Hey Everyone! For our Spring Recital, the Conservatory theme is Sleeping Beauty. The Sr. Corps are doing actual variations, and everyone else (including my class) is just doing dance routines to the music. We started our dance last week, and are about 40 seconds into it. I and the other 16 year old girl in my class walk on stage and begin the dance, and soon the other girls join. I'm so nervous! I've never been on stage with less than 5 other people, let alone being the only person on my half of the stage. Yikes! Here's our music:
Quick summery (I'm paraphrasing here): Carabosse (Maleficent if you only know the Disney version) the fairy gets a little angry because everyone's having this big party to celebrate the christening of the Princess Aurora, and she didn't get invited. So she just shows up and is like, "C'mon guys, what the heck? Why wasn't I invited?" and the parents are all, "I dunno, blame that guy." So she casts this curse that on Aurora's 16th Birthday she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Ouch, pretty harsh, right? The parents are all, "Nooooo, please!!" and Carabosse shows no mercy. But, all hope isn't lost! The most powerful fairy, The Lilac Fairy (her variation is pretty common), still hasn't given her gift to the Princess. She can't undo the curse, so instead she changes it so that instead of dying Aurora will just fall asleep for 100 years and then be kissed by a prince to wake up. Phew, really dodged a bullet there, right?
So then, fast forward to her 16th party. This is the clip above. Aurora's having a ball, literally and figuratively, and all of a sudden this creeper comes out of the shadows and gives her a spindle. She takes it, and even though her parents know what's coming, they're kind of just like, "Hang on...wait...oh whatever." She pricks her finger (the end of our dance) and wobbles around a little and falls into a deep sleep. The Lilac Fairy casts a spell that the rest of the kingdom would fall asleep with Aurora, so that when she wakes up everyone isn't dead.
100 years later this prince is going hunting with his friends. He leaves them, and the Lilac Fairy shows him an image of Aurora, and he's like, "Woah, I want to meet her!". (Seriously, what would they do without the Lilac Fairy?) Anyway, the prince is smitten with this sleeping 116 year old princess, kisses her, everyone wakes up. Boom, easy as pie, right? They get married and all is well.
Moral of the story: Always invite the envious fairy to the party or she'll cast a spell to kill your daughter.
Hey everyone! Sorry for the break, I wanted my 100th post to be a little special and decided to try my first video! Here it is, a look at my dance bag! Sorry it's so quiet, and my head got cut off at some parts, but hopefully you enjoy it!
Here's a list of things in the video
Bag: Sorry I couldn't find the actual link! I think it's discontinued or something, the brand is Recollections.
Leotard: Capezio Bratek in Burgandy
Pointe shoes: Capezio Arias
Toe Caps: Bunheads ClearStretch Tips
Toe Spacers: Bunheads Spacemakers
Toe Pads: Gellows by Pillows for Pointe
Old Pointes: Bloch Serenades (I almost forgot!)
Shoes: Capezio Dasiy
Tell me if you'd like to see more (hopefully better!) videos, or if I should stick with blog posts for now!
So, I've realized that looking through my blog it might be super confusing to how much and what dance classes I'm taking. So here's my schedule:
Monday- Ballet for 90 minutes
Tuesday- Ballet/pointe for 2 hours
Wednesday-Sleep!
Thursday- 20-30 minutes of Yoga or pilates, and stretching
Friday- Attempt to have a social life
Saturday and Sunday- 1 hour stretching and yoga, some pointe exercises
So, as you can see, I'm currently only taking 2 dance classes a week. TWO. It's driving me crazy. I technically can be taking 4 ballet classes and 1 modern class and my level, but the thing about dance is it can be so expensive!
Hopefully, my summer is a little different. This summer I'm doing a week long 2.5 hour daily summer intensive at my studio for beginner pointe, and also taking some open classes. At my old studio, I also want to try some lyrical classes, assuming I can find a stinking job. Anyway, there you have it!
Hey guys! How are you all doing? (That is not a rhetorical question, feel free to answer!) I don't have school today (yay for in-service days, right?) so I decided to work on my flexibility. Here are some of my tips.
1. Get warmed up! I put on some nice warm pants; fuzzy pj's, sweat pants, leg warmers, ect, and do some warm ups. Sometimes it's a few rounds of Just Dance with my sister (I win every time, #danceradvantages), jumping jacks, yoga or pilates, or some barre routines.
2. Start off easy. Don't rush into your splits right away! That can cause pulled muscles, tiny tears which cause soreness, and it won't even improve your flexibility. Your goal is to stretch the muscles, not break them!
3. Find a routine that works for you! Stretching is the most beneficial when you do it often right? So put together a fun routine, add some music, and do it as often as you can! Right now I'm in a yoga kick, so I've been trying out some different yoga routines. Sometimes, I just do my favorite stretches from dance class to some pop music. So make a music playlist, and a list of your stretches! It doesn't need to be long, 5 stretches for each side (10 total), holding for 30 seconds each is just 5 minutes. In addition to a warm up, you've only spent 10 or 15 minutes, out of 24 hours!
Here are some different videos and stretching guides:
If you have trouble getting settled into a routine, try this method with me, it's called Don't Break the Chain. Basically, draw up a calander, or print one out, set a minimum goal (ex, 20 minutes of stretching, 5 days a week), and every day you do it, give yourself an X. Since my goal is just once a week, I made 4 colomuns of 5 boxes, with the labels, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4. See how long you can go before starting over, and remember, don't break the chain!
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in honor of my pointe shoes. Because they're practically dead. They fit pretty nicely, and the shank is molded perfectly to my arch, but they're looking pretty soft. I got these shoes less than a month ago, (what, 2 weeks?), ugh. I really do not want to fork over another $85 for new shoes. I knew the shanks were softer on these shoes, and my dance teacher told me to try them out and get a harder shank next time, so I guess that's what I'll do.
On a cheerful note, Happy Valentines Day! Lots of love to my readers out there, you guys are awesome. I love all the comments and everything. So have a good day!
