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Part 3 of seven parts
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    Copyright (c) 1995-2004 by Thomas Parsons; all rights reserved.
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    portion of this FAQ may be included in commercial collections or
    compilations without express permission from the author.

================

Contents:

PART 3. BALLET, MODERN DANCE, AND YOU

    3.1. When should I start taking ballet?
    3.2. When should I start taking modern dance?
    3.3. I'm in my early twenties; it it too late for me to start a
	    professional career in ballet?
    3.4. I'm 35 (or 45 or 55 or...) years old.  Is it ridiculous for me
	    to consider ballet classes?
    3.5. I'm thinking of returning to ballet after --- years; how should I
	    start?  Are there videos I can buy?
    3.6. I'm a man.  I feel funny about taking ballet classes.  I mean,
	    isn't it...er...a little...?
    3.7. Okay, I'm starting ballet.  What equipment do I need?
    3.8. I'm a guy!  Do I *have* to wear tights?
    3.9. Where can I buy dancewear?
    3.10. How can I make a tutu?
    3.11. How do I find/choose a school or teacher?
    3.12. How can I tell if a teacher is good?
    3.13. If the teacher makes me feel good, won't I become overconfident?
    3.14. I live in ----; where can I take classes?
    3.15. I don't know a thing about ballet and I'm trying to select a
	    school for my child.  What should I look for?
    3.16. What is this "Dolly Dinkle" business, anyway?
    3.17. What about studying in a university dance department?
    3.18. Where can I find out about Summer dance programs?
    3.19. I took my first class and I couldn't understand what was going on!
    3.20. I keep getting mixed up!
    3.21. What is "B-plus"?
    3.22. What are the basic movements in dance?
    3.23. How can I learn to raise my leg over my shoulder, the way I see
	    other dancers doing?
    3.24. When can my daughter start toe dancing?
    3.25. I'm an adult beginner.  Am I too old for pointe?
    3.26. I'm 5'7" (or whatever) high.  Am I too tall for ballet?
    3.27. What is a career in dancing like?
    3.28. My daughter's gym classes are interfering with her ballet
	    training.  What can I do to make the school listen?
    3.29. How can I build a proper floor for dancing?
    3.30. How high should a ballet barre be?
    3.31. I'm job hunting.  Any tips for preparing a resume?

================

3. Ballet, Modern Dance, and You


3.1. When should I start taking ballet?

	The answer to that depends on how old you are.  Children must wait
until their bones are strong enough to stand the strain that dancing will
put on them.  Opinions differ as to exactly when that happens, and it
depends a great deal on the individual, but it seems to be somewhere
between ages six and nine.  Younger children will often profit from special
dance classes, in which the emphasis is on rhythm, spatial sense, musical
sense, and placement.

	If you are older than that, the answer is, right away.  The sooner
you start, the better.  If you start in your teens, you may be able to
dance professionally, or you may not.  Igor Youskevitch didn't start until
he was 22, and he became a star; but he was Igor Youskevitch.  By that age,
most people can look forward to ballet only as a recreation.  (But it is a
*wonderful* recreation!)


3.2. When should I start taking modern dance?

	Opinions vary; some say, Right away; others say, After you've had
a year or two of ballet to lay a foundation.  A great deal depends on the
individual.  Ballet teaches a vocabulary of movement which has largely been
rejected by modern dance; and some people find that ballet inhibits the
kind of movement favored in modern dance.  But ballet is unparallelled for
strengthening your body and for teaching you to think of it as an instru-
ment of dance.  For many people, the ideal may be to take ballet and modern
concurrently, if that's feasible.


3.3. I'm in my early twenties; it it too late for me to start a
professional career in ballet?

	It's not impossible--it has been done before--but the odds are
against it.  Leigh Witchel offers more details:

    The average age of a woman starting ballet is between eight and eleven,
    of a man, often in his teens.  Later is not unheard of; Melissa Hayden
    began at 15, Igor Youskevitch at 22.  A word of warning, however:  As
    you grow older, developing flexibility is infinitely more difficult.
    If you do not have a natural facility, you will be fighting an uphill
    battle the whole way and may find the pain too great to be worth it.
    Also, for a woman, developing the ankle strength and articulation of
    the feet necessary for pointe work takes around five years, which adds
    another handicap.  Moreover, at the onset of training, you can really
    only take so many classes a week without risking injury.  So the roads
    of an amateur and professional do not diverge until at least a little
    way into training.  At that point, take a good look at what you are
    doing, your progress in relation to others, and how happy it is making
    you.  Are you ready to play a game of catch-up that may be sisyphean?
    It may be worth the struggle.

