DANIELLA
PARISOT
Dance Educator, Choreographer, Performer
Teaching
Photo by Daniella Parisot
Daniella Parisot has over ten years of teaching experience in ballet, pointe, contemporary, and many other dance forms for ages 5 to adult.
Throughout her formal ballet pedagogy education, Daniella studied under and was closely mentored by Stephen Pier (Hamburg Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, José Limón Company, The Juilliard School), Carol Roderick (member of the professional division faculties at Boston Ballet School, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The HARID Conservatory, Tulsa Ballet School, and who credits her formal pedagogical training of former Bolshoi Ballet’s Jürgen Schneider and the Kirov/Mariinsky’s Gabriela Komleva), Hilda Morales, (American Ballet Theater, Philadelphia Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Hartford Ballet), and Debra Collins-Ryder (Hartford Ballet). Parisot credits them and her many other instructors for significantly influencing her method and style of teaching.
She is currently on the ballet faculty of the Centennial Youth Ballet at the Metro Parks Dance Division in Nashville, TN, and teaches in the surrounding metro area.
Parisot has been described as a meticulous and detail-oriented instructor. Alongside sharing her love for dance and creating an inclusive, empathetic, and equally challenging environment, she is committed to furthering her students' education and understanding of their anatomical structure through strong, progressional-based training. She enjoys using her knowledge and passion of Vaganova's methodologies to help her students develop continual strength, elasticity, and musicality in their movement.
"In today's dance world, there is a strong focus on giving students more vocabulary than one is technically ready for in a classical ballet setting, whether due to age, muscular or emotional development. The fear is that students will grow bored. From my experience and through much trial and error, giving students material that is technically appropriate but still demanding allows the individual and the entire class to thrive. With slow, buildable progression, on which classical ballet is already based, the student's physicality develops appropriately, and the results are far more worth it. There are less injuries and more room for mental and physical development (i.e., growth spurts), and the students will have a more efficient time adding dance vocabulary as time progresses. Consistency here is critical. However, teaching proper and robust techniques is only one thing that allows students to thrive. Creating a healthy and safe space for your students to learn through their own trial and error is the most important. It is not only the job of a dance instructor to teach students how to develop their technique and artistry, but also how to assess their dancing through a kind and neutral lens. Practicing self-confidence because confidence prompts technical and artistic clarity. Now, this doesn't just apply to classical ballet but to all dance forms. How one teaches that form truly matters."
"A dear mentor once said to me, "If you don't like what is happening in your classroom or how things are looking, it is your responsibility to look at yourself and change what you are doing." This includes the material you are giving and how you demonstrate it. There is so much pressure nowadays on young dancers to develop everything independently in the classroom— as if their entire technical development is their responsibility. I hear it all the time, "But they just don't get what I'm saying," "It's up to them," and although sometimes that can be true, most times I find that a student has yet to comprehend what I am asking of them because I just have not said it in a way that clicks for their brain and learning style. I believe it is the teacher's responsibility to give students the correct tools to grow, and if something isn't working, it is up to us to explain things differently." That responsibility is something I take incredibly seriously."
Progressing Ballet Technique, Ballet Teacher Feature
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