I can’t recommend the following professionals and resources enough!
*Please note, these are my personal recommendations and do not necessarily reflect my employers’.*

MY YOUTUBE PLAYLIST FOR STUDENTS
Performance and class videos, documentaries, tutorials on hair, make-up and pointe shoes including darning, etc

MY SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
Click here for all my playlists
Click here for a playlist of all the story ballets available on Spotify (as of summer 2024)

PHOTOS and VIDEOS
The most incredible photos taken in an environment where you’ll learn so much about yourself as well as technique with ex-ballet dancer and teacher Rachel Neville. Also the best headshots! (Mention me)
Rachel Neville Photography
Rachel on Instagram

RACHEL NEVILLE’S LEOTARD GUIDES
2023 leotard guide (from Archive.org – not perfect since it’s no longer available on her site, but gives you an idea) Previous guides available. Contact me to talk about it.

POINTE SHOE FITTINGS
Nicole Ligioso, the Pointe Shoe Oracle, master pointe shoe fitter
Contact Nicole (Mention me)

From Nicole:

As a master pointe shoe fitter, my passion is to find the best possible pointe shoe for each dancer. A dancer en pointe needs a shoe that will highlight their foot as well as demonstrate technical functionality. The wrong pointe shoe can undermine a student’s progress and can also interfere with future advancement in the classroom and on the stage.

As you may have heard, we have closed the Benicia Dancewear boutique. However, I am still offering remote personal consultations to assist students and professionals find the best possible pointe shoes. Zoom appointments are now available!

• $50 fee for the first 2 appointments. The first appointment includes: interview, history, measurements, current pictures, and advice. A list of pointe shoes with sizes is sent after initial intake. Second appointment consists of choosing the best shoes.
• Once the dancer is on the roster, they can book 15 min Zoom or Facetime calls for follow up shoes and trouble shooting for $25.

BODYWORK
Movement Specialist and Bodyworker Extraordinaire: Robert Van Buren
In person in NYC and virtually anywhere.
[email protected] (Mention me)

Robert has worked with dancers from:

Ballet Academy East
Ellison Ballet
Gelsey Kirkland Academy
JKO
Joffrey
Juilliard
Master Ballet Academy
SAB

ABT
Alvin Ailey
Armitage Gone Dance
Ballet Hispanico
Ballet X
Bayerisches Ballet Munchen
Colorado Ballet
Complexions
Dance Theater of Harlem
Finnish National Ballet
Martha Graham
MetOpera
Milwaukee ballet
New York City Ballet
Norwegian National
Tulsa Ballet
Vienna State Ballet
and more!

Here is why I recommend seeing Robert. What he offers is very different than a doctor or physical therapist. He is trained to see the body as a whole and specializes in working with dancers and athletes. He roots out the cause of whatever is going on, whether it’s a current injury, or something that is limiting the dancer or may be going on under the surface and could lead to an injury. He then educates the dancer while working on the issue(s).

Though I am able to see a lot of the symptoms of the imbalances in my students’ bodies, the reasons are beyond my area of expertise and why I refer my students to Robert, someone I trust completely and who will work with me to make sure my students are healthy and utilizing their bodies as well as possible. I tell him what I see in class and he offers complementary practices that will lead to greater progress in the classroom, always letting me know how it’s going and what to look out for.

Generally, he will ask for videotaped tests ahead of the first session which then consists of a full body assessment. You will receive his assessment via email after. After that, depending on the severity of what is going on, he will recommend how often to see him. The more the dancer is diligent about doing their “homework”, the less often are sessions necessary other than to progress the exercises.

Here is something Robert wrote:

“When dealing with issues of a chronic nature in an athlete, it’s imperative to assess the functionality of the body as a whole. Allopathic or symptom-based treatments for chronic issues are rarely successful. The reason for that is that there are often multiple reasons for a problem ending up in a particular area. The painful or restricted area is the result of other issues and is rarely the problem itself.

The primary concern when dealing with an athlete or a dancer is how they are moving: the functionality of their movement patterns. In every joint, there is an ideal range and pattern of movement. Anything outside that range or of an altered pattern will eventually cause stress to build up in the body including the tissues and articular structures. The end result is altered and ineffective movement patterns followed by compensatory patterns and then finally by pain.

