Learn from professional dancers

Hi, I am Hannah Mae and I am from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. When I was three years old and in a kiddy dance class or music class with my mom, all the kids were sitting on the floor and clapping along to the music as they were instructed to do. And I ignored that. I got up and I started spinning and kept moving. I couldn't stop moving.

I love teaching because it is a great way to share the same joy that I find in the art form. It's something that is so universal. I really love sharing that joy and that communication. There are so many things that my teachers shared with me. A lot of imagery often helps me. So if I think in terms of something like candy cane legs to get the idea of a spiral or a fishing hook in your sternum and feel it being projected forward. I think those kinds of images really help me and stick with me.

Hi, my name is Daniel. I'm originally from Brazil, but I'm a new newly Canadian now. When my older brother started dancing at a community centre, I saw his first performance I was really, really inspired and excited about dance. It became another way for me to get out all my extra energy out and get moving. My love of dance comes from performing, really getting to move. And I love when I perform for kids that I made kids laugh. I think it's super fun to be silly on stage and to make fun of yourself on stage is super fun. I love partnering. Every time that I get to do some lifts and tosses, toss some girls up in the air, I, I have a lot of fun with that and that maybe roll on the ground and be silly every time I get to just be silly.

I like teaching when the students are open to learn, open to the new experiences and they don't feel scared to make mistakes. That's when I like it. The real feedback is when you can see students getting excited, when they're having a hard time doing a step. And after you coach them, and they're actually able to do the step, you can see them light up and they're like, I can actually do this! 

For me, the most joyful part of dancing is music. Music always tells us stories, gives us sense of feelings, and you just follow with exercise or choreography.  Of course, we have to train in the class to have a good stable technique and it is very important, but you can never forget about music. It really helps me as a dancer to just listen and feel the music.

My favorite move is tendu in the fifth position at the barre. It is not a big fancy step but using my small muscles in my toes and activating my turn out muscle gives me a warm body and I always feel ready for bigger steps that come later in the class, rehearsals and shows.

Aspiring dancers: believe in your small achievements. It can be a slow process to improve the basic technique, but it is also the hardest process to learn the correct fundamental steps. So be patient, be kind to yourself and just take a small step at a time, I know it will help you to do more difficult steps later on. And most importantly, never forget to enjoy the movement, space and the moment when you dance!

Bonjour! My name is Lydia and I'm from Montreal. I wanted to become a dancer because I really liked doing classes and being very precise about the movements. I like the discipline of dance. My parents would film me every time when there was music and I was dancing as a little kid. I really like movements that travel a lot. I like movement that travels along a diagonal, for example.

I like teaching because I like sharing my passion for dance with students. I enjoy seeing them working hard and progressing every time. There's always something to work on and it's always really complex and hard, but you just keep working at it until you get better. I'd say to a student, if you're feeling frustrated just think about how much progress you've made in the past couple months. You're always better than this week or the month before. So just keep that in mind and keep working. 

My name is Omar Hernández and I’m from Cuba. I was inspired by a cousin of mine that lives here in Canada. I saw him dancing since I was a kid and he inspired me. That’s what led me to study dancing.

One of the things I enjoy the most is working with little kids. I feel very happy and it’s rewarding to work with them. And it also feels great to see them evolve and improve every day.

Hi everyone, my name is Adrián. I'm from Mexico City, Mexico. I started dancing late, I think I discovered dance itself when I was around 16 years old. By the time I was 19, almost 20, I was already in my first year studying in a culinary school. Some of my friends teachers told me, If you want, you can dance. But it was like, no, I'm too old. I'm too old for that. Normally dancers, especially ballet dancers start when they're three years old, eight years old, 10 years old. So for me to really, even to fantasize about going into a professional career at 18 was not in the plans. But I realized that this is what I wanted. Contemporary ballet, jazz. You never know how it's going to go. But now I'm here and I can't believe I was really lucky. I love teaching. One of the most rewarding things about teaching is to see how the students change as I give them new tools and help them to shape their bodies when they start working in certain ways. I love to see how those tools help them to grow as dancers.

Hi, I’m Momoka. I’m from Japan. The first time I watched Sylvie Guillem perform Bolero was what led me to becoming a dancer.  I was the silver medal winner of the Ballet Competition Fukuoka, and the Bronze Medal holder of the 2010 and 2013 NAMUE Classical Ballet Competition before joining a Russian concert tour produced by Morihiro Iwata, and then joining Jorgen Dance. My favourite move is pirouettes.

