I've been meaning to have today's conversation for a while now. I just had to find the time to pin down one of my favourite humans in the whole wide world - Mr Paul Boyd. Mr Boyd (as you'll hear me refer to him because I am absolutely incapable of calling him 'Paul') was my coach growing up from about ten to fourteen years old. At the time Mr Boyd was still performing with Queensland Ballet and continued to take me for private coaching as he entered retirement. Mr Boyd entered my life during tho...
Dec 02, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 56
It's my absolute pleasure to bring the Balanced Ballerinas community a beautiful story rich in Australian culture and ballet royalty today! Mary Li was raised in Rockhampton, Queensland amongst the chaos of seven other siblings. Her parents sounded phenomenal, loving and down-to-earth. The perfect recipe for supportive parents of a budding young ballerina. From the humble beginnings of a little ballet studio run by Ms Hansen in Rocky to the Royal Ballet School in London and Christmas's spent at ...
Nov 18, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 55
I'm beyond excited to share this weeks guest with you all. As you would have seen from the title, today I bring you a conversation with the Kathryn Morgan. Affectionately also known as Katie and the YouTube star who brought ballet to peoples living rooms before covid made it cool. Kathryn is an American ballet dancer who started her career as a soloist at New York City Ballet. I'm going to let Kathryn share her story in her own words, but I will share that after being diagnosed with a thyroid co...
Nov 04, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Today's guest is the alluring recording artist Chelsea Pribble! Imagine being able to sing and dance so beautifully? Chelsea's album is titled Second Movement with tracks aptly named 'Pas de Deux' and 'Prelude'. This is what captured my attention whilst browsing through Spotify one day and why I felt a pull to talk to this mysterious ballerina turned singer-songwriter. I'm actually not going to spoil the story about how Chelsea landed her record deal with Sea Change Records. It's a fabulous stor...
Oct 14, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Today's guest couldn't be more on brand if I tried! As you'll hear in this interview, Karis began ballet classes at age 2 before she joined The Royal Ballet at age 6 after they held a workshop at her primary school and picked her out of a line up of students. She continued through the school before graduating at 19 - but as you'll hear it wasn't all peachy. After a serious spinal injury, the development of an eating disorder and severe depression Karis stepped away from the ballet world for a fe...
Sep 30, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Are you an 'exercising' or 'training' ballerina? You'll have to listen to find out... _______________ Get your FREE Balanced Ballerinas 'Intention Setting' worksheet HERE and start kicking GOALS: https://www.balancedballerinas.com/product/balanced-ballerinas-intention-setting-worksheet/ You can find more resources at www.balancedballerinas.com Instagram @thebalancedballerina Podcast @balancedballerinas Facebook - Balanced Ballerinas (ensure you join the *SECRET* Facebook group too!)...
Sep 16, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Today's episode is a little different to my usual. But it's also my 50th episode (I'm quietly super proud!) Whilst this episode is not how I thought I'd be celebrating '50' it's an important one that's close to my heart. If you are a first time listener of the podcast I highly recommend you pick another episode before listening to this one because this touches on a very personal event that's happened in my life and dance community recently. This episode is a tribute to my dear friend Cathy who r...
Aug 29, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with the gorgeous, vibrant and talented ex professional ballerina, master trainer and all round wonderful woman Louisa Paterson. Like many guests I ask to join me on the podcast, Louisa and I first met via Instagram. Liking and tagging our way to a mutual understanding that we were all about the same things; balance, discipline, empowering women through movement and keeping it real. And in the interest of keeping it real with my beautiful podcast list...
Aug 17, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 49
If you’re a long time listener of the podcast, it’s no surprise that I’m kind of into all things human optimisation. And amongst all the podcasts I listen to, documentaries I watch and books I read, a name keeps popping up… Wim Hof. The best way to describe Wim is that he’s a dutch extreme athlete now in his 60’s. He’s a big ball of love, drinks beer and his work was inspired by the tragic suicide of his first wife. Some of the crazy things he’s accomplished include setting the Guinness World Re...
