Opening Night of the Leopard Tale

Ballethnic Dance Company The Leopard Tale at the Rialto Theater

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight is opening night of “The Leopard Tale” it’s a show that you do not want to miss!!!

Animal of the Week- Vultures “The Leopard Tale”

The Vultures of Africa are known as Raptors which are carnivorous. They hunt by sight during the day, are long lived, and have low reproductive rates. The catch their prey via strong claws – three pointing forward and one pointing backward. The raptors that hunt by day are: hawks, eagle, buzzards, harriers, kites, vultures, falcons, caracaras. Owls hunt by night. Raptors are also called birds of prey. Vultures seldom attack healthy animals, but may kill the wounded or sick. When a carcass has too thick a hide for its beak to open, it waits for a larger scavenger to eat first.^[4] Vast numbers have been seen upon battlefields. They gorge themselves when prey is abundant, until their crop bulges, and sit, sleepy or half torpid, to digest their food. They do not carry food to their young in their claws, but disgorge it from the crop. These birds are of great value as scavengers, especially in hot regions.

In “The Leopard Tale” the vultures feed on the Zebra. This segment is danced with grace and power by the children of The Academy.

Be sure to CATCH THE LEOPARD to see the full story of “The Leopard Tale” at the Rialto Center for Performing Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. Buy tickets online at http://www.rialtocenter.org/ or call the box office at 404-413-9849

visit: http://www.ballethnic.org for more information!

Animal of the Week: Gazelles “The Leopard Tale”

On first glance it can be easy to mistake a deer for a gazelle or a gazelle for a deer. Despite their similar appearance, the deer and gazelle are from different families in the animal classification system and have several distinguishing characteristics.

One widely familiar gazelle is the African species Thomson’s gazelle (Eudorcas thomsoni), which is around 50 to 70 cm (20 to 28 in) in height at the shoulder and is coloured brown and white with a distinguishing black stripe.

In our signature ballet production “The Leopard Tale” the Gazelles fight for survival among the wild in the African jungle. The Gazelles dance beautifully with expressions of confusion, like a deer caught in headlights, using crisp and sporadic movements. Infusing ballet movements en pointe while incorporating African dance technique, the choreography of Mr. Waverly T. Lucas, II tells the story of the Gazelle wonderfully through the art of dance. Music by L. Gerald Reid.

Be sure to CATCH THE LEOPARD to see the full story of “The Leopard Tale” at the Rialto Center for Performing Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. Buy tickets online at http://www.rialtocenter.org/ or call the box office at 404-413-9849

visit: http://www.ballethnic.org for more information!

Catch “The Leopard Tale”

See how the Gazelles evade the Leopard in ‘The Leopard Tale”. The animal kingdom portrayed through dance…an original score by L.Gerard Reid, choreographed by Waverly T. Lucas II, and live drumming makes this production one you don’t want to miss. March 21-24 at The Rialto Theater. The Cat is Back. Catch The Leopard Tale! For more information: www.ballethnic.org…Get your tickets early to avoid last minute disappointment!

 

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/gazelle-body-language.htm

HLN’s Christi Paul shines the spotlight on the Ballethnic Dance Company

Reaching My Dreams!

  Starting Ballet at age 13, I was facing extra-ordinary odds of becoming a professional dancer. I was born in a country setting called North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. It is a place not so far from Mayberry in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was supposed to grow up and get a “good job” working in a factory. However, I never saw that as my life, and I would have to be fearless to seek something different for myself.

As far as I can remember, I have always moved and danced well before there was formal training. As a little girl, I was always twirling and kicking my legs. In my neighborhood as children we spent a great deal of time outside. I was always jumping, cart wheeling and spinning. I remember early on receiving a tape-player or boom box, and I started choreographing dances in my basement. Everyone knew that was my favorite pastime. If you came over to my house, you were going to dance because that is what I did. I danced everywhere; I kicked as I washed dishes, as I vacuumed, and at any other chore. My Mom got kicked so many times in the grocery store as I sailed down the aisle with my leg extended to the back (in arabesque) that I was prohibited from lifting my legs in stores. On my ten-speed bike I had numerous crashes because I was coasting through the neighborhood in dance poses. I expressed myself through movement. I was never still for very long.

