National Dance Week

To celebrate National Dance Week last month, I had my CYC students decorate their old pairs of ballet shoes to display around the center and to pretty up our lobby space when we performed at Del Valle Theatre for our Spring Showcase.  Their creativity never ceases to amaze me, there were several entries that sparkled and shined and I wanted to share some of them with you!

Jewels and Sparkles and Ribbons, oh my!

My own creation

A few more creations

One of the winning pairs

This is such a cute idea for a craft for a party.  The kids could really go to town with some really basic supplies (puff paint, jewels, ribbons), and guests have a party favor that they can take home and admire for months to come!  If you're wondering where to find a cheap pair of ballet slippers that you can try your own creations out on, Payless has girls pink, white, and black shoes for not too much.  Target also carries a more slipper version (think soft fabric rather than traditional leather).  Happy creating!

Jolie Miette

A few weekends ago my mom and I took a jaunt to the San Francisco Ferry Building and it proved to be both a beautiful and delicious adventure.  I think I've mentioned before that my mom is a fantastic cook and baker, and her latest interest is macaroons.  And what's not to be interested in?  These delicate tasty delights are enjoyed universally, and there are many variations on them from country to country.  North Americans usually associate macaroons with a flour-less coconut cookie (the original recipe was adapted by Italian Jews since it has no flour or leavening and can be eaten during Passover), but my favorites are the French version, which are like mini sandwhiches and so so delicious!  For some more interesting history on macaroons, check out The Nibble.  

So, back to the story.  My Mom had read about a bakery called Miette (which means crumb, or little sweet thing in French) in the Ferry Building famous for their macaroons (click here for their website), so we jetted off to San Francisco one sunny Saturday morning via ferry to seek out some sweets.  And oh, did we find sweets!

Miette's pretty displays of goodies

So Mom and I get to the register and order our macaroons (vanilla, chocolate, almond, and strawberry), but of course our eyes were caught by their beautiful cupcakes and some delicious looking ice cream sandwhiches.

Even the bag was pretty!  So off Mom and I went to enjoy our sweets and the rest of the sights and sounds of the Ferry Building.  I can't help but think what fabulous goodies these macaroons would be for a ballerina birthday!  They are so kid friendly (not too big and relatively mess free) but don't skimp on flavor at all.  They are just perfect in so many ways, and I can't wait to plan a party with some marvelous macaroons!

The Spoils of Performance

CYC's Spring Showcase was 2 weeks ago, and I think myself and the dancers are pretty much fully recovered.  All the students did a fantastic job, I couldn't be prouder of all of them, and we had some fantastic parent volunteers help decorate the lobby at The Del Valle Theatre in Walnut Creek; they had such cute decorating ideas!  And the fabulous creations from Sweet Tart were a huge hit with our audience!  

There are always ups and downs and a few SNAFUs in a performance (perfection would really just be boring, don't you think)?  Here are some fun/funny/yummy moments of our performance weekend...

One parent volunteer filled her vases with colorful jellybeans and filled them with some beautiful spring flowers.  I didn't get a good picture of her version, which used a pink vase and Gerbera daisies, but this gives you the idea.

Well, during operation load out of the theatre, the vase I was holing completely collapsed, the bottom of the vase literally disintegrated, leaving me with an empty vase and a trunk full of jellybeans.  Not one to miss an opportunity to have some fun with the situation, I snacked on the jellybeans while cleaning out my trunk a little later, still delicious!

I was lucky enough to not only have a trunk full of jellybeans, but to be able to take some yummy cupcakes home from Sweet Tart in Concord.

Check out CYC's facebook page for more information on the center and more pictures!  http://www.facebook.com/CYCFans?ref=ts

Ballerina Jewels

With CYC's Spring Showcase officially put to bed this past weekend, I've had the luxury of taking the past two days off.  Today I was meeting up with my friend Bree in downtown Walnut Creek and on my way I got distracted by the new huge Forever 21 that has gone up across from The Cheesecake Factory.  While perusing the trendy summer clothing flings, I found this cute ballerina necklace.

At $2.50 it was for sure a steal, the shoe itself is a pretty pink and the white pearl-like stone gives the necklace an extra girly touch.  Then I got to wondering about ballet inspired jewelry, and found some fun results.  Etsy has some beautiful Degas inspired brooches that I love.

Juicy Coture has a fun ballerina keychain charm, plenty of bling on this one (which could come in handy should you misplace your keys, just let the blinding-ness of the jewels lead you to them). 

And speaking of bling, check out these Swarovski silver ballerina earrings.  I found them at polyvore.com, and they come in pink and in blue (just in case you have a ballerina on your hands who prefers blue).

So if your tastes run the gamut from Forever 21 to Juicy, to lusting over Swarovski silver, like me, it's good to know that ballerina fashion can be found far and wide, and I have a feeling isn't too likely to go out of fashion anytime soon!

Illumination

While wandering around the beautiful streets of Charleston last weekend, I stumbled upon this beautiful sculpture in one of the many green, leafy, and fragrant alley ways of the downtown streets.

The sculpture is entitled 'Illumination', by Kenneth G Ryden, and I was struck by the whimsy of the dancer, her beautiful lines, and youth.  I always get excited when I see traces of dance and dance influences in everyday things, and this little dancer was such a pleasant surprise to find as I was discovering Charleston's many charms.  She reminds me a bit of Degas' Little Ballerina; the blue of her dress is reminiscent of the pink piece of ribbon that Degas used to polish off his famous sculpture.    It always amazes me how artists can convey movement through their art; it's something as a dancer that you would think comes easy, but I've always found that dance is deceptive that way.  To me, dancing is the framework that allows movement to happen.  The technique and the rules of dance are so demanding that actual movement can be lost in translation.  Accessing movement and investing in it to portray to an audience or public is a very personal, and often difficult thing.  I always admire artists who can show movement in their work.

I hope this little dancer has moved and perhaps illuminated you as she did for me. 

Happy Birthday Martha Graham!

The people at Google are geniuses!  Google doodles are always fun and intelligent, but today they're honoring dance legend Martha Graham's 117th birthday (it also happens to be my big brother's birthday...Happy Birthday Bubba)!

Google included iconic movements and costume elements from Graham's work, Chloe Albanesius' article does a great job explaining and covering Graham's works and legacies.


I love how these figures have movement, I'm sure Ms. Graham would be proud as well.  Here's a photo of the legend herself... all I can say is, lovely.

Photo: Yousuf Karsh

Big Girl Ballerina Shoes

I'm jetting off to Charleston, SC this weekend for a wedding, and am so excited to get out of town for the weekend and see some new sights!  And what would a mini vacation and a wedding be if not a good excuse to buy a new pair of shoes?  Enter, Badgley Mischka.  Love, love, love this designer's shoes.  I found this pair in Walnut Creek at Nordstrom's, and fell head over heels with the pretty pink satin, leather, and tulle.  They are, essentially, big girl ballerina shoes.

I can't wait to put them on and take a few spins around the dance floor while I'm partying it up at the wedding this weekend.  Isn't it amazing/funny how a pair of shoes can really just make you feel (insert adjective here)...beautiful, fun, adventurous... like a grown-up ballerina?  : )