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Theresa Ruth Howard Dancer/Writer/Teacher Theresa Ruth Howard began her professional dance career with the Philadelphia Civic Ballet Company at the age of twelve. Later she joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem where she had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Africa. She has worked with choreographer Donald Byrd as a soloist in his staging of New York City Opera's Carmina Burana, his critically acclaimed Harlem Nutcracker, as well as the controversial domestic violence work The Beast. She was invited to be a guest artist with Complexions: A Concept in their 10th anniversary season. In 2004 she became a founding member of Armitage Gone! Dance. As a writer Ms. Howard has contributed to Russell Simmons’ One World magazine (art), and The Source (social politics), as well as Pointe and Dance Magazine. While teaching in Italy for the International Dance Association she was asked to become a contributor for the premiere Italian dance magazine Expressions. Her engaging, no nonsense writing style caught the eye of both the readers of Dance Magazine and its Editor in Chief who not only made her a contributing editor and has collaborated with Ms. Howard in See and Say Web-reviews. Her articles about body image prompted her to develop a workshop for young adult (dancers and non-dancers) My Body My Image that addresses their perceptions both positive and negative about their bodies and endeavoring to bring them closer to a place of Acceptance and Appreciation. She recently launched a blog by the same name to reach a broader audience (mybodymyimage.com) As a teacher Ms. Howard has been an Artist in Residence at Hollins University in and New Haven University in addition to teaching at Sarah Lawrence College, Marymount, Shenandoah, and Radford Universities, and the historical American Dance Festival. As a result of her work at ADF Ms. Howard was invited to Sochi, Russia to adjudicate the arts competition Expectations of Europe and teach master classes, and in Burundi, Africa where she coached and taught the Burundi Dance Company. Currently she on faculty at The Ailey School but also extensively throughout Italy and Canada. Ms. Howard's belief in the development, and nurturing of children lead her to work with at risk youth. At the Jacob Riis Settlement House in Queensbridge New York, she founded S.I.S.T.A (Socially Intelligent Sisters Taking Action) a mentoring program for teen-age girls where she worked to empower them to become the creators of their destinies. In addition she developed a dance program, which lead to an exchange with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Through her teaching and travels Ms. Howard began to observe a universal disenchantment and disconnection in teenagers that disturbed her, thus she set out to address it. Combining her philosophies of life and teaching, with the skills she garnered through outreach programs with diverse communities, she developed the personal development workshop Principles of Engagement: Connecting Youth to the Infinite Possibilities Within which gives teens a set of workable tools to increase their levels of success at tasks, and goals not only in dance, and all aspect of their lives. Theresa Ruth Howard is certainly diverse and multifaceted as an artist, and is moved to both write and create work; however she sees every student she encounters as a work in progress, and the potential to change the world one person at a time. The only was to make this world a better place it to be better people in it!

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Dance Studio, Uncategorized

Misty Copeland on being a Black Ballerina and “Curvy”

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More Misty because I am a HUGE Misty fan. Check out Misty talking about her life as a Ballerina and having curves in this Written interview.

Hosted By: Black Voices
If you’ve seen the Oscar-winning film ‘Black Swan,’ you know that the ballet world can be brutal. The movie may include exaggerations, but the message is clear: It’s highly competitive, overwhelmingly white and the dancers are incredibly thin.

Yet with all of this, classical ballet dancer Misty Copeland of the American Ballet Theatre has managed to navigate this elite world and, in 2007, even etched out a spot as a soloist — the first African-American female to do so. She was even the featured dancer on legendary singer Prince’s Welcome 2 America tour this past year.

However, it’s not Copeland’s ethnicity that makes her unique; it’s another “cultural” attribution that sets her apart: her voluptuous body. At 5’2 and 103 pounds, the petite, curvy ballerina doesn’t feel pressure to represent for all African Americans but says it’d be nice to see more ballet dancers who looked like her.

We chatted with 28-year-old Copeland about her experiences with this grueling art form.

“BV: You are a curvy young lady; what has been your experience?

MC: It’s been a struggle, especially corps de ballet sets (the large group of dancers). When I was in the corps de ballet, my body was harder to deal with because they made the clothes for the size they expected dancers to be and look like. And just coming to terms with looking around when we’re training and not seeing women who look like me. It was harder when I was a teenager.”
BV: Have you felt pressure to lose weight or had to deal with any mental or physical challenges with accepting your body?

