ABT National Training Curriculum… I Passed!

While my students were enjoying a nice break before summer classes started, me and four other teachers, from the studio, decided to try to become ABT National Training Curriculum Certified Teachers. For nine days, from 9am-4pm, we lived and breathed ballet, ballet, ballet! We listened to lectures, created combinations, critiqued, discussed theory, read, took class, and studied our butts off! Now after a month of waiting, I’m happy to announce that I passed!!! I’m an ABT National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher for Pre-Primary-Level 3!

Girls Trip! / Happy Birthday, Mandy!

Over the weekend Mandy, Holly, and I went to Denver to celebrate to celebrate Mandy’s birthday. It was a blast! We did a little shopping, enjoyed some fabulous meals, laughed a lot, and treated ourselves to a spa day.

Offbeat Ballerina – Dance Around The World – Chiang Mai, Thailand

For the last leg of my Dance Around The World adventure, my husband and I traveled to the beautiful country of Thailand in Southeast Asia. We spent a few days sightseeing in Bangkok and then headed north to Chiang Mai. To read more CLICK HERE!

Offbeat Ballerina Dancing in Morocco

Marrakech is a wondrous and unique city with a bit of restrain. As I walked through the souqs and the main plaza, I was surrounded by beautiful art, smells, and music. It seemed to have all the right components for dance.

Read more,  click here!

Offbeat Ballerina – Dancing around the world

New Offbeat Ballerina post about Brazil… Click  hereto read all about it.

Photo by onlooker Rachna!

Offbeat Ballerina – Madres de Plaza de Mayo / Commonplace

When my friends and family heard I was going to Buenos Aires, Argentina, they were filled with excitement and immediately mentioned tango. True, it would be perfect for me to experience and write about for this blog, but there was something in Buenos Aires I was more interested in seeing first. “What could possibly be more interesting for this dancer” you ask? The Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of Plaza de Mayo). You see, I had a history with this plaza without ever seeing it.

To read more, click here!

Offbeat Ballerina – Carnival in Cusco

Next stop on my “Dance Around The World” adventure, Perú! For years I’ve been wanting to visit Perú to see Machu Picchu. I guess it stemmed from my Mom, a history teacher and enthusiast. Seriously, she’s a walking book of world history. Or possibly it came from my desire to see the all wonders of the world. Either way, Machu Picchu was on my list. I wasn’t counting seeing any dance, but little did I know I would experience a true Peruvian cultural dance experience, Carnival!

To read more, click here!

Offbeat Ballerina – Dancing in Cartagena

Warning – This post is rated PG-13 

After all the Afro-Colombian dancing I saw in the streets of Cartagena, I was inspired to dance. I knew there had to be dance studio in this city, so when I got home from the last performance, I turned to Google. The internet slowly loaded and translated my search. That’s when I found Crazy Salsa. Clicking on the link, my computer screen danced as one letter at a time popped up making their logo. I happily discovered an icon to translate their website to Spanish or English. I learned they not only taught Salsa but, Afro-Colombian and Colombian too!  I figured they must have spoken English because of the icon, and it seemed meant to be; I needed to take class there. In no time, I composed an email about my project, crossed my fingers, and pressed send.

To read more, click here!

Offbeat Ballerina – Cartagena, Colombia

I was very sad to leave Guatemala, but I was pretty excited to visit Colombia. My anticipation grew as we boarded the plane, and the travel ads greeted me at my seat. The advertisement showed beautiful images from all over Colombia with quotes that couldn’t help but make you want stay there forever. I caught one of my favorite quotes on camera. Sorry it’s a little blurry, and the translation is a little off, but you can get the idea. It reads, “How can you not stay to live in a place where your feet don’t walk? They dance.”

To read more, click here!

Offbeat Ballerina – La Bailarín De Antigua

One night after dinner my housemates at the B&B couldn’t stop talking about this dancer. For the past three weeks, each of them had seen this blonde woman dancing around Antigua. They joked that she never walked, but danced from place to place. They speculated about where she was from and why she was dancing. It was then they named her “The Dancer of Antigua.”

To read more, click here!