Jul 28, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 48
There’s so much in this episode that I don’t even know where to begin. It’s less question and answer. More of a conversation between two friends. I’ve been meaning to catch up with Rose and record an episode of the podcast for a long time now. We go way back. Childhood friends dancing side by side for only a couple of years – but a couple of very formative years in our teens. Before the pandemic hit, Rose was working on a feature film and HBO special which meant that she was constantly flying be...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Josephine is the Director of The Pointe Shop and the leader of a team of professional pointe shoe fitters that work out of her Orange County, San Diego and Oakland locations or they come directly to you. After recognising a need for more accessible and knowledgeable pointe shoe fittings, she started her traveling pointe shoe fitting company in January of 2014. After our conversation I was desperately trying to figure out how Josephine could travel all the way to Australia to fit my adult and you...
Jun 21, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Now I’m really excited to bring you today’s guest because he’s one of those rare master teachers who can actually relate to dancers that begin their training as a young adult. I always have so much respect for those that find dance a little later in life and had to persevere and persist amongst other dancers who had been training their whole life. I can’t relate to my clients who start ballet later in life as I began ballet classes from the age of three. I honestly don’t know what it’s like to n...
Jun 10, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Jess Spinner is the Founder of The Whole Dancer and an ex-professional ballerina with Louisville Ballet. Jess began her journey into nutrition and health coaching when she had to leave behind the world of professional ballet due to an injury. Jess is a fully qualified Health Coach with over eleven years of experience behind her working with dancers from top companies such as New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet Company as well ...
May 17, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Ashley Ellis started her professional career with The American Ballet Theatre before joining the Corella Ballet as a Soloist in Spain. As you’ll hear in our conversation this is where Ashley spent many beautiful European days filled with dance and work whilst meeting her husband George. Together they moved to Boston where Ashley is a Principal with Boston Ballet, mother of one-year-old Grey and the Founder of (in my opinion) the ballet worlds favourite leg warmers – RubiaWear which are worn by p...
May 04, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Finis Jhung! Where do I even begin?! It’s been an absolute dream of mine to speak with Finis for over a year now and I always thought I’d contact him when I had plans to travel to New York so we could meet and perhaps do this interview in person... However with the current pandemic, isolation blah blah blah (everyone’s sick of hearing about it!) I thought there’s no better time than the present. So I sent him a little message and was so delighted when he was not only quick but eager in his respo...
Apr 13, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Hello beautiful Balanced Ballerinas! How are you all feeling this week? I’ll be honest, I’m feeling better that last week. If you ever feel like sharing your thoughts, feelings, questions or maybe even a photo of your current ‘home studio’ you can do so in the Private Balanced Ballerinas Facebook group … simply search, click ‘join’ and I’ll be sure to add you. Now onto today’s guest… Debra is a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Dance Physiotherapist with 30 years experience in the assessment a...
Apr 06, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 41
I think todays conversation is all about settling into this new norm as best as we can. I hope this conversation helps you feel less alone. I hope you're treating yourself with kindness. Our goal? To try put ourselves in other peoples shoes before judging them and try to not judge ourselves. If you want to do daily live classes from dancers all around the world, then go for it. But if you feel like crawling up on the couch to watch Disney movies that’s okay too. We are all going through an inten...
Mar 30, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 40
I know. I know. You don’t need another blog post, podcast episode or piece of social media content about COVID-19. But here we are! Today we talk about turning inward. Today we talk about powering down your devices if they’re making you anxious. Today we talk about being sensible and hygienic. Today we talk about the importance of humour and to not feel bad about trying to find light amongst the darkness. Today we talk about the immune system and why it’s important to take your health seriously ...
Mar 16, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Described by some as an American choreographer with a Russian soul, Eric Conrad is most famous for his work with arguably the worlds most famous ballerina, Misty Copeland. There are hours of videos on YouTube for free with Eric coaching Misty and they're an absolute gold mine of technical teachings. I’ve spent hours watching Eric break down the placement of a chasse pas de bourre or a simple tendu to a la seconde with Misty. As a ballet nerd, it’s fascinating. Watching his videos, he often says ...
Mar 01, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Today's episode is with my good friend Josef Brown! Josef's professional career began as a Soloist with The Australian Ballet in 1994 before joining Sydney Dance Company in 1997. Then Josef's career pivoted towards acting when he took on the role of 'Johnny Castle' in the original stage adaptation of Dirty Dancing which toured throughout Australia and New Zealand. He was even part of the opening on London's West End and toured throughout the United States as part of the pre-Broadway tour complet...