So the goal is to restore normal movement in the joints and normal movement patterns in the body as a whole. This gives the dancer the best chance to deal with the stresses of dance and there’s also a major performance benefit as well.

So how does a dancer/athlete achieve this more balanced state? It starts with a better knowledge of how the body actually works. It’s the brain and the nervous system that control the body but what makes up the body is just as important. Everyone is familiar with the major components of the body including the nervous system, the skeleton, the muscular system and the organs, but it’s the system of connective tissue called fascia that connects, protects, shapes and holds everything in its proper place. When the brain initiates a movement, it does this via a complex series muscle chains. It’s the fascia that creates these chains and connections.

So when there are issues in the body, especially with movement, we look to these fascial connections for the answers. When viewing the body and its functionality through these fascial connections, we can make long lasting positive changes in movement and functionality. I don’t treat pain but the altered movement patterns that cause the pain.”

Addressing issues in the human body whether they be pain, tightness or limitation, loss of functionality, etc requires a fundamental understanding of how the human body actually works. Many approaches to the human body over the years have been a bit reductionist as they tend to focus mostly on the musculoskeletal system and on specific areas of that system such as the hips/ back /ankles etc. Human movement is a very complex issue involving many areas and systems. All of these are integrated at a central level to allow for functional movement. Focusing on specific areas or issues without relating it to how we move as a whole doesn’t make much sense. We don’t move in pieces, so why would we treat the body in pieces?

The missing element that basically completes the picture is a type of connective tissue called fascia. It is a very complex type of tissue that has multiple roles including giving the body its integrity, shape, and structure. But more importantly it’s what connects everything from head to toe, including the entirety of the musculoskeletal system. The brain relies on these connections to coordinate movement patterns from simple to very complex. Almost all types of dysfunction in the body stem from less than ideal movement patterns so a diagnostic of an individual’s movement patterns will tell us where in the fascial system we need to look for answers. 

Fascia can become injured (torn, compressed, thickened, folded etc) and when that happens the brain struggles to initiate and control movement efficiently. The result is increased tension within the nervous and musculoskeletal system. Thus often results in postural deviations, twists, tilts, tightness and pain etc. So our goal is to restore functionality by rebooting the fascial system so the brain can execute more normal movement patterns. 

Because it is movement or movement dysfunction that will tell us where we need to look for answers, I am able to use the video tests and some live tests on Zoom to assess where we need to begin. I developed the Zoom protocol during Covid as a way of helping my clients and use it now to work with current clients who are dancing in companies throughout the world. Once I determine through the tests what the fascial issue might be, I guide the client to the area and then instruct the client how to specifically self treat the area. It’s proven quite effective and there’s the additional benefit that clients learn how to self treat and take care of themselves. 

The assessment session consists of discussing the client’s issues and some basic theory and explanation of what needs to be done. A few live assessment tests are done as well followed by the beginning of guided self treatment with the time remaining. Follow up sessions consist of a brief reassessment followed by more thorough guided self treatment and reintegration exercises.

There are always 3 phases to this type of treatment:

– The first is the release of the restricted fascia which I’ve discussed. 

– The second is reintegration of movement patterns as often a new pattern needs to be implemented into the nervous system. I guide the client through specific home exercises. 

– And the final piece is movement which in most dancer’s cases is dance or ballet. So the changes from the first 2 phases are applied specifically to dance.”

ROLFING (structural integration work)
Rolfing for Children – Karen Price

A highly experienced Rolfer, one of a very few worldwide who specializes in working with children, Karen had her own studio and maintained a thriving practice in Palo Alto for over 41 years before relocating. She comes to the Bay Area every few weeks to work. My students have had very good results with her work.

Here is something Karen wrote:

“Rolfing is a hands on structural approach. Some of the many benefits of a short series of Rolfing Structural Integration for children include rapid results in function as well as visible structure. This developmental and evolutionary growth includes both movement patterns and ability as well as behavioral improvement and maturity.”

For more information, to schedule a session or a complementary consultation, please visit her website and mention me.

Lorenz Schweitzer – Certified Advanced Rolfer
I highly recommend Lorenz for anyone in San Francisco! Very different than Robert above but wonderful as well. Let him know I sent you.
For more information and to schedule a session, please visit his website and mention me.

