15 episodes
The Adult Ballet Studio Elizabeth Blosfield
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- Arts
Hi! My name's Elizabeth, & I've been studying ballet all my life. It's never been my career but it's always been my passion. I started this podcast to connect with the inspiring community of adult ballet dancers. The Adult Ballet Studio believes in pushing boundaries & taking risks. We view ballet as a sport that should be accessible regardless of age, body type, gender identity, race, ability, or background. This podcast features conversations with the empowering voices shaping the adult ballet community - a world where passion has no limits & dreams can take flight. Welcome to the studio! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elizabeth-blosfield/support
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Episode 15: Adriana Pierce
Adriana Pierce is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City, and she joined the studio to talk about her work elevating queer artists in ballet, creating community, and her career in classical ballet as well as musical theater!
Adriana is the founder of Queer the Ballet, an initiative with the mission to widen the scope of classical ballet by producing queer work by queer dance artists. Queer the Ballet says on its website that it seeks to “queer” our ballet spaces and explore choreography often absent from ballet stages.
After training at School of American Ballet, Adriana began her dancing career with New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet before realizing another dream of hers - working in Broadway, film and tv! She appeared in the 2018 Broadway revival of Carousel, in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 West Side Story film, and in the 2019 limited series on FX, Fosse/Verdon.
She’s currently the associate director and associate choreographer for Justin Peck’s “Illinoise" on Broadway. Adriana’s other choreographic work features movement and partnering that allows dancers of all genders equal agency, dismantling the traditional gender dynamics of dance. Her choreography has been performed by American Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ashley Bouder Project, and more. She’s also completed residencies with Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU and Bridge Street Theatre, and she was recognized by Dance Magazine as one of 25 to watch in 2022.
Follow Adriana on Instagram: @adriprc
Follow Queer the Ballet on Instagram: @queertheballet
Check out Adriana’s work: www.adrianapierce.com
Support Queer the Ballet: www.queertheballet.com/donate
Get tickets to Queer the Ballet’s upcoming performance, Dream of a Common Language: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36678/production/1194112?performanceId=11435956
Get tickets for Illinoise: https://illinoiseonstage.com/tickets/
Music in this episode:
Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
@eblosfield | theadultballetstudio@gmail.com
Support this podcast on Patreon! https://patreon.com/TheAdultBalletStudio?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elizabeth-blosfield/support -
Episode 14: Sander Blommaert
Sander Blommaert is in the studio for this episode! He’s the founder and director of Blommaert Ballet School in Birmingham, England, and a former first artist at The Royal Ballet company. Since the school’s official founding in 2021, BBS has become known as an audition preparation school, working with young students pursuing professional ballet careers as well as offering classes for all ages. Over the last two years, students studying with BBS have secured over 100 places at vocational schools.
Sander spoke about his time dancing professionally at The Royal Ballet company, his work as an instructor and ballet school owner, as well as his work with the adult ballet community. Founding BBS in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns made him realize that offering online one-on-one teaching services as well as online classes is an important part of his school’s mission to expand access to ballet. Sander also shared that he taught 100 ballet classes in 100 days over Instagram live during the pandemic shutdowns, raising seven thousand pounds for the UK’s National Health Service. Check out the episode to hear more!
Follow Sander on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanderblommaert/
Follow Blommaert Ballet School on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blommaertballetschool/?hl=en
Check out Blommaert Ballet School: https://www.blommaertballetschool.com/
Get involved with Ballet On Demand: www.balletondemand.com
Continue Sander’s work supporting the NHS: https://nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/donate/
Music in this episode:
Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
@eblosfield | theadultballetstudio@gmail.com
Support this podcast on Patreon! https://patreon.com/TheAdultBalletStudio?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elizabeth-blosfield/support -
Episode 13: Leigh Brockman Horowitz
Ballet instructor, classroom teacher, mom and former pro dancer Leigh Brockman Horowitz is in the studio for this episode! She’s talking about mental health, physical health, brain science, neurodiversity in ballet and the arts, and more. Leigh is a certified ballet and character dance teacher who has been teaching dance for more than twenty years. She is currently based in St. Louis, where she teaches adult ballet. She’s served as a faculty member at the Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis and in the ballet department at Loyola University in her native city of New Orleans. Leigh has made it her mission to spread the knowledge of ballet and make it as accessible as possible, especially through her Instagram content as Sassy Southern Ballet Mama! As someone with ADHD and multiple sclerosis, much of her work focuses on how the ballet world can become more accommodating for neurodivergent dancers or those with mental and physical health challenges. She discusses how teachers can create classrooms that accommodate all types of learners and what her journey with her mental and physical health has taught her about working with adult ballet students. Check it out!
