From Gibney Company to “Sleep No More,” Contemporary Dancer Eleni Loving Is...
Eleni Loving unspools movement like a magic trick. Dancing Twyla Tharp’s percussive The Fugue (1970/2024) with Gibney Company, she captures the work’s airy groundedness with precise musicality and a...
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From Rhythmic Gymnastics to Ailey, Caroline T. Dartey Moves With Precision
The path to a professional dance career was anything but linear for Caroline T. Dartey. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Dartey was originally an accomplished rhythmic gymnast, competing both nationally...
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Recognizing Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome—Plus Exercises for Prevention
When interventional spine doctor and Kuchipudi dancer Pranamya Suri was doing her medical residency, she had less time to dance than usual. When she did get the chance to practice, she noticed a...
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How “Discoshow” Gets Las Vegas Audiences Dancing
Las Vegas’ latest attraction has audiences on their feet—to bust a move. The immersive Discoshow, directed by Steven Hoggett and with choreography by Yasmine Lee, celebrates disco’s revolutionary...
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Announcing the 2024 World Choreography Award Winners
On Sunday, November 17, the World Choreography Awards hosted its 14th-annual event in Los Angeles to celebrate the innovative, original dance works of some of the world’s most talented choreographers...
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How Christopher Scott Choreographed “Wicked”
Christopher Scott. Photo by Sophy Holland, courtesy Universal Pictures. When Christopher Scott became the choreographer for Wicked, he wasn’t in a meeting or on a phone call. He was at the home of his...
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ShanDien Sonwai LaRance Carries On Native American Tradition, Culture, and...
At age 8, ShanDien Sonwai LaRance’s father made it a point for her and her two brothers to train together every day at a recreation center in Flagstaff, Arizona. Different-colored hoops sprinkled the...
View ArticleMeet Beyoncé’s “Black Parade” Choreographer, Jakevis Thomason
Just a few years after his graduation from the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance at the University of Southern California, Jakevis Thomason booked the dream gig for many a commercial dancemaker:...
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GUTS World Tour Backup Dancer Devan Aischa Smith Is Always Evolving
If Devan Aischa Smith could describe working on pop star Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS World Tour in one word, it would be “evolutionary.” As dance captain, she transformed alongside the show, learning and...
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Kicking Eye-High With Radio City Rockette Karmen Moore
Karmen Moore had always dreamed of joining the Radio City Rockettes. But while completing her degree in dance performance at Southern Methodist University in 2023, she mainly focused on auditioning...
View ArticleI Tried “Make It Dance,” the New Dancer-Friendly Card Game From Cost n’ Mayor
Did your family Thanksgiving celebration include a trio of grandmas dancing to Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”? A solo act of a vampire rocking out to Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”? If not,...
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A Dancer’s Guide to Seasonal Affective Disorder
When Crystal Nicholls was a dancer in The Lion King on London’s West End, she noticed herself feeling more irritable and unhappy during the fall and winter months. Simultaneously, she was dancing...
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The Pros and Cons of Competing Independently
Most dancers who participate in competitions and conventions attend with a dance studio. But each year, a small group of soloists opt to go for it as independents, without a studio affiliation. There...
View ArticleIntroducing Dance Magazine’s 2025 “25 to Watch”
Where is the dance field headed next? The dancers, choreographers, directors, and companies on Dance Magazine‘s annual “25 to Watch” list offer heartening, imaginative, exciting possible answers to...
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Louisiana State University’s Tiger Girls Are Ready for the “Dance Super Bowl”
If you’re a dancer who uses social media, you’ve almost certainly seen videos counting down to the 2025 “dance Super Bowl.” For those of you who aren’t familiar, these videos are referring to UDA...
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At UDA Nationals, the Wagner Sisters Go Head to Head for the Final Time
Fans of college dance teams are eagerly anticipating the rematch in Division 1A between the University of Minnesota and Ohio State University at this year’s UDA Nationals. Last year, U of M took first...
