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77. Innovating Ballet Education: Elizabeth Troxler on Creating the Ballet Boost App
171 Plays24 days ago
In this inspiring episode I’m joined by Elizabeth Troxler - a ballet teacher, choreographer, performer with over 30 years of experience training dancers from beginners to professionals.
Elizabeth shares her journey from her first dance class at age five to a professional career spanning ballet and musical theater. She discusses how she transitioned from performer to choreographer and educator, the importance of versatility for dancers today, and how to cultivate confidence and self-awareness in the studio.
Elizabeth also introduces Ballet Boost, her innovative app designed to make ballet training more accessible - complete with classes, allegro vocabulary, and video demonstrations to support dancers and teachers around the world.
This conversation is full of wisdom, humor, and heart, offering dancers and teachers alike tangible tools to grow both artistically and personally.
Key Points in this Episode:
- Elizabeth’s early ballet training and career as a professional dancer
- Her transition from concert dance to musical theater and the biggest differences she found between the ballet and musical theater worlds
- How she transitioned into teaching and choreography (starting as an 11-year old choreographing for a local musical and teaching private lessons on her front porch)
- The opportunities that open up when you are a versatile dancer
- Elizabeth’s “non-negotiables” of dance training beyond technique
- How she is using technology to make ballet training more accessible
Connect with Elizabeth:
WEBSITES:
https://www.elizabethtroxler.com/
https://balletboost.passion.io/
INSTAGRAM:
Links and Resources:
Get 10% off registration for Étoile Dance Competition with code BRAINY10.
Get your copy of The Ultimate Audition Guide
Let’s connect!
My WEBSITE: thebrainyballerina.com
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/thebrainyballerina
1-1 CAREER MENTORING: book your complimentary career call
Questions/comments? Email me at caitlin@thebrainyballerina.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Brand New Ballerina
00:00:00
Speaker
It's better to do something imperfectly than to not do it, which I think is hard because I'm so used to like, this has to be 100% right. But along the way, it's not been perfect.
00:00:10
Speaker
It's been a little bit hard. It's been, you know, oh, we don't have enough rehearsal time. The last 16 counts of this piece are just not going to be what I would make them if I had another four hours. But it's imperfect, but really special.
00:00:24
Speaker
I'm Kaitlyn, a former professional ballerina turned dance educator and career mentor, and this is the Brand New Ballerina podcast. I am here for the aspiring professional ballerina who wants to learn what it really takes to build a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry.
00:00:40
Speaker
I'm peeling back the curtain of the professional dance world with open and honest conversations about the realities of becoming a professional dancer. Come along to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need to succeed in a dance career on your terms.
Meet Elizabeth Troxler
00:00:58
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Brainy Ballerina podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Sloan, and I am joined today by Elizabeth Troxler. Elizabeth is an accomplished ballet teacher, choreographer, and performer with over 30 years of experience training dancers from beginners professionals.
00:01:15
Speaker
She's a certified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and currently serves as the Artistic Director of Chronicle Dance Theatre. She is also the founder of the award-winning Alanger Films and creator of Ballet Boost, an app offering ballet classes and an allegro vocabulary section with video demonstrations.
00:01:36
Speaker
We're going to chat all about Elizabeth's experience today and this really cool new app.
Elizabeth's Dance Beginnings
00:01:40
Speaker
But before we get into that, Elizabeth, I would love to hear why you took your very first dance class. Oh, thank you It's awesome to be here.
00:01:48
Speaker
this is my favorite story to tell. There were a lot of us. we There were five children in my family. When I was five, I guess there were only four of us. But my mom was very busy, obviously.
00:01:59
Speaker
And I used to dance around. And the only reason i think that I'm a dancer today is two reasons. We have... a neighbor that was an artist, like a visual artist.
00:02:10
Speaker
And she had also been a dancer. And so she made these five by seven note cards for me that had the positions, little dancers drawn and some steps and like retiree and things like that.
00:02:22
Speaker
And I used to walk around the house doing the cards. So I do the little glissade and I do the little assembly following the instructions on these cards that she made for me. And my mom is a violist and also teaches private music lessons at home. And so one of the mothers said, well, where does your daughter dance?
00:02:40
Speaker
And my mom says, oh, she doesn't take dance. And the mom said, well, she should. but my mother was too busy to take me. So that that mom picked me up. and took me to dance with her daughter that was approximately my age for an entire year before my mom actually could get to the studio.
00:02:58
Speaker
So that's how I started. So thanks to those two women who I might be able to remember the lady who took me to dance's name, but I have no idea who the artist was, but... To this day, that's why i dance.
00:03:11
Speaker
That's amazing. What was your training like growing up?
Progression and Training Experiences
00:03:14
Speaker
Well, started in a small dancing school where we did ballet, tap, and jazz all in an hour and a half. And that's what I did for a while, like just once a week.
00:03:26
Speaker
My mom went in, maybe I was six or seven, and the teacher said, well, your daughter's very talented. So then my mom started giving me private lessons and whatnot. But it was still just once a week until I was eight. And then I went off to Interlochen for the summer.
00:03:41
Speaker
And at that point, it was eight weeks for eight-year-olds, which is so long. I look at eight-year-old now and I'm like, my parents were crazy sending me away. But for three summers, I went to Interlochen for eight weeks and then I went to Chautauqua. So that was when summer programs were kind of new. There weren't that many that you could go to. SAB was like the big one. If you got into that, it was amazing. And then there were like three others.
00:04:05
Speaker
I went to Chautauqua one summer. And from that, I actually met a lot of dancers that were going to Pittsburgh Ballet theater at the time. And they were like, well, come take class at PBT with us. I think I was 12 then. So I kept up my one day a week, I might have been up to two days a week at my studio. And I added five days a week at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. So I had lots of extra ballet, because it was always like my love. I didn't love jazz. I didn't love other things. My mother just made me take them all. Now I had a very smart teacher. Like she knew that I was talented and like used to break down batma tendu for me, like sit on the floor with me in my feet when I was just eight years old. I learned a lot of like great detail work and things from her, but it was just that repetitive, all the ballet classes just added up.
