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Getting to Know DWC Ambassador Emmy Fansler

Today, Emmy has carved spaces for herself and others that have been long overdue in the dance industry, specifically through the creation of the Best of My Abilities (BOMA) program. The BOMA program, offered at Issaquah Dance Theater and The Dance School, introduces students with disabilities to dance and provides a space for dancers of all abilities to learn and build relationships. “I know that there are lots of people who are afraid to step into a dance studio because they feel like you have to be a certain way...My entire dance life has been [dedicated to] figuring out ways to use dance to show people how loved they are,” she shares.

On the Difference Between Accepting and Embracing

Name pronunciation: Em-me Fan-s-ler | Pronouns: she/her

**Trigger Warning: Trauma, Sexual Assault

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

Emmy largely fell in love with dance because of its healing qualities. “I had quite a bit of trauma in my middle school and high school life,” Emmy says. Due to these experiences, she went from being “somebody that cared about everything” to being “somebody that really didn’t care.” “I just didn’t care about myself anymore [and] didn’t feel like I was worthy of love or praise or attention,” Emmy says. When someone invited her to audition to be a ball guest for Midwest Regional Ballet’s Cinderella, these feelings of unworthiness began to shift.

“I just fell in love with the sense of community,” Emmy says of being a part of Cinderella. She shares that it wasn’t that she was particularly interested in dancing ballet choreography—rather, she was touched that somebody wanted her to be a part of something. In addition, after experiencing sexual trauma, dance helped show Emmy that physical touch could be anticipated, safe, and choreographed. “That was really healing to me,” she says. Since that first day of rehearsal, Emmy says that she hasn’t gone less than dancing twenty hours a week.

She ended up getting a scholarship to study dance at the University of Central Oklahoma after dancing for just three years. Nonetheless, over time, it became clear to Emmy that becoming a professional dancer wasn’t in her future, particularly after experiencing a hip injury and being diagnosed with a thyroid disorder.

“It felt natural that I would be a teacher and choreographer because I didn’t start dance with the idea of wanting to be a professional ballerina necessarily. I started dance because somebody invited me,” Emmy says, and she continued because of the way it made her feel. Today, she’s carved spaces for herself and others that have been long overdue in the dance industry, specifically through the creation of the Best of My Abilities (BOMA) program. The BOMA program, offered at Issaquah Dance Theater and The Dance School, introduces students with disabilities to dance and provides a space for dancers of all abilities to learn and build relationships. “I know that there are lots of people who are afraid to step into a dance studio because they feel like you have to be a certain way...My entire dance life has been [dedicated to] figuring out ways to use dance to show people how loved they are,” she shares.

Emmy loves that dance allows her to take huge feelings she experiences and stories that are challenging to tell and express them on a stage where people can witness her experiences as beautiful. Dancing reminds Emmy that her body is capable of amazing things. And after undergoing a procedure that left her without the ability to conceive children, having a life passion that allows her to connect with children is one of the most important things to her.

While she acknowledges the many challenges she’s experienced in the dance industry, Emmy says that a big one is “imposter syndrome,” or feeling like she doesn’t belong. She points out that there are so many dancers, and people in general, in the Seattle area who have extensive accolades to justify their qualifications. “I don’t have that,” she admits. “Part of me has felt like I have to jump into every situation and prove that I’m capable.” For those who have similarly felt like they don’t belong in certain dance spaces, Emmy says that they undoubtedly do. “Your experience is different than anybody else’s in the world. And there are things that you can contribute that other people cannot. And it’s also okay if they contribute things that you cannot,” she says.

Emmy was inspired to become a DWC ambassador because she strongly aligns with the values of the business. “I feel like this is a space and a platform that’s very authentic,” she says, sharing that she appreciates that DWC strives to help make all dancers feel welcomed and safe in the industry. As an Ambassador, Emmy looks forward to helping affirm this message to dancers and sharing her multiplicity of experiences as a teacher. In addition to her BOMA classes, Emmy teaches classes of all levels and works with the competition team at Issaquah Dance Theater. At The Dance School, Emmy also teaches classes relating to storytelling, partnering, embodied ballet, and more. And she’s the program director for the dance program at Si View Metro Parks. Emmy is excited to show people what it’s like to participate in all of these different spheres of dance.

In the future, Emmy strives to find ways to integrate more student-driven storytelling and choreography classes into her schedule. At Si View Metro Parks, she’s planning on hosting an expressive movement workshop once a month open to dancers of all experience levels. The workshop will be centered on a theme, featuring a discussion portion, a creation workshop, and a small performance that is open to the community. “I have a vision for it. I feel very excited about the possibilit[ies] for it,” Emmy shares of the workshop.

Emmy strongly believes that dance creates a platform for building relationships and in the larger dance industry, she hopes to see more people embracing the differences dancers have and the contributions they can make. “There’s a difference between accepting and embracing,” she points out, sharing her wish for all dancers to not only feel tolerated but cared for and even invited.

“It doesn’t have to be an exclusive space. It can be radically inclusive,” Emmy says of the dance world.

Stay tuned for more from Emmy Fansler in the coming weeks!

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Getting to Know DWC Ambassador Grace Pilo

While there is still so much social progress that needs to be made in the dance world, it’s exciting to see studios and companies taking steps to celebrate inclusivity and diversity in ways that didn’t exist years ago. Celebrating inclusivity in the dance world involves inviting dancers with all kinds of backgrounds and identities into the industry, and making them feel welcomed as they are. This also includes celebrating dancers with autoimmune diseases. DWC Ambassador Grace Pilo is passionate about advocating for dancers with autoimmune diseases, particularly those with type 1 diabetes, like herself. Read on to learn more about Grace’s dance journey and advocation efforts!

