Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Challenge of the week: March 23rd, 2015
Location: Center
Combination: Adagio
Step: The full challenge sequence is: developpé croisé front, elevé, close to high fifth, release back leg into third (Vaganova) arabesque (still on your balance), quarter promenade still on demi pointe to first (Vaganova) arabesque, lower heel.
Challenge: Maintaining balance!
Success?: Only one direction (balancing on my right leg). My core placement and support is much better on the right side, so although I could do everything until the promenade on both sides, to the left, the promenade just fell apart.
Tip: Remember that your core holds you up, and pulls you out of your hips. Stay pulled up on your supporting side throughout the balance, and place your arms with precision and decision. Do the whole rotation to the same degree with every part---i.e., don't yank the heel on your supporting leg around and leave the gesture leg (new term I've recently seen; I like it) out where it was. Don't turn just your hip and have it poking out while the rest of your body is still in its previous position.
Also, use your eyes and look up and out to where you're facing.
One of my friends, who used to dance at a conservatory in Brazil, reported that Sylvie Guillem was capable of doing a full promenade en pointe with no partner. That's just crazy.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Studio etiquette: Space
One thing that separates experienced dancers from beginners is how they treat space in the studio. At best, those who do not follow studio space rules irritate those who do or expect it. At worst, they get in the way and get themselves or someone else injured.
Unfortunately, a lot of these rules ARE unspoken. Which means that you have to figure them out as you go. But to start you out, here's my top list of spatial etiquette tips.
Barre
- Don't stand too close to other people. Pretty obvious, right? You should be as evenly spaced as possible. Preferably you should be able to do a grand battement front and back with room to spare. I think it's cute when younger dancers start a class and they're all awkwardly crowded together in some parts with nobody in others.
- If unavoidable: turn to the inside diagonal when doing things that risk putting your foot upside someone's head or kicking them in the arm. Be especially conscious during high arabesques--the person behind you likely has their arm up and in front as well.
- In general, those with long legs need more space. If you are this dancer, be conscious. If you are next to this dancer, be courteous.
- In the corner: Make sure that your battements a la second will not result in two feet crashing into each other.
- This is probably my own pet peeve, but if you cannot go through class without constantly gripping the barre and pulling around on it, please, PLEASE do not stand on center barre unless absolutely necessary. These barres move. If someone pulls on it from one side, the person from the other side loses the barre.
- Same as barre! Don't stand too close to other people.
- Stagger for mirror access--this can be difficult in really crowded classes, but in general, try not to stand directly in front of someone.
- Standing in front vs back:
- if you don't know the combination, don't stand in the front.
- If you're in a mixed class of professionals and non-professionals, I think it's usually that professionals have the right of way and go in the front.
- Similarly, advanced dancers get first rights to the front.
- If you're in the front line, actually be in the front line. Don't stand halfway back and crowd everybody else behind you. Don't be shy. It's not like the instructor can't see you anyway. There's nobody in front of you!
- If doing something in two groups, and you're not going, stand against the wall/barre. Do not get in the way of the people dancing. Do not obscure their view to the mirror. If marking, mark next to the wall or clearly out of the way. I repeat, do NOT get in the way of the people dancing. This is dangerous for both you and the dancer, but you are the one that will get kicked during a grand battement to the back.
- ...don't stand too close to other people. :)
- If you can see another person without looking in the mirror, it is YOUR job to stay out of their way. They cannot see behind them. They do not know you are there. If you are too close, back up. Use a low leg. Make space somehow. This is the same as when you're doing choreography and the director reminds the girls in the back that they're responsible for holding the line, not the person in front--who can't see where people are behind them.
- People travel differently. If you find you have gotten too close before something like a pirouette or a big battement, readjust.
- When switching groups without stopping music, NEVER retreat into traffic. If the combination starts from the back and moves forward, continue forward and then break like the Red Sea and go out to the walls.
- If, when doing this, you are moving up the side walls and the next group is approaching in such a way that you might get in the way moving past, stay where you are and wait until the coast is clear.
- When waiting your turn, again, like center, wait on the wall. Basically make it so that if the person runs into you, they would have also gotten themselves tangled in a piano or the barre or something else equally unpleasant.
- Big movers should be aware that they are big movers and be prepared to readjust or travel less. Those that are not big movers should be aware that others may be moving more, and not stand to block them. Particularly dangerous during grand allegro. It's best to go with people that move approximately the same amount as you.
- When readjusting, be aware of the people around you. Take a quick look around. Don't just move backwards into people. (This is the one exception for the responsibility of people in the back--if you're doing something not in the combination, you are now responsible for everybody.)
- When exiting/entering a studio during a class, do not get in the way of people that are still dancing
- Barre: Unless absolutely necessary (nosebleed, vomiting, other emergency), wait until a break between combinations or sides.
- Center: Hug the walls. If you are dancing and suddenly have to exit, just get to a wall as quickly and safely as possible and then hug the wall to leave.
- The best tip is to set yourself up for success. Space yourself well prior to the combination. It's much harder to fix spacing while you're actually dancing.
~*~
What rules have I forgotten? Or what are your pet peeves?
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Challenge of the week: March 16th, 2015
I have missed a couple of weeks! My apologies. The last two weeks have been really busy in my department.
This one is not so much physically difficult; it is just outside the realm of what we normally do and requires some speed and coordination.
Location: Center
Combination: Petit allegro
Step: The full combination involved a lot of cissones--this particular one was after a large sissonne ouverte to croise with the back leg in attitude, and then two running steps and an assemble. And then sissonne fermee a la seconde towards the front leg, turning a quarter turn (and changing legs, as one is wont to do), sissonne fermee to the front leg turning another quarter, sissonne with another quarter, sissonne to face front again. Tada!
Challenge: Since this was at speed, doing tidy sissonnes is challenging, but also coordinating the turning and the arms and the head.
Success?: I'm pretty sure I got it; at least, I turned the right direction and ended up with the correct foot in front.
Tip: For speed, like the teacher described, think of being in a box and not doing one of the grand sissonnes that you may be more accustomed to. That way you won't travel too much, and it'll be easier to switch directions and turn on the next jump.
For coordination... well... practice? XD that's totally unhelpful. Also, if you can't do side to side sissonnes rapidly WITHOUT turning, do master those first. The turning is somewhat natural if you follow the line of the sissonne; for example, jumping towards the left, you bring your left shoulder backwards (so you turn counterclockwise, viewed from above). Then you just keep moving your left shoulder back for all the jumps.
