photo: M. Enright
Growing up, I lived with both a sister who danced Ballet and a mother who costumed her recitals. Somewhere along the way, I got the message that to dance professionally was to live daily with an injured body, horrible food restrictions, and non stop criticism from a hardened Prima Ballerina on the way out of her career. Because of this misconception, I did not start dancing seriously until 17 years old. I would go to weekly classes of Ballet, Jazz, and theater but never considered professional dance an option… I was simply fascinated. Continue reading
La Meri was a dancer’s dancer who appeared as an international touring soloist for much of the the early and mid 1900′s. Her forte became performing different ethnic dances as they are taught by their country’s most beloved dancers including ethnic, folk, and classical dances from India, Japan, and Spain. 
What is Bollywood?
Much of my teachings use a modern day application of the Delsarte Technique, developd by Francois Delsarte born in Solesme, France in 1811. His singing voice was damaged by improper guidence from his teachers and he found solace in developing a system to safely teach artists of all genres to discover the power of human expression. He “succeeded in discovering and formulating the laws of aesthetic science.” The precision of his work became a mathematics and was used by many of the great dancers of the 1900s including Ruth St. Denis, Martha Graham, and La Meri. Today I use it as a tool to develop choreography, improvisation, character development, and as a regular fixture in my own daily practice. 
Dancing the Body Electric: