Stark contrast to other directors I’ve seen interviewed, in a good way. I like that she seems interested in her dancer’s welfare, in terms of injury prevention, proper rest, etc.
The Pointe Shop not to name names, but I’ve watched MANY videos of different ballerinas who dance for major companies, and they all seem to have a common denominator: injuries, bad injuries, major medical issues, etc... when they are in their early 20s....kind of heartbreaking.
This is interesting for a person who has never been in ballet, or a dance studio... nothing no dance at all. There is a bit of a stigma attached to ballet. Mean teachers, weight issues, strictness, cold... that's all associated with it from an outside perspective and it really seems like she wants to make sure her dancers do not experience that while they are with her. I also REALLY love the promote within concept because often times as an outsider i hear a lot about the hard life of a dancer. It's not so much the dancing as much as the constant struggle to become stable in this career choice too. That's all apart of it i think to some degree, but it's nice to see that if a dancer wants to pursue something within this company it's welcomed and not pushed away. The career of a dancer is always talked about a short lived... i mean if you dance since age 2 or 3 your body is pretty much done by... what i think the most common age is 30's mid 30's? So i love that even if a dancers body is "done" they still have a chance to live their whole career and even maybe even after dancing with a company they love and trust and know that has their best interest at heart. Idk it really kind of opened my eyes. I always had this dream i'd have a daughter one day and she would come to me wanting to dance in some degree and how i'd handle that as she got older hearing these stigmas. I was too poor growing up to ever afford dance, it was always a dream of mine to dance actually, so i wouldn't want to take that away from my future daughter if that's what she was passionate about, but i also do not want this hard life for her. I think this proves that it doesn't always have to come with these stigmas. There are company's and studios who love and respect their dancers.
I really applaud Penny for how she is running the school, even though I kind wish she would slow down a tad ;) But seriously, we need more directors like her and less of the classic snooty peter martins type (not even adding in his alleged mistreatment of dancers). Bravo Miss P!
The real value for kids doing this and also other arts is precisely because it is so hard, cold and you get subjected to so much tough discipline to get it right and also to look right and, as a reward, you get something far more special than mere money or fame, for truly artistic creative individual. It's the sheer joy of creativity, even if you are not the best. Friendly competitive is fine for some sports but has no part to play in arts because artists are special, very individual people and you simply cannot put one against the other and declare a winner or loser because that will kill the spirit of such activities. All you can say is "This one can do this particular thing exceedingly well" or "She/he does this particular move, plays or sings this particular difficult passage really well, though some of their other bits are done exceedingly well by.... (some other performer)". Comparing how each interprets something creatively and deciding you like or dislike it is not the same thing as subjecting such emotionally fragile creative personalities to all the emotional violence of competitive sporting like mental aggression and competition that more robust athletic type people thrive on, mentally. All artist and also beaty type eg .odelli g "competitions" where a winner is declared or a king or queen of the pageant or show is declared, should be banned. Just have shows where various performers or very beautiful or even not do perfect aspiring beauties and artists can show what they are and do and share their joy with their audience, who are free to express their pleasure or otherwise,at what is being presented for them. And reporters in media etc appraising the performance should be free to speak their true mind on a performer's presentation eg she does brilliant balletic fouettes but, oh dear, all that excess weight she is carrying detracts from her moves and looks very unhealthy and dangerous. Or, she/he sings that passage extremely well, but why does he/she stand like a stone, perfectly still, like they are suffering from a bout of catatonic schizophrenia and their expression is the opposite of what they are so going about? Or, what's wrong with that lead rock guitarist who keeps trying to outdo the singer on his screeching, wailing guitar but refuses to even sing one line of back vocals, when handed the mic by the poor singer, who can't keep up with his antics? (Many rock guitarists look like they want to be the singing "star" but hate singing and it is impossible to get them to even sing nonsense Sha la la type chorus bits). The value of all the discipline, work, self control eg not getting fat or overcoming stage fright and shyness, continuing with training and the show even when you feel crap eg bad moods that affect creative personalities is that it is very character building. Even if they never make the big stage, as 99.9% won't and shouldn't, it is still valuable training for many other reasons eg health and fitness through ballet, or emotional therapy for singers and, if you have OCD tendencies, arts a brilliant because you have to keep doing something over and over a million times to get it perfect or, you want a perfect slim body and beautiful hair, face