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Here are the Winners of the 2025 UDA National Championships
January 17–19, college dance teams from around the country gathered in Orlando, Florida, to attend the Universal Dance Association 2025 College National Championships. Teams competed in three...
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Why You Should Consider Festival-Affiliated Summer Programs
Choreographer David Dorfman, a professor at Connecticut College, says students who attend summer dance festival intensives return to campus with something in common: They’ve gone through an artistic...
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How to Make the Most of Summer Breaks as a Dance Major
Even after the whirlwind of Nutcracker season and finals dies down, summer break can feel very far away. Still, because applications for intensives, internships, and jobs open in winter, now is the...
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Alejandro Vargas on Cultivating a Diverse Career
As a lively 6-year-old, Alejandro Vargas had an abundant energy his parents hoped to channel into sports. After cycling through all the conventional options, nothing seemed to stick. Then, to connect...
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A Dancer’s Guide to Navigating Your First-Ever Intensive
Summer intensives offer endless opportunities—to fortify your training, to connect with teachers and other dancers, and to prepare for a professional career. But how do you know if you’re ready for...
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Real-Deal Advice on Convention Scholarships
Many competitive dancers are eager to land coveted convention scholarships. But why are these awards so sought-after? How can dancers increase their odds of winning them—and who might they not be...
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Sometimes the Best Way to Move Forward Is to Stop Dancing
I’ve been an anxious person and a perfectionist for as long as I can remember. I was devastated over an A-minus on a test, I would stretch until I cried, I would go over a dance I knew well a million...
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Viral TikTok Duo The Gardiner Brothers Push the Boundaries of Traditional...
When it comes to choreographing their viral Irish dance routines, the rules merely exist to be broken for The Gardiner Brothers. Professional dancers and content creators, Michael and Matthew...
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How Braylon Browner Balances the Spotlight and the Studio
Since finishing in the Top 8 of “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 18, Braylon Browner has continued to carve out a dynamic presence both on and off the stage. Currently a sophomore at University of...
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How to Learn From Rejection and Prepare for the Next Audition
The first time Jessica Tong auditioned for Hubbard Street’s second company, she made it to the end of the call but didn’t get the job. The next time she auditioned, six months later, she also didn’t...
View ArticleMaycee Steele on Dancing Backup for Tate McRae and Showing Up as Her Best Self
Maycee Steele is never far from the for-you page. From her creation of the mega-popular “Cuff It” dance challenge with Kaitlyn Hardy in 2022 to her presence as a backup dancer in Tate McRae’s...
View ArticleFor Ailey’s Jacquelin Harris, Dance Has Always Been Instinct
As a young child, I was enrolled in dance class by my mother, along with my three older sisters, no doubt in an effort to create some peace in her life. Little did she know that she was creating a...
View ArticleAdam Vesperman Moves From Billy Elliot to Touring the World
At age 11, Adam Vesperman was ushered into an impromptu audition for Billy Elliot: The Musical at a West Coast Dance Explosion Nationals. Despite an off-key rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little...
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6 Trends Competition Judges Are Tired of Seeing in Routines
Competition dance trends become popular for a reason, but even the most exciting fads eventually run their course. Four competition judges discuss the dance trends they believe it’s time to leave...
View ArticleMeet Radha Varadan, the Kathak Dancer Reinterpreting Classic Ballet Variations
Radha Varadan’s ingenious reimaginings of some of ballet’s most famous variations using kathak, a form of Indian classical dance, have earned her serious traction online. Based in India and the U.S.,...
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How to Audition for an NFL Cheer Team, According to the Experts
With football season officially over, most of the world won’t be thinking about the gridiron until the leaves start to turn again. But there is one group of people who are ramping up for weeks of...
View ArticleWhat to Know About This Weekend’s NDA College Nationals
With the excitement of January’s Universal Dance Association (UDA) College Nationals dying down, dancers won’t have to wait long for their next obsession: National Dance Alliance (NDA) College...