A Local Dancer on Dancing with Type 1 Diabetes

Name pronunciation: Grace Pie-lo | Pronouns: she/her

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

“I’ve always been such a wiggly kid,” Grace says, sharing that as a youngster, her mom sought to involve her in an activity where she could release some of her restless energy. She says her mom signed her up for dance and she instantly fell in love with it. Today, Grace dances with Momentum Dance Academy & Ensemble in Burien, Washington.

“In 2015, I was diagnosed with a life-threatening autoimmune disease: type 1 diabetes,” Grace shares. “When I was in the hospital, all I wanted to do was go back to dance.” Before her diagnosis, Grace’s involvement with dance was largely recreational. But after she learned she had diabetes, she shares that her passion for the art form deepened. “I realized why I love to dance,” Grace says. Dance is an opportunity for Grace to be herself and not think about anything else, particularly when she’s performing on stage.

According to the organization JDRF, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results from the pancreas ceasing to produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that the human body needs to get energy from food. Type 1 diabetes strikes both children and adults differently and has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. To help manage her own diabetes, Grace wears an insulin pump, which delivers constant doses of insulin on a pre-programmed schedule, and allows her to input carbohydrate information for everything she eats or drinks into the pump to calculate and dose insulin. She also wears a continuous glucose monitor or CGM, which measures her body’s glucose levels every five minutes. This information is sent via Bluetooth to her pump and phone and is also shared with her mom to help monitor. She wears both of these devices constantly and they are often visible, including to audience members when she performs on stage.

A challenge that Grace has faced as a dancer with diabetes is dancing with her medical gear, due to the way it’s perceived by others in the industry. “I feel like some doors have been closed for me since my diagnosis,” she says. “I think that people worry about it too much or think I am limited by my medical needs.” Grace says that her medical gear doesn’t stop her from being a talented dancer. “I’m still doing what I love, I just have to work harder than some at times to help manage my condition, but in the end, I’m no different than any of the other [dancers] in my class. I can still be me,” she says.

For other dancers facing similar challenges in the dance world, Grace says to not let anything stop them from doing what they love. For her, communicating transparently with her dance teacher allowed her to realize that there is nothing holding her back from being successful in the studio and on stage. “There’s always people to talk to,” Grace says. “And if you’re feeling like there’s something not right or maybe you’re not having the same opportunities [as others], just bring it up. Talk to someone, let them know how you’re feeling.”

Grace applied to be a DWC Ambassador because of the opportunity the position allows for her to advocate for type 1 diabetics and other dancers like her. She also says that Dancewear Center’s message “every body is a dancing body” greatly resonates with her, which also inspired her to apply for the program. Grace looks forward to being able to utilize Dancewear Center’s platform to reach large groups of people with her messages, particularly through Instagram takeovers.

Outside of the DWC Ambassadorship, Grace advocates for type 1 diabetics on her personal Instagram and with the Pacific Northwest chapter of JDRF, a global organization funding type 1 diabetes research. As a youth ambassador for JDRF, Grace has been a part of public outreach programs, including speaking in front of crowds at events to share her own story.

In the larger dance world, Grace hopes to see a larger cultural shift towards inclusivity and celebrating diversity, especially when it comes to dancers with medical devices or gear. She also hopes to share her story of dancing with type 1 diabetes with others to show that people with medical needs can dance proudly. “I have to wear these medical devices. I’m still a dancer and I still love to dance,” Grace declares.

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Getting to Know DWC Ambassador Emily Borders

There are more ways to be involved in the dance industry than just being a professional dancer. Community members like DWC Ambassador Emily Borders are proving this to be the case by partaking in community classes and studying physical therapy in hopes of making dance more accessible to a wider array of individuals. Read on to learn more about Emily’s personal dance journey, hopes for the larger dance community, and plans as a DWC ambassador!

A Local Dancer and PT Student on Increasing Dance Accessibility

Name pronunciation: Em-ill-ee Borders | Pronouns: she/her

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

Emily says that she was an active kid growing up, but it took her a while to realize that dance was her favorite activity. She laughs sharing that it took getting cut from her middle school volleyball team for her to pursue dance wholeheartedly. She danced and competed across many genres throughout high school and majored in kinesiology and minored in dance at Western Washington University. After graduating from college in 2018, Emily has been enjoying taking community classes, dancing around her living room, and trying out aerial silks. She is also in her second year of physical therapy school and plans to graduate in June 2023. Following graduation, Emily looks forward to helping make dance more accessible and affordable to all bodies, particularly to neurodivergent people.

In the larger dance world, Emily sees a great need to make dance teacher education more accessible and affordable as well. She also hopes to see more helpful and accurate information disseminated on how to be a healthy dancer, specifically information on how to nourish oneself, build strength, and cross-train in a sustainable way. For example, she thinks more dance teachers should be educated on how to provide screenings for the female athlete triad, as malnutrition, disordered eating, and a generally increased risk of injury are all common among dancers. Emily shares that when she was 19 she broke her arm by doing a simple cartwheel on a mat, an injury that may have been prevented if she and more dance professionals in the larger industry knew about phenomena like the female athlete triad.

When asked what her favorite thing about dance is, the first thing that comes to Emily’s mind is community. “I feel like my dance friends are probably my closest group of friends,” she says, sharing that they’ve spent so many long hours rehearsing together that it’s hard not to form a tight bond. To this day, the friends she’s made through dance are incredibly supportive of one another.

Emily also appreciates the creativity and artistry that dancers get to hone when practicing their craft. Particularly as an adult dancer, Emily has enjoyed shifting her focus in dance away from improving her technical facility and more on sharpening her artistic skills. “I love that there’s freedom just to move,” she says. Emily also loves that dance is a form of healing. “It’s just really helpful physically, emotionally, [and] mentally,” Emily says of the holistic nature of dancing.

