Improvisation is a skill that can be learned, and it’s one that is becoming increasingly crucial for dancers in nearly any style.

Advice is tricky. It can be presumptuous, judgmental. Medicinal. Obligatory. Revelatory? I don’t consider myself to be an advice giver, and yet I regularly share a morsel that one of my college professors gave me two decades ago: “When you find a teacher you admire, even if not an educator in the formal sense, go […]

Finding your balance can sometimes feel like making a new discovery every day. “Emotions play a huge part in balance,” says Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer Belén Indhira Pereyra. “Where is your state of mind that day? Something could be happening in the family world or in the friendship world—or internally. Maybe you ate […]

What will it take to build more female leaders in ballet? Dr. Linda Hamilton, the creator of Dance Magazine‘s longstanding advice column, Advice for Dancers, interviews New York City Ballet star Ashley Bouder about her work on the Ashley Bouder Project and the ways in which she’s fighting for more female leadership in the ballet […]

Why can’t I jump as high as my male partner? We both have to perform the same series of jetés in a workshop performance and practicing isn’t helping. I’m starting to panic. —Amy, Cincinnati, OH The gender gap between men and women for jump height is significant whether you’re playing basketball or dancing ballet. Research […]

While I’m lucky to have a high arch, my demi-plié stinks. I keep getting the same correction to make it deeper. Any ideas? —Foot Challenged, Winston-Salem, NC Fake it! A high arch gives you a beautiful pointe but a shallow plié. Structurally, your ankle is not able to go any deeper. The more you and […]

It’s been a year since I sprained my ankle and it continues to hurt, even with physical therapy. I’ve had to skip class, and I worry that my injury could ruin any chance of landing a job when I start auditioning. It hurts the most when I do grand pliés. Is there something wrong with […]

I had a two-month injury and thought it would make me miserable. Instead, I’m experiencing a huge wave of relief at being out. Should I feel guilty about not missing dance? I still love it but hate never feeling good enough. —Injured Perfectionist, Fort Lauderdale, FL There’s no need to feel guilty. Being injured can […]