My Fav Dance Blogs on the Internet

Claire
Feb 27, 2018
5 min read

Blogs have been around for as long as the internet - sorta! Through the rise of sensory overload trends such as social media, YouTube, gaming and Pintrest, the humble little blog has endured.

THANK GOODNESS!

To me, this means that, essentially, people still like to read! Yay!

Blogs are like someone's online journal, an insight to their thoughts, feelings and view of the world. We read blogs with that same subjectivity - we engage with the blogs that reflect our own view of the world in some way, that give value to our own lives. So, I read A LOT of dance based blogs - what a shock! But prepare yourself for another shock - I read blogs with INFORMATION about dance!

Originally, I was going to call this blog post "The Best Dance Blogs on The Internet" but that's not what this is. When I hear the word "BEST" my adjudicator hat goes on and I feel like there needs to be criteria for assessment that objectively covers all possible contestants, blah, blah, blah...To honestly give you the "BEST" dance blogs on the internet I felt I would need to read every dance related blog out there and I just don't have the time for that! I have a YouTube channel to run and children to raise and Netflix to binge on! So, these are just the dance blogs that I love reading. They're the ones I head to first when I need extra info or just want to be entertained.

So in no particular order, here are my...

...5 FAVOURITE DANCE BLOGS

1. The Ballet Blog

https://www.theballetblog.com/blog/

FIRSTLY - If you don't believe Lisa Howell is a genius and a GURU then you would be wrong! This is not a point of debate. It's just a fact.

The Ballet Blog covers more than just ballet. It can - AND SHOULD - be used by all dancers. Run by Physiotherapist Lisa Howell of Perfect Form Physiotherapy, the Ballet Blog focuses on rehabilitating and most importantly, preventing injury.

Lisa has heaps of books, DVD's and workshops for sale through the blog, but what I adore about her is that she shares so much content for free as well. She genuinely wants to get her research out

there to help dancers and dance teachers.

I know I said these are "in no particular order" but this is legit my FAV dance blog out there! So, click the link above and subscribe to this blog because if you are a dancer or dance educator THEN YOU NEEEEEEEED Lisa in your life!

2. A Dancer's Life

http://energetiksblog.com.au/

Aussie based dance wear label, Energetiks have a great blog as part of their website. Of course it includes a lot of posts that are shameless promoting Energetiks products, but they're actually quite informative posts! And besides, I really enjoy the Energetiks label and appreciate the detailed information about their new products that the blog provides. Adverts aside, the blog has a great variety of posts that are entertaining and super useful to dancers. The cache of the Energetiks brand mean they have been able to attract some amazing contributors like Alex from Ballerina Bites with her yummo and healthy recipes!

There's also surprisingly detailed posts with dance strengthening and technique tips like this one: "6 Simple Exercises for Improving Ankle Strength" written by Emily Newton-Smith.

3. BDancewear Blog

http://blog.bdancewear.com/

I first found B Dancewear many years back when I was searching YouTube for videos about modifying costumes (with no sewing experience!) I stumbled across BDancewear's easy to follow tutorials for dance costumes and dancewear. I learnt a lot about costuming and sewing in general from Cindy's tutorials. The blog covers a wider base of the dance world than just costuming, including a Dancer of the Month feature and interviews with professional dancers. Despite it being very informative, I do have 2 issues with this blog though:

1. It's very US based! And as I live in Australia a huge amount of the content isn't relevant to me. But I still enjoy reading about American College dance teams! (even though most Uni's in Australia don't give a fluffing hoot about dance!)

2. In her tutorials Cindy is mostly working with stretch fabrics which means she often tells you to pull the fabric or hold it "taut". However, she clearly and repeatedly mispronounces the word as "TAUNT." To taunt is to tease and belittle. So while she intends for the viewer to pull the fabric and elastic tightly to ensure effective stretch in the garment, what she is actually telling you to do is to sit there and tease your fabric like a school-yard bully. And this doesn't just happen in 1 video! It happens multiple times!! To a grammar snob like me this causes me no end of frustration!

(NOTE: Please feel free to correct me on any and all grammatically inaccuracies on everything I produce! I can take it and I will definitely fix errors IMMEDIATELY!)

4. Crazy Dance Mum - A Survival Guide

http://crazydancemum.com.au/

I was introduced to this blog last year through one of the dance based Facebook groups I'm on. And I ADORE it!

Dance Mum's (or Mom's for my US and Canadian friends) get a bad rap on the whole. Even before "THAT" tv show, being labelled a Dance Mum wasn't exactly a compliment. But Cree Oliver who created the blog has a genuine empathy and affection for the oft maligned Mother's of children who dance. Cree herself was a dancer, then dance teacher and now also a dance Mum, so she gets it! She lives it and she has heaps of great advice for other dance mums.

If you have kids that dance you MUST sign up for regular updates because this really is a Survival Guide for Crazy Dance Mums!

5. Ballet Shoes & Bobby Pins

http://balletshoesandbobbypins.com/dancers-dont-underestimate-power

This is still a new one for me but the name alone meant it had to go in this list!

Created by Sheena Jeffers, this blog has been going strong since 2010.

It's a beautifully written collection of posts that "revolves around the dance career, life and dream."

Posts are divided into 4 categories:

1. Dance

2. Education

3. Inspiration

4. Work

(Admittedly the first category is a little redundant!)

I'm still sifting my way through as many posts as I can but so far Ballet Shoes & Bobby Pins gets a pin tick of approval from Dance Geek!

Oh and 1 more awesome thing - all the profits from the blog's online store go towards helping disadvantaged kids get the equipment they need to participate in dance! Love that! Even more reason for me to pick up this cute BSBP logo tee!