Darcey Bussell joins the RAD!

Exciting news!  Darcey Bussell is the new President of the Royal Academy of Dance!  Darcey has long been one of my favorite dancers (check out the video clip below) and she's had a long and wonderful career with the Royal Ballet and just recently retired from the stage 2007.  Check out the article on the RAD's newest President here (thanks again Ballet News!).  As a member of the RAD and an active teacher of its syllabus this news affects me directly and I couldn't be happier to have Darcey be the new face of the RAD, she's all the things that I know I want dance to be representative of: grace, poise, intelligence and dynamic.  Cheers Darcey!  Here's to a long and happy career at the RAD!

Little Ballerina On So You Think You Can Dance

Happy Friday!  So You Think You Can Dance is back!  I was watching last night and was so tickled by this cutie - she's adorable!  (My favorite moment is the luxurious head tilt she does while on the floor).  Always exciting to see up and coming talent!

Let's Go Fly A Kite! (And other party inspirations)

You know how you have those go-to stores, the ones that you can always count on to find some little treasure or inspire a new project, or that just make you think happy thoughts?  Cost Plus (or World Market as some call it) is one of those stores for me.  I know whenever I pop into this store I'll always find at least one thing that I love (and usually more like 5 or 6).  And even if I'm not looking to buy Cost Plus always seems to have products that give me an idea for a future project or give me a boost of inspiration.

A few weeks ago I was wandering the aisles at the Walnut Creek Cost Plus and found some super cute birthday and gift wrappings.  Check out my blog Wrap It Up on some of the other great wrappings I've found there.  Summer birthdays have the great advantage of beautiful weather and bright colors to work into party color palates.  The gift wrapping items below are bright, fun and sweet - I don't know the next time I have a friend's birthday party to attend, but I hope it's soon so I can use some of these!

A language lesson & a cute bag!

Pretty goodie bags

Bright tags & bags

Ribbon shreds = fun!

As I mentioned, great weather is another bonus to summer parties.  These kites caught my eye and had to snap a few pictures; I thought they were just too artistic not to share!  Can you remember the last time you flew a kite?  Me neither... but if I had some of these to take with me I'm sure I'd make a day out of it.  It's a great idea for a party as well - either have kites on hand for guests to use or have them bring their own.  Add some great picnic food items, maybe some lemonade and sunscreen and ta-daaaa!  Great party underway!

What a wingspan!

Love these colors!

Dance Art - Christine MacDonald

I consider myself pretty luck to work in a community that values the arts.  Sonoma Ballet Conservatory especially has a rich appreciation for all things creative from film to art, and of course dance!  Every so often the studio is lucky enough to have local artists display their works around our walls and a few weeks ago we got to change things up with some wonderful works by Christine MacDonald.  I happened to be at the studio when the paintings were delivered and I was instantly excited.  With her bold colors and interesting, subtle details reflecting dancers' classical technique, Ms. MacDonald obviously either had or has dance training or a very keen eye.  I was impressed that her dancers have perfect lines, subtle tilts of the head to reflect epaulment and arched feet that would make Sylvie Guillem proud.  Here are a few of her pieces off her website, and below is a short bio of Ms. MacDonald taken from a brochure I found on here.  Click here for her website and enjoy!

Christine MacDonald was born and raised on Tiree, a remote Hebridean island of the west coast of Scotland.  Before settling in Sonoma with her husband in the early 1980's, she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Painting from the University of Brighton, Sussex, England.  She is also an exhibiting member of The Arts Guild of Sonoma.

MacDonald's bold and visceral acrylic images are created from a combination of formal training and a spontaneous, instinctive dialogue with paint and canvas.  She paints majestic birds of prey, the human figure and abstracted elemental seascapes influenced by her Celtic childhood.  MacDonald has collectors throughout the United States and Europe.

En Pointe

This is a great video that gives good insight into pointe shoes and pointe work.  While many can appreciate the strength and grace dancers on pointe have (and little ones love to imitate ballerinas dancing on their toes), few realize the process that the shoes and the dancers go through to produce the performances we see.  This is also a great video for dancers hoping to one day be promoted to pointe work, as well as parents to give them a heads up as to what's involved!  This video features a few lovely dancers from the Australian Ballet.  Hope you enjoy!  

Here are some links to pointe related blog posts from the past as well:
http://www.theballerinabirthday.com/2011/03/pretty-pointes.html
http://www.theballerinabirthday.com/2012/01/so-this-girl-walks-up-to-barre.html

Audrey's Ballerina Birthday

Audrey is a student of mine at Sonoma Ballet Conservatory, and I was thrilled to be able to celebrate her 5th birthday with her and her adorable friends a few weeks ago.  It was a beautiful day in Sonoma, and the Women's Center off the Sonoma Plaza provided a charming and quaint venue with a great little stage; it was the perfect setting for our Swan Lake themed Ballerina Birthday.

After reading the story of Odette and Prince Sigfried, the tutu clad cuties practiced stretching their swan wings, cast their own magic spells with ribbons and wands and lept over blue scarves (instead of swan lakes, swan puddles?).  With two advanced dancers from Sonoma Ballet Conservatory assisting me and performing themselves (variations from Swan Lake and The Tales of Beatrix Potter to name a few) we made for a lovely group!  

Audrey chose crowns as her craft and all the guests did a beautiful job with their creations, placing stickers and sequins just so.  And it wouldn't be a Ballerina Birthday without cupcakes!  Delicious and with pretty pink frosting, they were the perfect close to a fantastic party.  Happy Birthday to Audrey and a big thanks to her family for including me in the celebrations!