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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, In the News on the Web, Uncategorized

Alastair calls NYCB’s Jenifer Ringer FAT!

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Check the New york Times Review here

OOOOOh this made me hot enough to crack a nut in my fist!! First let me say that I have never cared greatly for Mr. Macaulay or his critique, but I’ll leave that by the way side for a moment. Who does he think he is to make such unnecessary and pointedly mean spirited and dare I say (Oh what the hell he went there so why don’t I, I’ll stoop or shall I say Grande Plie to his level!) queeny comments like this? I’m sure sitting alone in his flat it read quite wittily – but I am here to say that you are no Dorothy Parker! leave savvy witticisms those who are both savvy and witty in my opinion you fall short on both counts. What makes me more protective of Ms. Ringer is the fact that she has been so open about her body issues, and disordered eating, and the idea that she was brave enough to come back to the stage (with the support of her husband) and this jerk says something so hateful. As if the image of the Ballerina was not damaging enough…
Talk about the dance! you can not like the dancing the choreography, staging, costumes lighting but leave the people alone.

I find it interesting that it’s almost always the people who have never performed that are hateful in such ways, for it is clear that they know nothing of what it takes to be an artist; to have the strength of ones vulnerability, to expose oneself that way. To lay oneself bare to be judged. Studying the history of art is noble and worthy but where it brings you nearer to the art you do not – can not enter it. If one could then folks like Mr. Macaulay would wield their pens with more thought when it came to matters that are of a more personal nature such as weight, or lack of pulchritude- which may in many ways affect your attraction towards an artist, but has little nothing to do with the art form they are taking part in. With a little willing suspension of disbelief goes a long way!
It is sad. So Sad. It angers me. This is why I created this space to try to help undo what people and their words and their small thoughts and exclusionary concepts do to those who just want to participate and be a part. I find it disheartening…

Ms. Ringer- you are beautiful you always have been a wonderful artist and have a passion for dance that you have sent out over the footlights, please don’t let one careless penned person rob you of that- for it is your gift, that we, the audience await and adore.
And that’s the T’Ruth!

Here is Ringer talking to Dance Spirit about body issues

Dance Studio

The Beauty of Injury

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The T.Ruth of the Matter

The irony of life never ceases to amaze. Daily we are in are hot pursuit of the perfection, we take class adding, subtracting and re-draping warm-ups, retouching our hair, and touch and pat ourselves during combinations to make sure everything is just so. Even on our best days in the thin leotard, when the body feels good, and we are on our leg there is something that just isn’t right. No matter what we can always find something about ourselves to hate. Let’s face it the ritualistic practice self-debasement is almost a prerequisite for being a dancer. Around the same time we learn to Tombé pas de Bourré, we learn to think “Gee I suck today”. To tell the truth there is a whole body of things to loathe in all its parts, there are technical shortcomings, the things that never seem to get better even after years of effort, not to mention the things we can’t do anything about (bowed legs are bowed legs get over it and wing your foot) However the package of self deprecation would not be complete without the futile wanting to be the very thing we are not.
We could go our whole lives thinking little of ourselves but the Universe has an equalizer, nothing snaps us into the state of appreciation like being broken down. When you’re sitting on the PT’s table getting an assessment of what has you on ice and Advil, when the doctor is assuring you that it’s just a few weeks before you can start to take class, when you’re rehabbing with electric stem, reformers, exercise bikes and therabands your thoughts go back to the good old bad days when you weren’t hobbled and ginched. It’s hard to believe that just three weeks ago you dreaded facing yourself in dance clothes, now you miss the sight of your jiggly ass, and thought it wasn’t perfect you could arabesque without that shooting pain in your back, though your foot didn’t point like a cashew you could land from jumps without thought, and even though you were never a multiple turner you could do a clean two and finish without that twinge in your knee. You watch class or rehearsal and dance the steps in your mind, remembering when you could work that out. Isn’t it ironic that when you can’t dance the teacher gives all the things you used to do well? It’s as if the Universe means to anchor the lesson “You never miss a good thing until it’s gone.”
After the swelling goes down, the brace comes off, when you get the okay to jump and you make it through you first pain free week of dance, just when your starting to feel secure on your feet again, you’re feeling strong enough to try dancing without the worry of re-injury, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and spy that thick thigh in the crooked arabesque with the biscuit foot at the end. It’s then that you realize that you’re back!

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The Daughters Talk about their Mothers!

This was very insightful for all of the participants. The way the daughters saw their mothers was eyeopening. Another interesting thing was revealed when the ladies were asked if they were able to talk to their mothers openly about subjects related to the body, development and sexuality. It all seemed peachy until the T’ruth came out- it’s very telling, and a very common way that we “communicate”