Welcome to the Victoria Ballet Academy Blog. Enjoy the latest news and articles on ballet, health, and education. See our articles below.

A renowned America dance photographer, Omar Robles, recently went to Mexico City for a 13-day project to portray the capital in a different light. He took photos of ballet dancers on the streets of the city, generating onlookers and applause as his subjects performed their art in front of the shutter. “The warmth with which the people of Mexico received me and the dancers as we shot along the streets truly inspired me,” Robles wrote in his blog. “We need to understand that it is OK to stop and take a minute to breath and admire the unexpected things we stumble upon everyday and often take for granted.” Earlier in 2016, the photographer went to Cuba for a similar project. Check out the photos below.  [...]

Author: Elizaveta Mironova Male ballet dancers often get a bad rap. They’re labeled “frail,” “feminine,” “snobby,” and everything in between. To withstand all this judgment, men in ballet certainly have some balls, to say the least. As a professional ballerina and teacher, I often meet worried parents. “Isn’t ballet only for girls?” They ask me. “I’m not sure my son would ever get into ballet — the pink tutus, the tights. He likes boy stuff, like hockey.” Whenever I face concerns like these I can’t help but giggle. I have to explain far too often why these misconceptions aren’t true. Male Ballet Dancers Are More Than Just Athletes a I worked with many male dancers as a professional ballerina in Moscow. They were not only only athletic [...]

Soaring ballet jumps are perhaps the most recognizable feature of the art for outsiders but also one that continues to amaze fans and experienced trainers. There are around 10 basic jumps with many different variations. They range from quick sautés to the grand jeté leaps with mid-air splits most people think of. The Vaganova Method is known for training dancers with high, powerful ballet jumps, and many of the dancers on this list trained under this method. However, dancers from around the world from a variety of schools have, with a lifetime of practice, become masters of the leap. Here are the 10 most powerful leaps in history, in no order. Individual style differences make ranking them in ascending format impossible. 10) Natalia Osipova Osipova joined [...]

Most dancers know there are many kinds of classical ballet. But what makes one style of classical ballet superior to another? Can we even compare schools directly? Where does the Vaganova method fit in? Author: Elizaveta Mironova Ballet originated in the Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries. It spread to France, where it developed with the help of the aristocrat Catherine de' Medici. It was not long before ballet was recognized as an art-form independent from opera, yet  a close association remained. After spreading around central Europe, it hit the Russian Empire in the 1740s. The Imperial Ballet was founded, and after the 1850s it thrived. While ballet branched out to all corners of the world, its practitioners refined it into the art-form we know today in Russia. Ballet is an international art born in Italy, constructed in France, [...]

Shad Martin: A parent once asked me: Why do you spend so much money and time for your daughter’s ballet classes and rehearsals so that she goes on stage once a year? This is what I answered: Well , let me tell you a secret. I don’t pay for my daughter to dance on stage once a year. Do you want to know what I’m paying for? I am paying for my daughter to learn to be disciplined. I am paying for my daughter to learn to take care of her mind and body. I am paying for my daughter to learn how to work with others and be a good team member; and to develop her creativity. I pay so that my daughter learns to face disappointment when she [...]