Today we are exploring some of the basic forms we make in space and how we get there, and what the point of all this is in terms of dance technique, expression, and performance.

Modes of changing shape

In ballet, we see spoking movements mostly in the legs, such as in pas de cheval, frappé, and developpé, we practice arcing movements in steps such as port de bras, tendu, degage, & grand battement and carving can be observed in steps such as Rond de jambe, coupé jeté, & renversé,

“This Opening/Closing can be felt or spoken about more specifically in terms which describe ‘toward where’ the shape is changing--the essential spatial pull which is coloring the expressive quality of the movement. These pulls are related to a Dimensional matrix in space." (Making Connections p.222)

This language is helpful in learning dance technique and choreography, as well as choreography.

For more about Space and specific Shapes we make in dance:

Blythe Stephens, MFA

I’ve been reading Eat, Pray, Love recently (finally!) and Elizabeth Gilbert puts a fine point on it, divulging that during a particularly difficult part of her life she was treated for depression, including her last resort of taking medication: “I could finally sleep. This was the real gift, because when you cannot sleep, you cannot get yourself out of the ditch, there’s not a chance.”

What fosters good sleep in your life? What rituals help you wind down and relax in order to fall asleep and rest peacefully? That’s what I’m exploring today in episode 53. I am not a medical doctor or expert, just sharing what works for me and recommendations from friends and professionals. If you struggle with insomnia, definitely consult with a trusted doctor to treat the cause of your symptoms.

We all know that sleep is an essential life requirement, but we tend to forget the ingredients we require to set ourselves up to fulfill this basic need. This is a highly personal area, but some places to look if you'd like to make some tweaks to improve your sleep are environmental factors, yoga, relaxation, visualization and meditation, Ayurveda, the timing of yoga and exercise, and other soothing rituals like bathing, writing, reading, music, baths, warm drinks, & herbal remedies. These are all practices I have employed and enjoyed at one point or another as gateways to sweet sleep.

What helps you relax and unwind in order to enjoy good sleep? I hope this podcast has brought up some reminders or new ideas to help you set the stage for good snoozing, and that you will let me know what practices you find work for you!

Check out my Companion Blog for more practices, resources, and links to ideas for promoting sweet sleep, and I will also include links to relevant videos on the YouTube Channel there.

Blythe Stephens, MFA

DISCLAIMER: A Blythe Coach recommends that you consult your physician regarding the applicability of any recommendations and follow all safety instructions before beginning any exercise program. When participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself.

I have always been, and identified as, a creator or an artist. But as far as the sense of becoming an online content creator, as long as I have been reading blogs (at least since at least 2005 with Zen Habits), watching YouTube videos, and listening to podcasts, the teacher in me has wanted to learn how to use these means to convey what I know. Ever since I began building an international network of friends, students, and clients, and especially since moving to Germany, I’ve understood the value of online communication and collaboration.

Then, 18 months into my experience teaching dance in Europe, global pandemic hit in the form of COVID-19!

For a bit we were shut down completely for quarantine, but soon we were able to start providing online classes everywhere I was teaching and learning and everyone jumped on board to learn the skills to become effective online teachers, live and synchronous on Zoom as well as on video through YouTube and other portals.

This provided the impetus for me to go ahead and get creating, with this podcast, the A Blythe Coach YouTube Channel and Blog, as well as on social media. 

Today I'm sharing 10 key things I have learned along the way, and where I'll be focusing my energy as I move into year 2! For links to many of the resources I mention here, check out the blog version of this reflection, coming soon!

Thanks for listening and being a part of my first year creating in this way, I am so grateful for you and for the experience this has provided.

Blythe Stephens, MFA

I want lots of energy for dancing and learning and doing all the things I love to do, and what I know (both from scientific research and my lived experience) that what I eat is an important factor. 

But I’m also more of an enthusiastic eater than cook and am not willing to put too much time and energy into it. You can call it lazy or efficient, but 5 ingredients or less is my general guideline for cooking, and I have learned to make the most of my time and use ingredients that make a difference in taste and sense of well-being.

