Bayaricshes Stattsballett artist Jeanette Kakareka takes us through a day in her busy life as a professional corps ballerina.…
As an eating disorder survivor, I try to make a point of addressing the issue of eating disorders and recovery on C&V during Eating Disorder Awareness Week every year. I make the effort because I remember how lonely and difficult recovery is, and I know that the nature of ballet has meant that a fair number of dancers struggle with disordered eating. But this year, I didn’t want to do it. I got my act together enough to pitch an…
The first time I met Xander Parish, he couldn’t see me. Literally. We’d arranged to meet outside the Mariinsky theatre in St Peterburg and as I neared the historic building I spotted him scanning the crowd for me. I walked up to him and but he didn’t notice me because I barely came up to his chin. I hesitated for a moment, wondering how to catch his attention before tugging at his coat, feeling very much like a small child.…
Let the ballet boo in your life how much you appreciate them with our ballet-themed Valentine’s Day greeting cards! What could be better than a love note featuring their favourite dancer and a cheesy ballet pun? Nothing, that’s what!…
Wondering what to get the bunhead in your life this Valentine’s Day? When flowers and chocolate just don’t cut it, here are some recommendations for the sissonne-ing significant other in your life.…
Watching my fellow adult dancers in class is a good reminder of why I dance. Ballet is about constantly striving for improvement, and it can easy to get bogged down in the negatives: my turnout isn’t good enough, I can’t remember that combination, my alignment is wrong, my body isn’t thin or tall or muscular or petite enough. Sometimes it frustrates me when I don’t seem to be improving. But then I look at my friends in class: we laugh…
In this guest blog, C&V Lady and Bayerisches Staatsballett corps member Jeanette Kakareka details the whys and hows of moving to another ballet company. This season I’ve made the move to Bayerisches Staatsballett. It was decision I made for many reasons. I had performed so much with the English National Ballet: I can’t even begin to imagine how many shows I must have been in over the past four seasons. I saw a lot of beautiful places in the world,…
Trying to find the perfect dance present for your ballet boo this Christmas? Or maybe you’re looking to treat yo’self this holiday season? We asked our C&V Squad for their ballet favourites, must-haves and covetables in our Cloud & Victory gift guide. From dancewear to training accessories to recovery tools, here are our picks for the best ballet gifts!…
Should I change my job? Should I move? Where do I go next? Is this the right time? What am I doing with my life? Change is inevitable, but seldom easy. In an ongoing series called Movers and Shakers, we’ll be talking to dancers who’ve made changes in their lives and careers to find out what they’ve learnt and what impact it’s had on them. Here, we talk to Patricia Zhou, Prix de Lausanne winner and one of the first…
The dancer’s road back from injury is often fraught with frustration and uncertainty. Ballet dancers immerse themselves so fully in their art that any halt of this pursuit often comes as a rude awakening that extracts as much mentally as it does physically from them. “Will I be able to come back?” “Will I have lost everything?” “Will I be able to regain it?” “WILL I BE ABLE TO COME BACK?” But when an ACL injury hit longtime American Ballet…
Everyone wants to know what’s in the ballet bags of pro-dancers, but does anyone want to peek into the dance bag of a creaky 31-year-old adult ballet beginner? Your brain may say no, but your heart says yes. Go on, you know you want to.…
This summer, C&V approached Lindsay Thomas, inhouse photographer at Pacific Northwest Ballet, to collaborate with us on a series of photos. I had admired Lindsay’s work for a while – she takes some seriously dreamy photos and has a sense of humour that we at C&V can vibe with (is ‘vibe’ still an acceptable expression? Was it ever?). In fact, we had the exact same idea to make pun-filled, ballet-flavoured Valentine’s day cards. It goes without saying that there are so…
Cloud & Victory brought San Francisco Ballet principal dancer and former Paris Opera Ballet soloist, Mathilde Froustey, to Singapore in April to teach a series of ballet masterclasses. During her time here, we sat down with her to have a dialogue about her perspectives on ballet, her career and the realities and responsibilities of being a professional ballet dancer.…