Follow Leigh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sassysouthernballetmama/
Stay tuned for updates about Leigh’s work: www.sassysouthernballetmama.com
Music in this episode:
Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
@eblosfield | theadultballetstudio@gmail.com
Support this podcast on Patreon! https://patreon.com/TheAdultBalletStudio?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elizabeth-blosfield/support -
Episode 12: Aubrey Lynch II
Aubrey Lynch II, dean of students and director of ABT Wellness and RISE with American Ballet Theatre in New York City, joined the studio to talk about his work to further mental health and DEI initiatives at ABT and beyond! He focuses on mentoring students at ABT and providing resources for them, as well as expanding access to mental health resources that support the whole dancer in and out of the studio. He also works to build upon ABT’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to make ballet a more welcoming place on stage, in the audience and behind the scenes. Prior to joining American Ballet Theatre, Aubrey was the dance director and chief education and creative programs officer at The Harlem School of the Arts. Before transitioning to arts administration, he was one of the final dancers hand-selected by Alvin Ailey to join Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Aubrey was an original company member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and he was an original cast member of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Disney's The Lion King. Aubrey also acted as the production's associate choreographer, and later, the associate producer. We talked about the importance of self-reflection in ballet, providing visibility for BIPOC and female dancers and choreographers, and why access to mental health is so important for dancers.
Follow Aubrey on Instagram: @aubreylynch
Learn more about Aubrey's work: www.aubreylynch.com
Learn about ABT's RISE program: https://www.abt.org/community/abt-rise/
Support American Ballet Theatre: https://www.abt.org/support/individual-giving/membership/
Follow Aubrey Lynch In Reflection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuScqUc3gX4&list=PL4kr2tqzHCEb52fNAgZ50pGyPw1MAk2Nm
Music in this episode:
Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
@eblosfield | theadultballetstudio@gmail.com
Support this podcast on Patreon! https://patreon.com/TheAdultBalletStudio?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elizabeth-blosfield/support -
Episode 11: Rachel Toburen
Rachel Toburen is a multidisciplinary artist working with paint, photography, perfume, and dance, and she’s in the studio this month talking all about her exploration of memory, mental health, and adult ballet! Rachel uses her artwork to explore memory and the experience of memory, and she shared how those concepts show up in her dancing and choreography. We talked about how sights, sounds, and smells can trigger certain memories and how artwork can change as the mind takes in new experiences and memories evolve. Rachel returned to ballet in 2018 after a nearly 20-year absence from dance and has been training rigorously, even through the pandemic. In 2022, she began exploring the choreographic side of her interests, and this year, she’s working on developing a full short ballet as a retelling of the story of Medusa in five movements. She spoke with me about the experience of returning to ballet and performing as an adult, how she connects her painting and perfume work to dance, and how mental health is a big part of the work she does as she sees dance as a full body and mind experience. Check it out!
Follow Rachel on Instagram: @metasynchronic
Learn more about Rachel's work: www.metasynchronic.com
Find info about Rachel's upcoming show: https://ppld.librarymarket.com/event/mental-health-art-show-opening-399794
Music in this episode:
Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
@eblosfield | theadultballetstudio@gmail.com
Support this podcast on Patreon! https://patreon.com/TheAdultBalletStudio?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elizabeth-blosfield/support -
Episode 10: Jessica Wallis
Jessica Wallis, founder and executive director of the non-profit organization, Ballet in the City, joined the studio for the March 19th episode! Ballet in the City presents programming and events to promote and enhance the culture of ballet in cities all over the world. It works to connect ballet enthusiasts with professional dancers, scholarships, and educational opportunities. Jessica is a dancer and a two-time honors graduate of The University of Akron. She has been honored for her work with an official proclamation from the City of Cleveland in her home state of Ohio and was presented with a Distinguished Alumni award by the Cuyahoga Falls Schools Foundation in 2018. On this episode, she discusses how she’s working to expand inclusivity and access to ballet all over the world with programs like the Ballet in the City Scholarship, which began in 2015 in collaboration with Misty Copeland to promote equality in the arts for Black dancers. Ballet in the City also has a Guys Dance Too program to make dance more accessible for men of all ages and abilities and an adult ballet program, including a pointe program for adults who want to return to pointe or begin it for the first time.
Follow Ballet in the City on Instagram: @balletincity
Learn more about Ballet in the City: www.balletinthecity.org
Donate to help Ballet in the City expand access to ballet: https://www.balletinthecity.org/donate
Music in this episode:
Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod
Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
@eblosfield | theadultballetstudio@gmail.com
Support this podcast on Patreon! https://patreon.com/TheAdultBalletStudio?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elizabeth-blosfield/support