I am not a nutritionist or any kind of an expert, so this is not advice, rather sharing what I enjoy and what works for me. I am a very busy and active person who loves to eat and feel good, so if you’re similar, you might find some ideas here that you like.

Favorite Easy Meals & Prep to maximize fruit, veg, and nutrients

Simple Soups

Quick Nutritious Snacks

This time of year is a great opportunity to take stock and integrate new habits (or start old habits anew) to take us into the Summer and beyond. If you are into healthy habits, minimalism, or simple fitness (or you want to be), check out my blogs on those topics as well: Healthy Habit-Building, My Minimalism Memoir, & Move Your Body: Minimal Fitness for Maximal Well-Being.

I wish you fresh, healthy, happy eating, dancing, and whatever else you're up to!

Blythe Stephens, MFA

This podcast usually includes weekly bite-sized (5-15 minute) insights on dance, yoga, well-being, creativity, and joy! But, to celebrate the 50th episode, I decided to share a special longer-form (1-hour) interview, kicking off a regular interview series to be interspersed with my solo episodes.

I'm so excited to introduce you to one of my mentors, the teacher who first taught me to dance and has inspired me in so many ways, Virginia Holte. In this conversation we discussed her history as a ballet dancer on the US mainland and then as a dance educator on the Big Island on Maui in Hawai'i, her current projects, philosophies of teaching ballet and other movement modalities and collaboration, teaching online in pandemic, and her positive approach to life.

Virginia Holte is the Founder and Artistic Director of the West Hawaii Dance Theatre and recently founded a new, project-based outreach, Maui Ballet. A Graduate of the Academy of the Washington Ballet under the late Mary Day, Ms. Holte enjoyed a long professional dance career with Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Chicago Ballet, Washington Ballet and various guest appearances with Ballet Internationale, New Jersey Ballet, and Indiana Ballet Theatre N.W. A Third Series practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga, certified in the Pilates Method, Mat and Equipment from the Physical Mind Institute, Ms. Holte is an International Certified GYROKINESIS® and GYROTONIC® Specialized Master Trainer. She has been sharing her love of ballet and movement with the Hawaii community since 1986.

Current Projects:

It was so delightful to catch up with Virginia, and I learned so much about interviewing for the podcast from this experience, thanks so much for taking the time and being willing to be the first :)

What do you think of having interviews interspersed on the podcast to share their knowledge about dance, movement, and living a luscious life?

Blythe Stephens, MFA

What qualities of focus are required to be a creative and effective person? How do dancers attend to the space within and around them, using focus to direct the viewer’s attention and to give shape to their environment?

Being able to direct or manipulate our focus and that of others enables us to understand, connect, express, create, and accomplish. Though related as elements of dance, working with the quality of focus as a spatial effort is distinct from shapes and shaping that move through dimensions and pathways in space (though I have lots more resources about that!), it is distinct from detailed and specific traditions of meditative practice (though I do have yoga, pranayama, visualization and meditation content about that and it will continue to be fertile ground for future exploration), and it is different from the element of time: flow, management productivity, and organization (though I love all that, too!).

Rather, I specifically want to explore here our ability to direct our focus and therefore form space in particular ways and how we are able to develop facility in doing so with precision and effectiveness for practical and expressive purposes in dance and in life.

Focus, or directing attention in the ways the Laban Movement Analysis system refers to as the Space Effort, has to do with translating our intent into action. In the book Making Connections, Peggy Hackney clarifies: “The Space Effort deals with how you give attention, not the place in space. Both Direct and Indirect approaches to paying attention are active. Indirectness is not the same as being ‘spaced out’ or out of space; it is giving active attention to more than one thing at once. Both types of Space Effort relate to thinking.” (emphasis mine)

As Questlove explains in the book Creative Quest, certain approaches to focus serve the creative process best: “Creative things happen to creative people, especially when they let themselves go to the Zen of the moment, when they don’t allow themselves to be paralyzed either by overthinking or by laziness. They have to be in the sweet spot between the two. [...]There’s lots of noise all around, and as a creative person, you’re being asked to find the signal. But to truly find it, you need some sort of internal check or monitor. You need moments of silence where you can hear yourself.”