00:04:47
Speaker
And I did that through about my junior year of high school.
Choosing Dance as a Career
00:04:50
Speaker
And then i ended up training with Mansoor Kalamantdinov, who was a Bolshoi dancer. he was a principal character dancer with the Bolshoi forever.
00:04:59
Speaker
and friends with Irena Kolpakova, who came and trained us one summer. So i love to say that. So I had some strict rushing training as well, but it's just a couple times a week on top of the other that I was doing. But it was good because I had kind of a a nice range of things.
00:05:14
Speaker
My teacher took me to her teacher twice a week because I was homeschooled for two hour private ballet lessons, which were torture. Yeah. Because the lady was very old and she used to sit there with her little cane and it was just me. And she had this big book of exercises that she had written down from every teacher she had ever had a class from. So there was stuff from like Ballet Russe in there. Like it was wild.
00:05:39
Speaker
So she would sit and read me the exercise and I had to do what she said. So I think I learned a lot about the names of steps back then with these lessons with Andre. I learned a lot, but it was terrifying.
00:05:52
Speaker
So yeah, I had a a good range growing up and i always did tap and jazz as well along the way. What was your transition into a professional career like? Oh, I always wanted to be just ballet, ballet, ballet.
00:06:04
Speaker
It was kind of like my main love. Although by the time I hit about... 14, 15, I got pretty good at jazz because all of a sudden my technique kicked me over to being better than some of the people that just, you know, loved jazz.
00:06:17
Speaker
And then I like learned to move a little bit more and it felt good. So I really did kind of like everything, but I had this great thing in my head that said, Oh, real dance is ballet. So I have to be a classical ballet dancer. how wrong I was and how much I've learned since then.
00:06:31
Speaker
So I was supposed to go to Butler University to train there. And about two weeks before i decided, forget that I'm just going to go off and dance because I got a job after dance in Vegas.
00:06:43
Speaker
My father was not super pleased. So i deferred for a year and ended up actually not going to Vegas right away. I was in Arizona staying with my grandmother and I was kind of up and back to Vegas a little bit.
00:06:54
Speaker
And she got sick with cancer. So I ended up staying and taking care of her. But at that point, that's where I found RAD because the training system in Arizona was the Royal Academy of Dance. So I didn't do that until I was, you know, 18, 19. And then after that year, I said, what was thinking? I don't think I want to dance in Vegas. So I called up an old teacher who is now the artistic director of a company and just asked if I could just come and take class.
00:07:17
Speaker
And she's like, well, you teach tap and jazz, right? And I said, yes. She's like, well, you're hired because we need a company dancer and we have some tap and jazz in the school as supplemental classes that we need to have taught. So that was my jump into my professional
Favorite Roles and Storytelling in Dance
00:07:31
Speaker
career. And I danced with that ballet company for a while and then came back to the same director a little bit later on and then didn't find the theater world until a lot later.
00:07:40
Speaker
So can you share a few of the highlights from your professional dance, I guess, performance career? I'd have to say in the ballet world, like probably my favorite thing, like my favorite time of performing is probably when I did Swan Lake. I loved that.
00:07:56
Speaker
I got to do the Pas de Trois, which had some of my favorite variations in it. So that one was a fun one. I loved doing Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty. That was like perfect for me because it wasn't quite the stress of doing Aurora.
00:08:08
Speaker
But I also was able to, I think even back then I didn't recognize it as much, but I was really into storytelling. And I was like, all of a sudden I'm the character that's very important for telling the story and bringing her safely through. And so that was a fun role that I really enjoyed doing.
00:08:25
Speaker
I think I just love that storytelling. So that was like kind of my ballet favorites. In the theater
Transition to Musical Theater
00:08:30
Speaker
world, probably my favorite role I played was Maggie in Brigadoon, which is very much a dance role. But I had a few lines and, you know, had to do the ensemble singing. But she's in love with the character and he ends up dying. He's not really in love with her. He's in love with someone else.
00:08:44
Speaker
He ends up dying and Maggie gets to do a very soulful dance at his funeral, which back when Agnes DeMille choreographed it, it was nine minutes long. So I said, thank goodness we're not doing that version. The audience and I would just want to be done. But that was a really special role to play. And then I got to do like American in Paris and Anything Goes and some other fun shows as well.
00:09:06
Speaker
So how did you find your way into musical theater? That's a good question. and As a kid, I did grow up doing theater. Like I was part of a little theater group. And I'll tell you more about that choreography and things later. But I did that from, you know, the time I was 11, right?
00:09:21
Speaker
through i did my high school musicals, but also just ballet, ballet, ballet. i was like, well, that's just fun stuff. um So I did it growing up, but I wanted to be a ballet dancer. But then what happened was after I had stopped, my ballet career was kind of over. I was like, I'm done dancing. I was kind of tired of that world. I was tired of...
00:09:38
Speaker
Some of the not very kind people there, i was always had to struggle a little bit with like the weight expectations that they wanted. So I got to a point where I said, you know, that's enough. So I was kind of only teaching. And then I got to a point where I was not even teaching. I said, forget it. And I just started an internet business. I was tired of everything.
00:09:55
Speaker
So I was kind of done with dance. And then a teacher got my name. She needed a ballet teacher and she found out that I knew R.I.D. and she needed someone to help train her kids for exams.
00:10:05
Speaker
I was like, no, don't call me. I'm not teaching on and on. And anyway, I ended up teaching there and love the kids. They weren't the most. technically trained, but they wanted to absorb and they were fantastic to work with. So there was one student that was quite good and she was off at school and then graduated school and started going to like cruise ship auditions and theater auditions.
00:10:26
Speaker
And she would assist me in ballet class. And so I'd always say, hey, Jordan, how are are your auditions going? And she'd say, oh, they're going all right. And then one day she was like, well... It's really tough to go because I feel like I don't know anyone there. And we're very close to New York City at that point.
