Semaine 5

Tonight was the official first class of Summer Session at BalletNova. The class was supposed to be led by Perez, but she was away in Chile, so a substitute instructor held tonight's class. It was surprisingly slower-paced compared with Wunder's super-charged class during walk-in week, which I REALLY appreciated as a confidence builder! We started off the class with exercises facing the barre with releves and heel presses in first, fifth and fifth with the other foot in front. Then we did some exercises beginning with tendu dégagé en croix (with passé when switching from front to side, or back to side) on both sides. Next were battement exercises ending in susu (closed Fifth position) and rising in port de bras First, and then Fifth, and then we ended with barre stretches. Next came - DUN DUN DUN... centrework.

Centrework consisted of tondu efface (with port de bras), chasse tendu dégagé to tendu passé (I think) and close behind, pas de bourre, and then repeat on the other side.

Next we did cross floor work with arabesques - and I was in the FIRST cross floor group (yay!)!

pretty arabesque en pointe (since everything looks prettier en pointe)

1) arabesques beginning with develope, then pique, coupe x 4;  (video below)

   

2) sauté arabesques (without the little jump after the arabesque); and 3) sauté passé arabesques (with the little jump after the arabesque)

We looked a little like this, haha:

I went to the public library today and picked up these two ballet DVD's to brush up on terminology while I'm away in Amsterdam next week. The first one is "Ballet 101:  A Beginner's Class", and the other is "Ballet Class for Beginners" with David Howard. BUT, the Ballet 101 DVD isn't working! Oh well, at least I'll have one to watch on my trip! 

There are two more DVD's I'm waiting for the library to transfer over to my branch: "Ballet 201: Beyond the Basics" and "Ballet Class: Intermediate and Advanced" with David Howard. Funny how it worked out that the first DVD's I got ahold of were the intro/beginning ones, and the ones that have yet to arrive are the intermediate/advanced ones! 

Jeff and I will be going for MicroStrategy's World Conference and he'll be busy working until Thursday the 12th. We're extending our stay in Amsterdam to sightsee, experience, and soak up some Amsterdam culture, so we'll be there until July 18th. While I'm there, I plan on going to the Amsterdam Dance Centre and taking a basic ballet class. It's a walk-in fee of 15 euros (about $18 USD) which is pretty reasonable (BalletNova's walk-in fee is $20 for non-enrolled dancers, and $18 for me until I enroll in the Fall, where it'll cost $16 per extra class). Here's the schedule for the Amsterdam Dance Centre (I'll be taking "Klassiek Basic" with Kiki Lorier)

 

I keep going on discountdance.com and lusting after these warm-ups: 

They're Harmonie's cactus/frost (far left) stirrup leg warmers to help keep my bum right ankle stretched, and Body Wrappers' Rip Stop Shorts that keep your hip/groin muscles warm during class, so that (hopefully) my turnout will be better. I still feel so far away from getting an acceptable-looking Fifth Position and even a good deep demi plie :( 

Til next week!