Emily says that growing up, she was extremely hard on herself when dancing. She says that being a perfectionist feels inherent in her personality, and can be exacerbated by principles widely disseminated in the dance industry. Dancers are taught that their work is never done - they can always get their legs higher, make their combinations cleaner, and generally improve their technique. But attaining perfection is impossible. For those struggling with this perfectionist mentality, Emily encourages them to acknowledge that this type of thinking comes naturally to them. She points out that having a lot of ambition and drive is helpful, but it’s important to also have balance. For Emily, acknowledging what she’s done well in addition to what she can improve upon is also useful for counteracting perfectionism.

Emily shares that she had been considering applying for the DWC ambassador program for a while. She had been following Dancewear Center on Instagram for some time and was impressed by the fact that the business strives to do much more than sell products. She loved seeing dancers from across the community use Dancewear Center’s platform to amplify their own messages as DWC ambassadors. Emily was hesitant about applying for the program because she hadn’t been dancing for a while and thought she may not be the best candidate. Nevertheless, she reminded herself that she’s a part of this community and has a lot of knowledge to contribute, which led her to fill out the application. As a DWC ambassador, Emily is looking forward to writing blog posts on topics she’s passionate about, especially sharing the physical therapy knowledge she’s gathered in PT school.

“I’ve learned a lot that I felt was lacking in my own life and dance experience growing up,” Emily says, sharing she hopes to give the physical therapy knowledge she’s learned today to others.

Keep an eye out for more from Emily Borders in the coming months!

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Promoting Support and Inclusivity Through Dance Belts

My website offers education to parents and any boys or men who don’t know how to wear dance belts,” he says. Tom recalls attending a summer program at Milwaukee Ballet School when he was 14 years old and changing in the dressing room. He had put on his dance belt and was about to put on his tights when a fellow dancer informed him he had put on his dance belt incorrectly. Prior to this experience, no adult had told Tom how to properly wear a dance belt, thus he strives to provide that kind of information and support through his brand.

Tom Kilps On the Creation of Dance Jox

Phonetic pronunciation: Tom Kill-ps | Pronouns: he/him

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

Throughout their training, professional ballet dancers are encouraged to improve upon their work to near perfection. Being a dancer instills confidence, discipline, and a hard work ethic in individuals, which can carry over to other professional realms. After dancing professionally for over a decade, Tom Kilps carried the hardworking principles he learned as a dancer to Dance Jox, a company that specializes in high-quality dance belts. Shop Dance Jox at Dancewear Center today!

Tom was inspired to begin dancing after attending a local dance studio’s recital with his mom and sister around age 11. He recalls watching tap dancers in the recital and being impressed by moves like round-offs and coffee grinders. While walking back to the parking lot after the recital, Tom told his mom he was interested in taking classes himself. He ended up dancing at the local studio for a couple of years, mainly taking classes in jazz and ballet and being the only boy in many of his classes. Tom attended numerous summer dance programs, performed in local productions of The Nutcracker, and attended PBT School at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre at age 16. He also attended The Rock School of Dance Education for a short period of time before graduating high school.

After receiving his high school diploma, Tom trained at Houston Ballet Academy where he got to work with company members and Artistic Director Ben Stevenson. Tom worked under Ben at Texas Ballet Theater, where he danced for about 12 years. During his time dancing at TBT, Tom remembers returning home to Madison, Wisconsin for the holidays and messing around with his mom’s sewing machine. This is where the seed for Dance Jox was planted.

Tom thought it may be interesting to design his own dance belt, as the ones on the market at the time were largely subpar. A dance belt is an essential piece of dance apparel for male dancers, worn under tights or in place of underwear to lift and support the male anatomy. Tom had little experience with sewing let alone creating a dance belt, but quickly fell into a “rabbit hole” where he learned more about the process through research. “Ballet dancers, we have a tenacity and…a dedication to get something done and see projects through,” Tom says, sharing the commitment he had to the process.

In 2013, Tom applied for Career Transitions For Dancers, a grant offered by the Entertainment Community Fund, helping professional dancers take their next steps after retirement. Through the program, Tom was able to secure funds to put towards the development of a dance belt pattern for Dance Jox. After producing several samples and fine-tuning, Tom created a small batch of dance belts to test on his fellow male dancers at TBT. The belt was soon a hit, the dancers loved it!

As with most products, developing the Dance Jox dance belts was not an overnight success. “I’ve done a lot of modifications to the pattern,” Tom says of the tweaking that needed to be done. He points out that dancers understand the necessity of receiving notes and refining their work over time. The processes of receiving feedback and revising work are methods that Tom undoubtedly took from his dance career to his work at Dance Jox. He also shares that the perfectionist attitude many ballet dancers have is one he also has in regards to his work at Dance Jox. When honing his dance belt, Tom strives to constantly improve it and strive for a product that’s as close to perfection as possible.

Tom shares that what sets Dance Jox apart from other dance belts on the market is the fact that the company’s largest considerations are comfort, construction, and education. When developing the dance belt, Tom was striving to build a product that could hold up over time and through frequent use. He shares that the Dance Jox dance belts are sewn multiple times over multiple places, providing durability and long-wear support. The dance belt is also well-padded in the front, allowing for a smooth profile that can conceal dancers’ anatomies more than other brands. Whereas some dance belts can bother a dancer’s tailbone as they sit, Tom shares that the Dance Jox dance belt provides full stretch so dancers can sit comfortably during rehearsals and in between shows.

“My website offers education to parents and any boys or men who don’t know how to wear dance belts,” he says. Tom recalls attending a summer program at Milwaukee Ballet School when he was 14 years old and changing in the dressing room. He had put on his dance belt and was about to put on his tights when a fellow dancer informed him how to position his anatomy in a dance belt correctly. Prior to this experience, no adult had told Tom how to properly wear a dance belt, thus he strives to provide that kind of information and support through his brand.

