October 2010

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2010-10-02 11:18:00
:)
Ballet class this morning was excellent- this is the ballet 3/4 class and it's 75 minutes (still no 90 minute classes...) 75 minutes is enough for a GOOD barre, and some center (but still no grand allegro yet). Barre was very good- no ronde de jambe en lair or developpe so no issues with my hips. I do feel like a big fat giant though. This is a small class (a good thing!) and some girls look like they are only 6. There is an 11 and a 12 year old in there two, but most are probably 7-10. I'm taller than everyone. (Girls in the Wednesday class are taller than me.) No big deal though, it's annoying because parents sit at the door and take pictures, but I can just ignore it. In center we did a develope combination, and my legs were low low low- but no one else did great there either. Dancing wise, I feel like I could go up to Ballet 5- but my hips can't handle a lot, and I have no 5th position (this class still works in 3rd) so I feel like I'm in the right place. But when we did waltz step-balance combination across the floor I almost felt out of place for remembering the steps and the turning direction... I'd also really like to work on chaines, pique turns, pirouettes and I don't know if this class will or not (probably not since it's ballet 3 too- but Wednesday has ballet 4 only.) I like having the saturday class, and the only other class is level 5-7 combined, I know that's not the right one! Overall though, the class had me sweating, it made me realize how awful my body has gotten (looks wise and dance wise) and it is a much better class for my objectives than the teen/adult ballet class was. I still didn't get any corrections, but I'll give it a few classes before I say something to the teacher. A) she might just be waiting to see how I dance- it's only been 2 classes with her, B) she might just correct to the level and more or less, I've got it for the level, C) she might notice I take general corrections fine (as an adult it's easier for me to apply something she says to someone else than it is for a kid) so she gives corrections I need to someone else who needs them, knowing I'm paying attention and the reverse might not be true. Looking forward to Ballet on Wednesday (and of course tap. I like tap.)
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2010-10-13 12:50:00
Dancing...
Man, I am so bad at blogging. My other blog is even more neglected than this one. Watching "All that Skate" on TV on Sunday made me miss skating a lot. Stupid hip. Anyhow- this Saturday was kind of weird. I woke up 2 hours before class, got ready, was in a great mood, and then walking up the stairs, my right knee just gave out. No reason at all. So I iced it for awhile and decided to go to class. Class was actually fine, except that when I would do port de bras forward at the barre my left leg would shake uncontrollably- like muscles do after incredible fatigue. They shouldn't have done it at the beginning of class! In center, we actually did piroutettes! And at the end we did echappe and changements and I realized I'm insanely out of shape. Still no corrections from this teacher yet. I've decided 4 classes, then I'll say something. There was a new girl in the class, and the teacher pretty much just ignored her. And the girl clearly needed help. She was older than most of the kids in the class (which is probably why she was in that level) but really should have been in ballet 1 or 2 with the teeny kids- she didn't know the positions of the feet, for starters. The girl was so lost. And chewing gum the whole time. At a minimum I expected the teacher to tell her to spit it out (but I was a bit shocked she didn't even show her 1st position). Monday class was also EXCELLENT. Now, we didn't tap. The teacher wasn't there and the sub made it clear that she didn't know much about tap (said something about not having taken or taught a tap class in over 3 years). After a sad attempt at a warm up the adults in the class pretty much just went with "what do you teach? we'll do that..." Our regular teacher had prepared us that a swing instructor might be doing the class, but I guess she couldn't come either. So this girl does lyrical/jazz- okay, no problem. One woman, who had never danced before, and was wearing a skirt, left- and somewhat huffy- so it was tough to tell if she was upset about it- but the other 8 were game. We started by stretching, then did kick combinations, then a turn combination across the floor. Then we learned a fun combo. I think the instructor was a bit surprised we all kept up. I have to say- I let my competitive side come out a bit. I'm okay with sucking at tap and ballet- I never did those as a kid, but high kicks and jazz-style turns- well, that I should be able to do (but can't anymore). I broke out the double pirouettes (I was barefoot, so I only managed 1 triple), super fast chaines, my right kick was actually really good (left, well I blame the hip), did some good tour jetes. It was super fun. And I was WORN out after class. Thankfully I wasn't nearly as sore on Tuesday as I expected to be. Ballet again tonight- it's the chatty class. I bought a waist belt and it made me feel really fat- it fits around my waist, but with HUGE rolls. So I sewed some clips onto elastic and will try that. I'd rather wear nothing, but it's the uniform...
public

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2010-10-14 09:11:00
ballet
My neck is killing me today. I took a shower last night after class and washed my hair, so I wouldn't have to do that this morning. I have insanely frizzy hair if I let it dry without putting it in a ponytail, so I went to bed with my hair up. Big mistake. The ponytail changed the way I lay my head and now my neck wants to not hold the weight of my head or turn/tilt in any direction. Grrr... So class last night was okay. It was really cold in the studio so we started with 50 jumping jacks. For being a ridiculously out of shape overweight almost 30 year old, I kept up with the kids pretty well. A few weren't jumping at all. Around 40 my calves started tensing up really badly (I've been having a lot of calf problems lately- I think it's nerve related, actually). But I made it to 50 without any huffing and puffing. 50 shouldn't be a problem- but I am really out of shape. I went from "just barely" overweight to 10 lbs overweight. I'm really unhappy about this and can't seem to fix it. Okay, so the thing is that the jumping jacks made me feel really sick to my stomach, and from then on I really was not feeling well in class. Dizzy and nauseated. Barre went well- we did a really fun degage combination facing the barre (8 on each side, 4 on each side, 2 on each side, 1-1-1-1, then 4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1) It was fun to see if I could stay on time, and END at the right place. I feel like I did it really well, maybe stuck my butt out a bit too much, but most of the girls in the class didn't get the ending so that was a little gold star for me. We did partner critiques for frappes and the girl I worked with told me I beat really well and articulate my foot well. She also told me that I'm kicking out and not back on the back one. Grr--- I had that problem with spirals too. Out is so much better than back. For center, I stayed for turns- we did en dehor pirouettes first. I like this class because it lets me do doubles (I got a compliment on my excellent spotting and ability to land in 5th) but I also feel like it's a bad sign we are doing them. All the girls in the class are going for the doubles (we're told if our singles are "perfect" we can move to a double- so I am still doing singles on the left) but most of them aren't doing singles well. Unless the teacher is watching specifically, they all turn in. Very few have control of their landings. It's all very sloppy. This studio has a good ballet reputation, but in the end, it's a competition studio. I think it's later that the ballet girls specialize, so this class is a lot of jazz dancers. Maybe they just don't want to turn them off of ballet- but I know at Pontecorvo (my studio in Dayton) if our singles looked like that we'd be moved back to 1/2 pirouettes, not moved on to doubles. Then we did en dedans pirouettes and mine were not good- I feel like I'm leaning, and my retire position goes to the back of my leg, and it really ought to be in the front I think. Then, we got to do doubles. I didn't attempt them. One girl did what looked like nice ones, but for the most part it was quite the disaster. The way the instructor spoke of these turns it sounded like it was the first time she introduced them- why are we doing doubles? I still really was feel ill so I left as jumps began (I had told the teacher I might when we moved from barre to center). But I only missed 15 minutes, so overall it was a decent class.
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