MC: Absolutely! I felt pressure to lose weight. It’s kind of hard to avoid that when you’re in this field. I never dealt with an eating disorder in any way, and yes, I was told many times to lose when I joined the company. I learned to accept my body but I also learned to take care of it, which is hard. Most people who join a company like American Ballet Theatre or New York City Ballet have some problems because they’re young, alone and don’t have much guidance, and it’s easy to fall into having an eating disorder.
To check out the rest of the interview, Click Here

And here is a Video Interview with Misty talking about her life as a Black Ballerina:

Hosted By: DanceChannelTV

Enjoy and tell me what you think!

MR

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(wait for it) Toddler Beauty Queen age 6 Retires and Writes a Memoir

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Where is the rapture when you need it? Or perhaps this is proof that it is on its way. Eden Wood, one of the subjects on the reality series Toddlers and Tiaras is retiring from the pageant circuit. In the Clip below her mother says that she is following in the footsteps of other former pageant women like–wait for it –Oprah Winfrey. She is leaving the reality show to set out on her way to earn big money and stardom like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez Or other Disney child stars (her mother should look at that track record before she says that out loud). Not only that but Eden is is also “writing” a book entitled “From Cradle to Crown”. I don’t know whether to blame them or the publishing house that signed this deal (no doubt they represent Snookie and Eden will be booked as guest speaker at Harvard’s commencement ceremony before her 7th birthday at a fee that trumps a noble peace prize winning author)

This story only supports my current facebook status “If you are part of the solution, then be part of the problem!” And the problem with things like this is that we as consumers participate in this nonsense. I mean she has a Showgirl action figure- a SHOW GIRL ACTION FIGURE? WTF!What parent BUYS that for her child?

Meanwhile it is the mother doing all of the talking and the poor little girl sits there looking more drugged then O.J. at his murder trial. Apparently she was tired, it makes sense after all she’s the hardest working 6 year old in the business what with her Mall tour “Eden and the Glamour girls and all. Nowhere in the interview was school mentioned or her education. We see footage of Eden in a make-up chair but never with a book. What really bothers me (and most people who take issue with this sort of thing) is the hyper sexualization of these little girls, they look like miniature burlesque queens in costume and behavior, we are telling them they are their sexuality or their bodies, and not empowering them to develop their intellect and minds? What happens when she not a cute 6 year old but an adult woman (ok I got a flash of Better Davis in Whatever happened to Baby Eden I mean Jane) The whole world of kiddie pageant is creepy, there is always an overzealous stage mother in the audience or back stage mouthing the words to the song and song and doing the choreography with stars (and now dollar signs in their eyes) stardom and fame by proxy. It makes you wonder who is the chicken and who is the egg and came first.

When you dress a child up to look like a show girl or stripper, pile so much make-up on it ages them 45 years, and have them sing songs that are supposed to be cute but are more creepy because of the suggestive choreography, sparkles and midriff top, and your main priority is that she become “Famous” that’s of great concern. Will she be able to read her own book? In the interview there is no mention of school, but they reiterate that “Eden has been working really hard” SHE”S 6 should 6 year olds be “working hard”? Yes at learning to tie shoes, read books and jump rope. The other thing I found interesting about the interview was the mother’s language, a few times she had to correct her “I’s” to “She’s” when talking about her daughter’s goals, and earning potential. Take a look and tell me what you think.
Oh the rapture was postponed until October so you still have time to catch Eden’s Mall tour and get a signed picture, but she can’t write in script yet sorry print will have to do!

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What to wear to Sunday Brunch?

Okay, so about couple of weeks ago I wrote a post called Fitting in with the latest trends.

Anyways, This post is my evidence to show how most of the “latest fashion trends” fit one type of body. Teen Vogue has a “what to wear to a Sunday brunch”. They have a slide show showing trends that would look cute and they are cute, but I know some of those dresses/outfits they show like the pearl white floral dress would NOT fit my body nicely, and is not my style. It’s beautiful but in my opinion I’m too curvy for it, I think it would look better on a person with a straighter figure.

However the modcloth dress would be a better cut for me but I’m not too sure about the print

Or maybe I feel this way because of the way I feel about my figure, or it’s a matter of feeling comfortable, or maybe “ultimate” style is your personal style, mixing what’s on trend with what you like and feel comfortable in

MR

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Jonah Hill is the Male Jennifer Hudson

All I have to say is WOW! what a difference. Jonah Hill has seriously reduced! I wonder how he accomplished this intense weight loss, I hope he did it in a healthy as sustainable way. He as been over weight since childhood so I am sure that being connected to his body in this way is a whole new experience for him.

Us Weekly reports that Hill set a goal of losing 30 pounds, and though “he gained weight at first,” as a friend told the magazine, he shed the weight through a nutritionist and trainer. And it helped him really kick tail.