HOMEOPATHY
Though I grew up with homeopathy in France, it wasn’t until Fall 2025 when I fractured my radial head and hurt my wrist very badly that I realized the true power of homeopathy. After needing a second set of X-rays and scheduling an MRI due to the severe and worsening pain in my wrist three weeks after falling, I started taking some remedies (arnica, symphytum, hypericum and ruta graveolens) and just a few days later, the pain was gone! So much so that I canceled the MRI (and saved $1000 to boot!) I’m still in shock at this seeming miracle. Never did I think this possible, and I had even wondered if my arm would ever go back to normal.
Life will never be the same and I will never be able to stop extolling homeopathy.

What is homeopathy?
Homeopathy is a holistic method of healing in which physical, emotional and psychological symptoms are viewed as interrelated and treated as a whole. It is a complete system of natural medicine that works by stimulating the body’s own healing intelligence. Homeopathy does not suppress symptoms, but rather it resonates with, and stimulates the vital force, the energetic blueprint that governs our health and balance, to restore harmony and bring about true healing from within. In some ways, it is similar to acupuncture as it works on an energetic level: you can think of it like “liquid acupuncture”.

There are two parts to homeopathy: acute or clinical homeopathy which deals with current issues such as colds, flus, digestive upset, bug bites, bumps and bruises, etc, and classical homeopathy which attends to chronic conditions and “never well since (…)” by looking back at the person’s entire life journey, and even beyond the person themselves. As such, it treats generational trauma by selecting a single, individualized remedy that resonates with the inherited emotional and energetic patterns allowing the vital force to release ancestral imprints and restore harmony on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels. This healing unfolds layer by layer, gently and deeply, often revealing and resolving long-suppressed family themes.

Homeopathic practitioners prescribe minute doses of substances that are capable of producing symptoms similar to those suffered by a patient, and the remedies, tailored to the specific symptoms and needs of each patient, stimulate the body to heal itself. These remedies are made from plants, minerals, or other natural substances, and are prepared through a specific process of dilution and succussion (vigorous shaking), making them energetic rather than chemical in nature. The smaller the dose of the remedy, the more potent it is. There are no side effects, and it is always completely safe since if the remedy is not matched correctly, it will just not do anything.

Just like Ayurveda, the 5000 year-old medicine of India, homeopathy believes in “like cures like”, sympathy with the body, vs the antipathy used in allopathic medicine. Homeopathy does not suppress symptoms, but rather it stimulates the vital force to restore harmony. When a remedy matches the physical, emotional and/or mental pattern of an ailment, it nudges the body back into alignment and healing can begin. Allopathic medicine, on the other hand, often suppresses symptoms by opposing them using drugs that act in the opposite direction (contraria contrariis). While this may bring temporary relief, it drives the imbalance deeper, forcing the vital force to find new avenues for expression, often resulting in chronic disease.

I highly, highly recommend checking out Melissa Kupsch. It was her podcast appearances which led me to give homeopathy a deeper look. She has a gift for making a complex subject so approachable and interesting. This is her Instagram where she has many teachings, her academy (She currently has 570 students for the first two-year cohort 2024-2026, the largest intake of homeopathy students ever!!! I am thinking about joining her second cohort in September 2026) and her store. I bought her blends (the ingredients are listed here) and various remedies. She has great first aid kits which are wonderful and empowering to have at home. These come with instructions in booklets and there are also online courses to learn more. Homeopathy can also be used on pets, and the anxiety blend is also really helping my cats. I am now working with one of her students.

I am reading (and loving!) Philip M. Bailey MD‘s book Homeopathic Psychology: Personality Profiles of the Major Constitutional Remedies.

I do not have any personal experience with him, but John Melnychuk of the Palo Alto Center for Homeopathy is in the Bay Area and was the homeopath who cured Nasa researcher Amy L. Lansky, PhD‘s son detailed in her book Impossible Cure: The Promise of Homeopathy

Do you want to start exploring your homeopathic constitution and look into your simillimum (the single, ideal constitutional remedy that most closely matches the totality of your physical, emotional, and mental symptoms)? As an easy way to get started, you can ask Chatgpt for some remedies including for acute issues such as colds, flu, headaches, digestive upset, cuts, bug bites, injuries, etc. (Never did I think I would use Chatgpt, but it’s been very helpful for this…) Try this prompt:

Please guide me one section and one question at a time through a structured homeopathic interview to help identify my constitutional type, simillimum, and any relevant miasmic remedies. Use the classical homeopathy lens and include insights from Dr. Luc de Schepper, Dr. Francisco Eizayaga, and Philip M. Bailey, MD. Please also explore my health and life timelines, and any ‘never well since’ moments, as well as previous generations’ health histories and life stories.

