Ballet Uncovered ~ Balancing Pointe Podcast

Rhee Gold is a motivational powerhouse and entrepreneur. He is dedicated to inspiring dance teachers to provide positive instruction and curriculum amidst the sometimes negative edge of the growing world of the competition dance circuit. We came to know him a few years ago through his Facebook page. Positive Dance Moms (and Dads) created in response to the popular but controversial Lifetime Television program Dance Moms. The page, updated daily with inspirational posts, reminds us all of the positive role we do and can play in our children’s lives as dancers.

When we discovered Rhee, little did we know the extent of his true force of inspiration. He is the publisher of Dance Studio Life magazine, the producer of DanceLifeTV.com, the founder and director of DanceLife Teacher Conference, DanceLife Retreat Center and Project Motivate.

As the dance field's first motivational speaker, he has traveled the world presenting motivational and business seminars, as well as keynote addresses for conferences and conventions. His philosophies for the classroom, inspiring students, successful studio ownership and respect for all dance teachers, along with his unmatched passion for dance education have changed the way thousands of teachers and school owners perceive and approach their profession.

Ben Davis is a soloist with The Australian Ballet. His interview is light hearted, fun-loving and filled with good humor. At the same time Ben is humble and appreciative of living a life of ballet and working at the Sydney Opera House. Generous with his talents, he often guest teaches with various programs throughout Australia, motivating students to be their best. He expands upon his onstage artistic creativity by also working as a freelance professional make-up artist.

Born in Melbourne in 1982, Ben Davis used to tag along to his sister's jazz ballet classes and copy the routines from the back of the studio before he started attending his own classes at age seven. In May of 2010, he good humoredly admits,I didn't really like ballet at first: I just saw a bunch of girls standing around, not doing much and listening to some kind of clunky music. I liked musical theatre, but I found out I couldn't sing, so that got shot out of the way.

Ben trained with Leeanne Rutherford of Ballet Theatre Australia. He was 18 before he really decided that a career in ballet was a possibility. In another interview, Ben tells us "My teacher used to call me flash in the pan boy, totally gung-ho one minute and not so much the next. Then at 20 I really knuckled down and crammed as much training as humanly possible into the following two years."

Claire Kretzschmar is a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet. Claire began her dance training at the Academy of Dance Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She later studied at the Wake Forest Community Ballet and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Ms. Kretzschmar began studying at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, during the summers of 2006 through 2009, and enrolled as a full time student in 2009. In November 2010 she became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in August 2011. Since joining NYCB Claire has danced featured roles in George Balanchine's Nutcracker as well as originated featured roles in Peter Martins: Mes Oiseaux and Justin Peck: Paz de la Jolla.

Rainesford Alexandra is a writer, college student, and former classically trained ballet dancer. On the path to pursuing professional ballet, Rainesford suffered a career-ending injury at the age of sixteen. Still in love with the art she lends another talent, her writing, to keeping ballet vibrant and alive. Purposeful and articulate, Rainesford projects an intelligence beyond her years. As an active contributor to The Huffington Post Arts section and author of her own blog Dressing Room Writers, Rainesford is passionate and determined to bring ballet to a higher awareness and larger audience.

Dressing Room Writers is an alternative dance media website which seeks to publicize dancers doing innovative things in the ballet world. Through Dressing Room Writers, Rainesford has had the opportunity to talk to some of the most prestigious professionals and up-and-coming young dancers. After writing an article about New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns video blog for The Huffington Post, Rainesford was invited to attend Dance Theatre of Harlem's opening night at Jazz at Lincoln Center in Spring 2013 by Simone Cooper Public Relations.

Tiit Helimets is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet and Artistic Director of Tiit Helimets and Co. Tall, blond, and good looking, Tiit has a sweet, quiet manner. Onstage, he has been described as an elegant classical dancer and a superb partner.

Tiit was born in Estonia and trained at the Tallinn Ballet school. He began his career as a soloist with the Estonian National Ballet and was promoted to principal only 6 months later, making Estonian dance history when he danced the role of Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake at the age of 18. In 1999 he joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in London moving up the ranks with this company. In 2005 he joined SFB where he is still dancing today as a principal.

Megan Fairchild is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. She seemingly catapulted through the ranks into the role of Principal with one of the most prestigious companies in the world in just a few short years. Despite her star appeal, Megan is humble and appreciative of her life and those who have helped her along the way. She began her dance training at the age of four, and then studied ballet at the Ballet West Conservatory in Salt Lake City. While at the Ballet West Conservatory, Ms. Fairchild was also a Ballet West trainee.

At the age of 16, Ms. Fairchild moved to NYC to study at the School of American Ballet (SAB) in the fall of 2000. Her rise to principal dancer has been notably fast. She became an apprentice with New York City Ballet in November of 2001. In October 2002, she joined the NYCB company as a member of the corps de ballet. Two years later, Ms. Fairchild was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2004, and in January 2005, at the age of 20 she was promoted to principal dancer.

Megan thoughtfully shares her story with us, openly and honestly. We learn of her triumphs along her journey, from the studio to the stage and her recent marriage. She also shares with us her very real and challenging moments as a dancer.

Henry St. Clair is the Artistic Director of Crystal Ballet, a digitally minded ballet company in London creating new works developed specifically for downloadable film. A former classical ballet dancer with years of live stage performance, it seems somehow contrary that Henry has joined forces with Managing Director, Mark Handford to use a modern medium for the company's premier that appeals to a new and digitally minded audience. Yet, his gregarious enthusiasm, and artistic determination for his company and for the art, leave no one doubting that Crystal Ballet will soon be appearing regularly on portable devices and television screens across the globe. Standing on the frontline of the digital dance revolution, Henry's story is sure to inspire us.

Once upon a time in the southwest, there was a cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary company named ARCOS Dance.  Born in Santa Fe and living in Austin, this small but vibrant touring company plays with cutting-edge choreography, evocative sound design, interactive video, and theatrical elements to create a wholly unique contemporary performance.  Executive and Associate Artistic Director, choreographer, and dancer, Erica Gionfriddo tells us of her journey of formal training that began at age sixteen, of obtaining a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Winchester Conservatory, and of touring and performing internationally.  Erica inspires us with her stories of the creative process of choreographing in collaboration with interactive media to engage today’s modern audience.

Dylan Gutierrez tells us his personal story of his journey into the world of professional ballet,from beginning his training with his mother Andrea Paris-Gutierrez at the Los Angeles Ballet Academy, until joining his current company The Joffrey Ballet in 2009. Dylan tells us of his experience competing in the Youth American Grand Prix finals in New York, attending the The Royal Ballet School in London, and making his professional debut at age 18 as one of two apprentices with the San Francisco Ballet in 2008. Dylan offers advice to young dancers when he answers a question from an aspiring professional from our audience.

In this first episode of Balancing Pointe the Podcast host Kimberly Falker shares what the subscriber can expect from the podcast, information about the producers, and the inspiration behind creating this podcast. Kimberly shares the mission of the podcast to educate, motivate, inspire and ultimately provide tips on how to succeed not only in dance, but also in life. Hear about the enlightening interviews to come that will provide the listener with perspectives from different viewpoints along the journey. From aspiring ballet apprentices to principals, choreographers, writers, film makers and photographers, these personal stories of these amazingly hard working professionals reflect how perseverance coupled with passion can be applied to everyone to create success in life.