Dance Jox offers its dance belt in a full seat and thong style. Across these styles, the product is also offered in four different colors, including beige, caramel, brown, and black. “There are a lot of companies that only had the tan, beige [dance belt] for those of us that are white,” Tom says of the color range of other dance belt companies. He’s thrilled to offer multiple options for dancers at Dance Jox and is excited to see more dancewear companies promoting inclusivity in their products. “I want to include everybody!” he shares. Tom is also excited about Dance Jox’s new active shorts in the colors midnight, raven, and royal. He also shares that the company is currently working on the development of black tights, so dancers should keep an eye out for those in the future.

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Getting to Know Local Educator and Founder Holly Logan Livingston

Holly recently announced the opening of her own dance school, Precision Dance Academy, which has been a dream in the making for a while. Precision is a dance academy where young dancers can train in jazz, ballet, lyrical and more, with the goal of being “a home for every performer.” Precision strives to provide elite training and care for the whole performer, whether dancers are training to be professionals or for fun. The academy offers holistic performance training, providing dance classes, acting classes, and music lessons.

A Conversation with Former DWC Staff Member and Precision Academy of Performing Arts Founder

Name pronunciation: Holly Logan Liv-ing-s-ton | Pronouns: she/her

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

From pursuing a career in musical theatre to founding her own dance company and launching Precision Dance Academy, Holly Logan Livingston is a dynamic performer and contributor to the Seattle dance community. Read on to learn more about Holly’s dance journey, experience at DWC, and Precision Academy of Performing Arts.

Holly didn’t start dancing until seventh grade when she attended a charter school that specializes in performing arts. “I always liked performing,” Holly says, expressing her love for putting on shows and being in charge of performers. In addition to the dance classes she was taking, Holly was also into sports, including soccer, basketball, softball, figure skating, and cheerleading. While she wasn’t too fond of ballet immediately, she slowly learned to appreciate the discipline that came along with it and found that she picked it up rather well. At the end of seventh grade, Holly’s ballet instructor told her that she would be bumped up to the high school freshman level classes, which allowed her to dive deeply into the practice. By the time she got to her sophomore year, she was dancing 36 to 40 hours a week! While her training was mostly ballet-focused, she also participated in jazz and theatre productions.

“Ballet became a lot on me, mostly mentally,” Holly admits. “I felt happier in the musical theatre realm...I felt more encouraged.” Trying to keep up with the long hours of training and strict standards enforced in the ballet sphere became taxing, and Holly was beginning to feel burnt out. She also shares that she always felt out of place due to her body type, sharing that her body was often described as “athletic,” solely because she was not rail thin. Around her sophomore year, Holly switched from the performing arts school to a public school and focused more heavily on musical theatre training where she felt more comfortable.

In college, Holly intended on pursuing a musical theatre major and a dance minor. However, after taking her first modern class, her dance minor became a major. “I was like ‘this is where I’m supposed to be,’” Holly says about discovering modern dance.

Dancewear Center Director of Operations Samantha Weissbach and Holly met years before Holly joined the DWC team. Both of the dancers were creating and participating in pieces for the same dance concert in Seattle. Holly describes watching Samantha dance and being blown away by her talent. Holly had been planning on producing her own dance concert and reached out to Samantha on social media to see if she was interested in participating. The stars aligned and she ended up dancing in Holly’s first concert Prelude in 2013. Following the show, Holly expressed to Samantha her interest in starting a dance company, but she was reluctant due to all the executive work that was needed. To her surprise, Samantha offered to help her with the executive side of things. “We had barely known each other, but something felt correct,” Holly says about her connection with Samantha. The pair ended up meeting several more times and forming Intrepidus Dance in the fall of 2014. Seven years later, Samantha is still the executive director and Holly is still the artistic director.

Holly joined Dancewear Center in 2021 intending to provide support and fill in any gaps that staff needed. However, after joining the team, her role evolved quite a bit. Holly’s main focus was reorganizing Dancewear Center’s inventory and transferring products to the new DWC Renton location. “I love organizing things. Not necessarily my own personal life, but at work,” Holly laughs.

Holly also has experience developing training programs and orientations for staff. “Nobody can know what to do or what their expectations are unless you tell them,” she shares. “The more we can communicate that, the better [service] we can offer.” She’s played a huge role in training new staff members at Dancewear Center to make onboarding smooth.

Something that Holly enjoyed most about working at Dancewear Center is the freedom Samantha offers as director of operations. There are a lot of opportunities to adjust schedules to work with Holly’s busy life and try her hand at different tasks. “Everything’s very direct and solution-oriented,” she says of Dancewear Center’s mission. “If there’s a problem, Sam’s going to fix it. She’s going to figure out the tools and the resources to provide for the people who need to be provided for. I really love that.”

In the dance world, Holly hopes that professionals work to broaden the perception of what a dancer should be and what abilities a “talented” dancer possesses. Being open with dancers about what’s capable within their bodies and becoming the best versions of themselves rather than chasing an impossible ideal is a principle that Holly promotes in her own teaching. Also, making a larger range of clothing options available for dancers, and more nuanced sizing within dancewear is something that Holly finds incredibly important. “More body positivity and educating dancers on how to be safe with themselves,” Holly says of the changes she wishes to see in the industry.

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Providing Nutritional Education for Dancers

Ensuring that you can dance at your best for the longest amount of time possible involves much more than what happens in the studio. Making sure dancers take care of their bodies and fuel themselves in a sustainable and accessible fashion is crucial. However, myths and toxic misconceptions about nutrition abound within the dance world. People like Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Kristin Koskinen of Eat Well, Live Well are helping make the dance world a better place by providing nutrition and educational services to the dance community.

Kristin Koskinen on Promoting Balanced Nutrition and Debunking Myths in the Dance World

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

Like many, Kristin began dancing around age three or four, growing up training in tap, jazz, ballet, and musical theater. Eventually, she realized that ballet was where her heart was and she got wholeheartedly involved with a pre-professional company. Kristin ended up dancing with Mid-Columbia Ballet in Richland, WA. When she went to college, she took some dance classes here and there but dedicated most of her time to being a part of the cheer staff at her university. Admittedly, it was a big transition for her to make, as the dance style was more hip-hop-oriented.