Where the weight loss was for the film 21 Jumpstreet I wonder if he will own the lifestyle change of healthy diet and exercise. I am sure that this will alter his career, as he can no longer play the “funny fat sidekick” this should be interesting to watch, maybe we will now see if he has any chops for the dramatic! You go Boy!!!

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American Women More Confident Than British Women About Their Bodies, Poll Reveals

Hosted by Huffington Post

We may worship the slender figure of one Duchess of Cambridge, but a new study shows that American women are actually somewhat more confident about their bodies than British women — in particular, about their chests and rear ends.

After polling 8,000 women from the U.S. and U.K. as part of a “Summer Confidence” study, beauty company Mama Mio found that 35 percent of American women “loved their boobs,” while only 20 percent of U.K. respondents felt the same way.

Similarly, 30 percent of U.S. women said they loved their butts, where only 20 percent of British women were fans of their own bums.

When asked how they felt about their overall body image, 15 percent of American women gave the positive response, “I was made to be naked,” while only one out of ten UK women felt so sure. And when it comes to feeling beach-ready? 30 percent of American women said they felt happy in a bikini, while only 12 percent of British women felt the same way.

British women do have one surprising area of confidence: their legs. While only one in four American women said they love their legs, 40 percent of British women answered positively about their stems.

But before American women start feeling all superior about their positive body image, Mama Mio did find one disturbing fact: despite loving their breasts more than British women, American ladies were still more likely to want plastic surgery, with 10 percent saying they “need a boob job” versus 5 percent of U.K. women.

Why are we not surprised?

Stay tuned at Mamamio.com for the second half of the Summer Confidence study, where a new quiz in October will see if confidence levels have risen during the summer months.

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Giuliana Rancic Giuliana Rancic: I Can Eat Whatever I Want

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of people are talking about the picture you posted online of you eating a big plate of pasta in Italy.
Yeah. I went to Italy, and I consumed way too many calories a day, but I didn’t care. Bill and I made a deal on the plane over that we can’t say “no” to anything, including food. Like if Bill says, “Let’s have a crepe,” I can’t say no — even though I just had a gelato, and I’m full. We indulged like crazy for two weeks, but we took really long walks in the vineyards, and we stayed active. And when we got back to Los Angeles, we were back at Equinox the next day on the treadmill.

 

Now I will preface this with the fact that Giuliana is not exactly my favorite television personality, mainly because when I watch her entertainment Red Carpet reporting she seems overly preoccupied with the thinness of the stars she interviews, and there was also her resistance to gaining 5-7 pounds to increase her fertility when she was trying to get pregnant  which has led me to believe that she might be one of the women Demi Lavato was talking about. That having been stated where her statement might at first seem like she has a healthy relationship to food and her body image, there are some things that pop out at me on second glance. Like the idea that she and her husband made a “deal” that she can not say “no” to anything, which implies that she regularly does say no to certain foods, which would mean that she then doesn’t eat “whatever she wants”. In my head the conversation went like this:

Him: okay honey we are going to Italy great food great wine, no dieting let’s just enjoy ourselves …

She gives him “the look”

Him:  Come on it’ some of the best food in the world pasta , and pizza

Her: And some of the most fattening…Bill I’ll be huge!!!

Him:Okay let’s make a deal, we don’t worry about anything we are on vacation, no work, no cameras, let’s have fun, you can’t say no to anything, you have to eat everything

Right after she states that she has to eat anything and everything she buttresses the comment with a statement that they walked a lot and “Stayed active”, one could infer that she mentally justified the consuming of more food then usual with being able to work it off, by staying active.Then she tells us that when she returned home she was back on the treadmill. This sounds to me like someone who is acutely aware of what they eat, and not like a person who eats whatever they desire. Granted she is on television so being camera thin might take some effort and restriction (totally understandable), or perhaps she is responding to the fact that her weight has been called into question as she does look mighty frail. I could be reading too much into her statement but I am hyper sensitive to words, and language and this made some of those internal red flags go up. It still make wonder, “Methinks the lady doth protest too much”,  just saying,

Dance Studio, In Your Words

My Life Dealing with Injury

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Intern Makeda Roney shares her very personal story about battling injury as a young student. As a teacher I have never seen so many injuries in young dancers as I have of late and serious ones at that! Makeda shares not only her physical ordeal but how that effects not only her body bit her self confidence, her mind and spirit. This is a very honest telling of one young dancer’s journey to get to a point where she dance with abandon, and free of pain.

