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Ballet Help DeskAuthor: Jenny Huang and Brett Gardner
As parents, you play a crucial role in supporting your dancer's ballet path and we know navigating the world of ballet training can be challenging. The Ballet Help Desk podcast is here to help! Tune in for expert insights on supporting your student's ballet education. We cover key topics like summer intensives, ballet competitions, full-time and postgraduate training, health and wellness, boys in ballet and more. Hear valuable advice from leading professionals across the ballet world to help your dancer make the most informed decisions about their unique training path. Learn more at www.ballethelpdesk.com. Language: en Genres: Arts, Kids & Family, Parenting, Performing Arts Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Gavin Larsen: Infinite Steps and the Truth About Ballet Careers
Episode 174
Wednesday, 18 March, 2026
Author, teacher, and former principal dancer Gavin Larsen has spent her post-performance life doing something she loves just as much as dancing: drawing stories out of other people. Her new book, Infinite Steps: 33 Dancers and Their Lives in Ballet, grew out of a collaboration with longtime ABT staff photographer Gene Schiavone, who wanted the dancers behind his archive of images to be truly known, not just catalogued. In this conversation, Gavin sits down with us to talk about what surprised her while interviewing 33 dancers across generations and companies, why she thinks the Plan B conversation puts unfair pressure on students, and what she believes is the real cost of a ballet career that doesn't get talked about nearly enough. Hint: it's not the blisters. She also shares her take on the job market then versus now, what parents consistently get wrong, and why she finds it genuinely hopeful that kids keep walking into plain rooms, leaving their phones outside, and putting their ballet shoes on. Infinite Steps is available now wherever books are sold. Links: Read Our Ballet School Summer & Year-Round Reviews Buy Summer Corrections Journals Support Ballet Help Desk Instagram: @BalletHelpDesk Facebook: BalletHelpDesk TikTok: @BalletHelpDesk Music from #Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/t/ian-aisling/new-future License code: MGAW5PAHYEYDQZCI
