”. But one student objected, saying that it…

If you live in the Indy area, get excited! Fox59 is hosting a sweepstakes, and the winner gets four free tickets to see Butler Ballet’s performance of “The Sleeping Beauty”!

A few weeks ago, I made a post with information about the ballet. You can check out those details here, but I’ll quickly give you a few of those details again.

The ballet will be performed three times between April 17th-April…