02 Aug

Summer Progress

photo credit: nbracken photography

This Summer I’ve been doing a lot of updates. My website, my curriculum, my class plans, my personal goals, etc. I thought I’d share what this summer has looked like:

established kjlangford dances
I am continuing to create choreographic work independently and submit it to festivals and other opportunities. To help fuel these practices I’ve established a project I’m calling kjlangford dances. It’s not exactly a dance company, but when I am working on choreography independently, it is created under that name. The best, though very pretentious, way to describe it is a home for my personal choreographic projects/endeavors.
Major website updates
Check out my:
photos,
my choreography reel,
and my events page!
I’ve been working on a new duet with 2 of my favorite dancers, Sarah Tipton and Ashanti Williams, here’s a sneak peek.
I’ve had the pleasure of teaching for Arlington Heights High School’s Summer Dance program, Texas Ballet Theater School’s Junior Intensive, and JADE’s Summer Intensive. Next week I teach at Texas Dance Conservatory’s End of Summer Intensive.
I’ve read 24 books (so far) this summer, and 29 this year.
I’ve traveled to Chicago, New Jersey, and New York.
I saw Hamilton in Chicago (again, I know, I’m the worst), and Great Comet (one of Josh Groban’s final performances) and Groundhog Day in NYC! Here in DFW I’ve seen Bruce Wood Dance Project, Danielle Georgiou’s Dance Group’s Donkey Beach, and imPULSE dance project’s Reflexion.
Rehearsed and refined self portrait of my best friend
This is a solo for myself that I created earlier this year and was accepted to a performance at Big Rig Dance Collective’s Co-Op this weekend. It will be the first performance and work for kjlangford dances, and I hope to submit it to other festivals and performances for the 2017 season. Here’s a sneak peek!
updating my dance class curriculum and sequence for the year
Reviewing old and sketching new choreography for upcoming performances this Fall.
updating various websites and social media I manage:
Laura Barbee
FurtherDance Fort Worth

Although I have been very busy, as I hope you can see, summer went by in a blink and it’s pretty much time to start school… YAY. mostly.

YAY!

03 Jan

2017

Gee, I didn’t really update in the fall did I? The fall was good personally and professionally, but I guess no time to blog!

Well, here’s my review of 2016 as a whole:

And here’s what I’m looking forward to this year:

Just realizing there’s not much about dance/my professional life on there. I do want to make a new solo, probably for myself, not really sure what I want to do with it yet, but there you have it.

I will also be choreographing for FWAFA’s middle school musical (Honk) as well as some corps de ballet sections for Company II in our ballet, Paquita and I will direct the dance department’s High School and Middle School Spring Dance Concert.

I continue to be involved with FurtherDance Fort Worth, though I have passed my presidential position onto my good friend, Frieda Austin. I know she’ll be amazing, and we are excited to continue offering weekly, affordable classes to FW and North Texas dance professionals and hopefully begin some new projects.

A lot is planned for 2017, but a lot is open, and that is exciting!

20 Jan

Winter Update

Photo from class with Susan Douglas Roberts, as a part of FurtherDance’s Winter Master Class Series.

Seasonal Blog Post!

So, what’s going on…

Successful first semester teaching dance at Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts and Texas Dance Conservatory!

I have been directing a FWAFA student dance company, Company II, and we had our first performance of the academic year in December 2015.

I performed and choreographed once again with imPULSE dance project, and our 2nd annual performance of Snow was reviewed by a respected DFW dance critic.

My coursework for my teacher’s certification is complete. Now I must complete my first year successfully, teach for my observer 2 more times, and pass my PPR exam.

Watching tv and talking about it with my brother on our podcast, First & Final.

Launching FurtherDance Fort Worth’s 2016 Winter Master Class Series (still going on, join us!) and our new program FurtherDance Fridays (weekly class for $10!!!).

Survived my first FWAFA Faculty Talent show! Choreographed and performed, en pointe no less! Such a fun experience with my co-workers 🙂

And what’s coming up?

Take class with me!
I’m teaching Tuesdays midday at Smart Barre Bluebonnet and an express class on your Friday lunch breaks in February, and 6AM Fridays at Smart Barre Camp Bowie. And every Sunday in February I’m teaching adult intermediate ballet at Texas Ballet Theater School.

Dance with me!
Pretty much every Friday night I’ll be dancing with FurtherDance at Arlington Heights High School’s dance studio! We have some master classes left in our series and in February we’ll start classes for just $10 taught be Fort Worth dance artists and educators.

See me dance and see my choreography!
All FWAFA dance companies (including the one I direct, Company II) are performing in the spring ballet, Napoli, April 29 and 30, 2016.

I will be performing with imPULSE dance project and choreographing a new work for our summer show in July. In addition, imPULSE will be performing works at a few local dance festivals and performances with local college dance programs.

I’ll be back here to update you in the Spring!

01 Jun

Summer Update

This summer I will be teaching at several different studios and programs in Fort Worth, performing in Addison, and taking class and getting together with dancers all across the Metroplex. If you’re down for that, then read on to find out how we can dance and move together this summer!