Kristin had plans of attending medical school because she “wanted to learn more about the human body and nutrition.” In one of her pre-med courses, her professor suggested that she shift her focus towards getting a master’s degree in nutrition, as it was clear that her interests lay more in that realm.

Being heavily involved in the dance industry at a young age, Kristin had come face to face with diet culture early in her life. She grew up training in a supportive environment where comments about her body or shape were never made and where her artistic director made fairly sound nutrition recommendations. Nevertheless, the more toxic aspects of dance and diet culture managed to permeate through her wall of support. “It has a really big impact on me,” she says.

Kristin says that there can be specific aspects of the dance world that can trigger disordered eating, sharing that it’s often the “elephant in the room” when it comes to dancing. When Kristin’s daughters began taking dance classes, it became clear to her that few things had changed in the dance world since her time as a student, particularly in regard to nutrition. She realized that this space is where her nutrition expertise could be put to its best use. “This is where I was needed to bring [my] body of knowledge and understanding to dancers and their parents and teachers…whoever was really interested in the health and well-being and longevity of dancers,” Kristin says.

Kristin says that a major part of her mission is being the person she needed when she was a young dancer. “I see these kids who struggle and I get it,” she says, sharing the challenges that come with navigating “diet talk.” “There are adults who are perpetuating this stuff and continue to project it when frankly there’s no excuse for it,” she says, insisting that using “tradition” as an explanation for promoting disordered eating is unacceptable. “It’s time to come in with some sledgehammers and knock those walls down,” Kristin says.

Kristin shares that a major misconception about dancers is that they are all supposed to be skinny. She recognizes that some genres of dance are slowly becoming more inclusive and accepting of different types of bodies, but there is still an underlying assumption that dancers are supposed to be thin and on a restrictive diet to maintain a particular body size. And contrary to predominant beliefs in the past, there is also a growing assumption that dancers ought to be “ripped, cut, [and] shredded” to be the best performers. Kristin says that these standards are “frankly unnecessary.”

“Form should follow function,” Kristin says. She strives to help make these assumptions about what a dancer should look like and what they should eat go away. The concept that dancers must be at a “healthy weight” to perform at a certain level is also a myth. Aiming for dancers to fit a certain aesthetics as opposed to cultivating their craft is an adverse practice.

Eat Well, Live Well is Kristin’s private practice where she works with dancers and other artistic athletes. Kristin had been working in clinical settings prior to beginning her private practice and recognized a distinct need to bring another voice and resource to dancers to help them meet their specific needs and enhance their careers and longevity within the dance field. She works with private clients and also guest lectures at universities and with professional companies and studios.

Kristin shares that her work at Eat Well, Live Well is all individualized. Some people have medical needs that require a specialized nutrition plan, such as dancers who are hyper-mobile or have digestive issues. Some are recovering from eating disorders and injuries and are in need of additional nutritional support and guidance on their journey. And some dancers learn to debunk myths about nutrition that they learn within the mainstream industry to move towards a more balanced nutrition plan. “Dancers have unique needs,” Kristin acknowledges, sharing that she helps address dancers’ needs on a personal level, taking their individual schedules into account.

Kristin also runs a blog that covers topics like performance nutrition, recipes, and more. In addition, she collaborates with dance organizations like The Bridge Dance Project, DanseMedica, Bendy Bodies, and Apolla Performance, and has contributed to more mainstream media outlets, including Healthline, NBC News, The Today Show, and The Oprah Magazine. She’s a regular contributor to Dance Magazine, Pointe, Dance Teacher, and Dance Spirit. She speaks internationally about dance nutrition and is frequently asked to lecture at universities across the US. She recently spoke to the Washington State Dance Studio Owners Coalition over Zoom, sharing that it was great to chat with studio owners about how they can create a positive influence on their dancers and help create waves of change. Kristin and the studio owners discussed how to bolster mental health and stay in their lane of expertise when it comes to nutrition. “Studio owners can have a phenomenally positive impact on a dancer’s life. It can be outstanding,” Kristin emphasizes, adding that she also works closely with the Dance Educators Association of Washington from time to time.

Kristin believes that one of the biggest mentalities that needs to be changed in the dance world is the idea that everyone is replaceable. The idea that dancers are interchangeable and that positions can easily be refilled when injuries pop up promotes the idea that dancers are mere bodies, rather than human beings with unique life experiences and offerings to bring to the stage. “If we would look at the dancers as human beings first as opposed to commodities, I think that would be a phenomenal change,” Kristin says.

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A PNB Soloist on Mentorship and Being a Ballet Life Coach

When asked about what steps can be done to help alleviate these often harmful expectations, she shares that normalizing the concept of an everyday person dancing is something that needs to be more globally understood. She expresses that it can be hard for trained dancers to look at others’ dancing and not critique them in certain ways. Therefore, Santina believes that the mindset of seeing everyone as a dancer is something that needs to be adopted by dancers all around the world.

Cecilia Iliesiu on Tackling Tough Conversations in the Dance World

By Nicole Barrett, DWC Blog Co-Editor

Diving into the tough conversations about mental health and preparing for jobs that are engulfed in the dance world is something that Pacific Northwest Ballet Soloist Cecilia Iliesiu is very passionate about. Having danced professionally for thirteen years, she knows that the ups and downs in a dancer’s career can be very tough. By creating and running the Mentorship Program at PNB School (PNBS), she is tackling those issues head-on and providing pre-professional dancers with career support through Ballet Life Coach. Read on to learn more about Cecilia’s dance journey and the steps she’s taking to create a more open and supportive space for dancers.

