{"id":246156,"date":"2026-07-17T21:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/246156\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T21:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:05:09","slug":"inside-pointe-live-classes-conversations-philadelphia-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/246156\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Pointe Live Classes & Conversations: Philadelphia Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, we hosted our very first Philadelphia-based Pointe Live Classes & Conversations, sponsored by Laurel Springs School<\/a>\u2014and we still haven\u2019t stopped talking about it! Dancers from around the city\u2019s metro area and beyond joined us at Philadelphia Ballet\u2019s brand-new (and beautiful!) Center for Dance on July 12 for an inspiring day of master classes, networking, and discussion. And we\u2019re especially grateful to our guest teachers, BalletX dancer Minori Sakita<\/a> and Philadelphia Ballet rehearsal director Charles <\/a>Askegard<\/a>, for the lessons they imparted.<\/p>\n

\"\"Charles Askegard corrects a young dancers during ballet class. Photo by Tricia Pompilio.\"\"Photo by Tricia Pompilio.\"\"Photo by Tricia Pompilio.<\/p>\n

The dancers, split into two age groups, rotated between our two guest teachers, getting a mix of classical and contemporary takeaways. Askegard taught technique class, with a focus on musicality and proper alignment. He gave students lots of individual attention, thoughtfully adjusting their form and facings. \u201cI know I\u2019m going slow,\u201d he acknowledged at one point, stressing that he wanted the dancers to absorb the details of his corrections. \u201cIf I say \u2018crois\u00e9,\u2019 I\u2019m asking you to do more, not less,\u201d he instructed during a tendu exercise. Askegard guided the advanced students to uncover the musicality of the Balanchine style. \u201cYou want to have energy. Use the \u2018and\u2019 count,\u201d he said as dancers stepped into sous-sus. \u201cAnd one. Clear, concise, using musicality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakita led the older students through a slow, mindful barre that incorporated contemporary movement, like flexed feet and swirling torsos. She set the tone by saying, \u201cTechnique isn\u2019t the focus today. It\u2019s what feels good in your body.\u201d She urged them not to judge or compare themselves to others. She then taught an excerpt from Noelle Kayser\u2019s Scales on the Wings of a Butterfly, highlighting the work\u2019s precise, blade-like handwork and clean slicing motions. In her second class, with the younger dancers, Sakita led students through an excerpt from Stephanie Martinez\u2019s kiss. Assigning sound effects to two different movements, she playfully challenged students to try each movement with a different texture, asking, \u201cWhat if [this kick] was \u2018zoom\u2019 instead of \u2018shhh?\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

\"APhoto by Tricia Pompilio.\"\"Charles Askegard teaches ballet class. Photo by Tricia Pompilio.\"ACharles Askegard. Photo by Tricia Pompilio.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, the dancers and many parents gathered for a discussion session with our guest teachers, led by Pointe editor in chief Amy Brandt. Topics ranged from battling perfectionism to unlocking potential to staying open-minded when learning new movement styles. Sakita, for example, shared that her perspective on perfection has changed over the course of her career, especially since she\u2019s started focusing more on contemporary dance. \u201cMistakes aren\u2019t good or bad\u2014they\u2019re information for next time,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s more about discovery. Now, I think it can be kind of exciting to mess up.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for unlocking your potential? Askegard noted that one of the best ways to do that is through hard work. \u201cI know it\u2019s not cool to say, but it really does matter,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when you step onstage, you don\u2019t want to try to be like somebody else\u2013you want to be the best version of yourself. Find the most authentic you, and let that shine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"From left: Pointe editor in chief Amy Brandt, Sakita, and Askegard sit down for a discussion and q&a. Photo by Tricia Pompilio.\"\"Photo by Tricia Pompilio.\"\"Photo by Tricia Pompilio.<\/p>\n

Students and parents then had a chance to ask questions of their own, ranging from what a typical rehearsal day is like at a professional company to what dancers need to do to keep their bodies healthy. We\u2019re so grateful to our guests teachers and to all of the dancers for sharing their day with us, and we look forward to our Classes & Conversations event in Chicago on July 25!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last weekend, we hosted our very first Philadelphia-based Pointe Live Classes & Conversations, sponsored by Laurel Springs School\u2014and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[105302,105303,105304,69,32244,71,70,105305,105306],"class_list":["post-246156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-charles-askegard","tag-laurel-springs-school","tag-minori-sakita","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-ballet","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-pointe-classes-conversations","tag-pointe-classes-conversations-philadelphia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}