00:10:40
Speaker
So I said, well, I'll pull out my heels. I'll go with you. So I started going to auditions with Jordan just to kind of keep her company and then up really loving it. And I found like that it was a little less, obviously, you don't have to be quite as technical as in ballet or you could use the technique in a different way. And I love the storytelling aspect. So Jordan kind of ended up doing some other things. And I just kept going to the city a couple times a week for auditions and started getting kept through more and more cuts. And then all of a sudden I said, I better start voice lessons because they're going ask me to sing. So I started voice lessons, which I had thought would be very easy because I had sung as a child growing up.
00:11:18
Speaker
But when you're 36 and just starting to sing and you really haven't sung since you were 18, It's not very good. ah So I kind of started a whole new career at 36. Like took me a couple of years, but I got hired. Like I kept getting, you know, to a further and further cut in the phantom call and all like more ballet ones. And then I started getting kept for other genres, too. and I was like, OK, OK.
00:11:39
Speaker
And I'd always had a kind of a knack for that performance. So I finally a theater hired me for their summer stock. And from there, once I was able to get those four shows on my resume, then I got hired by regional theaters around and tours and things like that. But it was tough to make that jump because they see concert dance only on your resume and it's a little bit trickier. So it was good. It was like three-ish years to make the jump, but I ended up really loving it and loved being part of and the ensemble and telling the stories together and then getting to be dance captain and
Differences Between Ballet and Musical Theater
00:12:09
Speaker
things like that.
00:12:09
Speaker
So that's how I jumped into theater. What were some of the biggest differences that you saw between the ballet world and the musical theater world? Oh, that's a fun one. Well, the first one is number lines. I didn't know about those.
00:12:23
Speaker
In the concert dance world, we got we have center mark, we have quarter mark, and you just hold all your formations from maybe you have an eighth. I don't know. like There's very few marks on the stage. And I got into rehearsal and she says, go to number six. And I say,
00:12:38
Speaker
what's number six? And I really thought I was like, boy, these theater people are really dumb that they need to have all these little numbers instead of just going like kind of inside of quarter mark or whatever it is.
00:12:48
Speaker
But that was the first one that caught me. And then later I realized, oh, it's maybe a good idea. Like when you're moving a big set piece on to have an exact place to stop. Okay. So you use that instead of like maybe spike tape or something?
00:13:00
Speaker
Yeah. Correct. You'll still spike like scenery. Yeah. Or maybe a few light cues will be spiked. But yeah, like most of the acting things are in choreography is set to numbers.
00:13:12
Speaker
Okay, cool. So they'll, they'll say, I need everyone on. We have four dancers be every two numbers, two, four, and six, please on stage left or whatever it is, which is helpful when you're having to set it very, very quickly. Cause most theater things are put together in about two weeks.
00:13:25
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, wow. Which is different than yeah different than the ballet world. Yeah. Okay. That was a difference. One of the big ones I noticed. I felt like, although the small companies that I danced with were like a nice family, I don't know. There was something I felt kind of special about theater. Like I felt like it was still competitive in a way, but in a more like, you can be good and I can be good. Yeah.
00:13:48
Speaker
Versus I felt like, I don't know why, maybe it was I was just younger in the ballet world, but if someone else was good, they would take a part away from me instead of just celebrating their win and my win, which I felt like that was a little easier for me to do in the musical theater world. And it felt like more of a team, but I think that might be ah perspective as I got older.
00:14:07
Speaker
Do you think it's because in musical theater, and I've never done musical theater, so I'm just guessing, but do you think it's because there's more characters? So like you're not feeling like you're competing for maybe there's a certain type that you would be opposed to ballet where it's like you can. Of course, we kind of do get typecasts a little bit. Like I would always be the petite allegro, I'm sure, you know, the cute characters, but like...
00:14:29
Speaker
It still feels like there's a little less of that than maybe theater. Right. and No, I think you're right. And also to like fit into the core, you have to look a certain way. You have to stand a certain way. You have to be very uniform in a ballet company.
00:14:41
Speaker
And in a theater setting, they want they want more humans. They want to see, like people want to see themselves on stage. So there is the quirky person. or And a lot of times when you're in the ensemble, like I always was, you can kind of form your own character.
00:14:55
Speaker
So we need 10 people at the party and they shouldn't all be acting exactly the same. i think that made it kind of more fun. And then you didn't have to be exactly like the person next to you. Yeah. Dance competition season is upon us, and if you're looking for a competition that's about artistry, performance, and growth, not just the trophy, then you need to check out Etoile Dance Competition.
00:15:17
Speaker
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00:15:29
Speaker
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00:15:43
Speaker
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00:15:57
Speaker
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00:16:09
Speaker
And right now, podcast listeners can get 10% off the registration with code BRAINY10. If you want a competition that emphasizes artistry, provides real, actionable feedback, and celebrates dancers of all levels, head to atwalcomp.com or find the link in the show notes to register today.
Teaching Philosophy and Early Choreography
00:16:31
Speaker
So was there a moment in your career, and I guess it maybe all kind of has mixed together a little bit, but how did you kind of shift from performing to teaching and choreography? Also great questions. And it's a little bit of both.
00:16:44
Speaker
From the time I was young, I did teach, like I was assisted at my studio. No joke. I think I taught my first private lesson on my front porch. When I was eight and I got $2 for a half hour lesson, like 1983 or whenever that was, it was a long time ago.
00:17:02
Speaker
My grandfather had built me like a little studio in the basement. So one day a week I taught, mostly it was like homeschool kids and the people that came to my mom for their violin lesson. Then they'd come downstairs and have a dance lesson.