Feb 16, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Most of the time when I do an interview, I upload it onto the computer and write the introduction at a much later date. Often the interviews are done weeks (if not months!) before I even release them. But after speaking to Alex (also known as Ally) Mazerolle, here I am, writing away only moments after our conversation. This is how inspiring this remarkable woman is. The best way to describe Ally is remarkable. Truly remarkable. Her candid nature is as striking as her aura (which I felt, despite ...
Feb 02, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Firstly a huge thank you to friend of the pod (who became a real-life friend Dr Andrea Robertson from episode number 11!) who introduced me to her dear friend and Principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, Amber Scott. Little did Andrea know, I actually used to watch Amber through the studio windows when I was a young student at The Australian Ballet School. So this made the introduction and interview extra special for me. I even brought to the interview a journal from when I was twelve years ...
Jan 20, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Happy New Year Balanced Ballerinas and welcome to 2020! With a new year (hey, new decade!) I thought now is as good a time as any to talk about goals, intentions, vision and of course… balance. It’s always around this time of year that people jump on the bandwagon of dissing ‘goals’, saying they’re a waste of time and I couldn’t disagree more. I find that the people who don’t bother setting intentions for the new year (especially the ones vocalising their distaste for them!) are the ones that ar...
Jan 06, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Merry Christmas beautiful ballerinas! And boy do I have a Christmas present for you today – my present to you is the delightful, inspiring and absolutely marvellous human being that is Marie Walton-Mahon. Now, I’m going to let Marie share her story because she does such an incredible job of this during our conversation! However for those that have been living under a rock in the dance world, let me introduce Marie and her incredible work. Marie is the Director and creator of Progressing Ballet T...
Dec 23, 2019•49 min•Season 1Ep. 33
I have a very special episode for everyone today. It's special for many reasons, but especially special to me because as a young ballerina in training at The Australian Ballet School I used to peer through the studio windows and watch Lucinda Dunn every spare moment I got. As you'll hear in this conversation, at the start, in the middle and at the end... I'm a bit of a gushing mess, because all of a sudden I realised I was sitting across from the ballerina I most admired growing up. When you've ...
Dec 08, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 32
So this weeks podcast is a little different… We won’t be talking about famous ballets, differences in technique training or the importance of research and development when it comes to pre-school or adult ballet classes. No, you’ll be hearing from my now friend Glenn Azar - Founder and Director of Adventure Professionals , Project 180 and his very own podcast, The Building Better Humans Project. About a month ago now, I travelled to Canberra to do what Glenn calls the ‘Aussie 10 Peaks Challenge’....
Nov 24, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 31
One of my favourite things about starting this podcast is the fact it’s given me a platform to celebrate and highlight people who are doing incredible work within the industry, but often fly under the radar or are incredibly humble about their success. It gives me a chance to share their story, celebrate them and help them stop to reflect on the amazing work they’re doing. Todays guest is Nicole Grant, who I have crossed paths with before, but we really got to know one another when I recently co...
Nov 11, 2019•46 min•Season 1Ep. 30
A huge thank you to this episodes sponsor (and one of my favourite dance shoe brands) MDM Dance! Bill Piner graduated from Butler University's prestigious dance program in 1982 and had a wide and varied professional performing career with companies such as Ballet Austin, the Hartford Ballet and Dance Kaleidoscope, Indiana's only professional modern company. And as a member of the Actor's Equity Association, Bill also enjoyed a career in musical theatre before retiring to direct Ballet Austin Aca...
Oct 27, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Today’s guest is Cati Angela, also known as @edrecoverygurl on Instagram. Cati has been a long-time listener of the podcast and when she reached out I knew we had to collaborate, share her journey and spark discussion around eating disorders within the dance world. I’m not going to lie. This is an incredibly hard conversation to navigate. Not only am I hyper aware of presenting information in a factual and informative way through this podcast, but am also very aware of the young and impressionab...
Oct 13, 2019•52 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Yes, it's true! Sometimes I get a little unbalanced too. I hope that in sharing my story you find the inspiration required to continue your own journey of self-care and wellbeing. You can find the blog post I refer to in the episode here... https://www.balancedballerinas.com/2019/09/08/lets-be-honest-committing-to-self-care-is-cheaper-than-therapy/
Sep 30, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 27