See also the following question.


3.4. I'm 35 (or 45 or 55 or...) years old.  Is it ridiculous for me to
consider ballet classes?

	This topic has come up repeatedly.  The answer is No.  We have a
number of dancers on a.a.b. who started in their thirties or later.  Many
of them hesitated at first, then plunged in.

	It would be ridiculous only if you were contemplating a career in
ballet at that age; most ballet dancers retire in their forties.  (There
have been some notable exceptions, however: Auguste Bournonville [Question
4.8.2] choreographed roles for dancers in their sixties; in his _Memoirs_
Casanova describes a dazzling bravura performance by Louis Dupr'e, who was
then sixty; and Pavel Gerdt continued to dance until he was 70.)  But if
you are 45 or older, you are presumably not looking for a professional
career.  The consensus on a.a.b. is that if your body can still handle the
exertion, you can start at any age.  The King of Sweden was still playing
tennis in his nineties.  Ballet is tougher than tennis, but if you can
handle it...why not?  (Someone on the Net wrote, "Socrates learned to dance
when he was 70 because he felt that an essential part of himself had been
neglected."  And one poster on this group was in a class with a World War
II veteran who started taking classes at the age of 72.)

	Much the same answer applies to taking modern dance, with increased
force.  Aging affects modern dancers much less than it does ballet dancers;
modern dancers will keep performing almost until they drop.

	One of the main problems for older dancers, particularly in ballet,
is getting the teacher to take you seriously, and the older you get, the
more acute this problem becomes.  Ballet is the most ageist of the arts,
after all.  But pursuing an art as a recreation doesn't preclude pursuing
it seriously and knocking yourself out to do the absolute best you can at
it.  Many teachers don't seem to realize this.  You should be getting cor-
rections the same as other, younger dancers.  You are paying for instruc-
tion, not just for space, an accompanist, and the balletic equivalent of a
square-dance caller.  Most teachers will judge your seriousness by how hard
you work in class and how regularly you come to class.  But if you are
working hard and still feel you aren't being taken seriously as a dancer,
complain.  Don't let them treat you as if you had accidentally doddered
into a ballet class on your way to the nearest Senior Center.

	Other observations on this topic from people on a.a.b. follow.
Note that many of these apply equally well to dancers starting in their
late teens or twenties (Question 3.3).

    1. Take classes as often as you can.  At the very start, it may not be
    a good idea to overdo it, but once your body is up to it, try for at
    least three classes a week.  Learning is much faster then.  Two people
    on this group report that the brain adapts physically in response to
    classes and that this adaptation progresses more rapidly if you take
    several classes per week.

    2. In older dancers--as well as with younger dancers--many of the big-
    gest problems are intellectual, not physical.  It takes a great deal of
    concentration to remember the steps that go into a given exercise.  The
    ability to remember how a combination goes does not generally come
    naturally; it must be learned.  Many newcomers are alarmed at the fact
    that their minds are not up to this; but it takes time for the mind to
    pick up this ability.  It also takes time for the various steps--and
    there are so many of them!--to get "into your muscles" so you can do
    them and link them together at short notice.

    3. Discouragement is the beginning dancer's worst enemy.  Many of us
    have been dismayed to discover that ballet is much more difficult than
    we would have expected.  It is particularly disheartening the first
    couple of times when you find that you just can't do some combination
    at all and have to stand on the side watching the others.  And even
    after that passes--which it will--you may still feel that you are the
    worst klutz in the class.  But (a) everybody else will be too worried
    about their own performance to notice you and (b) many on this group
    have reported that, when they had a moment to look around, they
    discovered that the others are doing no better than they were.

    4. As an older dancer you have the advantages of greater maturity,
    life experience, and motivation.  Older dancers tend to listen more
    carefully and to make a more serious effort to follow instructions.
    Indeed, one of the dangers is that you may try so hard that you forget
    that you are here to dance.  Occasionally it helps just to forget about
    all the technicalities (for a moment), loosen up, and just dance.

Finally, a word from Shannon:
    Personally I love teaching adults and would probably quit teaching if
    I couldn't have at least one class with them.  I always come away from
    the studio with a smile on my face.