This one is not so much physically difficult; it is just outside the realm of what we normally do and requires some speed and coordination.
Location: Center
Combination: Petit allegro
Step: The full combination involved a lot of cissones--this particular one was after a large sissonne ouverte to croise with the back leg in attitude, and then two running steps and an assemble. And then sissonne fermee a la seconde towards the front leg, turning a quarter turn (and changing legs, as one is wont to do), sissonne fermee to the front leg turning another quarter, sissonne with another quarter, sissonne to face front again. Tada!
Challenge: Since this was at speed, doing tidy sissonnes is challenging, but also coordinating the turning and the arms and the head.
Success?: I'm pretty sure I got it; at least, I turned the right direction and ended up with the correct foot in front.
Tip: For speed, like the teacher described, think of being in a box and not doing one of the grand sissonnes that you may be more accustomed to. That way you won't travel too much, and it'll be easier to switch directions and turn on the next jump.
For coordination... well... practice? XD that's totally unhelpful. Also, if you can't do side to side sissonnes rapidly WITHOUT turning, do master those first. The turning is somewhat natural if you follow the line of the sissonne; for example, jumping towards the left, you bring your left shoulder backwards (so you turn counterclockwise, viewed from above). Then you just keep moving your left shoulder back for all the jumps.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Challenge of the week: March 2nd, 2015
Location: Center
Combination: Preparation jumps for petit allegro
Step: The full combination involved some eight counts of straight up-and-down jumps (first first fifth x2, or changement x8), then jump to second, jump to fifth, jump to fourth, double/triple pirouette, land fifth, entre chat quatre.
Doing a double gives you a count to prepare, or a count to land in fifth after, but doing a triple felt better for me, timing-wise.
Challenge: Landing the fourth position jump in such a way that you are prepared to immediately pirouette out of it.
Success?: Yes! And it was fabulous, because I had just had a horrific pirouette exercise--the floor was too slippery for me to maintain my turnout through the whole preparation. Anyway, I put some water on my heels and bottom of the toes (closest to the arch) before this combination and went for the triple, and actually nailed it on both sides. So that was cool.
Tip: Technique, technique, technique... whenever I physically and mentally engage my technique, and experience drastic improvements, I just laugh at myself for not having engaged it in the first place. I actually remember to do turnout and core before pirouettes now.
- Be soft and supported in the plié, not tense because you're anticipating going back up for the pirouette.
- Remember all those tendu-temps liés through fourth and having the right sized fourth position, with your weight in the middle, immediately.
- Support through the core and pelvis. Because why not? It'll make sure you don't collapse in the plié and lose that lovely buoyancy. And it'll hold you together in your turn. Just all kinds of good things.
- "Use the music." It works for me, but might not for everybody. Don't panic that you don't have time to slip slowly into the preparation and wiggle around getting it just right. Pull out all the stops (technique-wise) and spot with the music. If your technique isn't reliably there at speed, never fear! Keep dancing and working at it. It'll come.
Combination: Preparation jumps for petit allegro
Step: The full combination involved some eight counts of straight up-and-down jumps (first first fifth x2, or changement x8), then jump to second, jump to fifth, jump to fourth, double/triple pirouette, land fifth, entre chat quatre.
Doing a double gives you a count to prepare, or a count to land in fifth after, but doing a triple felt better for me, timing-wise.
Challenge: Landing the fourth position jump in such a way that you are prepared to immediately pirouette out of it.
Success?: Yes! And it was fabulous, because I had just had a horrific pirouette exercise--the floor was too slippery for me to maintain my turnout through the whole preparation. Anyway, I put some water on my heels and bottom of the toes (closest to the arch) before this combination and went for the triple, and actually nailed it on both sides. So that was cool.
Tip: Technique, technique, technique... whenever I physically and mentally engage my technique, and experience drastic improvements, I just laugh at myself for not having engaged it in the first place. I actually remember to do turnout and core before pirouettes now.
- Be soft and supported in the plié, not tense because you're anticipating going back up for the pirouette.
- Remember all those tendu-temps liés through fourth and having the right sized fourth position, with your weight in the middle, immediately.
- Support through the core and pelvis. Because why not? It'll make sure you don't collapse in the plié and lose that lovely buoyancy. And it'll hold you together in your turn. Just all kinds of good things.
- "Use the music." It works for me, but might not for everybody. Don't panic that you don't have time to slip slowly into the preparation and wiggle around getting it just right. Pull out all the stops (technique-wise) and spot with the music. If your technique isn't reliably there at speed, never fear! Keep dancing and working at it. It'll come.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Pointe shoes: Hard shank? Soft shank? Part II: Dancing
The continuation of the eternal debate.
In my last post, I addressed the foot issue, and how shank strength depends on if you need extra stiffness to prevent yourself from going too far over and overly stressing muscles/tendons/ligaments, or if you need less resistance to compensate for a naturally less flexible foot and/or ankle. In this section, I'm going to talk about the second half of the list.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Last time, I talked about strength in the feet and ankles. However, you need far more than just strong feet and ankles to dance en pointe.
While I do not recommend getting a harder shank and box in order to just "sit" en pointe instead of actually engaging, each dancer newly en pointe will have to find where their shoes are hard enough to enable them to dance, but soft enough to ensure proper technique and development.
Here's the description of Aspirations:
Bloch's Aspiration is built for students. This pointe shoe features a harder, more supportive box that assists the beginner. Its full shank is designed to flex at the "three-quarter" position.
The harder, more supportive box and full shank are helpful for balances, I've found. That is, once you're up on the shoe, it holds you up. On a new shoe, I have actually been able to disengage through the hip, core, leg--actually all the way down into the ankle and foot--and still balance on the shoe (on one foot, no less). I don't actually like this. It makes it hard to roll down, on top of the obvious damage this would do to my technique. However, if you don't actually have those muscles, this is a helpful feature.
I'm not saying that everybody should go out and buy hard boxes and shanks so they don't have to strengthen their technique and muscle tone! However, people max out their strength at different ranges. New students are still developing these muscles. Why would you get a shoe that you can't do anything on at all?
The balancing point plays into point 5, which is "What are you trying to do with your shoes?" Here's a list of things I like to do with various shoes:
1. New, hard: strengthening two-footed elevé, working feet through each stage of the rise.
2. Fairly hard, but not new: hops on pointe, bouncy relevés where I don't have as much time to plié, bourrés, if I were to ever do a lot of partner work with long balances, probably this hardness until I developed the requisite strength to go down to number 3.
3. Middling, still with some resistance on the demi pointe: things with a lot of piqués, pirouettes, more "flashy" choreography that may be combined with smoother relevés, bourrés
4. Soft shank with smooth roll-through in demi pointe: things with a lot of relevés, things with lots of jumps (two bonuses: quiet, and less resistance going into the jump), fouettés, softer or Romantic choreography
5. Approaching dead: strengthening ankles, hip, quads, core with relevés and one-footed elevés; easy rehearsal
Giselle is an interesting challenge because of the infamous hops on pointe combined with the obviously delicate choreography. That's when you just go shopping for stronger legs and ankles.
My favorite shank strength is 4, with 3 close behind. At 4 I've also finally gotten rid of that hard box that comes with the Aspirations XD
If you poll the interwebs, you'll find very similar preferences among dancers. Here's what Paloma Herrera of the beautiful feet says. Here's what a bunch of dancers on a forum say.
Since I'm somewhat paranoid, and since I don't dance en pointe enough to kill shoes immediately, I have gotten into the habit of wearing shoes until they're just a little bit too hard for the role I want, calomining them (did you know that there are matte pointe shoes available??), and wearing them once or twice again to make sure they're where I want, and then "rinsing and repeating." That way I always have two or three pairs of shoes I could potentially wear for a performance, just in case something dreadful happens to one.
It helps that Aspirations are cheap, and I can get three pairs at once and wear them all until they're where I want them. In fact, I've just gotten one pair to number 3 on the above list. I'm going to finish sewing the next pair and start wearing them.
Finally, there's the issue of how pointe shoes can cost anywhere from 40 to 100 dollars per pair. If you're not a professional, you don't have a shoe allowance. Remember the quote that I opened with? The one that said that Blochs are for beginners because they break in so fast? Well... if you can afford new shoes every week/day, that's not really a problem! If your combination of flexibility, strength, and dancing works best with a soft shank, that's awesome... except that shoes die. And then you go roll around in the bathtubs gold coins that you receive as a dancer and buy new shoes with whatever sticks--oh wait, that's right, there are no bathtubs of gold.
Professionals with their shoe allowances and strong feet and glorious technique can break in their shoes right where they want them, wear lovely soft shoes, and kill them in a day. But alas, we students and amateurs cannot afford this luxury.
Which is why Gaynor Mindens are supposed to be excellent (albeit pricy). The theory is that they start at one shank strength and STAY THERE. You don't have to get super hard shanks; Gaynor Mindens are offered through I think five levels of shank strength, from extra hard to nearly dead. But instead of going from nearly to dead to six feet under in one class, they will stay at nearly dead.
There's actually a girl at my studio that has strong (but not flexible) feet and ankles, is taller, and average weight (for normal humans, not dancers). I think she likes hard shanks because they don't die as fast on her, but if that weren't an issue, I think she would do better in a medium to softer shank.
~*~
So, there you have it. Very strong feet, ankles, core, and technique... hell, everything... hold up the dancer, and require less support from the shoe. However, we are not these people. Or these people. Or these people. Nor are we rolling in money. That's okay! Do the best and safest with what you have.
In my last post, I addressed the foot issue, and how shank strength depends on if you need extra stiffness to prevent yourself from going too far over and overly stressing muscles/tendons/ligaments, or if you need less resistance to compensate for a naturally less flexible foot and/or ankle. In this section, I'm going to talk about the second half of the list.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Last time, I talked about strength in the feet and ankles. However, you need far more than just strong feet and ankles to dance en pointe.
While I do not recommend getting a harder shank and box in order to just "sit" en pointe instead of actually engaging, each dancer newly en pointe will have to find where their shoes are hard enough to enable them to dance, but soft enough to ensure proper technique and development.
Here's the description of Aspirations:
Bloch's Aspiration is built for students. This pointe shoe features a harder, more supportive box that assists the beginner. Its full shank is designed to flex at the "three-quarter" position.
The harder, more supportive box and full shank are helpful for balances, I've found. That is, once you're up on the shoe, it holds you up. On a new shoe, I have actually been able to disengage through the hip, core, leg--actually all the way down into the ankle and foot--and still balance on the shoe (on one foot, no less). I don't actually like this. It makes it hard to roll down, on top of the obvious damage this would do to my technique. However, if you don't actually have those muscles, this is a helpful feature.
I'm not saying that everybody should go out and buy hard boxes and shanks so they don't have to strengthen their technique and muscle tone! However, people max out their strength at different ranges. New students are still developing these muscles. Why would you get a shoe that you can't do anything on at all?
~*~
The balancing point plays into point 5, which is "What are you trying to do with your shoes?" Here's a list of things I like to do with various shoes:
1. New, hard: strengthening two-footed elevé, working feet through each stage of the rise.
2. Fairly hard, but not new: hops on pointe, bouncy relevés where I don't have as much time to plié, bourrés, if I were to ever do a lot of partner work with long balances, probably this hardness until I developed the requisite strength to go down to number 3.
3. Middling, still with some resistance on the demi pointe: things with a lot of piqués, pirouettes, more "flashy" choreography that may be combined with smoother relevés, bourrés
4. Soft shank with smooth roll-through in demi pointe: things with a lot of relevés, things with lots of jumps (two bonuses: quiet, and less resistance going into the jump), fouettés, softer or Romantic choreography
5. Approaching dead: strengthening ankles, hip, quads, core with relevés and one-footed elevés; easy rehearsal
Giselle is an interesting challenge because of the infamous hops on pointe combined with the obviously delicate choreography. That's when you just go shopping for stronger legs and ankles.
My favorite shank strength is 4, with 3 close behind. At 4 I've also finally gotten rid of that hard box that comes with the Aspirations XD
If you poll the interwebs, you'll find very similar preferences among dancers. Here's what Paloma Herrera of the beautiful feet says. Here's what a bunch of dancers on a forum say.