June 1-12* – Texas Ballet Theater Adult Ballet Classes

Wednesdays – Beginner/Intermediate Ballet, 9:30-10:45
Fridays – Beginner Ballet, 9:30-10:45

Both classes tend to be a range of levels and ages, but all are welcome. If you are brand new to ballet I’d recommend joining me for the Friday class to start, or going to the Absolute Beginner classes on Saturdays at 1PM. If ballet is old hat for you, know that I tend to teach to the level of the individuals in the clas, but for the morning classes I give a longer barre and offer minimal jumping. Morning classes don’t fit in your schedule? TBT has a ton of classes in the evenings Monday through Thursday beginning June 8, and they also offer a ballet boot camp the first week in June. Learn more about classes and rates here.

*Morning classes will resume in late July.

Tuesday evenings in June and July, starting June 9

Modern/Contemporary Class, 7:15-8:15 Texas Ballet Theater Studios

If ballet barre sounds boring to you, I hope you’ll join me for modern/contemporary class on Tuesday nights. We’ll start with a warm up, move across the floor, and then finish with a movement combination. If you used to dance but haven’t taken class in a while this would be a great way to jump back in! Learn more about classes and rates here.

Open Level Barre, Smart Barre Express, Smart Stretch & Restore, and Smart Cardio – Smart Barre

I’ll continue my normal barre schedule all through the summer at the Camp Bowie, Bluebonnet, and Cityview studios but this summer I’ll also start teaching express (a 30 minute version of our open level class), Smart Stretch & Restore (a 25 minute stretch and relaxation class), and Smart Cardio (a 55 minute, high intensity class using many exercises found in our open level classes but at a faster pace and with emphasis on a cardiovascular workout). I’m excited to teach new things, and I hope to see you at the barre! Find out studio schedules and when I’m teaching.

Select Dates, June and July, FurtherDance on the move

If you’re an advanced, experienced, or professional dancer over the age of 18 in the Metroplex, we’d love to have you join us for our class series, FurtherDance on the move. FurtherDance Fort Worth is the organization I co-lead, and we desire to see more opportunities for dancers in DFW, part of that is offering affordable classes from great teachers. We are still developing this series (I’ll post when we finalize all details), but right now we have classes scheduled in June with Elizabeth Gillaspy (ballet professor at TCU and noted choreographer) and Anna Marie Ewert-Pittman (director of Ewert & Company). Find out more!

Four Seasons: recomposed – imPULSE dance project, July 25 and 26, 2015

I’m performing with imPULSE dance project at the Addison Theatre Centre this summer! I’m excited to premiere a new work by our director, Asia Waters, based on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I’m also premiering some new choreography, danced to pieces, a dance based on the fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Find out more here!

Two great companies are offering dance experiences (classes, performances, improv jams, etc.) In July and August. I’m hoping to participate with these two groups for at least part of their offerings. Keep an eye on Contemporary Dance/Fort Worth for their July series of performances and jams at the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth. In August you can join Big Rig Dance Collective for their Co-Op weekend of dance. I love that these companies have such a big desire to #dancelocal!

Wow, that’s a lot of dance! And I’m also honored to teach modern classes at the Texas Ballet Theater School’s junior and senior summer intensives!

I hope you get some chances to dance this summer! Maybe I’ll see you in class?

23 Mar

Art – a right and a privilege

I have been thinking a lot lately about art, the arts, fine arts, performing arts… their place in society, culture, humanity.

While I’m sure I’ll flesh out these ideas one by one, here is a summary of my latest thoughts and considerations:

Necessary:

art
access to art
making art

Privilege:

Making a living by making art

Do not misunderstand me. Artists and art of all kinds are important and incredibly valuable in so many ways. But you don’t have to be paid or make your primary living creating art to be important or create important and necessary work. If you are able to make money, any money great or small, to create art, then you are privileged.

What I’m not saying (short version):
You shouldn’t get paid to make art.
Art is not valuable.

What I am saying (long version):
Be willing to sometimes make art for free or cheap. When it is for the benefit of a cause or a group that is forgotten or under-served especially.

Art is incredibly valuable in many forms. So expand your idea of what making art is. To me, arts teachers and administrators are all making art.

Find ways to incorporate your art into other work that might make more money. This is awesome, and you are still making art, and may even find ways to make more art. If this method is good enough for Da Vinci, it’s good enough for you.

Remember that life is about trade-offs. If something is important to you, do it, but know that you might have to give up something else to do it. If you’re not willing to give something up (time or money in most cases) to make art, that’s fine, but don’t complain about it. Realize that you made a valid and honorable choice. Some people don’t have those choices. They have families to provide for. They are ill. They were born into poverty. You are probably not one of those people, and so you are privileged. Do not complain that you can’t make enough money making art. Change something (your expectations probably) so that you can make “enough.” And you must NOT complain that non-artists or other types of artists make more money than you do. That was their choice, and they have made it. Our battle is to show the value of art and to be able to create it. You can do both without being concerned about how much money other people make.

If you ONLY want to make art directly (you want to compose music, choreograph, perform, act, sing, write plays and novels, make movies, etc.) then just start doing it- but there may be a difference between the type of art that expresses your soul and the type of art that will make money. Make things and offer services that people will pay for. Then use that money to make your soul art. Also, be willing to ask for money. If it’s important enough, you will ask. Find ways to lessen your living expenses (ideas: move to a cheaper area, have roommates, say no to cable, set up camp in areas that have free wifi, buy things used, join co-op groups to get cheap food, consider communal living, share a car with someone else) so that you can do this art-making for your living. Hint: you won’t make a lot of money, but most of us can live on way less money than we think.

There is more, but I’d love to hear your thoughts first.