3.5. I'm thinking of returning to ballet after -- years; how should I
start?  Are there videos I can buy?

	Your best bet is to look for a school (question 3.11), just as if
you were starting for the first time.  There's not much you can learn from
watching videotapes; the consensus of the group has been that your money
is much better spent on classes.  Steve Keeley put his finger on the main
failing of dance videos: they can't give you corrections.  You may want to
observe a class, if you can, and see how it looks.  If you still remember
enough (in your mind and your muscles), you will quickly find your proper
level, but take a beginners' class when you first go back.


3.6.  I'm a man.  I feel funny about taking ballet classes.  I mean, isn't
it...er...a little...?

	Well, it isn't easy for a man to start ballet, at least in English-
speaking countries.  There are a number of reasons for this.  (1)  There
seems to be a persistent feeling, at least in our culture, that dancing of
any kind is somehow *unmanly.*  (2) We wear those tights, showing off our
legs, our butts, and our male endowment: surely no "normal" man would go
about dressed like that, even on stage!  (3) Some of the movements in
ballet, especially the use of the arms, look a little...well...flowery.
(4) Many male dancers have been gay and have made little or no attempt to
conceal the fact.

Let's look at these points.

	(1) When I was a kid, nobody ever said explicitly that dancing was
unmanly, but the idea was somehow in the air.  (In grade school they tried
teaching us folk dancing; the girls loved it; we boys hated it.)  If you've
internalized this attitude, then you have a real obstacle to overcome if
you've ever contemplated ballet classes or have had them urged upon you.
All I can say is that a ballet class is not a lot of effeminate flouncing
about.  It's damned hard work, demanding precision, discipline, concen-
tration, and control.  It's not for wimps.  Take one ballet class, and
you'll discover that; it will hit you like a ton of bricks, and the next
day you'll ache from one end of your body to the other.

	I should point out that classes aren't like performances.  Most
of the classic ballets are about legends, fairy tales, or supernatural
beings like enchanted swans.  This kind of thing tends to be off-putting
for many men, and the notion that this must be what classes are like
is likely to repel any man.  But ballet classes are nothing like that.
They aren't about swans.  They're about speed, coordination, stamina, and
strength.  You can be sure Knute Rockne didn't send football players to
ballet classes so they could imitate swans on the playing field.

	(2) Dancewear is related to those demands.  Dance involves your
entire body, and there is great emphasis not only on how you move, but on
how you hold yourself.  In performance, every movement must be shown off
to best advantage to the audience, and in class, every movement must be
subjected to the minutest scrutiny from your teacher.  The ideal, I
suppose, would be to dance naked, but since this is generally unacceptable,
the clothes worn must reveal everything, especially the muscles of the legs
and hips.  Hence the use of leotards and tights, designed to be as
revealing--and unforgiving--as possible within the limits of decency.

	(3) The movements in ballet arise from three traditions: folk
dancing, the body language of the 16th-century French court, and fencing.
(Think of how a fencer holds his free arm, for example.)  The use of the
arms was strongly influenced by the last two of these traditions and was
further refined as ballet was transformed from an amateur activity to a
professional, theatrical art.  If it bothers you when the teacher tells
you to move the arm slowly and gracefully...well, that's just part of the
tradition, and you just have to get used to it.

	(4) As for gay men in dance, sure, there are many gay dancers.
There are also many gay accountants, athletes, clergymen, construction
workers, engineers, journalists, lawyers, policemen, politicians,
professors, scientists, writers...the list goes on and on.  If gays are
more visible in ballet, it's probably because there has been, historically,
less prejudice in the performing arts and, in ballet, more emphasis on
sheer ability.

	But the gay guys are in class for the same purpose as the straight
guys and the gay and straight women--to develop and improve their technique
and style in one of the most difficult and exacting arts known to man.  If
being around gay men makes you nervous, then yes, you are going to be
uncomfortable in a ballet class (and lots of other places as well).  I can
only suggest, repectfully, that you do what I had to do myself: grow up and
become more secure in your own sexuality.

	Many times, actually, you'll find you're the only man in the class.
If you're serious and work hard, the women will love having you there.  You
will be surrounded by young women who are as scantily clad as you are.  You
are there to work, not to ogle, but there's no denying that it's *very*
pleasant to work in such company.  And yes, it's a great place to meet
girls.  And when you dance across the floor, you can watch the girl in
front of you and try to dance with her, as if the two of you were partners.
It isn't as good as actual partnering, but it adds a great deal to the
enjoyment of a class, and I think it improves your dancing.