Since I'm somewhat paranoid, and since I don't dance en pointe enough to kill shoes immediately, I have gotten into the habit of wearing shoes until they're just a little bit too hard for the role I want, calomining them (did you know that there are matte pointe shoes available??), and wearing them once or twice again to make sure they're where I want, and then "rinsing and repeating." That way I always have two or three pairs of shoes I could potentially wear for a performance, just in case something dreadful happens to one.
It helps that Aspirations are cheap, and I can get three pairs at once and wear them all until they're where I want them. In fact, I've just gotten one pair to number 3 on the above list. I'm going to finish sewing the next pair and start wearing them.
~*~
Finally, there's the issue of how pointe shoes can cost anywhere from 40 to 100 dollars per pair. If you're not a professional, you don't have a shoe allowance. Remember the quote that I opened with? The one that said that Blochs are for beginners because they break in so fast? Well... if you can afford new shoes every week/day, that's not really a problem! If your combination of flexibility, strength, and dancing works best with a soft shank, that's awesome... except that shoes die. And then you go roll around in the bathtubs gold coins that you receive as a dancer and buy new shoes with whatever sticks--oh wait, that's right, there are no bathtubs of gold.
Professionals with their shoe allowances and strong feet and glorious technique can break in their shoes right where they want them, wear lovely soft shoes, and kill them in a day. But alas, we students and amateurs cannot afford this luxury.
Which is why Gaynor Mindens are supposed to be excellent (albeit pricy). The theory is that they start at one shank strength and STAY THERE. You don't have to get super hard shanks; Gaynor Mindens are offered through I think five levels of shank strength, from extra hard to nearly dead. But instead of going from nearly to dead to six feet under in one class, they will stay at nearly dead.
There's actually a girl at my studio that has strong (but not flexible) feet and ankles, is taller, and average weight (for normal humans, not dancers). I think she likes hard shanks because they don't die as fast on her, but if that weren't an issue, I think she would do better in a medium to softer shank.
~*~
So, there you have it. Very strong feet, ankles, core, and technique... hell, everything... hold up the dancer, and require less support from the shoe. However, we are not these people. Or these people. Or these people. Nor are we rolling in money. That's okay! Do the best and safest with what you have.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Challenge of the week: Feb 23rd, 2015
Location: Barre, or with a partner, or if you're really awesome, just in the center. En pointe is an additional challenge.
Combination: Frappés and petits battements, originally
Step: This is actually at the end, where you face diagonally into the barre, on full relevé, and start your petits battements with the inside leg. Find your balance (== let go of the barre) while still beating. Hold balance. End petits battements with leg in coup de pied back. On your balance, lift your leg to full attitude back, and your arms en haut (en couronne, fifth position, etc.).
If you're really cool, developpé attitude leg back, close fifth (still on relevé and on your balance) and turn back away from the diagonal, and open your other leg a la seconde, along with your arms.
Challenge: Not falling on your face! lol
- You really find out if you're doing petit battements with your hip or your knee.
- You really find out where on your hip you're placed when changing poses.
Success?: Doing all balance pose switches on my balance is actually a challenge I set to myself, not one that is required in the class. In class we are not required to do the entire sequence on your balance (you only find your balance when already in attitude). I'm pretty good at this one, though not entirely consistent. I am nearing 100% consistency when the right leg is the supporting leg. Meanwhile, the left hip is still not as strong at pulling UP. Of course.
When I started engaging my core more, my "hit" percentage went up drastically. I finally understood how, rather counter-intuitively, it's your core and abs that actually help you lift your leg up to the attitude. And I can feel the engagement every time I do it properly. And then, because this is a fairly taxing balance to maintain even in technique shoes, I admire the dancers in the Rose Adagio and Don Q pas de deux even more (Paloma Herrera and Angel Corella, ABT, PDD from DQ. Attitude at 1:38.)
Tip: As with everything ballet, the engagement is not a clench or a forced position. Engage your core, engage your hip.
I like doing very slow elevés up and down in first, second, and fifth and maintaining the lift in the hip and the engagement in the core. Doing these en pointe (in the center!), especially in first and second position, amplifies any weaknesses you may have in these areas. Most (non-professional, beginner, etc.) dancers fall backwards doing very slow elevés due to the core not being fully knit together (and sometimes ankles doing things they're not supposed to do).
Combination: Frappés and petits battements, originally
Step: This is actually at the end, where you face diagonally into the barre, on full relevé, and start your petits battements with the inside leg. Find your balance (== let go of the barre) while still beating. Hold balance. End petits battements with leg in coup de pied back. On your balance, lift your leg to full attitude back, and your arms en haut (en couronne, fifth position, etc.).
If you're really cool, developpé attitude leg back, close fifth (still on relevé and on your balance) and turn back away from the diagonal, and open your other leg a la seconde, along with your arms.
Challenge: Not falling on your face! lol
- You really find out if you're doing petit battements with your hip or your knee.
- You really find out where on your hip you're placed when changing poses.
Success?: Doing all balance pose switches on my balance is actually a challenge I set to myself, not one that is required in the class. In class we are not required to do the entire sequence on your balance (you only find your balance when already in attitude). I'm pretty good at this one, though not entirely consistent. I am nearing 100% consistency when the right leg is the supporting leg. Meanwhile, the left hip is still not as strong at pulling UP. Of course.
When I started engaging my core more, my "hit" percentage went up drastically. I finally understood how, rather counter-intuitively, it's your core and abs that actually help you lift your leg up to the attitude. And I can feel the engagement every time I do it properly. And then, because this is a fairly taxing balance to maintain even in technique shoes, I admire the dancers in the Rose Adagio and Don Q pas de deux even more (Paloma Herrera and Angel Corella, ABT, PDD from DQ. Attitude at 1:38.)
Tip: As with everything ballet, the engagement is not a clench or a forced position. Engage your core, engage your hip.
I like doing very slow elevés up and down in first, second, and fifth and maintaining the lift in the hip and the engagement in the core. Doing these en pointe (in the center!), especially in first and second position, amplifies any weaknesses you may have in these areas. Most (non-professional, beginner, etc.) dancers fall backwards doing very slow elevés due to the core not being fully knit together (and sometimes ankles doing things they're not supposed to do).
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Pointe shoes: Hard shank? Soft shank? Part I: Flexibility and strength
This is one of those topics that gets tossed around a lot. There are a lot of differing beliefs. For example:
"That's why Bloch shoes are for beginners. People with strong feet kill them too fast. You need hard shoes because your feet are strong."
