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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!

853 Articles
In Your Words

Debbie M’s Journal

Food journal…. Such a bad name.

Week 1

1/30/11

B- Cliff bar & banana
L- Salad, an apple, & small yogurt
D- Chinese take out- Brown rice, tofu, broccoli, black bean sauce

1/31/11

B- Fruit smoothie w/ banana, strawberries, blueberries, greek yogurt, soy milk
L- Whole wheat pasta w/ parmesan cheese, cut up veggie burger, broccoli
D- Eggplant w/ tomato sauce & ricotta cheese. Side salad & roasted artichoke.
→ some of the chocolate brownie desert

2/1/11

B- Oatmeal w/ soymilk & honey
L- Salad w/ mixed veg, 1 apple, 1 LUNAbar
D- Brown rice w/ mixed veg & veg. burger
→ 2 choc chip cookies & 1 glass milk
note to self- stop eating crap, could not fall asleep, stomach bloated

2/2/11

B- none
L- Sandwich w/ tofu, lettuce, tomato. 1 apple. Mixed nuts(almonds/cashews)
D- Brown rice w/ corn, edamame, black beans.
1 glass green tea

2/3/11

B- 2 rice cakes w/ peanut butter, honey, sliced green apples
L- Salad w/ mixed veg, baked tofu, black beans. 1 orange. 1 small banana. 1 Larabar.
D- brown rice w/ black beans and mushroom. Small greek yogurt w/ walnuts.
→ today I denied the offer of pumpkin pie and didn’t really crave any sweets. A light yogurt high in protein is a good substitute for dessert.

2/4/11
B- Fruit smoothie w/ banana, berries, soy milk, greek yogurt
L- Sandwich w/ hummus, cheese, lettuce, tomato. 1 apple. Grapes. Mixed nuts(almonds and cashews)
D- brown rice w/ broccoli, zucchini & teriyaki sauce
S- 1 nature valley granola bar
→fruit smoothies are a very energizing breakfast, I felt really good throughout the day.

2/5/11
B- Oatmeal w/ milk & blueberries. Small glass of diluted fruit juice.
S- Yogurt w/ walnuts. 1 apple
S- larabar
D-Salad w/ mixed veggies & whole wheat roll. 1 glass soy milk.

2/6/11
B- Fruit smoothie
L- Sandwich w/ hummus, lettuce, tomato, tofu. 2 small apples. Grapes. Mixed nuts
D- Salad w/ mixed veg. 1 fruit&nut bar. 2 rice cakes w/ peanut butter.

2/7/11
B- Eggwhite omelette w/ sautéed mushroom, tomato, shredded cheese on 2 small slices whole grain toast.
L- Yogurt, banana, 2 small apples. Mixed nuts.
S- whole grain tortilla chips.
D- Salad w/ mixed veggies & cliff bar

2/8/11
B- Yogurt w/ berries
L- Sandwich w/ hummus, tomato, avocado, lettuce, shredded cheese. 1 apple
S-Lunabar
D- Quinoa w/ veg and tofu

2/9/11
B- 2 rice cakes w/ peanut butter and honey
L- Brown rice w/ tofu and asparagus. Blackberries &blueberries.
S- apple
D- Pasta w/ shredded cheese. Rice cake w/ hummus and tomato. 1 glass milk.

2/10/11
B- Oatmeal w/ blueberries, soy milk.
S- larabar
L- Sandwich w/ tofu, hummus, lettuce, tomato. Baby carrots. 1 glass milk
D- Yogurt w/ walnuts. 2 rice cakes w/ peanut butter.

2/11/11
B- Oatmeal w/ peanut butter, cinnamon, honey.
L- Salad w/ mixed veg, 1 apple. 1 lunabar
S- almonds
D- small pinkberry. Leftover brown rice w/ broccoli & tofu. 1 glass milk.

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Dove Real Beauty Campaign – Real women tell the Real Story…

In the News on the Web, Uncategorized

Glamour Body Image Survey: 97 % of Women Have Negative Body Thoughts Daily


Read these words: “You are a fat, worthless pig.” “You’re too thin. No man is ever going to want you.” “Ugly. Big. Gross.” Horrifying comments on some awful website? The rant of an abusive, controlling boyfriend? No; shockingly, these are the actual words young women are saying to themselves on any typical day. For some, such thoughts are fleeting, but for others, this dialogue plays on a constant, punishing loop, according to a new exclusive Glamour survey of more than 300 women of all sizes. Our research found that, on average, women have 13 negative body thoughts daily—nearly one for every waking hour. And a disturbing number of women confess to having 35, 50 or even 100 hateful thoughts about their own shapes each day.