	I'll tell you this: once you are caught up in a ballet class and
struggling with the work, you don't have time to be worried about
"manliness."

	And if you contemplate a professional career, the prejudice will
work in your favor.  Aspiring ballerinas are abundant, but male dancers are
a scarce commodity.  Someone once told me that, in the 1950s, all a man had
to do to get a job with American Ballet Theatre was be able to walk without
crutches!  That's no doubt an exaggeration, and very unfair to ABT and
their dancers, but it suggests what the employment situation can be for a
man.


3.7. Okay, I'm starting ballet.  What equipment do I need?

	For males, tights, a T-shirt (or, optionally, a leotard), a dance
belt, and shoes.  For females, tights, a leotard, and shoes.  For either
sex, a "unitard" (a single garment combining tights and top) is also
acceptable.  Modern dancers tend to go barefoot and are less likely to wear
tights.

	Tights and T-shirt (tucked in) are the traditional wear for ballet
classes.  They offer an unobstructed view of the leg muscles all the way up
to the hip where turnout (Question 2.9) originates.  But these days, things
have become very casual, and in many schools dancers may be seen wearing
anything from bicycle shorts to warmup pants.  Studios are rarely air-
conditioned, because the muscles are more supple and flexible when warm,
and in hot weather bare legs are commonplace.  Unitards with legs cut off
in mid-thigh are popular.  When in doubt, ask your teacher or observe what
others in the class wear.

	The tights can be running tights of the kind you can get in most
sporting-goods stores; but hold out for solid colors.  Some teachers are
fussy about colors and others aren't; moreover, some schools have a dress
code in which color indicates your level in the school.  When in doubt,
ask your teacher before you buy.  Otherwise, black or navy blue is a safe
choice for men and black or pink is a safe choice for women.  Lycra tights
are much more forgiving in the matter of fit than all-nylon ones are.
Men's tights must not sag at the crotch: use suspenders, use a belt (draw
the tights up high and roll them over the belt), or wear a unitard.  The
sensible thing would be to wear a leotard over the tights to keep them
pulled up, but for some unfathomable reason only women wear leotards over
the tights; men who wear leotards wear them *under* the tights.  (This rule
has been frequently, and successfully, challenged, however.)  Footed tights
look better, but unfooted ones are less apt to sag; if you choose to wear a
unitard, you may prefer an unfooted one.

	A dance belt is the dancer's equivalent of an athletic supporter.
(Don't try to get by with a supporter; get the belt.)  It's a funny-looking
thing, designed to prevent elastic lines showing through the tights.  It
holds the male organs up against the abdomen, to avoid strains on the sup-
porting ligaments.  The wide fabric panel in front supports the virilia;
the narrow strap in the back fits between the buttocks to hold the belt in
place.  A dance belt takes some getting used to, but it is essential for
ballet training, since it affords the teacher an unobstructed view of the
muscles in the upper thigh.  NEVER try to dance without the belt; doing so
entails the risk of abdominal strains which can be very painful and may
take several days to subside.  (There is also a discussion of dance belts
in the alt.lycra FAQ at http://members.aol.com/rg1004/lycra.faq.html.)

	The shoes are ordinary ballet shoes; pointe shoes come later on.
Fitting ballet shoes is a real art.  They should be tight but not painfully
so; if you can, get a teacher or an experienced dancer to check the fit.
Leather shoes tend to stretch with time; canvas ones tend to shrink if
washed.  They come to about $30 here in New York.  Not a bad price, IMHO,
and once they begin to wear out, they make *wonderful* house slippers.

	There is a narrow lace that runs around the entire top of the shoe;
you tighten this to hold the shoe on.  For many dancers' feet, this isn't
enough, so shoes normally come with a pair of elastic bands, which may be
used to help keep the shoe on.  The ends of the elastic are sewn onto the
top of the shoe at a point just below the ankle bone.  (Make sure the
stitches do not pass through that lace, or it may not move freely.)  Some
dancers attach the elastic in a single loop; others make two pieces that
cross over the foot.  If you're as clumsy at sewing as I am, you can secure
the elastic in the desired position with rubber cement.  This isn't strong
enough for actual wear, but it will hold the elastic in place while you're
sewing it.