In Living Your Best Life, Laura Berman Fortgang asserts that "Nothing is a better partner to taking action than being still. Stillness allows the most effective action to emerge, helping to settle the chaos and uncover the action and direction that will do the most good."

When we are present to our purpose and priorities or that which deserves our focus, we are freed to act in ways that serve us, our communities, and the planet.

What is the quality of your focus?

What states of focus and approaches to space will enhance your dancing, creativity, and life experience?

Stay tuned on my YouTube Channel and Blog for more!

Blythe Stephens, MFA

How I do love to travel! Sadly due to the global pandemic, I am not able to travel as far afield at present as I like to regularly. Thankfully, I am still able to walk around the city of Cologne, and also dance!

Walking, strutting, marching, sliding, under-curves, over-curves, crawling, turning, rolling, grapevines, triplets, gallops, skips, and many more movements take us from one place to another in dance. As Mary Joyce succinctly states in her book Dance Technique for Children: “‘Locomotor’ simply means going from one place to another as opposed to axial or ‘on the spot’ movement.” (p.155)

Last week we discussed types of jumps and allegro movements in dance in the Arts of Allegro Podcast, Arts of Allegro blog, and Types of Jumps YouTube Video, which provide a nice general introduction to the various types of jumps that exist in dance.

Today in episode 48, we’re covering other ways to move from point A to point B and you can find out more about locomotor movement in the “The 7 Movements of Ballet” YouTube Video, 7 Movements of Ballet YouTube Playlist. The Sauter (jump), Glisser (glide), and Tourner (turn) videos from that series cover a few of the most common locomotor movements in ballet, and I have also taught more complex traveling steps such as Balancé or waltzing and Pas de Bourée.

Still to come will be videos breaking down March & Prance, Skip & Pas de Chat, Chassé, various jumps such as Changements and Sissonne, and much more.

Thank goodness we’re still able to explore different types of movement, develop dance technique, improvise, choreograph, even “travel” through diverse styles and movement qualities! I look forward to exploring all of these with you in the future. 

Blythe Stephens, MFA

These classifications are applicable to all dance styles that change feet or leave the floor with a spring regardless of velocity or amplitude. Here I'm taking the definition of the categories which I use in live classes from both ballet text and modern texts, but have been taught these concepts in jazz and tap contexts as well.

Students report it to be a useful tool to analyze and learn new steps as well as elaborate petit allegro choreography, which is also a wonderful training in musicality (check out my rhythm and musicality for dancers blog for more on that)! 🙂

Rory Foster provides a helpful introduction to allegro, or jumping, in the context of ballet: "Allegro steps are divided into three basic categories: petit or small, medium, and grand allegro. Tempo, more than the individual step itself, plays the defining role for small and medium jumps." (Ballet Pedagogy)

The categories I have found most practical to use in teaching are:

Want to learn more about allegro/jumping? Check out the “Saucy Prances & Sautés,” "Glissade & Assemble Jumps," “Frothy Frappé & Jeté,” & “The 7 Movements of Ballet” videos on my YouTube Channel, as well as the playlists: “Legs, Legs, Legs,” “Foot & Ankle Conditioning,” & “Ballet Barre” for training and technique basics.

My podcasts on the topic include 014: Powerful Pliés, 020: Sauter, Jumping & Leaps of Faith, 021: Glisser - Smoothly Gliding, & 022: Élancer - Swiftly Darting and on the blog we have Sauter, Jumping, & Leaps of Faith, Glisser – Smoothly Gliding into Autumn, & Élancer – Swiftly Darting.

More to come soon on other locomotor steps, elements of dance such as focus, and other topics in movement and life!

Blythe Stephens, MFA

As I mentioned in the My Minimalism Memoir Blog and Podcast 041, I played the 30-Day Minimalist Game (or “Minsgame”) in 2019 to prepare to move to Cologne, and once again this March, in order to curb encroaching clutter and make more space for what is most important. 

