The Art of Happy Dancing

It's a strange time for all of us, but personally COVID-19 couldn’t have come at a better time. As disappointing as it is that all my classes for March and April were cancelled, I have the opportunity to use this time in isolation, apart from giving virtual ballet classes, to reflect on my teaching method and philosophy. The intention of my writing is not so much to provide information, rather a way to reflect and question myself in order to improve my skills as an educator as well as a person. A lot of what I write is based on my own opinion, and on what I have experienced so far on this new journey as a dance teacher. So here goes nothing. Mindfulness You will find a multitude of information online about mindfulness, as well as different mindfulness tasks and practices, so I’m not going to use this blog post to describe what it is. I will, however, attach some links at the end of the article. I first discovered mindfulness in 2018, while I was in-b...

When I began writing my blog in 2008, I wanted to document my journey to becoming a professional dancer in Europe. It was a difficult point in my life, and there were moments I didn't think I would ever make it, but now, looking back on a successful and fulfilling dance career, I'm glad I captured those memories in writing. In fact, I think writing this blog helped me to see things objectively and allowed me to keep moving and to  stay positive even when things got tough. Now as I start from the beginning once again, I hope to look back after another decade only to read about how short-lived my worries were. This time, it will be less of a documentation, rather a deeper dive into several themes in dance that interest me, in a way pushing me to learn so that I can help dancers, dance students, dance leaders and dance lovers find a way to live a happier dancing life. I'm interested to see what comes out of this, and what I'll think of it all in another decade.  ...