Cheryl Ale The Spark

A study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital is sounding the alarm that dance-related injuries increased by 37% for the period covered by the years 1991-2007. A total of 113,000 dancers aged 3-19 asked for treatment in US emergency departments. Approximately 23 children […]

A desire to help aspiring ballet students with physical challenges turned out to be something more significant for the accomplished dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer Jo Anna Kneeland. Faced with a growing clientele of children who wanted to experience ballet despite having bowed legs or weak spines, she was persuaded to find a solution for […]

Prima ballerinas captivate the eye with their suppleness and dexterity. Their exquisite performances on stage, some bordering on the ethereal, have left audiences gasping in awe. Behind the myth, however, are stories of real people who struggled hard to achieve their heart’s desires. Evelyn Cisneros is Mexican American and extremely shy. She was so shy […]

It was not supposed to happen. The tottering metal fence should have held still while Cheryl Ale clambered on top. Instead, it fell, hit her left leg, and pinned her to the ground. She screamed in panic as the pain hit her. Her mother came running out of the house and drove at the best […]

Ballet dancing poses a conundrum to most people. It is so aesthetically pleasing to the sight that one does not want to see powerful performances come to an end. On the other side of the spectrum, much focus is unnecessarily spent on its undeserved tag of being the past time of the rich and famous. […]

The precocious Anna Pavlova turned heads in the world of ballet during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1905, her lead solo in The Dying Swan became her ticket to success and earned her unmatched plaudits from audiences and critics because of the delicacy of her ballet movements and ardent but fragile facial […]