Intensive: Day Two

Hey guys! So yesterday was the second day of the intensive. It started normally with a 90 minute class, but before we put on pointe shoes, our teacher said she wanted to try something. Fouettes. Eeek! Yesterday was the first day I ever attempted fouettes, and oh my god, they're difficult. I have no idea how the girls my age in the company do them perfectly en pointe. On the right I managed to turn about 4 or 5 times, and then I fell out and had to start over.On the left...well, let's just say I am not a left turner. I can barely even do double pirouettes to the left.

After that we did pointe barre, and I got to try out my new shoes! I really like them, but they put more pressure on my toes than my old shoes did. I'm hoping all will be well when they break in. We also did some chaines across the floor on pointe. My right chaines were fine, but once again, my left turns are not too great.

Over all it was a really fun class! I love that there is only three people, because we get more time to try combinations. Like, yesterday we did petite allegro 4 times before we got everything right. Normally we would stop after 2 just because of time constraints.

Intensive:Day One

Oh my gosh guys, I love ballet. I didn't realized how much I missed it until I started barre. It's only been a little over a week! So, I was expecting at least 4 girls from my studio, plus a few others that usually come from other studios. There was only three of us. Three. That's practically a private lesson! We got so much individualized attention and we got to do a ton more combinations than usual because instead of having three of four groups of people do each combo, we only had one group, or else we all did it individually.

After a normal 90 minute class on flat (barre, center, across the floor), we put on our pointes and did about half an hour of barre and half an hour of center/cross the floor. We started with the basics, releves, eschappes, and passes, and ended with pique turns, arabesques, and pirouettes (eeek!). I didn't wear my new Russians because I wanted my teacher to check them out before I added ribbons and elastics, and she gave me the okay. However, that meant I had to wear my old shoes, which are dead as a door nail. Don't get me wrong, dancing in dead pointe shoes is kinda fun because they're so soft and flexible, but when I went up for left pirouettes (and my lefts on flat are pretty bad) my shoe gave out right under me, creating the scariest .5 second of my life.

I literally just got home, and will begin to sew my pointes right now!

New Pointes!

I just got my third pair of pointes! They are Russian Pointe Rubins, and I love them. My Capezios tended to pop off my heels, and they died too fast, so these should fix both of those problems. I'm not going to sew them yet, because I want my artistic director to check them and make sure everything is okay. I'm a little nervous because Russian Pointes tend to be less pink, and more silvery than most pointe shoes are, and my studio likes uniformity. When I get the okay, I'll sew them up and get pictures for you!



I was even thinking of making a "How to Sew Your Pointe Shoes" video, but I don't know yet, let me know what you think!

Recital!

Hello everyone! My Sleeping Beauty Show went very well! I arrived at the theater at 4, went in the back entrence (fancy!) and only got a little lost on the way to my dressing room. I was one of the last girls there, but the show didn't start until 5 and my piece was number 5 or something so I had time. I did my makeup, put on my costume, and stretched with the other 16 year old in my level while the other girls prepared and preformed modern. Then the two of us helped the girls change quickly in the Green Room (no one can be modest in shows, if you have to change in one number you're stripping backstage!), and we went to the wings to wait for our song. I think the 3-5 minutes spent waiting in the wings is the most anxious time of the whole day. You're back there, frantically marking your dance and practicing steps you're nervous about (for me it was left spot turns!). Then, your music is about to start and you take your place in the wings, you hear your cue, and without hesitation you step from the shadows onto the stage, big smile on your face, and hope to God that you don't mess up. We got through the whole dance without any mistakes, and then went backstage, stretched a little to keep warm, watched the other pieces on the TV, and practiced the finale. Soon it was about time to go for the finale, and we all filed out into the wings. In the 10 minutes or so we spent waiting, everyone in the company quietly marking in the wings, I became really thankful. How many other girls my age get to be apart of such a professional preformance? I mean, the costumes were brilliant, the venue was beautiful, and the dancers were amazing. And sure, I can't afford the company, or modern classes, but I get to be apart of this amazing conservatory, and that's amazing in its self.

After finale, we went on for bows, changed, and talked a little before we left. I was so sad to find out two girls in my level won't be returning! That brings our class from 6 to 4 people!

I don't have any more classes until the 24th, when my 5 day, 2.5 pointe intensive starts!

Tech Rehearsal!

Hey guys! Today was my tech/dress rehearsal for the Sleeping Beauty Recital! I went to my studio at 4 for an hour long ballet class. There was so many people, everyone from level 4-7, so probably at least 30 people. After class we walked over to the performance center, which isn't even a block away, and settled into our dressing rooms. Levels 6-7 shared one room while levels 4-5 had the other. They were fairly small, some girls had to double up on mirrors. Outside the rooms there was this nice common area, with a table with snacks, a TV that showed the stage, a couch, and two single bathrooms. The modern dances were first, and since I don't take modern, I chilled in the dressing room with two other girls who aren't in the company. Then I got dressed for my piece, and after sitting around for about 2 hours, we finally rehearsed our piece. Then we went back to the dressing room for another hour, then practiced the finale and bows, took pictures, and finally around 8 we went home.

The theater is actually really neat. It's newer and smaller than the one for Nutcracker, I could only find an outside picture!


And this is our costume (that is not me):

Drum roll please... New Autumn Show!

Hello guys, I'm super excited to tell you some news! Our company has been making a bunch of changes recently, such as a new location and no orchestra for Nutcracker (meh), and continuing the old tradition of having three shows a year! This means we will begin preparing in August for our new show, which is.....Alice in Wonderland! I am so excited, because I thought that the ballet would just be for company members, which I am not, but our teacher wants to incorporate the conservatory students as well!

Here's a video I've been obsessed with even before I knew we were doing Alice, a behind the scenes look at rehearsal:

Yay!

Pointe Shoes!

Hey guys! So, every girl that starts ballet dreams about getting pointe shoes. I know I was so excited to get them! Here are a few videos on Youtube of my favorite pointe shoe videos.