I took my time and answered the above interview as in depth as I could (I have done a lot of self-reflection already so that helps) and have never felt so seen!
Enjoy!

YOGA
My root teacher Janet Stone teaches in person in San Francisco, in many places around the world, as well as online. She has many teacher trainings in person and online for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of themselves and their bodies. She changed my understanding of myself and my body for sure. I have assisted her classes since 2013. Find me there most Saturdays when Janet is in town.
Janet’s website, class schedule, Janet’s albums on Spotify and the music she plays in class.

A wonderful book on some of the values of yoga (these are Patanjali’s but there are quite a few more yamas and niyamas in Tantric Shaivism) I highly recommend is The Yamas and Niyamas by Deborah Adele. It really brings the following to life.

The yamas, meaning “restraints,” are comprised of:
Ahimsa – nonviolence
Satya – truthfulness
Asteya – nonstealing
Brahmacharya – nonexcess
Aparigraha – nonpossessiveness

The niyamas, meaning “observances,” are comprised of:
Saucha – purity
Santosha- contentment
Tapas- self-discipline
Svadhyaya- self-study
Ishvara Pranidhana – surrender

Here is a PDF that might be of interest.

Shadow Yoga was also instrumental in my growth. My wonderful teacher Scott Blossom, who was also my Ayurvedic practitioner and Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor, sadly no longer teaches it.
What is Shadow Yoga?

Here are some videos and explanations:

Shadow Yoga warmup

1st Prelude: Balakrama
(Stepping Into Strength) is the first of the Shadow Yoga preludes. It works the feet to release deeply held tension and corrects the actions of the lower body. While practicing this prelude, keep the feet rooted, and the knees relaxed to promote smooth, unencumbered movement. With regular practice, this prelude brings strength and an intuitive use of the limbs.

2nd Prelude: Chaya Yoddha Sancalanam
(Churning of the Shadow Warrior) is the second prelude. Remaining centered in a sequence of warrior stances, the practitioner learns to coordinate movement with breathing and power. It is important to keep the spine relaxed but upright throughout the movements.

My favorite, the 3rd Prelude: Karttikeya Mandala
(The Garland of Light) is the third prelude. It utilises full movement of the limbs in twisting and spiraling movements. The movements contract and expand the body in a rhythmic fashion. As it is a longer, deeper and more rigorous sadhana, the other preludes should be cultivated first before attempting Karttikeya Mandala.

Pure Dance of Shiva – A Glimpse of Lasya

Shadow Yoga teachers are listed here.

TRIGGER POINT THERAPY WORKBOOK
Learn how to keep your body healthy and optimized by self-treating.
Make sure to get the Third Edition. Purchase it anywhere books are sold, including on Amazon. You can also sometimes find it used.

MASSAGE TOOLS for self-treatment
Kid’s bouncy ball for the soles of the feet – you can often purchase singles in Old Navy’s gumball machines. Here are the ones I use in my classes: swirly ones and solid ones.
Lacrosse ball – you should be able to get one for $3. I like these purple ones as purple is my favorite color!
TheraCane – for hard to reach places.

FOAM TOE SPACERS
Small, medium, large and variety packs available.
PediFix® 3-Layer Toe Separators™

INGROWN TOENAIL REMOVAL KIT
I found these ingrown toenail treatment tools on Amazon. Use to pull toenail out of skin and file straight across (unless you have figured out that a different shape works better for you).

ROTATOR DISCS
For turnout strengthening – contact me for a list of exercises.
OPTP® Pro Rotating Discs™ (also available on Amazon)

WHY STRETCHING DOESN’T WORK- A DIFFERENT TAKE
Learn about pandiculation here

RESOURCES FOR BETTER HEALTH
Your guide to safer personal care products.
Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen.
Your guide to sunscreens.
EWG’s Tap Water Database.
Your guide to safer cleaning products.
All EWG consumer guides.