Giving students, teachers, and parents an edge in dance education
Lauren Warnecke is a dance writer, educator and freelance choreographer/producer based in Chicago, IL. She is a contributing author at 4dancers.org, danceadvantage.net, and The Huffington Post. Lauren holds degrees in Dance (BA, ’03) and Kinesiology (MS, ’09) and is currently a full-time Clinical Instructor for the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Lauren owns and operates Art Intercepts, a platform for dance-based discourse that is steeped in evidence-based learning and practice. She is a certified ballet teacher through the Cecchetti Counsel of America’s Midwest Counsel, a certified personal trainer through American College of Sports Medicine, and blogs in her spare time about travel, food, and various foibles at craftylauren.com.
Lauren went from teaching young dancers ballet to teaching college students how to exercise. Surprisingly, teaching the “pampers” crowd was great preparation. Here are four things she learned that have helped make interactions with her university students successful.
The difference between a strain and a sprain; a ligament and a tendon. Take a closer look at injuries and how to cope throughout the recovery process.
Did you know there are 4 arches of the foot? Are you aware that improper alignment of the foot can lead to two of the most common dance injuries? Lauren discusses the middle of the foot and suggests exercises to build strength in the feet.
It is crucial that a dancer take good care of his or her feet. Start with these general maintenance tips to prevent and treat minor injuries. And, don’t miss Lauren’s list of dance bag essentials for healthy feet.
Lauren Warnecke gets crafty with a fun gift idea for dancers, teachers, studio owners, and anyone with aches, pains, or minor swelling. Easy to make! Photos and instructions in this tutorial.
What was once a little known video contest for PhD students to explain their research through dance has blown up into a full-scale online dance film fest. Dance Your PhD makes science accessible and understandable to everyone, communicating complex ideas, without watering it down or shutting the rest of us out. Lauren chats with Choreographer/Bioengineer Christopher Knowlton about how he’s combined his two worlds to create a dance film about knee replacement for the Dance Your PhD contest.
Back-to-school time is upon us, and with the freshly sharpened pencils and crisp wide-ruled paper also come the frightening anticipation of returning to dance. While most studios offer some sort of summer intensive and many dancers go away to professional intensives, chances are many young dancers spend a good chunk of summer putting in serious [...]
The Dance/USA conference raised questions on the state of dance. A young woman cries as she describes the difficulty of working multiple jobs without access to adequate health care or insurance. Is a dance career sustainable? Is the art form? Columnist Lauren Warnecke offers her thoughts on conversation, change, and finding the “why”.
Dancers are athletes. Just like any other athlete, it’s important that we be conscious about how we are fueling our bodies. The stereotype of the stick-thin waif who dines on lettuce leaves and cigarettes is long gone, and as our field becomes increasingly physical, so too must our fitness and nutrition. Here begins the start [...]
Ah, the familiar sound of a snapping hip. Most dancers have experienced it at one time or another. Lauren takes us on a tour of the hip and what causes this popping sound, discusses the varieties of snapping hip, and lets you in on a ‘little secret’ that helped her get rid of the snap, crackle, and pop.
The path from the insular world of college dance to a real career in dance and dancemaking is rarely a straight line. Lauren illustrates this beautifully with a peek into her own journey, while also providing the soon-to-be or recent graduate with some solid (and remarkably clear-cut) advice.
Toe padding for pointe shoes is a controversial subject. Every dancer has an opinion. Lauren has tried nearly everything and wants to help you form your own.
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