00:17:13
Speaker
So I did that from the time I was little. So I kind of always had a knack for teaching. I think it was kind of inborn in me. But along the way, it was always like second to my dancing. And then choreography, I honestly started, i mean, not counting all like the shows I made up as a kid. But when I was 11, I got asked to choreograph at this children's theater, a director it was a young director, he was probably in his late 20s. And he had started a children's theater and was having trouble finding a choreographer because there wasn't a lot of money and whatnot. And one of the mothers of
00:17:45
Speaker
one of my little homeschool students was like, well, you could ask my daughter's dance teacher. And he said, oh, okay. And then she said, well, but she's only 11. so he came and interviewed me. He came with his aunt and he interviewed me and my mom was there with me.
00:17:58
Speaker
And he said, well, we'd love to have you. And I Later, I asked him, I said, what were you thinking, like hiring this 11 year old? And he's like, well, I was a little worried. He said, but there was something about you that just made me think it was going to be OK. And then he said that i I don't remember this, but he said, I walked into that first rehearsal at my little bag that had my little boom box.
00:18:19
Speaker
And I put the music on and I opened the script and I started pulling jump ropes out of this bag. And I said, we're starting with the piece that's in the playground. You go there, you go there. And I just started telling people what to do.
00:18:30
Speaker
And he said, then I just wasn't worried at all. So I started that really early. oh my gosh, I love that. But along the way, like my artistic director was very empowering for that.
00:18:43
Speaker
Like when it was time to Swan Lake, I had a lot of character work. And so she was like, hey, would you mind setting like the Mazurka and the Shardash and all those things? thing So I was able to kind of get my muscles going in there as the ballet mistress. I was able to help with rehearsals. I remember when we did Alice in Wonderland. Once again, it was a lot of choreo to set. So there were certain parts. There was like a little lobster quadro with tapping in it. So I did that little piece. So I got to do little sections of ballets along the way during my professional career, which was neat. So it kind of set me up.
00:19:13
Speaker
for what I do now. And then when I got to the theater world, once again, I was like, oh, I just want to perform. It's fun. I'm kind of starting this new thing. But I had always choreographed just all along the way. This is kind of the big moment.
00:19:25
Speaker
My brother-in-law passed away. He had cancer. This is about 10 years ago now. And Two weeks prior to that, my best friend, who was my roommate at the time, her mother passed away from cancer. And so these two people that passed away, you know, kind of before their time, like we'd say, really made me start thinking. So I was on the way back from the funerals and I was driving back to New York City.
00:19:48
Speaker
And I just remember praying and I was talking to God and I was like, wow, is there something that I'm supposed to do that I haven't started yet? Because we don't know if we have tomorrow.
00:20:00
Speaker
And I think that's for any of us. I just felt strongly in my spirit, I was supposed to start like moving forward with my choreography. And I was in the middle of, you know, performing in regional theaters and it kind of wasn't even in my...
00:20:11
Speaker
thought process then, but I said, okay, I'll start. So I made this little agreement with God, which was kind of strange because I don't often do that. I said, okay, once a month, I'm going to try and get some choreography on tape.
00:20:23
Speaker
So I remember it was October and I got to the end of October and it was about six days from the end of the month. And I was sitting on my bed and I said, you said you would do this and you haven't done it yet.
00:20:34
Speaker
And it's almost the end of October. And I remember really thinking like, is this one more thing that you say you're going to do and you don't do? Are you actually going to do it? So in that moment, I called Ripley Greer and I rented a studio and I shot an email to my friends. I was like, hey, we're meeting at this day, this time. Come and dance with me if you want.
00:20:52
Speaker
That recording, we just recorded like a 90 second snippet of some kind of little spicy jazz choreography. And then the next month I did something else. And the next month I did something else. So each month I just did a different style because I was trying to get some of my work on tape because I have a broad range of styles, but no one knew because back the videotapes from like 1995 aren't very good.
00:21:13
Speaker
And then I hadn't done anything. They look like white blobs dancing on there. So that was kind of how I started. And then from there, I started recording like one song from a show because I was like, well, want a choreograph musical. So let me practice that. So I did like three or four of those. And I would just invite my friends and so many of them volunteered their time and we'd throw it together in like a rehearsal or two and then go film it in a couple hours.
00:21:36
Speaker
And so that's where I started getting some information on tape. So then I had something to send off to people. And then we did the same thing with a friend of mine. Like I said, well, no one's hired me yet, but let's practice, practice what it's like to choreograph an entire show. So we produced our own on the town.
00:21:52
Speaker
in New York City. And we invited a director who came in and did it for free. And everyone volunteered their time for that. And it was really special because it was on the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein's, it was his birthday.
00:22:04
Speaker
So that was really cool. So just from there, though, then people saw me doing things. And then I got hired first as an assistant and a theater, and then they gave me my own show. And then it's just grown from there.
00:22:15
Speaker
I love that. I love that message of not waiting for someone to give you an opportunity and just going out and doing it on your own. Because I think so many people think they have to wait for someone to hire them yeah to do the thing. And you can just rent a studio and call your friends and just start doing the thing you want to be doing.
00:22:31
Speaker
Yep, absolutely. And I saw that so much in musical theater, like, and I'm sure it's the same way in ballet, where they'd be like, Oh, I didn't get hired again. I didn't get that job. It must mean I'm not good. And I would look at them and id like, No, you're great. Like, I'm looking at you and I know so much.
00:22:45
Speaker
And so i just decided okay, well, it stinks that this person hasn't hired me yet or seen me yet, but that's not going to stop me from doing it. And one other thing I've had to learn is it's better to do something imperfectly than to not do it, which I think is hard because I'm so used to like, this has to be a hundred percent right.
00:23:05
Speaker
But along the way, it's not been perfect. It's been a little bit hard. It's been, you know, oh, we don't have enough rehearsal time. The last 16 counts of this piece are just Not going to be what I would make them if I had another four hours, but it's imperfect, but really special and impactful along the way. So I think that's super important. Keep training, keep learning about who you want to become and creating that. But also you can do a lot on your own to pursue those dreams. As a teacher, how would you describe your teaching philosophy? What are some of the things that you hope your students are gaining from your classes beyond the technique?