I have been dancing seriously for about 4 years and every year (since 2008) I have been dealing with a non-stop series of injuries. My series started off with Achilles tendinitis, in 2007,which made it unable for me to perform in Dance Theater of Harlem’s June performance. In 2008, I was diagnosed with underdeveloped calves. That answered the reason why it was so painful to do jumps in dance class. I was given exercises to do everyday and was not allowed to jump in dance class until my calves were fully developed. In the beginning of the summer in 2009, I experienced serious pain in my toes while dancing on Pointe and when I went to the doctor, they diagnosed me with stress fractures in both of my second metatarsals. I was told to stop dancing for the rest of the summer. When I heard this I felt angry and sad at the same time. I had mixed emotions because I had so many goals that I was tying to achieve that summer, and I felt like even after the first 2 weeks of the program, I was already start to work towards them. Not to mention my body changes a lot when I’m not dancing. I loose muscle and flexibility and if I am not conscious about my diet, I can gain a lot of  weight. Having to dealing with all of that is very frustrating, because it makes it harder to get back in shape after the injury is healed and it feels like I have to re-learn how to dance all over again. Of course, my muscle memory takes over so of course when go back to class, so I don’t have to start at beginning level again, but there are certainly things that I can’t do in class anymore due to my loss of muscle so that’s frustrating.

During the year of 2009, I got better and felt fantastic dancing but as the year went on and Nutcracker season started, I got pain in my toes again. I was told by my teachers to stop dancing until I got another x ray. By the time I did, Nutcracker season was over and once again I didn’t get to perform. The x ray showed that I had scar tissue from my stress fractures and that’s why I was experiencing toe pain again. In 2010, I strained my left groin muscle. I was unable to dance and perform during the months of April, May and June.

I thought I was finally was getting away from my “injury curse”,  I managed to stay healthy during the summer, fall and winter of 2010 and the beginning of 2011. I got accepted into The Ailey school for the second semester with a fellowship in 2011 and I felt accomplished. When I started at The Ailey school, my body felt good, I worked really hard and was improving so much. I felt like things were really starting to look up. Then all hope was gone because in May 2011 I started having serious sacrum pain, I couldn’t walk, sit or do any actions without pain. It got so bad that yet again couldn’t perform for the Ailey School end of the year performance.  I stopped dancing for 2 months to heal so I could start The Ailey Summer Intensive healthy. To rejuvenate my body, I didn’t do anything active. I stayed home for most of those 2 months. I found myself sleeping a lot,  it was very frustrating because I was so bored. I could have found things to entertain myself but I refused to do anything. It was like I was sulking and punishing  myself. I missed dancing so much that all I could do was think about it and nothing else. I was very miserable and cried a lot. The one thing that got me through this situation was watching stand up comedies.

Now  I am back and dancing full time this summer and slowly trying to get myself back to business, but unfortunately, I have started to get a lot of lower back pain. I am trying to deal with this injury without having to take off from dance once again, and so far it is very challenging. It is difficult because it is painful to do certain steps and positions in class and sometimes I have to rest, so my back wont get over worked. I have good days and bad days, like everyone else. Sometimes I can take all my classes without any pain and sometimes I can only take just barre of ballet. There are some classes this summer that get me really frustrated like Gyrokenisis because while Gyro is supposed to help and ease your back, but it is hurting mine like crazy. So it is hard for me to even take that full class without feeling pain. Add to that, while I am dancing I have to be really cautious I have to think about everything I do – because I am re-training. It gets complicated because I the classes are challenging and I have to work slowly and consciously. Doing that in a fast paced class is not easy, although, I am getting better at it. I am re-teaching my body to dance with correct alignment and doing physical therapy exercises, to strengthen my weak muscles, so I can prevent more injuries from happening. I feel like if I take this time with my body and rest to the fullest during the weekends, I will slowly get back to being fully healthy.

