Monday night's class was the most. fun. class. ever!! We had really fun and great barre exercises, a center pirouette exercise along with developpé-pas de bourre tournet exercises, and best of all, we had a ballet dance off at the end of class! It was like a dance off-relay-type thing. The whole class divided into four groups of 6-8 people (yes, class was huge tonight), and each group went to the each corner of the studio. At the start of the music, one person from each group would move in a huge circle doing souté arabesques around and around and around. When that person came back, we traded off with the next person in the group, sort of to see which group finished first. Lots of cheering and clapping, it was just a lot of fun! No video footage. Kelly wasn't at class, plus it's really inappropriate-slash-frowned upon to whip out the iPhone in the middle of class -- which is why all of my videos are post-class. The other centrework exercise we did was
I've been wearing my pointe shoes around the house to break them in, and I'm getting a lot more comfortable standing en pointe and tournet.
They're starting to look a little worn, so they are extra beautiful now :) I'll have to admit, most of the worn-look on my pointes has come from the photo shoot and walking outside in them, hehe... they are pretty nonetheless...
Thursday Night's class was pretty standard, there were only 5 people in attendance so it was a pretty intimate group of adults. I guess Constance Walsh takes the cake for the popularity contest in terms of ballet instruction for adults, since her class was PACKED with people this week.
Anyway, tonight we had some pretty mild run-of-the-mill barre work, but a couple tricky barre exercises that included a developpé/reverse developpé, then degagé exercise that was a bit confusing, pretty fast but easy to catch on after the first round, and a fun temps lié-tendu-flexed foot exercise.
Centerwork consisted of 1/2 pirouette exercises and developpé/passé exercises that really made my thighs burn with long holds! The corner exercise was a super easy routine two-step then grand jeté jumps. It was pretty strange with only 5 of us, because there were very few distractions and quick turnaround for the next person in line! All around, a pretty good week for ballet. I kind of wish that last night's class was a little bit more of a challenge than it was though...
On a sad note, I think I'm catching a cold :(
New Terminology from Week 17 that I forgot: Temps lié - where there is a transfer of weight from one leg to the next with a plié
It's been a while since I've posted, and it feels even LONGER since I've been away from ballet. Thursday night (September 6th) was my first class since my last post (August 16th, Week 11) - THREE whole weeks of a torturous non-ballet "break." It felt so much longer, and after class it truly felt like I hadn't stretched in months. I went to visit my friend Laura in Indiana the weekend of August 24th, and before then, my mom was in town visiting so I didn't go to class. On the way back home from our Indiana trip on the 27th (Monday), Jeff and I stopped for a bite to eat in Ohio where we got T-boned on the driver's (my) side by an out of control Toyota 4Runner while we were stopped at a light. My car had to be towed to a nearby Auto Shop and has been there since. I suffered a minor concussion and back injury and Jeff had a knee sprain. The doggies were safe (thank GOD). Anyhow, even though I was in pain and unable to work- let alone go to ballet class- I was really sad to have missed $10 walk-in week classes!
Thursday night's class at 7:30 PM was with Carol Ann Clark, my favorite instructor (so far). This was my first class of the Fall Session (studio was closed Labor Day), so there were almost all new people in class. Advanced Beginning was also held at the same time so Nobu, Andrea, and Joo (and a few others), the girls we're used to seeing in BBFNB, were probably in that class. Class was pretty full, I think around 15 students - usually we have about 8 or 9. A few of the girls in class were part of Labor Day's make-up class, which explains the large size. Kelly and I fell in around the top part of the middle in terms of technique, I think?
Anyhow, Thursday night's barre work seemed moderately difficult, though it might've just been the time away from the barre that made everything seem harder than it was in reality. Getting our heads back into the game after weeks of fogginess was tough. Kelly and I felt our feet and ankles were just a-floppin'-aboot during the frappe exercises! The splits exercise was a killer- I think my hamstrings were woken up from their long slumber, cause they were aching the entire next day! It's kinda nice to go to class where you aren't necessarily learning NEW terminology. Instead you're cleaning up messy technique, which I was definitely working on. Centrework was kind of confusing. We did this odd combination of things that weren't even hard, per se, it was just a bit confusing... another was a weird jumping exercise. When things are confusing I feel old and mental haha...
The cross floor exercise was a grand jete one, super easy. However, after doing about 8 or 9 of them in groups of 3, a girl starts to get worn out! So by the time the video (below) was taken, this was attempt #14 (solo attempt post-class #5ish). The clip we recorded right before this, I nearly collapsed at the end, haha...