00:23:40
Speaker
Oh, good. I like that one. That's my whole philosophy is there's so much more than the technique. I think especially because I wasn't your typical ballet body. So I always felt a little bit less than and there are certain teachers that will only teach the talented kids or the ones that have the perfect bodies and they kind of ignore the other 70% us in class 90% of us in class. never really let that go.
00:24:02
Speaker
i never really let that bug me I was like, I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to do it anyway. And so one of my favorite things to do, I love teaching ballet dancers, but I also love teaching like jazz and modern, like I taught at Martha Graham for years, people that just love to move, but then pulling them into ballet and finding that same freedom and strength and joy in ballet because ballet is for everyone. It's not just, you know, for the perfect feet and the perfect legs, although they might have an easier job at certain points, you know, the lines might look a little bit different. I just want everyone to find their own
Emphasizing Versatility and Self-Acceptance
00:24:35
Speaker
way of being the best you, the best person that they can be, because that's all you've got. You can't change your calf muscle. You can't get another elbow. It's what you have. So if you have a funny elbow that bends, strangely, i we're going to figure out how to make your arm look
00:24:48
Speaker
as if it's the line that everyone's going for in ballet. So I think that's one of my favorite things. is So I help each person figure their body so that they're not forcing injuries or trying to become something that their body physically can't do.
00:25:03
Speaker
And then the other thing I really... stress, I call them the non-negotiables of dancing is that I think a lot of times dancers, especially ballet dancers, we think only about the technique, like I'm using my feet exactly right. And my turnout's exactly right. And all the positions are exactly right.
00:25:17
Speaker
But there is so much more than that. My non-negotiables are things I consider not hard to do as long as I think about them. So for me, it's musicality being with the music.
00:25:28
Speaker
My port de bras is one of my non-negotiables because my arms, it's pretty easy to have my arms in the right place and follow certain pathways. Doing a triple pirouette may not be quite as easy. My arms, my eye line is another big one that I consider a non-negotiable. It's so important where I'm putting my eyes, my presence, my weight shifts. Weight shifts aren't like once you figure them out, you're a fierce dancer.
00:25:49
Speaker
But so often we're like, well, have to do the step. Well, yeah, the step's not working because you're not shifting your weight properly. I'm sure you you know recognize that. So I think it's teaching those non-negotiables and how to make you the best you. And then it's also how do you behave in rehearsal?
00:26:03
Speaker
How helpful are you to the situation? Are you positive with people around you? When the director says, okay, i need to make this happen. Are you the first one to volunteer? Like... Things like that form who you are as a person and dancer and make you valuable.
00:26:20
Speaker
And so I try and instill that in all of my students, no matter the level. Yes. Same page. So you've taught dancers at every stage, beginner to professional. Have you noticed a common thread among dancers who really thrive or who maybe make it to that professional level? Yeah. Good question. The first thing I noticed, I remember when I first went to teach at Graham, I was like, oh no, is it going to be different?
00:26:44
Speaker
I don't know why I thought, I'm like, what if I don't know what to tell them? And I walked into the first class and there's like, there were so many men in the program at that time in Graham too. And they were like, these tall, beautiful guys with great technique and everything.
00:26:57
Speaker
And I literally just walked right by and I was like, oh, his knee's not straight. And I just said, stretch your back leg. You know, it's the same things. It was so funny to for to be like, oh, it's the same thing. When you're telling a student what to do, the mistake is huge. like It's a big mistake and then it gets smaller, smaller, smaller.
00:27:11
Speaker
But the same idea is applicable to the professional. We still need that reach through the back of our leg or whatever it is. You might say it in a slightly more grown up or refined way, but it's all the same ideas.
00:27:22
Speaker
So that was kind of neat for me to see. But then i also just found that the people along the way, students or professionals are the ones that would like listen and absorb and trust you.
00:27:35
Speaker
And then also to be willing to not be perfect along the way. Because so often, like if you're trying to fix someone's pirouette, they're happy to fix it if the thing that you tell them instantly fixes it or fixes it in one or two tries.
00:27:50
Speaker
But if it's like not working, then they go exactly back to what they were doing the next day because they have to hold on to what they think is right. And I found the people that got the best are the ones that were willing to be like,
00:28:04
Speaker
kind of slogging through the mess for not long. It's not long. It's usually about three weeks that it takes to like really kind of make a change three weeks to two months, depending on the thing. But the ones that were willing to be bad in quotation marks on their way to being good actually ended up better.
00:28:20
Speaker
And the ones that kind of had, no, no, this is how I have to do it. We're still good, but just took a little longer to get to the end goal. So that's one thing I noticed along the way. That's so true. I tell my students that all the time because- Sometimes you'll get a correction and it feels so wrong in your body. And I'm like, I'm sure you feel like you're so forward right now with the way I'm telling you to stand. But I promise you, you're straight up and down now, but you've been used to doing it like your pirouette. far back.
00:28:46
Speaker
And it's comfortable and it's working for you. Like you can do a double pirouette like that, but you're never going to be able to do more pirouettes or even feel like completely consistent or do it on points.
00:28:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, don't make this change. And so I i get that like, it's uncomfortable and you're gonna feel like a hot mess. And like you said, you have to be okay with being a little bit of a hot mess for a little bit if you want to get to the next level. And that's really hard in a profession that feels like it demands perfection.
00:29:13
Speaker
from its dancers. And I think that's something that as teachers, I've had to struggle with and be like, I have that perception that like, if someone looks into my class and sees my students struggling, they're going to think I'm a bad teacher, which is like completely not true at all. Incorrect for teachers or students. I think it's all like be okay with the mess.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's absolutely valid. The one thing I started doing for myself first, and then later I translate it to my students, is I was working on my advanced two exam for RAD, and I was kind of trying to get back to shape. It's hard. Like, you have to pirouette and turn in second, and then lower your heel and stay in second position. Like,
00:29:52
Speaker
And I finally realized one day, i was like, this is insane. I realized that I wasn't going to be perfect at it. So I just kind of got common sense that I said, oh, this is never going to be 100% perfect every time I do it.