* Our Experiment
* Why Your Body May Not Be the Problem
* Silencing Your Inner “Mean Girl”
* How Change Can Happen
* The Real (Really Harsh) Things Women Think About Their Bodies
* Secrets of the 3% of Women Who Love Their Bodies

Read More

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Models’ Real Faces, Before The Photoshop Magic

This vid does not go with this story but it’s really eye opening

Irin Carmon — Models’ Real Faces, Before The Photoshop Magic You are not the only one whose skin isn’t always perfect. But you could get that feeling from looking at the magically pore and blemish-free images we’re bombarded with on billboards and in magazines. One photographer inadvertently let us in on the process. Watch the miraculous transformation in our video.

Here is the photographer, M. Seth Jones, on his process:

In these selected images, you can witness first hand the impact that retouching has the potential to make on a single image. Every image presented to me has an ideal state, that I’m attempting to reach; retouch is so completely subjective, that it is likely that no two retouchers will approach an image in the same manner, or reach the same finished outcome. At this stage, it’s clear to see that retouching, at least the way I approach it, is not so much about tapering necklines and re-sculpting facial structure; but rather, sculpting light, and the way it falls on the subject, as well as clarifying the distinctions between the individual colours of the image’s palette. This ensures that every element sits harmoniously within the final frame, enabling that ideal state to be presented to the viewer with little-to-no visual distractions.

Watch vid and read the rest

Dance Studio, Uncategorized

Oprah’s Real Iife Black Swan- Jenifer Ringer

Jenifer Ringer, a ballerina with the renowned New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, strives for perfection in every aspect of her life. “It takes 100 percent to be a ballerina, 100 percent to be a wife and 100 percent to be a mother,” she says.

read more here

Dance Studio, Uncategorized

Jenifer Ringer on Oprah

I was so proud of Ms. Ringer for being more eloquent in this interview about her feelings on that fateful critique last December then earlier on the Today show. I think a bit of time and space brought her words and clarity of what that did to her. I thought that she was gracious but clear about the difference between Black Swan and the real world of dance “It’s entertainment” and “Well, we aren’t killing each other” and I agreed with her about the first scenes in the movie being more realistic to the ballet world. What I did pick up on which ironically was the theme of Black Swan was how often she used the word perfect. I felt that she might still be struggling to, in her mind remind herself that there is no such thing, but the quest for perfection still plagues her. One can see how as a young dancer she could fall victim to that sort of perfectionism.

I appreciated what she said about where her body issues came from and the contrast between the Waif ballerina and the Womanly ballerina. That is a hard one and there is a prejudice there and it is real. Many Ballet dancers who have breasts and hips end up feeling “fat” because they have shape. They could be just as bony as a no hipped girl but feel twice as big. It’s a great interview. in the clip Ringer starts at 3:06

Transgendered Model Lea T starts off the clip. Being Transgendered is like the ultimate Body Image crisis. To feel one way in your mind- no more accurately to be of one gender in your mind and yet to occupy the contrasting gender in one’s body must be emotionally, physically, and spiritually painful. I thought that Lea was wonderfully honest and informative to those who don’t understand what being Transgendered is. I thought is was the epitome of what we talk about on this site. And I was very moved, so if you have a few minutes watch her as well or if you need to Jenifer starts at 3:06

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Supermodel Iman’s Aha Moment – after 1983 face marring car accident

I can remember when I first heard the news that Iman was in a car accident and her face had been smashed. I was about 13 years old and it hit me like I had been in that car. It is hard to describe what Iman or Beverly Johnson meant to me and other black women in the ’70’s. Theirs were the only brown faces that had graced the covers and centerfolds of (white) fashion magazines like Vogue and Bazaar long before Naomi, They were the pioneers. Because of them, all of the sudden as a brown girl I could begin to consider myself beautiful, even glamorous. Iman with her long sleek neck and oval head, her completely balanced features, and her perfect nutmeg complexion, where the epitome of regality – black or white. However it was her pure African roots that I and so many other African American women could take vicarious pride in. Iman truly made Black Beautiful. When the news broke of her potentially career ending car accident, hearts and hopes were smashed as well. While we prayed for her to rise like a phoenix, she was having a a revelatory life altering discovery about her looks and her life…

As she lay in a hospital bed, the supermodel was hit with the truth about beauty.