This obviously suggests that hard shoes are for advanced dancers, and soft shoes are for beginners. But what about:
"Her feet were so strong that she didn't even need shoes to go en pointe. She would demonstrate for us when teaching and relevé all the way up in bare feet. It was so crazy!"
This statement is completely the opposite from the first--it suggests that dancers with very strong feet don't need support from the shoe at all. Then there's the now-pervasive argument about Gaynor Mindens:
"My studio doesn't allow Gaynor Mindens. They don't make you work because they hold you up."
"I knew a girl that wore Gaynor Mindens, and once she switched to a Grishko and she couldn't even get up on the shank."
Gaynor Mindens are tricky. I have some thoughts about them, but I'll save them for later. For now, I'm going to write about "traditional" shoes in hard and soft shanks. Is it true that strong dancers should get hard shanks? Or is a soft shoe the true hallmark of strong feet?
I have to admit, one of the reasons that I'm writing this is because I was (quietly) a little offended by the first statement, that Blochs are for beginners. I wear Bloch Aspirations. These are actually the shoe I've worn since my first (quickly killed) pair of pointe shoes, which were Gambas. I had a brief diversion into a pair of Gaynor Mindens, but they didn't fit quite right, so I ended up going back to Aspirations and am pretty happy with them. They're also cheap. So that's a bonus.
(My sister, on the other hand, never seemed to really find a shoe that she liked, and bounced around between lots of different shoes.)
I would not consider myself a beginner. But, recently I've uncovered a secret love of soft shoes. I like softer shoes because they let me really articulate through every millimeter of the relevé. I like softer shoes because I don't get thrown up to the top of the platform. I like softer shoes because when I'm jumping I don't sound like a grandfather clock being thrown down the stairs--and it takes FAR less effort to get the same height in softer shoes! I like balancing in softer shoes because I can consistently negotiate just where my weight is, instead of being encouraged in a certain direction by a harder shank. I just wish I could get my shoes to the perfect malleable wonderful softness and have them STAY there, instead of wearing out.
Also, here's the real reason I originally started looking into pointe shoe shanks: in high school, I had my hard shoe on my right (stronger) and my soft shoe on the left (weaker), but these days I have the soft shoe on my right, and the hard one on the left. The right foot just breaks the shoe in faster, so I don't have to do anything special (I actually used to soften up a shoe on my right foot and then switch sides).
When considering shank strength, there are multiple factors to consider. In Part I, I'm not going to talk about everything--I'm going to limit myself to the first three points, and how they apply to getting over the shoe properly.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Getting over on the pointe is the most important thing, and is intimately paired with maintaining the proper position. They're the salt 'n' pepper of pointework. Or maybe the bread and butter.
There are three general categories: too far over, correctly over, and under. Let's consider point 1, foot/arch/ankle flexibility:
- Those ballet-blessed with high, flexible arches and ankles have wonderful lines, but a tendency to go too far over the box (risking injury).
- Those with middlingly flexible arches and ankles look less "idealistically" pretty, but have less of a tendency to fall over the box.
- Those with a less flexible ankle have the tendency to not get properly on top of the box (high risk for falling and skidding).
(I've seen this graphic floating around a lot--it's not mine! But I don't know its origin. Also, the over-the-box shoe is really unflattering...)
Basically, a hard shank lends its stiffness to the highly flexible foot, and a soft shank lends its flexibility to the less flexible foot. The shank is the equalizer. Those with high and flexible arches are often encouraged to go with a hard shank in order to lower the risk of going too far over and breaking important pieces of anatomy.
Let's continue to point 2: strength of foot.
- Stronger feet achieve the point; stronger ankles can maintain correct position;
- Weaker feet/ankles are lacking in these areas.
So, say you are completely blessed and have very strong, very flexible feet and ankles. You will likely still want a shank on the harder side, so you have a little more room for error, but strong technique and muscles will also prevent you from going too far over the shoe and, of course, breaking important pieces of anatomy. Or perhaps a higher vamp will help you stay in the shoe and over the box, and you can use a softer shank. Strong and flexible feet with weak ankles will almost certainly want a stronger shank to support the ankle and help maintain position.
On the other hand, say you are cursed with weak, inflexible feet and ankles. Not only will you have a hard time getting over the box at all, but maintaining the position will be difficult. My educated guess is that a medium shank would be best here---enough flexibility to encourage getting on top of the box, but enough support to be able to use the shoe to maintain the full point, as the ankle muscles are not yet available.
I don't want to do all the permutations, but the other two "extreme" cases are weak but flexible, for which I would definitely suggest a hard shank, since the muscles are not available to maintain correct position and the shoe is needed for support. Meanwhile, strong but inflexible would likely do better with a medium-soft to soft shank.
Point 3 actually doesn't really have much to do with achieving and maintaining position, except that you need strong feet relative to your build. I'm 5'8" and 140 pounds, and all else being equal, would do better with a harder shank than someone at 5'5" and 105 pounds, OR, I need much stronger feet. Just extra weight being on the dancer puts more stress on the shank. I've also seen very slender dancers (especially young, short ones) have a hard time getting the arch to show up in the shoe at all, just because there's nothing pressing down on the shoe.
These different factors explain why there are various thoughts that "hard shoes are for beginners" "soft shoes are for beginners" (but nobody says anything about the lonely, neglected medium shoe).
- For beginners with average to inflexible feet, it's easier to get over the box on a soft shank. Even if beginners are strong for technique class, they do not yet have the strength in the muscles required for pointe. (And, as I think I've mentioned before, pointework just amplifies all your flaws!) Thus, just getting up on the box at all is extremely difficult with a hard shoe--even if it'll hold you there when you do get up.
- On the other hand, lots of flexibility or more weakness in the ankles really does need a harder shank to avoid injury.
At the same time, some teachers require hard shanks for everyone. This covers the extra flexible people, and also puts new pointe feet through a boot camp (pointe camp?) of getting stronger--as long as the students are ACTUALLY working the shoe, and not just hanging out behind the full pointe. I'd be surprised if people recommended soft for all, since that puts the flexible people at risk.
I wish I could make a 3D table on here, with dimensions of flexibility, ankle strength, and foot strength, and figure out what each would need.
So, there you have it. Whatever you have to say about Gaynor Minden, their shank advice is spot on, though does not address the dancing part of the equation, which is what I will get to in Part II. There are also other discussions on forums that pick apart these issues. I'm really not making stuff up and throwing it out there because someone said soft shoes were for beginners!