00:30:05
Speaker
So then as soon as I realized that, it was almost like The stress to be perfect was gone because it was going to be impossible. And it freed me up to be better and better. So I started this thing where i at the end of whatever I did, an exercise, a pirouette, whatever, I would always tell myself one thing I did well, I give myself a little pat and one thing to work on.
00:30:24
Speaker
Because you can always find things that you have done well, and you can always find a million things you hate and that you want to change. So I literally just am like, I will go across the floor. I'll even do it in class to this day. Like I just took class in New York two days ago.
00:30:37
Speaker
And it was pretty bad because I broke my ankle and it wasn't great. But it was like, okay, you did this part well. Your port de bras went well. You got your weight shift. Good job. Okay, next time let's work on like a little bit more of where you're going to be with the music or whatever it is. Always a thing that you're proud of yourself for and a thing to work on has made such a difference to the mentality because we can rip ourselves apart forever. Yeah.
00:30:58
Speaker
Yeah. So I think that little game of one good thing, one thing to work on is key. Yes, that's really good. Yeah. Yeah. With your diverse background, can you talk more about the importance of being versatile for today's dancers?
00:31:11
Speaker
It definitely sounds like being versatile has opened a lot of doors in your career. Yeah, it absolutely has. I think it's so, so important. Like... Maybe we were on the verge of kind of how you had to kind of be better at everything. I think back in the day, like my artistic director told me stories of the ballet dancers stayed in ballet and the modern dancers stayed in modern and they and never the two shall meet. And she said there were very few of us that would go back and forth to both. But everything helps the other thing. You just have to figure out the way that it's helpful to you.
00:31:41
Speaker
So when I go to a contemporary class, sometimes my brain is like freaking out a little bit because like, I'm like, oh wait, that's a weird direction to go. And and then all of a sudden I just have to relate it to something I know in ballet. I'm like, oh, that's like a tourjette, even though it's nothing like a tourjette.
00:31:55
Speaker
Yeah. But for my brain, it like helps me. And then I'm like, oh, okay, I can do this contemporary movement or whatever, whatever it may be. So it helps me to speak another language. And to recognize the themes throughout the weight shift ideas are like super important. I remember i was audit auditioning for Mrs. Doubtfire in New York City when it was on Broadway.
00:32:16
Speaker
And the combo is this kind of like fierce jazz combo. And I said, oh, I'm going to be good at this. so I'm like doing that little jazz. The last two eights of the combination turned into some like just kind of hip hop-esque like arm movements.
00:32:29
Speaker
And I was like, oh, crap. Because all of a sudden, like I couldn't remember how they go. Like I stress out as soon as it looks like hip hop to me. So I ended up kind of figuring it out. and But I happened to be in one of the first groups that they called to dance.
00:32:42
Speaker
And I blew it. Like I danced great. And then i got to that part and I was like, darn it. And I messed it up. And I wasn't even that mad at myself. I was just kind of like, oh, whatever. And I was at the side and there were about 50 other people in there in my group. So I'm watching these other dancers kind of nail that last two eights. And I'm looking as like, it's not hard.
00:32:58
Speaker
Like, why can't I do that? I can do coupe, brise, all these things that the other dancers have no concept of. And yet I struggle with putting my arm somewhere on six and seven.
00:33:09
Speaker
And it finally occurred to me that when I think of ballet, like if I'm learning a petite allegro in ballet, it's all about the weight shift. I'm actually learning the steps, linking my weight shifts into it.
00:33:19
Speaker
When I was in that hip hop two eights, I like wasn't linking anything. I was just stressing. Yeah. And so as soon as I used to make myself go to more hip hop classes just to understand, oh, wait, you understand weight. Could you incorporate it into this other way of moving?
00:33:34
Speaker
So I think it's valuable in that aspect. And then it's valuable because you're going to get more jobs. especially because choreographers are now kind of linking genres. You're putting it all together. You understand things differently. One of my students, I said, you are going to take tap. She's like, but I've never, I don't like tap. but I was like, I don't care. And she loves ballet, ballet, ballet.
00:33:54
Speaker
Said, you are coming to my tap class. So I made her come to tap and she and like 10 other ballet dancers just started coming to tap. And they were pretty bad the first year, but we got to like a certain point. They learned, you know, quickly by the second year, they're just as good as the people that have been tapping the whole time.
00:34:08
Speaker
And then she got hired and did 42nd street this summer at a regional theater. I mean, how cool is that? And it just frees you up for some other possibilities of performance or earning some money along the way. Mm-hmm.
00:34:22
Speaker
Does the mere thought of a audition season make your palms start to sweat? Do you feel completely overwhelmed with getting everything together on top of your regular dancing schedule? I've been there and I totally get it.
00:34:35
Speaker
As dancers, we spend hundreds of hours honing our technique and artistry. But when it comes to figuring out how to put together a resume or what to expect in a professional audition, we're often left to figure it out ourselves.
00:34:47
Speaker
That's why I put together the ultimate audition guide. This is your one-stop shop for everything you need to tackle professional company auditions with ease. No more spending hours Googling and trying to piece together a somewhat coherent audition package.
00:35:02
Speaker
With this guide, you'll be ready to conquer audition season like a true professional. We're talking resumes, headshots, dance photos, dance reels, plus info on how to find auditions, what to wear, what to expect, how to budget, mindset tips, you name it, it is in this guide.
00:35:20
Speaker
You are ready for this moment. Head to the show notes, grab your copy of the Ultima Audition Guide, and empower yourself with the knowledge to approach audition season like a true professional.
Ballet Boost App and Technology in Dance
00:35:30
Speaker
Let's talk about your new app, Ballet Boost.
00:35:33
Speaker
What inspired you to create this app? ah Well, probably COVID. No, I'm kidding. That is a lot of people's stories. like COVID definitely inspired a lot of creativity.