Cecilia was born and raised in New York City, New York, and trained at the School of American Ballet from the ages of eight to eighteen. After her training, she landed a company job at the Carolina Ballet. She danced there for six seasons and became a soloist, but after dancing there for years she knew that she wanted to be on another path. Cecilia auditioned internationally and domestically for numerous ballet companies and Pacific Northwest Ballet offered her a job. She has now been dancing with the company for seven seasons and became a soloist in 2020. “I plan on dancing until I stop learning or my body tells me not to,” Cecilia shares.

Outside of dance, Cecilia loves to go swimming, kayaking, do yoga, and make pottery. She bikes to work every day and has many other hobbies that give her a perspective outside of dance. Cecilia also graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Media Studies while dancing full time at Carolina Ballet and PNB.

Cecilia runs PNBS’s Mentorship Program with fellow PNB dancer Amanda Morgan. Starting in March 2020, this program was founded by Morgan and aimed to help with the mental health challenges dancers were facing during the pandemic. This program has evolved to work with dancers in the highest six levels of the PNBS and includes PNB company dancers as the student’s mentors. Cecilia and the mentors work very closely with PNBS consulting therapist Josh Spell to ensure that all the sessions meet the needs of the students. Each level of the Mentorship Program has two sessions per month, one with a company mentor and one with a therapist. The meetings discuss topics like body image, goal setting, work ethic, grappling with self-doubt, and much more. "I can see the students' confidence blossoming in each mentorship chat. The student's vulnerability to talk about their struggles in dance is incredible. The safe space allows them to verbilize, process, and connect with their classmates in a really meaningful way.” Cecilia says about the mentorship program.
During the pandemic in particular, Cecilia noticed a plethora of needs expressed by the pre-professional dancers she worked with in the PNBS Mentorship Program. In particular, dancers needed assistance with company auditions, including help with resumes and cover letters, which led her to give advice and create resources. Helping dancers with a business-side baseline to start their careers was something that motivated her to create Ballet Life Coach, an online resource to help dancers achieve their professional goals and guide them towards a successful career.

Ballet Life Coach currently offers a free 8-Step Audition Checklist with suggested timelines and to-do lists, a resume template, and audition template package that covers the important audition materials. Dancers can also now book one-on-one coaching sessions with Cecilia herself to review and fine-tune audition materials. Click here for more information! In the future, she hopes to see this kind of administrative and holistic support integrated into dance school education

Coming up, Cecilia is offering workshops for year-round schools and summer courses on pre-audition preparations. She was involved in workshops for the summer course at PNB in 2021 and is planning to expand to more schools this summer. One of her big goals is to not only do these workshops for PNB but include other companies in different areas and create more in-depth audition preparation programs.

One of Cecilia’s favorite things about dance is performing. She shares that when the pandemic started, it was very hard for her to switch over from a real audience to a screen. “I just love expressing myself on stage and creating different storylines and characters,” Cecilia shares about performing live. She also shares her love of seeing her coworkers dance along with her and just enjoying the presence of everyone onstage.

When asked about her biggest struggle in the dance world, Cecilia expresses that the mental blocks that dancers face can pose huge challenges. She shares that throughout a dancer’s training process, the physical aspects of learning how to do certain movements often come before the mental challenges that are endured when attempting such things. Cecilia ties this topic back to her work with the Mentorship Program, sharing that she wants to make these conversations about mental health more accessible for dancers. “To me, ballet is physically demanding, but the mental part of it isn’t talked about, and honestly is often the hardest part of dancing,” Cecilia shares.

Cecilia wants dancers that are struggling with similar mental health issues to know that they are not alone, and that they should not be afraid to ask for guidance. She expresses the importance of talking to your peers about any issues. Everyone is going through something, so having these open discussions, and not suppressing your feelings is something that is very important.

Moving forward into the dance world, Cecilia would like to see more normalization of tough conversations within the dance community. She shares that the transitions between what ballet is now versus what it has always been can be very hard for companies and dancers to grasp, so making that transition is something that Cecilia finds very important. “The next generation of dancers need to be the change that they want to see in the ballet world,” she shares.

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Educating Dancers One Pointe Shoe at a Time: A Conversation with Josephine Lee

All aspiring ballerinas know that dancing in pointe shoes is the hallmark of being a professional ballet dancer. Yet, misinformation about fitting pointe shoes circulates across the country, leading many dancers to endure poor fittings and, in the worst cases, injuries. Entrepreneur, international award-winning speaker, and pointe shoe fitter extraordinaire Josephine Lee has made it her goal to offer educated and personalized pointe shoe fittings that leave dancers feeling empowered with information. Through her work at ThePointeShop, and her recent partnership with Dancewear Center, Josephine strives to promote education and inclusivity in all she does.

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

Photo Credit: Jazley Faith and Amy Howton — *Photo Credit:* Jazley Faith and Amy Howton

Josephine’s dance journey begins at age three when she was enrolled in a ballet class. Two years later, Josephine and her family moved to Korea. She explains that, at the time, ballet training in Korea was quite rigorous and people only began if they were seriously considering a career as a professional dancer. Thus, Josephine’s training became more intense and she also picked up Korean folk dancing as an additional focus in her dance studies. Her training persisted as she and her family moved to Southern California when she was 10 years old. Soon after the move, Josephine’s mother, a former dancer, started her own dance store. “She became known as a really good [pointe shoe] fitter in that region,” Josephine says of her mother. Josephine learned how to fit pointe shoes herself at her mother’s store as a teenager. After graduating from USC, Josephine followed in her mom’s footsteps and started her own retail dance store.

“It was very difficult to find [pointe shoe] fitters who were knowledgeable and fitters who had a well-stocked inventory. So we decided to focus on that,” Josephine says of the inspiration behind ThePointeShop. “A few years later, I closed the retail portion...and just switched to pointe shoes.” Ten years after the store was created, ThePointeShop is the only dance store in the country that solely carries pointe shoes and focuses on pointe shoe fittings.