"That's why Bloch shoes are for beginners. People with strong feet kill them too fast. You need hard shoes because your feet are strong."
This obviously suggests that hard shoes are for advanced dancers, and soft shoes are for beginners. But what about:
"Her feet were so strong that she didn't even need shoes to go en pointe. She would demonstrate for us when teaching and relevé all the way up in bare feet. It was so crazy!"
This statement is completely the opposite from the first--it suggests that dancers with very strong feet don't need support from the shoe at all. Then there's the now-pervasive argument about Gaynor Mindens:
"My studio doesn't allow Gaynor Mindens. They don't make you work because they hold you up."
"I knew a girl that wore Gaynor Mindens, and once she switched to a Grishko and she couldn't even get up on the shank."
Gaynor Mindens are tricky. I have some thoughts about them, but I'll save them for later. For now, I'm going to write about "traditional" shoes in hard and soft shanks. Is it true that strong dancers should get hard shanks? Or is a soft shoe the true hallmark of strong feet?
I have to admit, one of the reasons that I'm writing this is because I was (quietly) a little offended by the first statement, that Blochs are for beginners. I wear Bloch Aspirations. These are actually the shoe I've worn since my first (quickly killed) pair of pointe shoes, which were Gambas. I had a brief diversion into a pair of Gaynor Mindens, but they didn't fit quite right, so I ended up going back to Aspirations and am pretty happy with them. They're also cheap. So that's a bonus.
(My sister, on the other hand, never seemed to really find a shoe that she liked, and bounced around between lots of different shoes.)
I would not consider myself a beginner. But, recently I've uncovered a secret love of soft shoes. I like softer shoes because they let me really articulate through every millimeter of the relevé. I like softer shoes because I don't get thrown up to the top of the platform. I like softer shoes because when I'm jumping I don't sound like a grandfather clock being thrown down the stairs--and it takes FAR less effort to get the same height in softer shoes! I like balancing in softer shoes because I can consistently negotiate just where my weight is, instead of being encouraged in a certain direction by a harder shank. I just wish I could get my shoes to the perfect malleable wonderful softness and have them STAY there, instead of wearing out.
Also, here's the real reason I originally started looking into pointe shoe shanks: in high school, I had my hard shoe on my right (stronger) and my soft shoe on the left (weaker), but these days I have the soft shoe on my right, and the hard one on the left. The right foot just breaks the shoe in faster, so I don't have to do anything special (I actually used to soften up a shoe on my right foot and then switch sides).
~*~
When considering shank strength, there are multiple factors to consider. In Part I, I'm not going to talk about everything--I'm going to limit myself to the first three points, and how they apply to getting over the shoe properly.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Getting over on the pointe is the most important thing, and is intimately paired with maintaining the proper position. They're the salt 'n' pepper of pointework. Or maybe the bread and butter.
There are three general categories: too far over, correctly over, and under. Let's consider point 1, foot/arch/ankle flexibility:
- Those ballet-blessed with high, flexible arches and ankles have wonderful lines, but a tendency to go too far over the box (risking injury).
- Those with middlingly flexible arches and ankles look less "idealistically" pretty, but have less of a tendency to fall over the box.
- Those with a less flexible ankle have the tendency to not get properly on top of the box (high risk for falling and skidding).
(I've seen this graphic floating around a lot--it's not mine! But I don't know its origin. Also, the over-the-box shoe is really unflattering...)
Basically, a hard shank lends its stiffness to the highly flexible foot, and a soft shank lends its flexibility to the less flexible foot. The shank is the equalizer. Those with high and flexible arches are often encouraged to go with a hard shank in order to lower the risk of going too far over and breaking important pieces of anatomy.
Let's continue to point 2: strength of foot.
- Stronger feet achieve the point; stronger ankles can maintain correct position;
- Weaker feet/ankles are lacking in these areas.
So, say you are completely blessed and have very strong, very flexible feet and ankles. You will likely still want a shank on the harder side, so you have a little more room for error, but strong technique and muscles will also prevent you from going too far over the shoe and, of course, breaking important pieces of anatomy. Or perhaps a higher vamp will help you stay in the shoe and over the box, and you can use a softer shank. Strong and flexible feet with weak ankles will almost certainly want a stronger shank to support the ankle and help maintain position.
On the other hand, say you are cursed with weak, inflexible feet and ankles. Not only will you have a hard time getting over the box at all, but maintaining the position will be difficult. My educated guess is that a medium shank would be best here---enough flexibility to encourage getting on top of the box, but enough support to be able to use the shoe to maintain the full point, as the ankle muscles are not yet available.
I don't want to do all the permutations, but the other two "extreme" cases are weak but flexible, for which I would definitely suggest a hard shank, since the muscles are not available to maintain correct position and the shoe is needed for support. Meanwhile, strong but inflexible would likely do better with a medium-soft to soft shank.
Point 3 actually doesn't really have much to do with achieving and maintaining position, except that you need strong feet relative to your build. I'm 5'8" and 140 pounds, and all else being equal, would do better with a harder shank than someone at 5'5" and 105 pounds, OR, I need much stronger feet. Just extra weight being on the dancer puts more stress on the shank. I've also seen very slender dancers (especially young, short ones) have a hard time getting the arch to show up in the shoe at all, just because there's nothing pressing down on the shoe.
~*~
These different factors explain why there are various thoughts that "hard shoes are for beginners" "soft shoes are for beginners" (but nobody says anything about the lonely, neglected medium shoe).
- For beginners with average to inflexible feet, it's easier to get over the box on a soft shank. Even if beginners are strong for technique class, they do not yet have the strength in the muscles required for pointe. (And, as I think I've mentioned before, pointework just amplifies all your flaws!) Thus, just getting up on the box at all is extremely difficult with a hard shoe--even if it'll hold you there when you do get up.
- On the other hand, lots of flexibility or more weakness in the ankles really does need a harder shank to avoid injury.
At the same time, some teachers require hard shanks for everyone. This covers the extra flexible people, and also puts new pointe feet through a boot camp (pointe camp?) of getting stronger--as long as the students are ACTUALLY working the shoe, and not just hanging out behind the full pointe. I'd be surprised if people recommended soft for all, since that puts the flexible people at risk.