00:35:44
Speaker
Yeah, it absolutely did. I remember being stuck in my New York apartment being like, ah, what do I do? Where I think kind of it started like I've taught people from all over the world because at Graham, they have a lot of internationals in the programs and then they go off to their countries. So during COVID, people were taking my class over Instagram and I realized, wow, there's people everywhere that love to do what I love to do.
00:36:06
Speaker
So that kind of planted the seed. Along the way, I just have an often thought, well, I know all these people from lots of places. I would love to keep impacting them. I've moved so much in my career that I'll be somewhere three or four years and impact some people for that amount of time and then up, peace out, see you later. And so there's got to be a way to connect and still be getting great ideas out.
00:36:28
Speaker
That was one of the thoughts. And then as an RAD teacher as well, there's moments in the RAD, couple of RAD exams where you have to do, it's called an unseen on Shema, so free on Shema, where the examiner just sits there and says, okay, begin with your right foot derriere and glissade derriere and assemble over and then cisonon overt. And you have to know what these words are, which I always loved because I'm kind of a nerd. Yeah.
00:36:51
Speaker
So I would always be so excited to like learn all the different names of steps, but not everyone's that way. Like I've taught classes where a kid will be doing an assembly and they'll on this step, I'm like an assembly. The knowledge of the vocabulary is just not there. Being able to put some of those things on tape so people can learn.
00:37:09
Speaker
There are six or seven different kinds of glissads. This is what this word means. This is how it translates. What's one step versus the other step has always been neat. I was like, well, then it can supplement. Teachers can say, go practice with this app and then It's not so stressful for them to get the kids ready for exams. So that's also a thought that I was like, oh, this could be very beneficial for many people.
00:37:29
Speaker
For anybody who hasn't actually got a chance to try the app out yet, can you explain what you'll find inside? Yeah, absolutely. Inside, you will find ballet classes. And most of them are formulated to do at home in a relatively small space.
00:37:44
Speaker
Some of them were even recorded back at COVID days, and then some are newer in the studio. So you can find classes, you can find just bars. So you can like supplement on the days where you don't take class.
00:37:55
Speaker
There's the Allegro vocab section, there's going to be six levels of Allegro vocab. Right now two are done. Number three and four are on the way. But it's going to cover pretty much every jump you would do. Petite Allegro, Medium Allegro, all your beats and on to Grand Allegro. Where there's some hard stuff like the ones we're recording now. We're recording Allegro vocab for right now with some of my dancers for my company.
00:38:19
Speaker
And I'm like, ah guys, I'm sorry. This is really hard. So, you know, having to just do ah a beat from a standstill to video it is just really is rough. Yeah. So that will be on there and breaking it down so people understand it.
00:38:32
Speaker
There's some warm up classes. They're not out there yet, but they will be there soon. And then I'm going to have like a tricks and tips section where we talk about some of the things I talked about already today, like the importance of eyeline or this step versus that step, common things that are confused or questions that people ask.
00:38:48
Speaker
So that's all in the making. Right now I'm calling it, we're looking for people that want to try the app and be like our founding members since we're still kind of working to put it together. But those are all the things that were on there. and there's a little community section where people can ask questions or chat together or things like that.
00:39:05
Speaker
Amazing. What did you feel like was the biggest challenge translating all of this Valley vocabulary into a digital app format? I think my biggest challenge has been my time to have the time to edit the videos. I mean, I started working towards this directly like about a year ago.
00:39:24
Speaker
And it's literally just within the last 30 days that we finally had enough content edited and ready to go that it could kind of be up because just my schedule was so nuts. That was challenging. I think one thing you have to be careful of online is this isn't meant to be the only thing that you do. You still need to be in the studio. Obviously, you still need to have training and people's eyes on you directly. The loss of that personal connection is something that you have to be careful of with online.
00:39:52
Speaker
training because my eyes aren't exactly on you. You're following along with me, but you have to absorb. So I think it's going to be mainly as a supplement for people as opposed to like the only way. It's not just the way to train, but that has been challenging. Like how can I still connect with the people? How can they learn and see that ballet can be fun?
00:40:11
Speaker
I'm not quite as serious and up Some ballet teachers. And I say silly things. Like if I'm talking about like a brush into the floor, like I'll say swish, swish. Like I say just weird things that, you know, some people might not humble themselves to say because I think it connects.
00:40:25
Speaker
So I think that's an interesting challenge too is like how to relay this art form that's just beautiful and classic, but then also to keep us engaged.
00:40:35
Speaker
who What do you see the future of digital formats or apps like? looking like to support in-person training? In a way, would have loved something like this as a kid. I would have loved just, oh, following along, learning more steps. I used to read ballet dictionaries. like That's how loony I was and and the history of dance and, oh, but this is what this dancer did, cetera, et cetera.
00:40:58
Speaker
so I think as a supplement for like that middle schooler and early high schooler that's just wants to absorb and just loves dance so much. It's so key. And then also I think it's like, you know, the adult ballet student that starts and has always wanted to dance their whole life and then get to it. And then they have so many questions for you and you don't really have time to answer them all and whatnot.
00:41:18
Speaker
Like it's going to help those dancers as well. i have friends that are like on cruise ships and things and they're like, oh, the app would be great for me on the cruise ship. I can just take class to stay in shape. So I think different people are going to be able to use it for different things. Like if you're on tour and you can't get to ballet class, you just pull out the app and do something in your hotel room. It's better than nothing. So I think as a supplement, as a tool, as kind of a little library, I know a lot of teachers that have been like, oh, you've helped me so much with how to put together an adagio or how to put together an allegro. Those kinds of things. Like I think you could benefit from those ideas that are available online.
00:41:55
Speaker
Yeah, I think there's so many applications for it. I totally agree with the app specifically. I mean, you're absolutely right. I have a Ballet 101 class and it's a four-week session and it's from beginner. What is a plie? Like where do you put your hand on the bar, right? Like very beginning of every single thing you do in ballet for, like you said, adults who've always wanted to try ballet, just never had the chance.