I begged to watch anything with dance in it on television. Growing up we had the family television and we watched programs together. Everyone hated the shows that I loved, like the 70’s Lawrence Welk Show which had the orchestra playing and folks dancing to polkas. I remembered when I discovered the PBS series Dance in America. When I saw the New York companies dancing I felt like that could be me. However, I did not see dancers of color so it always made me wonder if it was possible for me. I needed validation and training.

Finally, at the age of 13, my parents were able to afford to enroll me in Ballet at Canipe School of Dance. I was sooooo happy; my dream had come true. I was taking formal lessons, although at first only two classes per week. I loved everything about it, and I practiced even more at home. I excelled quickly and knew that this was what I wanted to do forever. I did not know at that time how hard it was going to be because I started so late. Finally, in three years, I was on pointe (dancing on my toes). Those shoes were so precious to me and, because they were so expensive, I knew I had to take extra care of them because I was only going to get that one pair of shoes for the year. I knew that I was very serious about dance and that I had to continue serious training so I talked my parents into allowing me to attend a summer session at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem. They agreed, provided that I worked to save up a portion of the money – which I did.

At this point, I knew that in order for me to have a chance as a dancer I had to make a drastic change. By this time I was in the tenth grade ,and I begged my Daddy to allow me to audition to go to NCSA during the school year. I knew it was possible because my friend Deneen Graham was attending. He said emphatically no and that he would never pay for me to attend there as a high school student. He was not particularly fond of me dancing and thought that it was a waste of time. At that point I decided that I would attend as a college student and the quickest way to get there was to finish high school early. So I set up my plan and took science in summer school one summer and completed my senior English course the summer of my junior year. I graduated high school my junior year in the summer. This was major, and people did not understand why I would do that and not want to “march” with my class. How could I give up my senior year of high school, they all thought? I thought it was a waste of time if I only needed my English credit to graduate. I thought it was the right sacrifice to get started with my career and, besides that, I was behind as a dancer, especially a ballet dancer. Read The Entire Article Here!

A Word From Mr. Waverly

Just because you are a great athlete it does not make you a great basketball, football, or baseball player. Even though you cook well, you are not necessarily a chef. And just because you dance well it does not make you a great dance instructor. You must continue to study your craft and use your lifetime of experience to build a foundation of excellent training within your students. This will allow them to fulfill their god given gift of talent. And also pass it on to future generations.

Proper training will not lesson their creativity or make them stiff. With proper training they become empowered and confident in their control of their bodies and in tune with concepts such as musicality, dynamic quality, tempo and many other concepts that allow dancers to flourish.

My training at the Dance Theatre of Harlem set a great foundation allowing me to learn important concepts that I missed earlier in my training. My training in Detroit at Marygrove College under great instructors such as Iacob Lascu, Penny Godboldo, and Elana Barter, prepared me well in the couple of years that I studied with them, but I was a student that required patience and repetition to develop. Homer Bryant and Iris Cloud were the first two teachers to understand this and put me in a position to thrive.

Your best student is not the truest reflection of your teaching. The less talented ones, and those who require you to exhibit patience and commitment to your processes and procedures, will more accurately reflect your impact as a teacher. Most likely the most talented and gifted students would thrive in most situations. This does not diminish the work you do to help these talented students get to the next level of their potential careers. Because, an incompetent teacher can ruin that student as well as any other student.

W.Lucas/BDC

The Journey of a Beg. Adult Dancer at Ballethnic Dance Company

 I’ve always loved to dance. I remember at 5 years old  seeing Janet  Jackson dance in Rhythm Nation and being so inspired to just dance.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t privileged enough to enroll in dance at an early age. The closest I would get to receiving any formal training was when I was 14 years old. It was my sophomore year in high school and I tried out for my school’s award winning dance team. I was the only person who tried out with NO dance training and I made the team! The school would provide impromptu dance workshops in Jazz & Lyrical dance once a month (maybe twice a month if we were lucky). There was this one dancer on the dance team who had been dancing since she was 5 and she became my dance inspiration. She befriended me and her mother would take me to watch a few of her classes . I would watch her dance and  try to study her movement to practice them on my own at home but that was the extent of my dance training.  When I started college I figured it was best for me to pursue my career in music and just keep dance as a hobby, because in my mind I had accepted that I would never become as good as the dancers who’ve trained all their life…but my heart wouldn’t let me give up on the dream of becoming a well trained dancer.