I wish I could make a 3D table on here, with dimensions of flexibility, ankle strength, and foot strength, and figure out what each would need.
So, there you have it. Whatever you have to say about Gaynor Minden, their shank advice is spot on, though does not address the dancing part of the equation, which is what I will get to in Part II. There are also other discussions on forums that pick apart these issues. I'm really not making stuff up and throwing it out there because someone said soft shoes were for beginners!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
The British are coming!
The girls at my studio are abuzz because the Royal Ballet is coming to the US for a summer 2015 tour. They're performing in Washington DC (June 9-14), Chicago (June 18-21), and New York* (June 23-28). In the first two cities they're doing Don Q and in New York they're doing a bunch of other repertoire.
In some comment somewhere I saw that someone apparently really, really didn't want the RB to perform Alice. I have to say, I really don't understand not liking the RB production of Alice in Wonderland! When you have tapping...
And this pas de deux...
Though personally, I like the pas de deux better with Lauren Cuthbertson and Sergei Polunin. It's not quite as technically smooth (partner-wise) but it feels more genuine. And softer? Younger? More innocent and Alice-like? But, still, I do really like that pas. How can you hate Alice?!
The summer in New York is just full of ballet. In addition to the Royal Ballet tour, ABT has an amazing lineup for June. La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Cinderella. Swan Lake and Cinderella are in the same time period as the Royal Ballet tour if you want to pack full a week in NYC! ABT also happens to be saying good-bye to a couple of my favorite dancers: Xiomara Reyes and Paloma Herrera.
My parents may or may not be coming to visit me/NYC around that time (their last visit to NYC was disappointing, because their companions didn't want to walk around much), so hopefully some ballet will be in our trip.
*Look, I've fallen into the very NYS habit of calling New York City "New York." When I first got here, I was always slightly annoyed by people calling NYC "New York." "Where are you going for break?" "New York." ("But you're already HERE!!")
In some comment somewhere I saw that someone apparently really, really didn't want the RB to perform Alice. I have to say, I really don't understand not liking the RB production of Alice in Wonderland! When you have tapping...
And this pas de deux...
Though personally, I like the pas de deux better with Lauren Cuthbertson and Sergei Polunin. It's not quite as technically smooth (partner-wise) but it feels more genuine. And softer? Younger? More innocent and Alice-like? But, still, I do really like that pas. How can you hate Alice?!
The summer in New York is just full of ballet. In addition to the Royal Ballet tour, ABT has an amazing lineup for June. La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Cinderella. Swan Lake and Cinderella are in the same time period as the Royal Ballet tour if you want to pack full a week in NYC! ABT also happens to be saying good-bye to a couple of my favorite dancers: Xiomara Reyes and Paloma Herrera.
My parents may or may not be coming to visit me/NYC around that time (their last visit to NYC was disappointing, because their companions didn't want to walk around much), so hopefully some ballet will be in our trip.
*Look, I've fallen into the very NYS habit of calling New York City "New York." When I first got here, I was always slightly annoyed by people calling NYC "New York." "Where are you going for break?" "New York." ("But you're already HERE!!")
Monday, February 23, 2015
Challenge of the week: February 16th, 2015
Location: From the corner
Combination: Corner turns (en pointe, but I'm sure that's not what makes this difficult--in fact, it may be easier en pointe than in technique shoes)
Step: Piqué en dedans (single), piqué en dedans (single), double piqué turn en dedans with arms on the hips, taking up the same amount of time for this double as you did for both of the singles combined.
I'm pretty sure the arms on the hips don't really matter either, but it does bring your "circle" inward and make it harder to turn slowly---like when you're on the twirly chair as a kid and you spin around really fast when you bring your legs in?
Challenge: Stopping your turning momentum just enough to take up the full four (three, not counting the final plié) counts for two pirouettes without stopping it SO much that you don't get around. It also helps if you alter the timing a little. Usually for double piqué en dedans, the timing is to get AROUND right away. USUALLY, the combination is single, single, double, single, and the challenge is getting your back around fast enough to do both turns before the 7, 8. In this case, you almost have to piqué without turning, and then using your balance, spot, turnout, back, etc. to get around.
Success?: It took me a couple of runs on both sides before I was able to consistently get it (to the right) and mostly get it (to the left).
Tip: A. use your plié; B. do NOT let your turnout fail in the takeoff. Nailing the turnout will help you both balance and time the "body pirouette." C. Timing thusly (counting a fast 8, rather than a 1 and 2 and):
1 pique pirouette 2 plie, 3 pique pirouette 4 plie, 5 pique 6 pirouette 7 pirouette 8 plie
In the "5 pique" it is kind of a slow half-turn, or at least it is the way I'm doing it. I got this method to work on the left side (though not as consistently as on the right), so it can't be something I'm just "ramming through" on my strong side.
Combination: Corner turns (en pointe, but I'm sure that's not what makes this difficult--in fact, it may be easier en pointe than in technique shoes)
Step: Piqué en dedans (single), piqué en dedans (single), double piqué turn en dedans with arms on the hips, taking up the same amount of time for this double as you did for both of the singles combined.
I'm pretty sure the arms on the hips don't really matter either, but it does bring your "circle" inward and make it harder to turn slowly---like when you're on the twirly chair as a kid and you spin around really fast when you bring your legs in?
Challenge: Stopping your turning momentum just enough to take up the full four (three, not counting the final plié) counts for two pirouettes without stopping it SO much that you don't get around. It also helps if you alter the timing a little. Usually for double piqué en dedans, the timing is to get AROUND right away. USUALLY, the combination is single, single, double, single, and the challenge is getting your back around fast enough to do both turns before the 7, 8. In this case, you almost have to piqué without turning, and then using your balance, spot, turnout, back, etc. to get around.
Success?: It took me a couple of runs on both sides before I was able to consistently get it (to the right) and mostly get it (to the left).
Tip: A. use your plié; B. do NOT let your turnout fail in the takeoff. Nailing the turnout will help you both balance and time the "body pirouette." C. Timing thusly (counting a fast 8, rather than a 1 and 2 and):
1 pique pirouette 2 plie, 3 pique pirouette 4 plie, 5 pique 6 pirouette 7 pirouette 8 plie
In the "5 pique" it is kind of a slow half-turn, or at least it is the way I'm doing it. I got this method to work on the left side (though not as consistently as on the right), so it can't be something I'm just "ramming through" on my strong side.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Challenge of the week: February 9th, 2015
I'm going to start a "challenge of the week." The classes I take with the company usually have one truly difficult thing (for me... lol) per week, which THEY all work on all week and then I come in on Fridays and am the one flapping around. The Saturday class usually goes better, haha.
