I’m a 40 year old woman, I’ve been a dancer since I could walk, and I just finished my first month training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. While I am a “black belt” in dance, I am as novice as it gets in jiu-jitsu. I have learned so much in just a short time, and it’s exciting because it’s only the beginning. Every class brings a new surprise, but the biggest surprise so far has been how much I’ve learned about dance class during my jiu-jitsu training. Here are four of the biggest “new student dance class fears” and tips to overcome them, brought to you by my jiu-jitsu academy:Read More
It’s the middle of February, and six weeks into 2021. How is your year going so far? Did you pledge to make a change or two on January 1st? Now is the perfect time to assess your progress. Making changes is not easy- in fact, it’s really, really hard. But in the words of Coach Jimmy in the movie A League of Their Own, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” Coach Jimmy was talking about baseball, but I think it applies here too. When the hard parts becoming the best version of myself aren’t feeling so great, I go back and review the most impactful book I’ve ever read about change, Atomic Habits by James Clear.Read More
In this final installment of this three-part series with Elizabeth Benton, we discuss health and wellness. Besides being the author of Chasing Cupcakes, a mindset coach, founder of The Dagny Foundation, and host of the Primal Potential podcast, EB has also radically transformed her life by losing over 200lbs. If you enjoy the wisdom she dispenses here, make sure you wish yourself a Happy New Year by treating yourself to a copy of her book or listening to the Primal Potential podcast. If you missed Part I or Part II, make sure you catch up! Read More
In Part II of this three-part series with Elizabeth Benton, author of Chasing Cupcakes, mindset coach, founder of The Dagny Foundation, and host of the Primal Potential podcast, we talk about good mindset mantras, surviving failure, avoiding drama and superpowers. If you enjoy the wisdom she dispenses here, make sure you wish yourself a Happy New Year by treating yourself to a copy of her book or listening to the Primal Potential podcast. If you missed Part I, make sure you catch up! Read More
Have you ever heard of Elizabeth Benton? If not, it’s time you did. EB is the author of Chasing Cupcakes, a mindset coach, founder of The Dagny Foundation, and host of the Primal Potential podcast. Phew! I need a nap just writing all of that. I found EB several years ago when I was searching for a great health and wellness podcast, and I’ve been a fan ever since. As I was reflecting on 2020, I thought about how we could probably all benefit from a mindset upgrade, which immediately made me think of EB’s work. So what the heck- I took a chance and emailed her to ask for an interview…Read More
Tyler Muhlenkamp is a dancer with The Walt Disney Company, in Orlando, Florida. It was so exciting to host Tyler at EDC for a Musical Theatre Master Class and Audition Workshop in September. We caught up with Tyler in between his busy schedule of dancing, rehearsing, performing and teaching to get answers to our top 6 burning questions.Read More
TEAM is for:
Trained
Enriched
Abloom
Motivated
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Costume Try-On Week is such an exciting event for dancers! Slipping the costume on for the first time is often the “a-ha” moment when the dancers suddenly understand their teacher’s vision for the performance. This is also the moment where your dancers get pretty excited about their time in the spotlight. Simply put, they feel like stars.Read More
Growing up in dance can look differently from state to state, studio to studio and kid to kid. In the past several years dance has made a comeback in the mainstream spotlight of television and film. While this pop culture reboot has done some great things for our art, it has also given rise to some negative trends for both youth and adults. This is one reason why it is so important to take time to find the best dance school for your family. It didn’t occur to me that parents are actually afraid of their children becoming commodities or exploited through dance until I had a lengthy and honest email conversation with a father concerned about his daughter choosing dance as her passion. Read More
Elevate Dance Center is a “kiss and go” studio. This can be hard for some of our youngest dancers’ parents to understand, but we feel very strongly that our children should be given a learning environment free from spectators. Class time is about exploration, mistake-making and growth. It is not a performance, and therefore needs no audience. Read More