etc on the modelling catwalk, then you had but get off your butt and go do some exercise, forego all that bad food you love that you know you'll end up wearing if you are so feeble minded you can't say NO and mean business. And, no, it won't suit the fashions you are modelling, if your enlarged body will even get into the outfits at all. The character building, discipline and striving to get it right are excellent attributes to equip kids for their future non artistic working lives. And it gives them a creative fun leisure activity after work, instead of doing drugs and drinking etc and picking fights because they are bored and just hang around streets in hoodlum gangs getti g into all kinds of trouble. It is not the "go getter" goal oriented aggressive, extroverted sporty types who are the most valuable in workplaces for their "go getter" type mentality, which is OK, in moderation. So are the other types of different "goal oriented" but gentler souls is the creatives, who strive for different sorts of goals, maybe a bit strange but they can have very unique and useful, innovative ideas about how to achieve workplace goals. At present, all the focus is on the aggressive sporty "winners" employers go for, believi g these will kick goals for their business. Some good ethical ones might, but too many of these types are a negative influence. Too many "captains, not enough crew, all competing to be "the big hot shot boss". With artist competitive types, there is obviously someone who everybody acknowledges as "the star" because she can do what the rest can't and do it exceedingly well, but there's this "Diva" mentality among mainly millennial feminist types, whereby, regardless of having no proven abilities on a stage, if you look like "a diva" and carry on according to this artistic stereo type, which is just that he untrue, then the rest of the feminist sheep will see you as "a Diva" and someone they must compete with, to win that title, which is nothing. Just a peer group label.Even the performing arts have now been contaminated with feminist and multiculturalism type political correctness. But, true artists can deftly step aside and just get right out of this very second rate crap show and stick to groups of seriously good practitioners and do it among themselves,to give each other joy and anybody else who cares to share in the joys arts can give, if very high standards are maintained. If anybody and everybody can "be a star" or "be a sporting champion", then it becomes worthless. It has to remain hard, in order to allow just the real stars and champions to shine on the big stage or arena. But, mummy or daddy's little darling or champion can still be childhood stars and champs for their parents, at home, in school performances etc and promote adult community social fun and connection through arts, whilst building their characters for different future work roles.
What a beautiful individual she is. I wish my dance teachers had approached training with this same care and kindness.
Stark contrast to other directors I’ve seen interviewed, in a good way. I like that she seems interested in her dancer’s welfare, in terms of injury prevention, proper rest, etc.
She really is amazing. I was trying not to gush too much but it was hard.
The Pointe Shop not to name names, but I’ve watched MANY videos of different ballerinas who dance for major companies, and they all seem to have a common denominator: injuries, bad injuries, major medical issues, etc... when they are in their early 20s....kind of heartbreaking.
I lived in Oklahoma back in the late 90s for a year . Wonderful place and the people were nice.
This is interesting for a person who has never been in ballet, or a dance studio... nothing no dance at all. There is a bit of a stigma attached to ballet. Mean teachers, weight issues, strictness, cold... that's all associated with it from an outside perspective and it really seems like she wants to make sure her dancers do not experience that while they are with her. I also REALLY love the promote within concept because often times as an outsider i hear a lot about the hard life of a dancer. It's not so much the dancing as much as the constant struggle to become stable in this career choice too. That's all apart of it i think to some degree, but it's nice to see that if a dancer wants to pursue something within this company it's welcomed and not pushed away. The career of a dancer is always talked about a short lived... i mean if you dance since age 2 or 3 your body is pretty much done by... what i think the most common age is 30's mid 30's? So i love that even if a dancers body is "done" they still have a chance to live their whole career and even maybe even after dancing with a company they love and trust and know that has their best interest at heart. Idk it really kind of opened my eyes. I always had this dream i'd have a daughter one day and she would come to me wanting to dance in some degree and how i'd handle that as she got older hearing these stigmas. I was too poor growing up to ever afford dance, it was always a dream of mine to dance actually, so i wouldn't want to take that away from my future daughter if that's what she was passionate about, but i also do not want this hard life for her. I think this proves that it doesn't always have to come with these stigmas. There are company's and studios who love and respect their dancers.
Bravo, Penny!!!
I really applaud Penny for how she is running the school, even though I kind wish she would slow down a tad ;)
But seriously, we need more directors like her and less of the classic snooty peter martins type (not even adding in his alleged mistreatment of dancers). Bravo Miss P!
Cool.