Pointe shoes are undoubtedly one of the most challenging items to carry at a dance store, as they can be difficult to stock thoroughly and fit correctly. For that reason, Josephine has made it her mission to educate the public on how to fit pointe shoes properly. “We have a very similar mission as [Dancewear Center]. We want to help the public get a little bit more educated [about pointe shoes] and hopefully bridge the gap between dance and science,” Josephine says of ThePointeShop’s goal as a business.

While Josephine has years of fitting experience from working with her mother, she is still constantly learning new information about pointe shoes through her work. “Every day I meet a dancer who stumps me or I see something interesting that I haven’t seen before,” she says. “I love that challenge and that continual education. Even though it seems like such a small thing...the education that comes along with it is endless.”

In tandem with its individualized pointe shoe fittings, ThePointeShop has created a prolific name for itself on social media, amassing over 35,000 followers on Instagram and 71,000 subscribers on YouTube “If the Internet or social media didn’t exist, our company wouldn’t exist,” Josephine says. ThePointeShop mainly focused on Facebook promotion when it first began, before migrating to Instagram, and later to YouTube. “The reason why we went so social heavy at the beginning was because we didn’t have a marketing budget...social media was a key component in how to spread the word. And instead of focusing on advertisements and sales, we decided to focus more on education and giving back to the public.”

With her background in broadcast journalism and public speaking, Josephine found that her prior life experiences helped her create a prominent social media presence for ThePointeShop. She believes that the best form of advertisement is “giving enough value to the audience [so] they gain your trust.” From her informative pointe shoe fittings with a wide array of dancers to her entertaining “reaction” videos to ballet TikToks, Josephine offers audiences “value” in a variety of capacities.

Dancewear Center recently announced that it will be employing the Progressive Pointe Method when fitting pointe shoes with the support of ThePointeShop. “I’m a big believer that you can teach any skill to anybody if you are committed to teaching somebody something. But I think what is more important to me is integrity and the type of message and the kindness that Dancewear Center has always been committed to,” Josephine says of the partnership. “[Dancewear Center has] always been a big advocate for spreading awareness and helping the dance community as a whole...and I really love that collaborative spirit. I really love that inclusivity.”

In the spirit of collaboration and inclusivity, Josephine hopes to see more empathy and understanding in the dance world. “I think a lot of problems stem from not being able to communicate how you’re feeling, what you’re going through, how to get through things, your different options, etc.” She points out that after years of suppressing their issues, many dancers aren’t fully capable of articulating the problems they’re experiencing. “Having a little bit more empathy towards dancers and a little bit more awareness...is very necessary in the dance world and I think it will solve a lot of problems.”

Josephine is a founding member of DanseMedica, and will be at DWC Renton on Saturday, July 30th during the Dance Teacher Conference. Josephine will be speaking along with a panel of other dance educators. Click here to register now!

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Sources:

https://thepointeshop.com/pages/meet-josephine

https://thepointeshop.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thepointeshop/

https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePointeShop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn-1QLTVxFc&list=PLrCcbI6XmfcGNilvp5Jq1lT4XiF-9grTk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwT3deYcPuU&list=PLrCcbI6XmfcEYLpKv1kMsvsCK3_7UDmJI

https://dancewear-center.myshopify.com/products/dwc-renton-pointe-shoe-fitting-with-josephine-lee-of-thepointeshop?mc_cid=7af394b670&mc_eid=1f2d8ef561

Promoting Empowerment and Body Positivity Through Movement

Santina Rigano-Lesch on Breaking the Stereotypes of Dance

By Nicole Barrett, DWC Blog Writer

Like many, Santina Rigano-Lesch found the COVID-19 pandemic to be a time for herself to hone in on what she’s really passionate about. From this time of reflection, projects like Unstoppable You and Unstoppable Babes were born. Read on to learn about these projects and more about Santina’s dance journey and upcoming work!

Santina is originally from Australia and started dancing when she was four years old. Later on, she ended up managing a performance company, while she was coaching national hip hop championships and touring around Australia. What brought her to the U.S. was being an au pair in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and she began dancing there as well. In her job contract, she got moved to Seattle and wanted to stay here. She met her wife in Seattle and realized that she wanted to start her own dance studio near her where she could create a space for people to engage in the “alternative styles of dance.”

“Seattle has such a big contemporary and ballet scene,” Santina recalls being in Seattle’s established dance world. When she was building her studio, she realized that she had to start from the ground up to create a name that people would recognize, like in Australia. In the U.S., she faced challenges building such a name. Because of this, she worked with Seattle Parks and Recreation to get her name out there and to forge a partnership to help create what she envisioned.

One thing that was important for Santina regarding her dance studio was creating a space for people to explore their creativity. She started teaching children through daycare and elementary enrichment programs, along with teaching studio classes to 400 kids weekly. Santina wanted to create a non-traditional dance space, where she taught ballet to reggae music and worked to foster a safe, body-positive, and inclusive environment for everyone.

Once the pandemic hit, everything about the studio changed. Regulations based upon quarantine guidelines created a nearly impossible environment for Santina to continue doing the thing she loved. So, she made the conscious and bittersweet decision to shut down the studio in May 2020. She then pivoted her focus to create a new business called Don’t Do It Yourself Virtual Assistance Services where she started her work with studio owners who were having trouble with their social media and virtual assistant tasks.

Adding to her many other projects, she started her podcast Unstoppable You, which is all about empowering women in the body love space and crushing the body standards in society. Tagging onto Unstoppable You and her larger Confidently You brand, she started an online monthly membership Unstoppable Babes that is aimed at women wanting to get involved in loving their skin and their body. Santina’s main goal in creating these spaces was to speak up about the empowerment of women. She shares that because of COVID, she was able to sit down and assess what she was truly passionate about. She realized that what she was truly enthusiastic about was working with women like herself and helping empower them by bringing them in closer touch with their femininity. “[There’s] this avenue that I’ve gone down of helping women get confident within themselves, whether that’s dance-wise or business-wise,” she shares.