I like to share what I have learned and love seeing people improve. Everyone has their own talent. Believe in your talent and you will grow your own way. Try, listen, and learn everything you can. Embarrass yourself so you can figure out what is best for you. It may not feel good at first but keep trying different ways until you can find what works for you. The process can be tough, but the reward is worth it. 

Hi, I'm Callum. I'm originally from Glasgow, Scotland. My mom was a professional dancer in musical theatre. After I saw Riverdance for the first time, I wanted to be an Irish dancer, so my mom put me into ballet because ballet is a great foundation for lots of different dance techniques and styles.

I love classical ballet, but my favorite is neoclassical. It's pushing the boundaries of that classical ballet technique, exploring your hyper extension, exploring the little bit further movements of the ballet technique that are there. And I think it can be so beautiful on your own in a solo or in a group. I think it's absolutely stunning to watch.

I really, really love to work with students and see them develop, learn how to use their body. Not everyone is the same. My advice to any aspiring dancer is to try absolutely everything that you can, and if you can't do it, say yes and figure it out later. You are on your own journey, and you will get to where you need to go in your own time.

Hi, my name is Leandro. I'm from Altamira, Pará, Brazil. I always loved dancing as a kid, and once I started taking dance classes, I just completely fell in love with ballet. I was giving my all, at all the classes. They would tell me to never give up. No matter what are the obstacle goals that you have in the way. No matter what happens if that's what you want, if you have the passion, just keep going. I love to see the process of the students, how they overcome their fears, how they overcome their issues because ballet is difficult. I love to see the process of them getting better. They're approaching and taking their goals to the next level.  My advice to students would be patient with your body. Listen to your body, listen to your teachers. It's very easy for us dancers to just keep pushing and pushing our bodies but listen to it so you don't get injuries and be patients with yourself. Not everything becomes better overnight, so just keep working on it.

Hi, I’m Hiroto. Seeing Tetsuya Kumakawa winning the Prix De Lausanne on national television in Japan when I was only about 11 or 12 years old, left huge impression on me. He danced with such agility and ease it made me think of a ball bouncing in the air.

I love expressing what I have inside my head or inside my heart. I cannot express through my words so well, but I can do it with my body. My favourite technique is a jump called Grand Jetes. It looks like you are jumping a hurdle. It gives you a great feeling of freedom and travelling through the air.

A key lesson that has stuck with me is from a guest teacher in a summer intensive when I was 12. I thought I was trying hard in the class, but I could push even more by reaching beyond the limit that I put on myself.I now love teaching because it's a part of giving what I've learned from all the teachers to a new generation, something that's so incredible, such as ballet.

Hi my name is Marc. I'm from San Louis de Brazil, and I became a dancer because I love movement, the way it feels in the body, and the dream of living abroad. I love teaching dance because as I am teaching, I'm also learning at the same time. I'm discovering new things while sharing my knowledge. If you're just learning to study ballet sometimes the body takes a little more time to get in a better place, so trust the process. The most important thing is to be patient with yourself.

Hi, my name is Taisiia. When I was about 7 years old my mom sent me to an out-of-town camp, where we would always have a mandatory nap after lunch. In one of those naps my first ballet teacher Julia Yurievna came up to me, took away my blanket and said, “You have Ballet legs, and you have a future in Ballet.” “You must come to our school to study.” She gave me ballet posters and information sheets. Seeing the graceful ballerinas on the posters, I immediately fell in love with ballet.

Every day I learn something new about myself as a dancer. The lesson I’ve learned is that I must give my 150% in the studio, so I can still be satisfied with my performance on stage. I am currently a Junior Company Member with Jörgen Dance, so I consider myself on the edge of a student and a professional dancer. What I love most about teaching is making the learning process fun and engaging so the students can fully enjoy learning the choreography. A piece of advice I give to other dancers is to focus more on the process than on the result.

Hi, my name Esther and I'm from Lima, Peru. My mother was also a ballet dancer, so I grew up putting on her tiaras and her point shoes. The thing that I enjoy the most when I dance is jumping. I used to have a teacher who used to say just jump and jump and jump. When I dance, I feel free and I can dance as high as I want. The most important thing to continue dancing is to be patient and keep working hard and try to find inspiration in everything. What I most like about teaching is sharing my knowledge with the person who's learning ballet.

If you're starting ballet or, or you are newer to ballet, you should be like a sponge - there's always something that a teacher can give to you, even the smallest detail. How to do a proper step or how to use a proper technique is really interesting because you would imagine you need to practice it to understand it, but sometimes you just need to turn your body off and keep your brain on.