Now this round of the Minsgame is done, and I won!!! I kept taming my paper tiger all 30 days--totaling 465 pieces of paper!

In so doing, I sorted out a lot of good stuff that will be easier to find as it is now organized in binders (for those things which I do need a hard copy for) and into Evernote (to back up hard copies of critical documents, and as a replacement to hard copies of things for which I don’t need an original) and therefore searchable. My work always requires research, and then having the results at my fingertips for inspiration and citation this is a system that is ever-evolving.

Choreographer Twyla Tharp favors an analog system for storing creative ideas, and shares her system in her book The Creative Habit: "Everyone has his or her own organizational system. Mine is a box, the kind you can buy at Office Depot for transferring files. I start every dance with a box. [...]The box documents the active research on every project." 

Everyone can benefit from refining their archiving skills, but especially creatives. Tharp explains the system that Beethoven used in developing his works: "A perfect archive also gives you more material to call on, to use as a spark for invention. Beethoven, despite his unruly reputation and wild romantic image, was well organized. He saved everything in a series of notebooks that were organized according to the level of development of the idea."

Each person must consider what type of system serves their creative process best, and I found Sage Cohen’s system in the book Writing the Life Poetic for storing and accessing ideas very helpful to my poetry practice as well as other areas of creativity: "When your mind is alert to the acorns of inspiration--and you have a good system for saving those acorns--you can build up a surplus. This secret stash of great ideas can keep the pilot light of inspiration going, and get you through the harshest winters of creative dormancy.”

I’m super satisfied to have a big stack of paper that is officially cleared, making room for ideas and a new game: April is Letter-Writing Month for me! I'm also here to support you in playing the Minsgame and whatever simple and creative living projects you’re up to. 

What ideas will you capture and act on this week?

Stay tuned on my YouTube Channel and Blog for more about living a luscious life!!

Blythe Stephens, MFA

In her introduction to the book Hip Hop Speaks to Children: a celebration of poetry with a beat*, Nikki Giovanni explains the genesis of rhythm in language, music, and ultimately hip hop: “When humans were beginning to develop our own language, separate from the growls and howls, separate from the buzz and the birdsongs, we used rhythms: a sound and a silence. With no silence, the sound is cacophonous. With no sound, the silence is a lonely owl flapping her wings against the midnight sun seeking a careless mouse.”

Last week we explored Attitudes to Time in yogic philosophy, coaching, and as an element of dance. Today in episode 45, we’re getting into more detail about musical expressions of the element of time in dance. 

As dancers, we are well-served by learning to hear and analyze music, and to develop a close relationship to the music we dance with. Katherine Teck states in Ear Training for the Body: A Dancer’s Guide to Music*, “The most obvious reasons for dancers to develop a keen awareness of specific musical events is so that they can recognize aural cues during onstage performances. To put it bluntly: If performers cannot quickly sense and remember what they should be doing in relation to the music, they will have a rough time making it in the dance world.” (p.3)

In Ballet Pedagogy: The Art of Teaching* Rory Foster outlines some music essentials for teachers and students of dance: "Any understanding of music fundamentals, its form and structure, will broaden and enrich one's teaching capabilities and effectiveness. Ballet is performed to music, and its kinesis and aesthetics work with many of the same components of music such as meter, tempo, rhythm, accent, phrasing, and dynamics." (p.79)

In the Podcast, I break down Beat, Rhythm, Tempo, Meter, Bars, Measures, Phrasing, Cadence according to these sources.

In the future I will discuss other forms of music outside the classical western tradition such as world music and the liberating tradition of hip hop, I’ll share my handout of “Music Basics for Dancers” and more exercises and resources to develop your own musical sensitivity and dancing musicality, and we’ll practice rhythm through walking, jumping, and manipulating our focus. Stay tuned on my YouTube Channel and Blog for more!

What are your struggles and triumphs in working with music as a dancer, or in understanding it as a musician or audience member?

Blythe Stephens, MFA Dance