On a Friday night in 1983, I was in a taxi in New York riding home from dinner with friends. A drunk driver ran a red light and hit the cab, and I was thrown toward the glass partition. I tried to duck, but my face hit the glass, and the impact fractured my cheekbone, my eye socket, my collarbone and several ribs. For quite some time before that night, I’d felt that my life was going to take a very sharp turn—and not for the better.
continue

Dance Studio, Uncategorized

Emotions, Food And You


Janet Jackson

“I can be an emotional eater. It started when I was very little.”

Mental Health Specialist Courtnay Veazey takes on the topic of Emotional Eating

Let’s discuss one of the most important relationships that you will ever have – your relationship with food. That’s right. Whether you realize it or not, you relate to food on an emotional level in some capacity.

Food is essential to our physical health, yet we must remember that why we eat sometimes reflects our current emotional state. These emotions can be positive or negative. For example, my family always celebrated academic successes by going out to dinner. I still associate celebration with food and am mindful of that whenever I enjoy a celebratory dinner. Yes, I am celebrating, but that does not mean I can eat past feeling full. Negative emotions include anxiety, depression, loneliness, anger, etc. When I write ‘negative’, I do not mean that they are inappropriate to have. Those emotions contribute to the overall picture of being human. For example, feeling sad after breaking up with a significant other is a normal reaction for that situation. What we do with that sadness is the important part. We must learn to experience our emotions in a way that allows us to be physically and mentally healthy.

How do we healthily experience life’s positive and negative emotions? By recognizing and being aware of them. After becoming aware of them, honestly examine and be mindful of them – especially when you eat. What is the purpose behind your eating? Does food serve as your encourager, comforter, friend, enemy, tempter, or fill-in-the-blank? Or does food serve as the fuel for your amazing body – your spirit’s house?

Also, we healthily experience life’s emotions by noticing their source and questioning the truth of that source. Pay attention to what you tell yourself and to what others tell you. Are you sending yourself healthy messages? Messages that make you feel beautiful and confident? How do you respond to those messages?

Are others (friends, family, society) giving you healthy messages? Or are they unhealthy? If their messages make you feel crappy, do you recognize the absurdity in those messages or do you respond to those messages by eating (or not eating)?

I encourage you to honestly explore your emotions and how they connect with your eating habits. Do your eating habits give you a sense of control when you are stressed? How do your eating habits affect your body image? If you notice your emotional connection to food is becoming unhealthy, then please seek help to heal and repair that unhealthy connection and to discover why that unhealthy connection exists. We must proactively take care of our bodies because they enable us to enjoy the gift of life


Courtnay Veazey is a graduate student who finishes her coursework for a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in May 2011. She is a member of and regular blogger for the American Counseling Association. Other professional memberships include the Mississippi Counseling Association and the Association for Creativity in Counseling. Her counseling interests include body image, self-esteem, career transitions, and the mental health of ballet dancers. Courtnay is an arts advocate, ballerina, and amateur photographer. She and her husband live in Oxford, MS with their miniature dachshund, Daisy. You can follow Courtnay on Twitter at @balletcounselor
For more from Courtnay

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Is Fashion Week Bad for Body Image?

By Robert Tornambe, M.D.
NYC Plastic Surgeon and author of “The Beauty Quotient Formula”

“The dress size of most models visiting our city this week is zero to two! Prior to these fashion shows, they are coiffed and preened by some of the world’s most talented makeup artists and hairstylists. Their job is to look beautiful, and they delegate most of their time to that endeavor. Is this type of beauty realistic, and more importantly, attainable?

How does the average woman compete or try to emulate? By average, I mean the majority of the female population! The working mom, the career woman, the professional woman, the stay-at-home mom, the blue-collar woman, most women! She cannot! The average height for American women is 5’4″ tall and average dress size, 12 to 14!”

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Plus size models, the Fashion World Weighs in


what I find so interesting is the stammering and hesitance when speaking about the subject. Look at how uncomfortable they were. The effort to be “PC” was muscle straining. Designer Douglas Hannant’s comment about models being “runway ready” since when was being skinny a sport? Stylist Annabel Tollman stammered around what to call these “Women” who are not plus sized in the real world- which by the way is where all these clothes are bought and worn. It is just amazing to me…

check here for CNN story about plus size model in Glamour magazine, is it a trend?