Santina’s favorite thing about dancing is the ability to express yourself in ways that in everyday life you just can’t. Growing up in Australia, the “you can only speak when you are spoken to” mindset was prevalent and she shares that she struggled with expressing herself verbally. Dance is what allowed her the ability to express herself and show how she feels without the hassle of using words.

One of Santina’s biggest struggles in dance has always been the way that she looks. She recalls being told by one of her ballet teachers that she was “too fat” to be a ballet dancer and she shares that it completely crushed her. Santina struggles with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) which inflames the entire body and can cause weight gain, among other things. This thin-bodied stereotype in the dance world is what made her look into other styles of dance, which is what she mainly practices now. Because of this, Santina’s advice for anyone going through the same issue is “don’t care about what anyone else thinks.” She shares that everyone struggles with something in or out of dance so if you love to dance, it doesn’t matter what your body looks like, just get moving.

Something that Santina would like to see change in the dance world is breaking the stereotype that dance is only for a trained dancer. “Based on conversations I have with women every day that want to dance, they feel this judgment that they didn’t start dancing sooner and feel immense anxiety attempting a dance class full of trained dancers,” Santina shares about the expectations in the dance world. She believes that dance is for everybody no matter who you are or what you do.

At the same time, Santina mentions that she doesn’t like to use the word “normalize.” She shares that her wife has experiences with mental illness and has developed an unfavorable opinion of the word. “The reason why I don’t like using the word normalize comes from me educating myself in mental health and being there for an advocate and [in] support [of] my wife,” Santina shares. The word “normal” can be perceived in a marginalizing way and Santina doesn’t use it out of respect for the way it makes her wife feel and to show more understanding to the community that experiences mental illness as well.

Santina has many different projects coming up! Free Your Body, a dance-inspired bootcamp that ran from May 17th to May 22nd using movement to unleash trauma, is now available in recorded replay format. She also has her Unstoppable Babes membership program online that has classes on Wednesdays and Saturdays allowing the everyday woman to tap into their sensual and embodied side to reclaim themselves, let go of stories holding them back and put themselves first. Lastly, something that is in the works right now for Santina is a group coaching program for female entrepreneurs that aims to help them feel more comfortable with getting visible online in their businesses.

Be sure to check out Santina’s work on her website www.santinarigano.com for more information!

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Getting to Know DWC Ambassador Claire Kaskel

Many dancers experience common challenges that aren’t often brought into conversation in class settings, including feelings of physical and technical insecurity. DWC Ambassador Claire Kaskel is an advocate for fostering open communication across dancers, instructors, and studio owners to ensure dancers know they are valued for their uniqueness. Read on to learn more about Claire’s dance journey, the changes she wants to see made in the dance industry, and her plans as an ambassador.

A Conversation About Embracing Uniqueness

By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor

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Like many dancers, Claire began in a ballet class around age three. As she got older, she began exploring other styles, including jazz and lyrical. When she was eight years old, Claire began competing mainly in jazz and lyrical genres, later dabbling in salsa, Paso Doble, hip hop, tap, and contemporary.

“I really love competing and I really love being a part of a studio. For me, that’s one of the best parts [of dance],” Claire says. She shares that she’s also gotten the opportunity to teach dance to younger students, which has been a great source of joy. Claire loves that teaching allows her the chance to help children cultivate what might be their own lifelong passion for dance. Claire also loves the therapeutic qualities of dancing, sharing that attending dance class allows her to release stress and feel grounded.

“Something that I’ve struggled with a little bit throughout my time as a dancer [is] feelings, here and there, of not being enough,” Claire shares. She says that whether it’s feeling like her dance technique is subpar or feeling like her body isn’t the “right” look to be attempting a certain style, dance can bring out some uncomfortable emotions from time to time. “It makes you second guess yourself and it makes you feel super insecure and confused,” Claire speaks on these feelings. She points out that settings like competitions and conventions can sometimes foster an environment of comparison that encourages this unfavorable self-evaluation.

To help manage these unpleasant feelings, Claire advises dancers to rethink and reassess their thoughts and remember that who they are as a dancer is valuable. “[Each] different dancer is going to bring something unique and special to the table,” she says. Claire, herself, is always enamored by dancers who put their own special spins on their movements, making them their own. “You should always be working to continue improving, but you also need to be appreciative of what you have and the body that allows you to dance and the mind that allows you to learn,” Claire says.

One change Claire hopes to see made in the dance world is more diversity across every facet of the industry, in terms of racial backgrounds, body sizes, and more. She hopes that all types of people can be welcomed and embraced in the dance industry, by actors on all levels helping foster a more inclusive environment. She also hopes to see the dance industry make more efforts to keep dancers safe, particularly in the competition world, and listen to young dancers when they voice the challenges they’re experiencing.

Claire says that she’s been shopping at Dancewear Center for years, but learned about the ambassador program recently through DWC Ambassador Kristina Koumaeva, as she is a teacher of hers at Premiere Dance Center in Redmond, Washington. After seeing Kristina’s social media posts about the ambassador program, Claire felt inspired to apply herself. “I’m really excited that I get to be here and I get this opportunity!” Claire says.

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In general, as an ambassador, Claire looks forward to being able to help support a local business and have a platform of her own to share her love for dance. She loves the idea of potentially inspiring others through the messages she puts out.

In addition to the DWC ambassadorship, in the coming weeks, Claire is looking forward to performing in her studio’s end of the year recital with Premiere Co., a pre-professional dance company at Premiere Dance Center. She is also preparing for the company’s auditions for the 2022-2023 season and getting ready to attend a national dance competition this summer.

We’re thrilled to have Claire as a DWC ambassador! Stay tuned for more from her in the coming months!

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