~ Written by Danielle Lee-Hogervorst, Outreach Coordinator at Ballegro Player, Alumni of Arts Umbrella’s Graduate Program

Danielle Clifford is one-of-a-kind, no one can ever replace her.  Now 77, she still teaches multiple ballet classes on a weekly basis and still demonstrates each exercise full-out!  She turns and jumps, her brain is sharp, and she never fails to bring joy to everyone she encounters!

Along with Pam Rosa, over 30 years ago, in 1985, Danielle co-founded Harbour Dance Centre, a downtown Vancouver studio at the heart of the city’s dance scene. But before this, she had a long and successful career as a performer with ballet companies across Europe including touring as a principal dancer with the Grand Theatre de Nancy and as a soloist with the Nice Opera.  Over the past 10 years, Danielle has worked as ballet mistress at Anna Wyman Dance Company, and has been an adjudicator at competitions across British Columbia. 

The founder of...

~ Written by Yawen CA, Founder & CEO at Ballegro Player, Pianist at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal and Former Company Pianist at Ballet BC.

This month we released a final album by Søren Bebe, a formidable pianist who is one of the shining lights of jazz and contemporary music both in his home of Copenhagen and across Europe.  Søren has mostly written for his own projects but has also been commissioned to write work for the Danish theatre "Team Teateret," as well as a large piece for the National Gallery of Denmark. In 2012, Søren Bebe even received a grant from the Danish Arts Council. 

He has recorded 4 albums for the ballet class, and all of them are now available in our curated Ballegro Music Library!

If you have missed our blogs on these 3 earlier releases of Søren's albums, you can access all these blogs here:

Søren Bebe - Music for Ballet Class...

~ Written by Antonios Bougiouris, Business Development Associate at Ballegro Player, Former Dancer at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal

Many of you probably know that Ballegro is a streaming music app specifically designed to help dancers and teachers practice anywhere, at anytime, and at any tempo! Ballegro Player works as hard and as well as a live pianist and allows you to modify the tempo of any song to optimize your teaching and practice experience. You can also search for music by exercise, length, rhythm, and genre, making it that much easier. You can upload your own music collection or if you are looking for something new, take advantage of our curated music library. 

Because it was created by an ACTUAL ballet pianist, the Ballegro Player is the most effective and efficient music app designed for dance EVER!!!!!!

Whether you have downloaded the app or not (and we recommend that you do), what you...

~ Written by Danielle Lee-Hogervorst, Outreach Coordinator at Ballegro Player, Dancer at Arts Umbrella’s Graduate Program

Ahhh, Summer! A time for adventure, a time to temporarily disengage from work, a time to try new things, or a time to do nothing! No matter what you do with your time, one thing is for sure - summer is a time when you have the ability to take a much-needed break from your everyday routine and dance practice. On the flip side however, while we all want and need to take a break, how do you keep in shape both physically and mentally over the summer months? How do you stay curious and explore your training without a set schedule? This is a question on most dancers’ minds as we lose access to studio space and time, and is something I am in the process of investigating for myself.

My big question lately has been, “how do I keep my mind stimulated and curious?” Of course it is important to cross train and stay in shape. Your options for...

Photo: ‘Walking Mad’ / Ballet BC / Dancers of Ballet BC

~ Interview by Danielle Lee-Hogervorst, Outreach Coordinator at Ballegro Player, Dancer at Arts Umbrella’s Graduate Program

Michael Slobodian - a name well-known across the dance community as a highly skilled and sought-after dance photographer. Michael began his professional career in dance photography in 1984 and has since worked for companies worldwide including Nederlands Dans Theatre, Ballet British Columbia, Northwest Dance Project, Arts Umbrella, Kidd Pivot, Mascall Dance, Springboard Dans Montreal, Nacho Duato, RUBBERBANDance Group, Marie Chouinard, and TU Dance, to name a few.  

I have had the great privilege of working with Michael in one-on-one shoots, in the studio, and onstage at Arts Umbrella and Springboard.  On top of travelling across the world to photograph for companies, he has also made the time to do a shoot with Ballegro - our V3 design is inspired by, and uses, one of...