00:42:17
Speaker
Yeah. And I have so many of the students asking me, like, do you have any recommendations for YouTube channels or videos I can watch to practice at home? And I have a few that I think are pretty good, but it's hard to know like what is going to be accurate, technically correct, all those things. And so i love this idea to be able to say, here's another place you could go that I know is a great resource for that student. And I also agree that like as a teacher, when I'm looking at some of the classes, I'm like, oh, I love that combination because you can get kind of stale after a while. You have your combos you like, you have your phrasing that you like, the way you like to put things together. there's nothing wrong with that. We all have our style, but it's it's nice to go get other ideas and be like, oh, I like how they taught that or I like that combination. yeah.
00:43:05
Speaker
And again, yeah, I'm with you. I was the student who like had the dance magazine. i mean, I would cut out all the pictures, all the quotes I loved and like, you know, put them into a scrapbook. And I love vocabulary. I remember my first few years of ballet class, we had like a vocabulary competition and I – I got the highest prize. Like I just love that part of it. And I still do. And I think just like you said, there's so many different applications at any level for how you can use this. And I know there are maybe some misgivings people have with like moving into the technology because we have this idea that like it has to be an in-person art form. And like you said, it it absolutely does. Like the majority of your training is going to be that. So you have to have
00:43:47
Speaker
that in-person teacher who's passing down their knowledge to you, but there's nothing wrong with also supplementing it. All these things that we wish we had as kids. This is awesome.
00:43:59
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I totally agree. The older I get, the more I realize, like, because I watch people around me that have just kind of stopped learning and stopped growing. And I find that they just become smaller and smaller people. Like the things that are important to them are these like little tiny deals that's not a It's not a big deal. So I just feel like I want to keep growing. Like that's why I still go to class. Like, oh yeah, that's a neat way to put that step to that one. You know, it just kind of kicks your brain into gear. I want to get other teachers onto the app.
00:44:27
Speaker
One of my friends that I dance with professionally has already recorded some classes. So I'm I'd love to get just different people on there because all ballet teachers, I mean, the good ones, we all say the same thing in just slightly different ways. And one of the things I do do on the app too is point out, although I'm a registered RAD teacher, my training wasn't RAD for a long time. I a lot of Vaganova, lot of Shekinni.
00:44:48
Speaker
So I try and keep that in what I'm saying. i'm like, okay, this is your Glissade Derriere, except in Shiketty where it's a Glissade devant. Or overs and unders, I'm sorry, overs and unders are the backwards ones in Shiketty. And so it's just kind of pointing out different names for different things and that it's not wrong. You just have to recognize the teacher that you have and do what they're asking at the time.
00:45:08
Speaker
But I think it helps to like kind of open up the door for... just different ideas or expand you a little bit or give you a little bit more basis underneath. Yeah, for sure. I had that kind of Americanized training where I had teachers who were Vaganova, teachers who were Balanchine, teachers who were Chiketian.
00:45:26
Speaker
I do think that helped me because I can go into any ballet class and I have my preferred way that I figured out like, oh, I like... the Vaganova version of this. I like the Chiquetti version of this stuff and I have the way that I would do it.
00:45:37
Speaker
But I feel like comfortable at any kind of choreography setting or ballet class setting adjusting to those different ways.
Advice for Aspiring Dancers
00:45:45
Speaker
So I think that's really valuable. Yeah, absolutely.
00:45:48
Speaker
Okay. I love this. I think this is such a great resource. I'm so glad that you shared this with us. My last question for you today is if you could give one piece of advice to dancers who are pursuing their professional dance career, what would you tell them?
00:46:01
Speaker
Oh, man. I would say to figure out how to be the best you. You cannot... be someone else. And if you are someone else, you're a mere shadow or an empty shell as to trying to be like them. Every person has something that they bring that no one else brings.
00:46:19
Speaker
So you just get to say, oh, this is my best way of doing this. so This is how I get to tell the story or my work ethic is different than the people around me. So I think it's just figuring out who you are and figuring out Who do i want to be? What's the person I would want to work with and becoming that person?
00:46:36
Speaker
And then just along the way, just loving yourself to just being like, you're doing great, even though that that was bad. and this part was good that, you know, and I think just learning how to do what you love the best you possibly can, even if it's not someone else's idea of what that should be.
00:46:54
Speaker
Can you share with our listeners where they can find you if they want to learn more about your work or about Ballet Boost? Oh, absolutely. I have a website. It's elizabethtroxler.com. My film company is elangerfilms.com. I'm actually currently making a page on that that's going to have the Ballet Boost information on it.
00:47:11
Speaker
And then you can go balletboost.passion.io. if you would like to look at the app. And then you can also download the app on both Google Play and the App Store. So depending on what phone you have, that's available. And you can follow me. I'm Liz Troxler on Instagram.
00:47:29
Speaker
And I have Valley Boost app on Instagram. And my new... Dance company called Chronicle Dance Theater is Chronicle Dance on Instagram and it's chronicledance.com. That's great. And we will put all of that in the show notes. So no worries if you missed anything. Just head to the show notes to check it out and to find the app and everything about Elizabeth's work.
00:47:49
Speaker
Thank you so much for all this today. This was wonderful. I really appreciate your time. Oh, thank you. I love chatting with you and I love listening to your podcast. You do great work just sowing into the next generation of dancers. So I found you...
00:48:02
Speaker
Because listened your podcast. Oh, I love that. Oh, thank you for all you're doing.
00:48:10
Speaker
Thank you for tuning into the Brainy Ballerina podcast. If you found this episode insightful, entertaining, or maybe a bit of both, I would so appreciate you taking a moment to leave a rating and hit subscribe.
00:48:23
Speaker
By subscribing, you'll never miss an episode. And you'll join our community of dancers passionate about building a smart and sustainable career in the dance industry. Plus, your reigns help others discover the show too.
00:48:36
Speaker
I'll be back with a new episode next week. In the meantime, be sure to follow along on Instagram at The Brainy Ballerina for your daily dose of dance career guidance.