3.8.  I'm a guy!  Do I *have* to wear tights?

	For some reason, many men have problems with this, especially
teenagers.  And yes, you probably have to.  They're worn for a reason, not
just to make you look ridiculous or like a sex object .  Your teacher
needs to be able to see how the muscles in your legs work, as explained
in the previous question.  Any garment that obscures these lines interferes
with proper instruction.

	I suppose you could get by wearing some of the alternatives men-
tioned in the previous question; but what's the matter with tights, anyway?
They're worn in the gym, by cyclists, by joggers, even on the ski slopes.
There may well be more men wearing tights to-day than at any previous time
in history.  So why worry about wearing them in ballet class?

	One other point: When you start ballet, you are entering a new
world, a completely different one with its own standards, ends, and customs.
Such an experience is a rare gift, one not granted to everybody, and you
should make the most of it.  You should relish all the little peculiarities
of the balletic tradition as well as the hard work in class.  For me these
peculiarities include the funny clothes we wear; these are as much a part
of ballet as the gown and wig worn by Horace Rumpole are a part of English
law.  (And if you think tights are strange, wait until you see how ballet
shoes are made.)


3.9. Where can I buy dancewear?

	There are stores that specialize in dancewear.  Try the Yellow
Pages; look at the ads in a magazine like Dance Magazine; or look in the
files `mailorder.txt' and `shoes.txt' in the Dancers' Archive.

	It's harder to find dancewear for men than for women, because the
market is smaller and many places do not stock clothing for men, or stock
only a very limited selection.  For men's tights, try sporting-goods
stores, and remember also that tights are unisex.  As long as you don't get
sheer pink tights with red spangles, who's going to know whether you're
wearing men's or women's?  In cases of absolute desperation, you can try
women's non-dance tights, available in any department store--but be warned
that they're usually very sheer and look funny on a man.  If you have to
resort to these, try a light color: the sheerness is not as obvious in that
case.  (And beware of that conspicuous gusset or panel between the legs on
many brands that marks them as women's tights.  That can be embarrassing
if you should do a cambr'e forward or a promenade en arabesque.  I've seen
some women's tights by Danskin that do not have the panel.)

	Buying shoes is troublesome, because it takes time to learn how to
tell when a shoe fits properly.  (It must fit like a glove.)  Salespeople
in dancewear stores may or may not know.  It may be a good idea to show the
shoes on your feet to your teacher and get him/her to pass on them.


3.10.  How can I make a tutu?

I know of two sources of information.  First, _Beginning Ballet_, by Joan
Lawson (London: A & C Black, New York: Theatre Arts, 1994, ISBN 0-87830-
056-2), has some simple designs for dance costumes, including a tutu.
Second, Claudia Folts has written a set of four books (see the Reading
List, Section 6.1.12) that provide instructions and patterns.  They are
available from
    Tutu.Com
    PO Box 472287,
    Charlotte, N.C.  28247-2287   USA
    (704) 542-2433
    Fax: (704) 542.1564
    Orders: (800) 420-2080
    Email: tutuclub@aol.com
    Web: http://www.tutu.com

3.11. How do I find/choose a school or teacher?

	If you know any dancers, ask them.  If you don't, look in the
Yellow Pages under dance instruction.  You can also call the city's leading
dance company (if you have one) and ask whether they have a school.
There's also an extensive database on dance schools at
    http://www.pav.org/schools/CITYSEARCH.HTML
And you can post in this group.  If there are more than one studio, as
there will be in large cities, go and try them all out.  You will soon know
when you are being well taught (see the next question).

	Here are some of the things you should look for:

    Does the class conform to the traditional format--barre, _adage_, and
    allegro?  A place that offers something like ballet, jazz, and tap in
    a single class is not the place for you (unless there's no other choice
    where you live).  Anything but pure, undiluted ballet (or modern) is
    not for you.  Even if you plan eventually to dance in another
    tradition, ballet is the place to start.

    If you're an adult, do they offer a special introductory course for
    absolute beginners?  Such courses are rare, but priceless; go for one
    if it's offered.

    Are you made to feel that you are really *dancing*, right from the
    first exercises at the barre?  Is dance taught as movement or only as
    static poses?

    How much individual attention and correction do you get?  An experi-
    enced dancer can do with less, but a beginner needs a great deal.

