Who was the first person you remember seeing dance and suddenly found yourself in a complete trance? If you are a dancer, regardless what style, We are sure you have that one person that comes to mind that helped you realize you wanted to move and do what they were doing. For the next couple of Blogs we will be asking our instructors, staff and students “who is your person”? “What is it that you love about him/her? As students of dance, it is necessary to pay homage and honor to those that came before us. As we stand on their shoulders and acknowledge the sacrifices and struggles they have possibly endured in order to pave the way. Dancer’s Gallery Dance Studio in Cooper City thanks the following legends for being an example and setting the bar.

Sylvie Guillem is arguably one of the greatest ballerinas and dancers of our time. Hand-picked by Rudolph Nureyev at the age of 19, she was the youngest ever 'etoile', the highest-ranking female dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet and later, the star of the Royal Ballet in London. When we asked Ms. Barbara who is one of the Ballet instructors in our Cooper City Dance Studio, who her person she immediately said “Sylvie Guillem” and suggested we watch her performance in “Grand Pas Classique”. We took Ms. Barbara’s suggestion and a few of us whom have not heard of Sylvie found ourselves binging all of Sylvie’s performances, documentaries and interviews over the weekend. We cohesively took away a number of things after hearing her story and even though she is such an amazing, talented and complex person. The main points we took away was that she did things her way throughout her career. Being given the name “Mademoiselle Non” during her time in London is something we laughed at and could relate to being that so many other people have the disease to please. To learn the skill of saying no and not feel bad about it, is a great trait to have. The very obvious and trademark skills she is known to do with her legs had our mouths on the floor and was the topic of conversation with those of us that just discovered her and those whom have followed her career . She has legs for days and the height she was able to reach was crazy to us!! Sylvie is 53 years old and is still dancing today and doing things on her terms also while being involved in environmental activism. Thank you Ms. Barbara for introducing Sylvie Guillem as she is most definitely a force to be messed with and is leaving a trail of beautiful art for all of us to enjoy and learn from.

Come by Dancer’s Gallery Dance studio in South West Broward and take a free trial dance class from one our experienced dance instructors who have been influenced by one of the many Iconic dancers we will be discussing during this series.