Ballet News | Straight from the stage – bringing you ballet insights

Cupcakes & Conversation with Wendy Whelan, Principal, New York City Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? What motivates me and gets me out of bed in the morning on the first work day of the week is knowing that I will have the privilege of working with a choreographer or [...]

Ballet News & Cupcakes Through my Cupcakes & Conversation interview series with professional ballet dancers around the globe I bring you the delights of the Cupcake, which, as we’ve seen, is suitable for any occasion. A Cupcake and a cup of tea were made for each other; throw in a 30 minute interval at the ballet and hey presto – [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation | looking at the stats It’s that time of year when it’s possible to take a bit of time to analyse the business and in particular, today, I wanted to highlight the immensely popular Cupcakes & Conversation interview series, which has been running since 2009. Looking at the breakdown of how many interviewees [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation … There are now four volumes of my interview series with professional ballet dancers called Cupcakes & Conversation with ..  From the back cover : “The grit and the glamour; your backstage pass into ballet.” It doesn’t matter whether you are new to ballet, a teacher, dancer or someone who just loves ballet, there is [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Sarah Van Patten, Principal, San Francisco Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning? If Monday is the start of a new ballet then it’s always exciting to see what will be created. I love seeing what can evolve from nothing. I’m also always excited, not only by the [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Clare Morehen, Principal, Queensland Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday Morning? Routine. I am a routine driven person, which kicks in the second my alarm goes off at 7am on Monday morning. The thought of coffee initially gets my dazed body out of bed. Then it’s off to [...]

The ballet dancer’s snapshot Anecdotal evidence suggests that a higher than average proportion of professional ballet dancers use a camera (often a high-end model) as a hobby and a way of recording the backstage preparations and after-show celebrations. You often find dancers at the side of the stage capturing the action. It’s easy to see why; visual by nature, [...]

Ballet News Selects… something different Who doesn’t love a cupcake ? There comes a certain time of the day – usually about 4pm - when a cup of tea and a cupcake just makes good sense. Here on Ballet News you can enjoy the long-running Cupcakes & Conversation interview series with professional ballet dancers (including just-promoted Meaghan Grace Hinkis from The [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Meaghan Grace Hinkis, First Artist, The Royal Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning? Eight am on a Monday morning, I am usually really looking forward to learning some new and exciting rep. The Royal Ballet has such a diverse repertory and each week we typically begin rehearsals for [...]

Ballet Business | the business of fundraising “It’s my dream. There’s nothing else I want to do.”  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that. Dreams are vital and if you’ve got to the stage where you need to be thinking about fundraising – well done! The transition of dream to reality begins [...]

Northern Ballet in Arts Troubleshooter documentary Last week I reported that Northern Ballet were to feature in a BBC documentary called Arts Troubleshooter, to be broadcast this weekend. What’s in store ? The programme follows Michael Lynch, former Chief Executive of the Southbank Centre in London & the Opera House in Sydney, Australia, as he works [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Emma Hawes, Corps de Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning? My motivation is different every day. It could be beautiful weather, friendly faces, or even catching the bus on time; it’s the little things that give me motivation for a day. Why [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Miki Kawamura, Oklahoma City Ballet   What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning? Having days off always motivates me to start a new work week. I’m usually eager to go to work after day off. Why ballet? Actually I ask myself this question all the time. When I was [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Burnise Silvius, Principal dancer, The South African Ballet Theatre What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? I love being active, it’s become a way of life. I look forward to getting into class, especially after a two-day break. It is wonderful to get back into the studio and [...]

Easter Cupcakes & Conversation “The grit and the glamour; your backstage pass into ballet.” The latest Edition of the ‘Cupcakes & Conversation’ interview series with professional ballet dancers is hot off the press now, just in time for Easter! It doesn’t matter whether you are new to ballet, a teacher, dancer or someone who just [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Carli Samuelson, Corps de Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? It can be very difficult to find motivation on a Monday morning, but my motivation comes from the fact that I’m a part of this amazing professional ballet company (Pacific Northwest Ballet) and [...]

Cupcakes and Conversation with Myriam Simon, Principal Dancer, Stuttgart Ballet What motivates you at 8 am on a Monday Morning? At first it is only the perspective of a big cup of coffee that gets me out of bed. But right after that comes the awareness that going “to work” for me is doing what [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Yuriko Kajiya, Soloist, American Ballet Theatre What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? Work on whatever ballet/role I’m working at the time and make more progress. What are you looking forward to dancing this year ? I have a première of Giselle coming up on March 25th in [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Ruben Martin Cintas, Principal, San Francisco Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning ? It motivates me to know that each day I’m going to give my best to all of the challenges that might come. Also, thinking about my family who are all so far away, yet [...]

Cupcakes & Conversation with Keian Langdon, Principal, Queensland Ballet What motivates you at 8am on a Monday morning? A strong espresso coffee always gets me going. I think about what the day and week will bring. It’s exciting to know that the work I put in each day will help me improve as a dancer [...]