I would actually like to go here because I live in okc and I want to get back in ballet but it cost to much
The real value for kids doing this and also other arts is precisely because it is so hard, cold and you get subjected to so much tough discipline to get it right and also to look right and, as a reward, you get something far more special than mere money or fame, for truly artistic creative individual. It's the sheer joy of creativity, even if you are not the best. Friendly competitive is fine for some sports but has no part to play in arts because artists are special, very individual people and you simply cannot put one against the other and declare a winner or loser because that will kill the spirit of such activities. All you can say is "This one can do this particular thing exceedingly well" or "She/he does this particular move, plays or sings this particular difficult passage really well, though some of their other bits are done exceedingly well by.... (some other performer)". Comparing how each interprets something creatively and deciding you like or dislike it is not the same thing as subjecting such emotionally fragile creative personalities to all the emotional violence of competitive sporting like mental aggression and competition that more robust athletic type people thrive on, mentally. All artist and also beaty type eg .odelli g "competitions" where a winner is declared or a king or queen of the pageant or show is declared, should be banned. Just have shows where various performers or very beautiful or even not do perfect aspiring beauties and artists can show what they are and do and share their joy with their audience, who are free to express their pleasure or otherwise,at what is being presented for them. And reporters in media etc appraising the performance should be free to speak their true mind on a performer's presentation eg she does brilliant balletic fouettes but, oh dear, all that excess weight she is carrying detracts from her moves and looks very unhealthy and dangerous. Or, she/he sings that passage extremely well, but why does he/she stand like a stone, perfectly still, like they are suffering from a bout of catatonic schizophrenia and their expression is the opposite of what they are so going about? Or, what's wrong with that lead rock guitarist who keeps trying to outdo the singer on his screeching, wailing guitar but refuses to even sing one line of back vocals, when handed the mic by the poor singer, who can't keep up with his antics? (Many rock guitarists look like they want to be the singing "star" but hate singing and it is impossible to get them to even sing nonsense Sha la la type chorus bits). The value of all the discipline, work, self control eg not getting fat or overcoming stage fright and shyness, continuing with training and the show even when you feel crap eg bad moods that affect creative personalities is that it is very character building. Even if they never make the big stage, as 99.9% won't and shouldn't, it is still valuable training for many other reasons eg health and fitness through ballet, or emotional therapy for singers and, if you have OCD tendencies, arts a brilliant because you have to keep doing something over and over a million times to get it perfect or, you want a perfect slim body and beautiful hair, face etc on the modelling catwalk, then you had but get off your butt and go do some exercise, forego all that bad food you love that you know you'll end up wearing if you are so feeble minded you can't say NO and mean business. And, no, it won't suit the fashions you are modelling, if your enlarged body will even get into the outfits at all. The character building, discipline and striving to get it right are excellent attributes to equip kids for their future non artistic working lives. And it gives them a creative fun leisure activity after work, instead of doing drugs and drinking etc and picking fights because they are bored and just hang around streets in hoodlum gangs getti g into all kinds of trouble. It is not the "go getter" goal oriented aggressive, extroverted sporty types who are the most valuable in workplaces for their "go getter" type mentality, which is OK, in moderation. So are the other types of different "goal oriented" but gentler souls is the creatives, who strive for different sorts of goals, maybe a bit strange but they can have very unique and useful, innovative ideas about how to achieve workplace goals. At present, all the focus is on the aggressive sporty "winners" employers go for, believi g these will kick goals for their business. Some good ethical ones might, but too many of these types are a negative influence. Too many "captains, not enough crew, all competing to be "the big hot shot boss". With artist competitive types, there is obviously someone who everybody acknowledges as "the star" because she can do what the rest can't and do it exceedingly well, but there's this "Diva" mentality among mainly millennial feminist types, whereby, regardless of having no proven abilities on a stage, if you look like "a diva" and carry on according to this artistic stereo type, which is just that he untrue, then the rest of the feminist sheep will see you as "a Diva" and someone they must compete with, to win that title, which is nothing. Just a peer group label.Even the performing arts have now been contaminated with feminist and multiculturalism type political correctness. But, true artists can deftly step aside and just get right out of this very second rate crap show and stick to groups of seriously good practitioners and do it among themselves,to give each other joy and anybody else who cares to share in the joys arts can give, if very high standards are maintained. If anybody and everybody can "be a star" or "be a sporting champion", then it becomes worthless. It has to remain hard, in order to allow just the real stars and champions to shine on the big stage or arena. But, mummy or daddy's little darling or champion can still be childhood stars and champs for their parents, at home, in school performances etc and promote adult community social fun and connection through arts, whilst building their characters for different future work roles.
😺