“Bebe certainly belongs to the tradition of lyrical pianists that goes from Erroll Garner and Bill Evans through Keith Jarrett.  What Bebe adds to the lyrical tradition of the piano is a sense of folk-like simplicity, with mourning melodies blossoming like shy night-flowers”
~ US jazz journal, All About Jazz ~

This month we bring you Søren Bebe, a formidable pianist who is one of the shining lights of jazz and contemporary music both in his home of Copenhagen and across Europe.

Among Søren's primary influences as a musician are pianists Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett and Aaron Parks. He also finds inspiration in the work of non-pianists such as Kenny Wheeler. Although taking note of other musicians' work, Søren's delicate touch on the piano and as a composer is all his own.

Voted Best Dance Studio in Vancouver, Canada

Established in 1985 by original partners Pamela Quick-Rosa and Danielle Clifford, Harbour Dance Centre has evolved from a humble basement studio in a home in North Vancouver into one of the major hubs of Vancouver's dance scene, voted the Best Dance Studio in Vancouver by The Georgia Straight for numerous years.  Danielle still to this day teaches with the energy of a child. Her words of wisdom brighten everyone’s day as soon as she walks in. “Life is beautiful. Ballet is beautiful.'' If you ever get to meet these ladies, you’ll see why it is a labour of love.

Danielle toured throughout Europe as a principal dancer with the Grand Theatre de Nancy and as a soloist with the Nice Opera during the 50's and 60's. Shortly after immigrating to Canada in 1970, she opened the Ballet Studio in North Vancouver. Over the past ten years, Danielle has worked as ballet mistress at Anna Wyman Dance Company, completed the teacher...

Ballegro has reached the robusto Version 3.0.  Over the past 2 years we have researched, developed and tested the beta versions until we finally reached our masterpiece stage.  This new, and most robust in features, version is finally out in the world and we are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished.

Ballegro Player is music streaming app that recreates the experience of having a Live Pianist. It features an ever-expanding Ballet Music Library with a unique Music Player; it lets you adjust the tempo and helps dance teachers or any dancer to practice in the tempo that they need.  Moreover, you can upload your own music, and play your personal music collection while accessing all the Ballegro features.  Our Smart Virtual Ballet Pianist helps dancers find their ideal music for practice by exercises, by lengths, by rhythms, by genres, by pianists and by PDB endtag options.  It is a creation and experience, that models after how a ballet pianist thinks, by...

~ Interview by Lucas Batista, Marketing Associate at Ballegro Player

Suzanne, originally from Vancouver,  trained and danced with some of the world's finest ballet companies. From Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet to Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, London England’s Dance Centre to the Pacific Ballet Theatre, and being Ballet Mistress at Ballet BC for 5 years to being the founding director of Ballet BC’s Mentor Program under Artistic Director John Alleyne, Suzanne has done it all. She has worked as a rehearsal director for James Kudelka, Paul Taylor, Jean Grand Maitre, Reid Anderson, Anna Marie Holmes, Simone Orlando, Joshua Beamish and Jennifer Mascall.

Suzanne has also performed as a lead dancer, singer and actress in professional musicals with the Vancouver Playhouse, Calgary’s Stage West’s Nunsense, and several productions for TUTS, MUSSOC and Winnipeg’s Rainbow Stage. She has guest taught and adjudicated...

~ Written by Danielle Lee-Hogervorst, Outreach Coordinator at Ballegro Player, Dancer at Arts Umbrella’s Graduate Program.

Musicality is a hot topic within every studio practice and rehearsal.  Why? Because it is the essence of all movement. It is always present, whether you are listening to the actual progression of notes or the spaces and silences in between.

As I began brainstorming for this post, I ended up asking myself the reverse question: What is dance without musicality? The answer I came up with: Nothing. You can choose to dance in all one, legato quality, but this is still a choice and is still a form of being musical.  You can choose to dance in silence, but this only heightens the importance of creating musicality inside of your body.  You can be still, but even when you are not moving in space there is a buzzing within you, whether it’s an emotion, sensation, thought, or experience.  So that is why musicality is important; because even...