It's Tutu Tuesday! Here's Brittany Reid of the Pacific Northwest Ballet as Summer in Cinderella. Her beautiful Romantic-era tutu is reminiscent of a summer sunset. Photo credit to Lindsay Thomas. - Selene

Hi everyone! Things have been a bit hectic recently, but I'm back with Spotlight Saturday. This week the focus is on famous choreographer George Balanchine. George Balanchine was born Giorgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze on 22 January 1904 in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a child, Balanchine was not particularly interested in ballet, but his mother insisted that he join his sister Tamara in auditioning for the Imperial Ballet School. He was accepted in 1913, aged 9. He studied und

It's that time of the week. Here's Natalia Osipova as Kitri in Don Quixote for the Mikhailovsky Ballet. I've always loved Spanish-style tutus, and the lace on this one is gorgeous. - Selene

Hi everyone! The technical issues have been sorted so we're back up and running. Today's Spotlight Saturday focuses on Marie Taglioni, a ballerina not so much famous as legendary. Taglioni, depicted in her most famous role, the Sylph of 'La Sylphide' Marie Taglioni was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 23 April 1804. Her parents were the Italian choreographer Filippo Taglioni and the Swedish ballet dancer Sophie Karsten. Marie also had a brother, Paul, who would also become a dan

Hi everyone! Today's #Throwback Thursday is going to be a little different. Instead of ballet, today I'm going to focus on tap legends Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in 'Swing Time' Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in Nebraska, America, on May 10 1899. When still quite young, Fred and his elder sister Adele began to show signs of natural musical talent. Though Fred initially refused to take dance lessons, he took quickly to the piano,

This year's jazz grades are all done and dusted. Mrs McGlinchy was very impressed with all our students, who will start learning their new work tonight! Here's a few pictures, courtesy of Alison. Above: Grade 4 Jazz ready to go; Below: Grade 4 Jazz practising their centre work Grade 3 Jazz practising their class dance 'M People' Kate before her Solo Diploma exam, in costume for her jazz 'Tequila' Well done everyone! Hopefully results will be here soon. - Selene

It's that time of the week again - here's American Ballet Theater dancer Julie Kent in costume for Le Corsaire. As an Odalisque, she wears a very different tutu to the ones we are used to seeing, but it is a gorgeous tutu nonetheless. - Selene

Just a little post today - it's time for jazz exams! Wishing all our wonderful students best of luck for their jazz grades. I'm sure Mrs McGlinchy will be very impressed with you - break a leg! On another note, we've got another fundraiser photo shoot coming up for our junior students (and any seniors who missed out on their photo shoot) on August 27, so don't miss out! The photography will be done by Rebekah Woller, and printing by Graphix Explosion. The pictures will be put

It's Spotlight Saturday! This week's focus is ballet great Mikhail Baryshnikov. Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov, also known by his nickname 'Misha', was born January 27, 1948, in Latvia, then part of the Soviet Union. His parents, Alexandra and Nikolay Baryshnikov, were Russian. Baryshnikov started ballet classes at the age of 9. In 1964, he was accepted into the Vaganova School, in what is now St. Petersburg. From the beginning, he showed great promise, winning the top priz

This week's #ThrowbackThursday is Giselle, in honour of the Royal New Zealand Ballet production which opens tonight in Wellington. I saw it back in 2012, and it was breathtaking - I highly recommend checking out the RNZB on Facebook, where they've been posting snippets of rehearsals. Lucy Green as Giselle in the RNZB 2012 production Giselle is a Romantic-era ballet, set in the Rhineland (Germany), during the Middle Ages. Act I opens in a small village celebrating the grape ha