We recently connected with Cassandra Duffy and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cassandra, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started my creative career at a young age after having been randomly assigned dance as a summer class at a camp I attended. I was devastated when I first received my schedule as growing up I was a shy and socially intimidated individual. I didn’t like the idea of having to move or perform in front of others. However it turned out to be my favourite class that summer! Which led me to trying out dance long term at my local dance studio; Dance South Performing Arts located in White House, Tennessee. I was invited to join the conservatory company that gave me the ability to train in a variety of dance genres with a multitude of performance opportunities. These opportunities shaped me into a well-rounded individual and gave me the essential skills to further my professional career. During my last years at the studio I worked as a student assistant, which helped develop my social and leadership skills. I greatly benefited from this as I used these skills during my collegiate career as a student assistant, choreographer, and company member.

With the knowledge I have now, I wished as a student I would have been more active in learning anatomy and kinesiology in dance and how our bodies are affected by the movement. As a college course it allowed me to understand how to properly strengthen my weak points and decrease the chance of injury. Now as an instructor, we take the time to break down the anatomical structure and how a particular movement affects the body. This gives my students the ability to recognize misalignments, apply the correction, and create an injury prevention plan. For example; in ballet we have a term called plié (to bend). This particular movement is a foundational base that prepares the student for more advanced movements. A common correction given is to watch the alignment of the pelvis and not forcing one’s turnout (the rotation of the leg at the hip causing the knees and feet to send outwards). Performing the movement misaligned can cause unnecessary tension within the joints which can lead to the weakening of the muscles increasing injury risk. The misalignment of the pelvis can cause discomfort in the hip socket/joint which can affect the lower back and knees. Having this understanding and skill is an essential component in creating active learning dancers.

Cassandra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Cassandra Duffy is a graduate from Western Kentucky University (WKU). Where she pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance with a Performing Arts Administration Minor. Starting dance at the age of ten, Cassandra comes from a studio with a competitive and performance background; with training in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, and hip-hop. With professional training in ballet, tap, jazz, and modern at WKU; additional training in improvisation, choreography, dance pedagogy, dance anatomy and kinesiology, and dance history. Throughout her collegiate career, Cassandra was a member of WKU’s resident Dance Company, where she performed in each end semester productions. Besides being an active company member, Cassandra presented choreographic works in formal showcase “Dance Project”, along with informal student showcase “Last Chance to Dance”. In previous summers, Cassandra has been a Resident Assistant at the Orlando Ballet Summer Intensive, where she has had the opportunity to train with Phillip Broomhead, former Royal Ballet principle, and award winning choreographer Parker Esse.

Cassandra currently works as an instructor at Dance South Performing Arts Conservatory located in White House, TN. Here at Dance South, we strive to provide a well rounded curriculum to help prepare our students for their future careers. I instructor levels III – VI in various dance genres (ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary and hip-hop) provided here at the studio. Along with instructing, I serve as the rehearsal director for our youth cast of Nutcracker! A Magical Christmas which recently performed at the Fisher Theatre for the Performing Arts located at Belmont University. I, also, currently serve as the Artistic Director for our youth ballet company; Middle Tennessee Youth Ballet, which performed an original piece this past summer at Walt Disney World located in Orlando, Florida.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing your thoughts and visions come to life. How your original idea has been influenced and shaped by the creative environment around you.
Along with laying the technique foundation for dance, as an instructor I also have to opportunity to create routines on/with my students. This is the time where my students and I can collaborate creatively together. I’ll give the core concepts/movement of the choreography and then the students create the transitional phrases (how one movement section flows to the next). It becomes rewarding, when I can see how proud they are of themselves and the work we have created, both in technique and choreography.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2019, I fractured a bone called the Os Trigonum an extra congenital bone that forms in the ankle joint or the talus. The os trigonum becomes present during our adolescence years when a part of the talus does not fuse together. In my younger years I would experience pain and discomfort when I would rise in relevé (a raised position on the ball of the foot). The discomfort would often occur during ballet where we spend a great amount of time balancing in a relevé on flat or in pointe shoes.
In 2019 I was working as a Resident Assistant for Orlando Ballet’s summer intensive. At the end of the 7 week intensive the program holds a show case to allow the student to demonstrate what they have learned. Our class had decided to demonstrate a core section from the ballet, Swan Lake. It was during a rehearsal where the movement had us held in a relevé for an extended period of time that a pop occurred. The pop turned out to be the os trigonun bone fracturing.

The challenges I faced were having to accept compromise. Because of how the bone fractured the best option was to surgically remove it, however this would put me out of dance for a couple of weeks to months. With a full fall semester lined up ahead I put off the surgery until the holiday break; however to ensure I wouldn’t cause further damage to my ankle my professors advised that I not participate in any performance opportunities focusing solely on technique. It was a hard acceptance, as I was eager to learn and perform. But in the end it was what was for the best as my orthopaedic surgeon informed me that dancing for the full fall semester had fractured the bone so severely it had created bone shards. Which put me at high risk of shredding my Achilles tendon. If this had occurred my creative career could have ceased to exist. Now I take the time to throughly think through my options and what the outcome might be and how it would affect my future.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @yeeonja.deopi

Image Credits

Jeremy Cowart
Jennifer Duffy