A few years ago my passion for dance resurfaced and I found myself wanting to really study the art of dance. I had started taken classes here and there but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Either the teachers were disinterested in developing adult dancers or they didn’t take you seriously enough. At one point someone told me that I would never be qualified and would never be blessed to become the dancer that I wanted to be so discouragement set in.

Then I found Ballethnic! A friend of mine had a daughter enrolled at Ballethnic and invited me to “The Urban Nutcracker.” I fell in love! I thought this could be the place for me! On the night of the ballet production everyone was so nice and so welcoming from the ushers, parent volunteers and even the students. After my encounter that evening I told myself that as soon as I had the chance I’d take a class!

The spirit of love and encouragement was so overwhelming my first day of class. I explained to everyone that I really wanted to seriously learn ballet and the art of dance so that I can use it professionally in my career. Never once did anyone discourage me. In fact they encouraged me and even asked me to document my progress! It was then that I knew that I had finally found a dance home…Somewhere to nurture my passion and help to develop me into the dancer that I hope to become. I’m inspired by watching all the other adult students…all with different stories and different backgrounds but all there for a common love of dance.

I started my journey with Ballethnic in January of this year and I can truly say within the few months of taking classes I can already see growth. I take 6 hours of classes from Ballet to Jazz to African & Modern and I’ve never felt more confident as a dancer. I’m also dancing in the upcoming production “Jazzy Sleeping Beauty” it’s been an awesome journey so far! I am looking forward to seeing more progress at the Ballethnic Dance Company and I can not wait to see where I am by the end of the year!

Ballethnic Academy of Dance Provides Ballethnic Dance Company Dancers

In 1990 when Waverly and I started Ballethnic we knew that it was important to create a place in the Metropolitan Atlanta region that dancers could create and express themselves using Ballet but fusing that traditional dance form with others such as African. We also felt strongly about having a cooperative of dancers that self managed and produced work that we felt to be important. During this time the dancers of the company were also challenged to develop new skills and learned to produce shows from a concept to a full production.

However, we knew that the future of Ballethnic depended upon having the ability to develop young dancers with a love not only for Ballet but for the other dance forms as well. In our twenty two years of existence it is evident now more than ever. This season we have three dancers that matriculated through the Academy that are members of Ballethnic Dance Company. They are Chad Jones, Lailah Howard and Karla Tyson.

This has been one of the greatest joys form me as I remember them coming up through the school.   To see them understand showcase their knowledge has made me so proud. They also demonstrate the Ballethnic values of hardwork, comitment and perserverence. It is a blessing to be able to share the same stage.

Who Are We?

Dance Theatre of Harlem Auditions at Ballethnic...

Ballethnic Academy of Dance is the official school of nationally and internationally acclaimed  Ballethnic Dance Company, Inc. The Ballethnic Academy of Dance is a nine month program with an additional four weeks arts Transitional Camp and four week Dance Diversity Summer Camp staffed by current professionals in the field. The students receive a solid Ballet foundation but benefit from Ballethnic’s commitment of blending ballet with other dance forms especially African dance.

 Graduates from Ballethnic have danced professionally at Cleveland San Jose Ballet and Dallas Black Dance Theater to name a few. They have taught nationally and internationally in musical theater; in videos and TV; and received such honors as Miss Southern University and Miss Bayou Classic. They have also been the recipients of full scholarships to major arts institutions and universities. Advanced students have taken Master Classes with Donald Byrd, Pilobolus Too, David Dorfman, Baba Ishangi, Babatunde Olatungi, Ramazan Bapov, Gary Abbot, and Teddy Levy and J. Iega. The students have traveled to the International Association of Blacks in Dance in where they performed and studied dance.