Adult ballet classes 2022
Bookings here! https://www.trybooking.com/BZNSE
Coppelia wears ….?
Coppelia! Offbeat is performing a variation of Coppelia in early October! I love costumes. I love sewing. When I started teaching ballet I focused on being the best teacher I could for my students, and never dreamed of my students performing. Yet, in Offbeat’s recent holiday program the wonderful Jacinta (Repertoire and pointe teacher) taught… Continue reading Coppelia wears ….?
Holiday Program July 2019
Real bodies for real ballerinas
I saw this lovely graphic on pinterest, of the ballet positions of the body, drawn with a ‘curvy’ ballerina. (The fact she has red curly hair is just a bonus right? ;-D) It makes this one, the classic one you see everywhere, look a tiny bit prissy. As a teacher, it’s hard to explain to… Continue reading Real bodies for real ballerinas
Ballet Practice with video help
Hey! It’s holidays! No ballet till January!!! Woohoo, school’s out! So… how long can you go without your ballet fix? Me, I last about one and a half weeks.. As a teacher my technique needs to be good – I need a nice strong body. And I need to be able to demonstrate well (until… Continue reading Ballet Practice with video help
Ballerina Music Boxes
Dear Tropical Tutu Brigade, did you ever own a ballerina music box? Or perhaps your mother or grandmother or great aunt had one? I remember winding, opening and delighting in watching the tiny dancer twirl to picked and plucked strains of Clair de Lune, played here by Laurens Goedhart. (SoundCloud / IMDb / Website) [CC BY… Continue reading Ballerina Music Boxes
Ballet in the Botanical Gardens
My friend, professional photographer (Captured by Kahdi) and I headed over to Darwin’s Botanical Gardens the other day for a photo shoot. I wore my prettiest dress and took my old pointe shoes (the ones that don’t fit properly – ouchy!). There’s a special meaning to photographs on and around this tree. I used to… Continue reading Ballet in the Botanical Gardens
Length and line
I’ve become fascinated with the way ballet creates a sense of length and line. Adults come in more shapes and sizes than little kids tend to, but no matter what their shapes, when my students do ballet their bodies seem to become longer, lengthened and far more expressive. And contrary to myth, it isn’t about… Continue reading Length and line
Strengthening up for ballet
We’ve been working on developes and Cecchetti 3rd port de bra in class. To help my students cope with the physical demands these two things place on them we looked at some ‘conditioning’ (strengthening) exercises. My students requested I put them online so they could refer back to them during the week. So here they are.… Continue reading Strengthening up for ballet
Goals for beginner dancers Pt 2
Following on from Part 1, I’ve been looking at my own motivation for joining a dance class in the different styles I’ve done. What are my own goals for starting a dance class? It comes down to the music, and a desire to understand better how to express myself within that music. From the complex… Continue reading Goals for beginner dancers Pt 2
Offbeat Ballet: Adult ballet classes Darwin 