Dealing with so many consecutive injuries for the past 3-4 years has been very frustrating for me. I know that being a dancer, I am going to have to deal with them but I would have never thought that I’d have to deal with them at such and early age. I figured that as professional dancer I would experience injuries but not as a student, but I guess I was wrong. There was a point where I felt really sad and I cried almost everyday because it hurt so much to look around and see other dancers my age taking class all the time and performing with out pain, or only getting one quick injury that lasts them a week tops and then they are back in the swing of things, I think “Why can’t I be that way?”. My mother (a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher) told me that when she was younger she never dealt with so many injuries and taking time off to heal because of them, so I thought maybe there was something wrong with me, or maybe I wasn’t meant to dance. But I couldn’t quit! It is my passion and I cannot live my life without it, so as time passes and I get older, I make myself stop sulking about my injuries. I am changing my mind set and thoughts and working to see the positive aspect of my situation. I mean I could definitely say that having these injures at such an early age is a wake up call. It’s making me be more conscious about my body and my health. I have been learning a lot about what my body can and can’t do, what it needs and doesn’t need and my anatomical body structure. I have also been re-evaluating my dancing and my technique, like I said before, I’m learning to make sure that I am working correctly in my body alignment. My experience through this has altered my mind, and matured the way that I dance and improved my decision making with my dancing. I feel better now that I have learned to think about my situation  in a positive way, because even though I am dealing with a back strain now, I can still feel my body and my dancing slowly changing and maturing in such a beneficial way and I have been more hopeful that soon I will get away from this burden of injuries. And one day I will.

MR

Dance Studio, Uncategorized

Pointe Magazine features 4 Dancers’ Food Diaries

I feel really relieved. On Pointe Magazine’s website, they had an article on 4 dancers and their diets. The article is called Your Best Body: The Food Diaries. The 4 dancers they choose were Patricia Hachey; a company member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Jennifer Robinson; a corps dancer of Ballet West, Ariana Lallone; a departing principal dancer of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Kathleen Breen Combes; a Principal of Boston Ballet. Each dancer wrote out exactly what they ate on a given day and under it explained their everyday diet/nutrient intake and how it helps them physically and mentally keep up  as a professional dancer. Check it out:

Hosted by Pointe Magazine
Four pros reveal everything they ate for a day.

Complexions’ Patricia HacheyPhoto by Steve Vaccariello

Dancers are mad scientists of nutrition: They know what every bite will do to their bodies and are constantly adjusting the formula. We asked four professional dancers to tell us exactly what they had to eat on a given day and why. These aren’t menus that were carefully crafted by a nutritionist. They’re the actual food that fits into each dancer’s hectic schedule, giving her the energy she needs—and the treats she’s earned.

Patricia Hachey
Company dancer, Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Performance day on tour in Lucca, Italy

9:15 am Complimentary breakfast at Hotel Universo:
• Multivitamin and vitamin D
• One glass of orange juice
• One cup of coffee
• Granola and yogurt topped with fresh kiwi
• One hard-boiled egg with salt and pepper

3:00 pm Snack after class at the Teatro Del Giglio:
• One Kashi GoLean Chocolate Caramel Protein & Fiber Bar
• One tangerine

5:00 pm Mid-rehearsal snack:
• One big handful of raw almonds
• One pear

7:00 pm Dinner break at the theater before the show:
• Yogurt with müesli
• One hard-boiled egg
• One banana

10:30 pm During the second intermission:
• A shot of honey

11:45 pm Dinner at a restaurant in Lucca:
• Fresh bread drizzled with olive oil
• Insalata classico: lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, fresh Parmesan with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Gnocchi al pesto
• One glass of house red wine

Late night snack at the hotel:
• Two pieces of dark chocolate

Hachey is a vegetarian, so making food choices that will sustain her high activity level, particularly while on tour, is a constant challenge. She chooses hearty plant-based foods like granola and müesli to keep her feeling full for longer. She meets her protein quota with snacks like eggs, almonds and protein bars. “A vitamin supplement was recommended by my doctor because there are important vitamins usually found in fatty fishes or certain meats, which I no longer eat,” she says.

A dancer on tour is often a scavenger; you never know when and where you will find the kinds of foods you need. The fruit, nuts and hard-boiled eggs Hachey snacked on for most of the day were lifted from the complimentary breakfast buffet at the hotel. The Complexions dancers call their food stashes their “bodegas.” Included in Hachey’s bodega stash was a packet of honey (which she’d also swiped at breakfast). She ate it during the second intermission to give herself a shot of natural sugar to push through the rest of the show.

If you want to see the others click here it’s really interesting

MR

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Micheal Phelps’ Stunning Diet

 

PHEW! Talk about eating a lot! Micheal Phelps’ diet is the craziest I have ever heard of! He eats 12,000 calories a day and probably burns more than half of it training. Here is what his diet consists of:

Breakfast: Three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grits. Three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar. Three chocolate-chip pancakes.

Lunch: One pound of enriched pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayo on white bread. Energy drinks packing 1,000 calories.

Dinner: One pound of pasta. An entire pizza. More energy drinks.

 

Supposedly, eating all of this food helps his energy and endurance for swimming, since he is an Olympic swimmer that trains about 8-12 hours a day. But I don’t know how he does it! This hurts my stomach just reading it! Check out this video:

 

MR