    Does the teacher instruct you in the use of the head and arms, even
    at the barre, or does (s)he just let your arms hang down like limp
    spaghetti?  A great deal of what makes theatrical dance theatrical
    is the way the dancer uses his or her head and arms.  The audience
    probably notices these more than the feet.

    Does the teacher show a good working knowledge of anatomy, and does
    (s)he pass that knowledge on to you?

    How does the teacher look when (s)he moves?  Do you enjoy watching him/
    her move?  We learn in part by conscious or unconscious imitation; is
    your teacher someone you want to imitate?

    Do they take time to show you how to do an unfamiliar step?  Many
    teachers seem to expect you to pick a step up by watching the others;
    but watching the others is a bad habit.  It makes you rely on the
    others instead of developing concentration.

    What is the atmosphere?  Is it a warm, pleasant place to be?  A good
    teacher explains, challenges, and encourages students--and answers
    their questions--without being condescending or putting them down.  A
    good teacher gains the respect of his/her class by showing respect for
    them.

    How long is the class?  The standard is an hour and a half; some
    studios give you only an hour and a quarter, which is too rushed.
    Other things being equal, hold out for the full hour and a half.

    Do they have a live accompanist, or taped music?  Some excellent
    schools use tape, but a live accompanist is nearly always better.
    Do they have you dance to fine (classical) music?

	Barbara Early's book, _Finding the Best Dance Instruction_ (see
the References in Part 4) is an excellent guide.

	One final word:  Don't be put off by a ratty-looking studio.
Ballet schools are frequently hand-to-mouth operations, with little or no
money to spare for decor or even maintenance, and the best instruction I
ever had anywhere was in an atrociously ugly, shabby, and depressing plant.


3.12. How can I tell if a teacher is good?

	I don't know whether you can, at the very start, although if (s)he
makes class an unpleasant experience, (s)he's bad.  One way to find out is
to shop around if you can.  The guidelines in question 3.11 should help.
After you've tried three or four, you will know who's good, or good for
you, at any rate.  Part of the problem is that a good teacher for one
dancer may not be so for another.  The ideal teacher is the one who gives
you what you need just now.  Again, don't hesitate to *shop around*,
even if you feel satisfied with your current teacher.  Many people have
discovered wonderful teachers just because their regular teacher was, for
some reason, unavailable.


3.13. If the teacher makes me feel good, won't I become overconfident?

	Ballet is a difficult and exacting art, and for most of us progress
is slow.  Because of this, the danger isn't overconfidence but discourage-
ment.  Besides, people who feel good about themselves tend to perform
better at most things than people who don't.  If you are seriously worried
about this, try alternating classes with a "feel-good" teacher and a
fusser.  The feel-good teacher will keep you dancing and the fusser will
keep you honest.  (The ideal is a teacher who does both.)  In any case,
feeling good really comes from knowing you have given the class your best
effort (and the *best* feeling comes the day you discover you can do a step
or combination you never imagined you could do).


3.14. I live in ----; where can I take classes?

	Again, look in the yellow pages or ask around.  There is also a
listing in the back of Dance Magazine every month.  A project is in the
works to compile a directory of schools for the Dancers' Archive.  There's
no telling, at this point, when it will be ready or how comprehensive it
will be.  But you can also post that question to this group; that's one of
the things this group is for.

Another alternative, if you are looking for a school outside your own area,
is to use the nationwide Yellow Pages, available on CD-ROM at many public
libraries.  Look for Dance Instruction and copy the names.  You may be
able to get further information on schools from Dance/USA.  Bonnie Brooks
writes:
      Dance/USA has listings and Member Profiles on all of its member
      companies available (there is a cost for the Member Profiles), as
      well as local and regional dance service organizations.  Address
      and phone:
		Dance/USA
		1156 15th Street N.W. Suite 820
		Washington, DC	20005
		phone:	(202)833-1717
		fax:  (202)833-2686
		email:	danceusa@tmn.com
      If there are particular cities you're interested in, we can also look
      at our entire database of dance companies (including non-members) to
      give you information about dance activity in particular cities.  We
      don't have extensive information about non-members, but either way it
      would be a start.

	You can also consult colleges and universities in your area.  Dance
Magazine publishes an annual College Guide, usually announced in their
February or March issue.  The current (1996) price is $20.45 (US) including
postage and handling; write to 33 West 60th Street, 10th Floor, New York,
New York 10023 or call (212) 245-9050.

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