If you ever wanted to know what a Clydesdale horse sounds like in ballet slippers, you'll find out shortly! And I really can't explain my floppy hands. I need to work on: #1 getting up higher in my splits, #2 not sounding like a thompin' clompin' rhino, #3 graceful hands, and #4 maybe a smile or two would make it better. I wanted to start my grand jetes with a chasse, but since we didn't do that in class Kelly said I wasn't allowed to for the video.
Clydesdales doing Grand Jetes:
...Can't wait to get back into the groove!
Next week is Monday 6:15 PM (Walsh) and Thursday 7:30 PM (Clark)
I got my new swag in from Discount Dance Supply! I'd been lusting after some nice legwarmers and trash bag shorts for ballet class (originally mentioned in Semaine 5).
I got some new tights (I'd been wearing my light pink ones this whole time), so I got two new pairs of Slimz convertible tights that are super super soft. I got light tan ones and black ones. In addition to the 27" stirrup thigh-high Body Wrappers legwarmers (I got them more of a function of keeping my right ankle loosened up for some good grand plies) and Body Wrappers sweat-awesome trash bag shorts (well, they're really called rip-stop shorts), I got a new pair of ballet flats! They're Grishko's Ultimate split-sole canvas ballet slippers. I'm not sure if I need to be a size 7 in them.. Both the Capezio's and Grishko's recommended me get a 6 1/2 (half size larger than my street shoe size) which is perfect for my right foot, but my left big toe is a TINY bit smushed in both of the 6 1/2's. I'm sitting here stretching the left one out with a rolled up sock in the front. I already tried warm water on the toe and wearing them around the house to stretch 'em but no luck so far.
Anyway, to burn some extra calories, at around 2 pm today I'm going to go to the gym and do some cardio with my trash bag shorts on haha. Then tonight's 6:15pm class with Carmen Perez, last BBFNB class of the summer! I'll have one more punch on my card, I wonder if I should just use it for Basic Beginning on Tuesday or if I should just save it for the Fall class. Extra classes are now $16 for me since I'm enrolled, and the class card makes each class out to be $18/class, but if I already bought it, I may as well use it for a class I'll get more out of, right? I think Basic Beginning is a bit too easy now (SO SO SO glad I can say that now!). Advanced Beginning Ballet, here I come next year! =P Maybe next Summer??
Walk-In Week is coming around the corner! With $10/class, I'm already adding two classes to my schedule!
Monday August 27 @ 6:15-7:30 pm
Thursday August 30 @ 7:30-8:45 pm
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Tonight's class was great! We had Carol Clark as a sub since Carmen Perez was at the beach this week, but it was a nice replacement! Everyone loved her, she is probably my favorite instructor out of everyone I've ever had (Carmen Perez, Irina Wunder, Leisl Swogger, Silvia Burnstein, and Carol Clark), she was lighthearted and the most real of all of them. I think all the instructors at BalletNova are wonderful, but my favorite is Carol.
We had some challenging fondu floor/halfway/90 degree exercises, and my favorite centrework exercise was a pirouette prep one (starting in Fifth with hands on hips, plie-passe x 3, then plie to pirouette and finish behind, then switch feet). We did about 3 sets of that exercise. We did some first/second/changement jumping exercises where I need to learn to turn out less so I don't keep landing on the balls of my feet unbalanced.
Since my Bunhead Buddy wasn't with me tonight, I didn't have anyone I wanted to nerdily ask to record a clip of the corner exercise. Today was a chasse, degagé with attitude exercise which was fun. We did it first with arms in Second and head front, then we did it with arms in arabesque position with head straight, then we did it with arms in arabesque with head facing the acting leg, then with hands on hips. Hands on hips was awkward. The other exercise was a chassé-grand jeté exercise which was a lot of fun. Here's a video of a grand jeté (though honestly she looks like she's performing a developpé):
I debuted my new gear tonight, but Kelly wasn't there to laugh with me in the trashbag shorts...
Trashbag shorts, leg warmer on the bum ankle, and new canvas slippers. I'm officially a fan of canvas slippers over leather. They don't stick annoyingly to the studio floor when trying to do dégagés.
Studio C, where class is held every week
Beautiful portraits line the walls of the studio's hallways. This is one of my favorites, because they're the kind of photos I'd want to have taken of myself when that ONE DAY COMES! :)
I've been wearing my pointe shoes around the house to break them in, and I'm getting a lot more comfortable standing en pointe and tournet.