View ArticleHere Are the Winners of the 2025 NDA College Nationals
Over the weekend, college dance teams from around the country gathered in Daytona, FL, to attend the National Dance Association’s 2025 College National Championships. And this year, for the first...
View ArticleWhy Dancers Are Prone to Impostor Syndrome
Jenn Edwards has crafted a multifaceted career: She performs with Le Patin Libre, a contemporary skating company, dances, teaches, and choreographs for gymnasts and dancers, and plays in a band....
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At Tremaine Dance Conventions & Competitions, “Dance Training Is Life Training”
Tremaine Dance Conventions & Competitions started as a dream: A dream to share the fresh, new training techniques and material being taught in major cities like Los Angeles and New York with dance...
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What Tap Dancers Should Consider When Looking at Colleges
The study of tap takes many different forms across college campuses. Some schools have multilevel programs with full-time faculty, while others are known for their student-run groups and showcases....
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Allie Goodbun Brings the Magic of the Moulin Rouge to Dancers Everywhere
What does it take to move across the world, dance in Paris at the Moulin Rouge, become a content creator, and start a small business? Allie Goodbun can tell you, and if you follow her on social media,...
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Natalie Sterling Is Dancing Into Our Hearts via the Trader Joe’s Aisle
Have you ever had the urge to whip out a turn sequence in a grocery store? Or leap through an empty cereal aisle with abandon? 20-year-old Natalie Sterling feels that way too. A Trader Joe’s team...
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My Life as a Cruise Ship Dancer
Imagine traveling to beautiful destinations, making lifelong friends from all over the world, and performing high-energy shows for packed audiences. Working on a ship, it’s all part of a regular day...
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Eileen Kim Is Living by Leaps of Faith
At 16, Eileen Kim faced a life-changing decision: Stay home to finish high school in Chicago or move to Washington D.C. to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer. After spending the summer...
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Tilly Evans-Krueger on Broadway, Choreography, and Working with Sadie Sink
This season, performer and choreographer Tilly Evans-Krueger is pulling double duty on Broadway. Most nights, while she performs the role of Ace in The Outsiders, her choreography is being performed...
View ArticleBharatanatyam Dancer and Choreographer Mythili Prakash Dances for the...
I’ve never known a version of myself without dance. I was born and raised in the immersive environment of a dance school for bharatanatyam (a form of Indian classical dance) that my parents founded in...
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“Cabaret” Dancer Ida Saki on Staying Present During Each Role
When it comes to her dance career, Ida Saki lets intuition lead the way. “I try to follow whatever I’m interested in at the present moment,” she says. “Every job opportunity has opened up another door...
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How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation in Competition Routines
Competition routines can be opportunities to showcase stories from a range of cultures and perspectives. But without careful consideration, the line between inspiration and appropriation can begin to...
View ArticleWhisked Away by TikTok’s Viral Ballroom Trend
One recent morning, I opened TikTok to find a video of a man doing a vaguely familiar dance step—something that resembled the whisk, a foundational element of ballroom’s International Latin samba. The...
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In the Flow: Aidan Carberry’s Choreographic Mindset
To Aidan Carberry, choreographing is not just his livelihood, but a game to be played and a puzzle to be solved. Growing up in Los Angeles, Carberry trained at Debbie Allen School of Dance before...
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The Royal Ballet’s Amelia Townsend Taps Into Madness
Royal Ballet first artist Amelia Townsend steps into some percussive new shoes this month as the tap-dancing Mad Hatter in Christopher Wheeldon’s fantastical Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,...
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How to Audition for an NBA Dance Team, According to the Experts
The title of NBA Dancer is coveted by hosts of young performers, and every summer, teams hold open auditions for new members. With a diversity of styles, from heels to hip hop to pom, each NBA dance...
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Headliners… Creating a True Competition Experience Fueled by Passion and...
In 1989, CEO Shari Tomasiello and her mother created Headliners with a simple mission: that it would be an educationally based and goal-oriented competition, providing a fun and encouraging...
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