I actually want to give one from two weeks ago, because it's the one that made me want to do this.
Location: Center
Combination: Adagio
Step: Sousu in croise, arms a la seconde. Slow port de bras forward while on full demi (or 3/4, whatever your studio calls it) point, moving arms to fifth as normal at the bottom. Come back up.
Challenge: Holding your glutes and quads firm enough to balance while changing your center of gravity quite drastically. Coming back up is much harder, though I'm not sure if that is due to the fact that your muscles are tired, or because it's merely the switch in momentum/direction.
Success?: We did the adagio twice on Friday and twice on Saturday. I got it the second time on Saturday on both sides. The first time on Saturday I made it down but had to fling myself back up instead of doing it slowly.
Tip: Keep your eyes focused more or less as you would for a penche. That is, in a straight line out, or perhaps a little above where a straight line from your eyes would be. At the barre, we normally do pdbras with our face turned to the side, but that just makes it unreasonably difficult.
I actually want to give one from two weeks ago, because it's the one that made me want to do this.
Location: Center
Combination: Adagio
Step: Sousu in croise, arms a la seconde. Slow port de bras forward while on full demi (or 3/4, whatever your studio calls it) point, moving arms to fifth as normal at the bottom. Come back up.
Challenge: Holding your glutes and quads firm enough to balance while changing your center of gravity quite drastically. Coming back up is much harder, though I'm not sure if that is due to the fact that your muscles are tired, or because it's merely the switch in momentum/direction.
Success?: We did the adagio twice on Friday and twice on Saturday. I got it the second time on Saturday on both sides. The first time on Saturday I made it down but had to fling myself back up instead of doing it slowly.
Tip: Keep your eyes focused more or less as you would for a penche. That is, in a straight line out, or perhaps a little above where a straight line from your eyes would be. At the barre, we normally do pdbras with our face turned to the side, but that just makes it unreasonably difficult.
Pirouettes
Good day in class today. I actually did a perfectly balanced quadruple en dehors pirouette from fourth to the right (phew, that's a lot of qualifiers!). I attempted two more, but both times I hopped at about the 3.5 mark. I also did in our adagio a very nice slow double "adagio pirouette" (en dehors from fourth also) that was smooth and balanced, arms in fifth, AND the teacher saw it and commented. So yeah, a good day!
I've recently been experimenting with different preparation stances for en dehors pirouettes from fourth. When I was in Spain, I took classes at a Balanchine (and Bournonville, but mainly Balanchine) school, and they weren't of the philosophy that adult/open class people could do whatever technique they had learned. Thus, I had to learn the straight back leg preparation, which was not what I had learned as a kid.
I didn't like it much at the time, but it didn't have much effect on me. Then I did modern instead of ballet for a year, and when I came BACK to ballet, my turns were all wonky and I couldn't do quadruples anymore. (I unfairly attribute this to having become accustomed to turning in bare feet.) But, I had the best luck with a straight back leg preparation. I'm not entirely sure why this is. I don't actually know why Balanchine preparations are that way---I don't know if he liked the aesthetic, or the physical effect. I've seen one source that says it's because it provides an element of surprise (i.e., you don't necessarily know that they're about to pirouette if their back leg is straight).
What I'm actually doing now is a bit of a mix. I think the girls at my studio mostly do the whole fourth position with both legs bent, but I start in a lunge-like fourth and the draw the foot in the half beat before. Now, if we're doing the crazy petit allegro that one of the soloists in the company gave, that landed in the fourth IN the half beat before a double turn in one count (a FAST count), obviously there's no time to switch, and I just start out with both legs bent.
Anyway, this new prep gives a deeper plie for me, which helped me get that quad today. I think it also helped me really secure the turnout on the standing leg.
However, the ACTUAL recent improvement to my balance in pirouettes is knitting my core as I push off for the pirouette. Whenever I have a bad turn combination, I usually realize afterward that I was being lazy in the core.
In sum, technique. It works again. It really isn't just a look.
I've recently been experimenting with different preparation stances for en dehors pirouettes from fourth. When I was in Spain, I took classes at a Balanchine (and Bournonville, but mainly Balanchine) school, and they weren't of the philosophy that adult/open class people could do whatever technique they had learned. Thus, I had to learn the straight back leg preparation, which was not what I had learned as a kid.
I didn't like it much at the time, but it didn't have much effect on me. Then I did modern instead of ballet for a year, and when I came BACK to ballet, my turns were all wonky and I couldn't do quadruples anymore. (I unfairly attribute this to having become accustomed to turning in bare feet.) But, I had the best luck with a straight back leg preparation. I'm not entirely sure why this is. I don't actually know why Balanchine preparations are that way---I don't know if he liked the aesthetic, or the physical effect. I've seen one source that says it's because it provides an element of surprise (i.e., you don't necessarily know that they're about to pirouette if their back leg is straight).
What I'm actually doing now is a bit of a mix. I think the girls at my studio mostly do the whole fourth position with both legs bent, but I start in a lunge-like fourth and the draw the foot in the half beat before. Now, if we're doing the crazy petit allegro that one of the soloists in the company gave, that landed in the fourth IN the half beat before a double turn in one count (a FAST count), obviously there's no time to switch, and I just start out with both legs bent.
Anyway, this new prep gives a deeper plie for me, which helped me get that quad today. I think it also helped me really secure the turnout on the standing leg.
However, the ACTUAL recent improvement to my balance in pirouettes is knitting my core as I push off for the pirouette. Whenever I have a bad turn combination, I usually realize afterward that I was being lazy in the core.
In sum, technique. It works again. It really isn't just a look.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
That "duh" moment
I recently noticed that my port des bras side to the left (so the right side is stretched) is MUCH less flexible than the other way. I wondered if it was because I sleep funny (my right shoulder is also stiffer, stronger, but has weird pain at certain angles with certain pressure---specifically those that occur if I scrub a countertop with my arm stretched too far).
I had a modern class on Monday that used a lot of upper body strength and flexibility, and I was really sore in these particular side spots. Yesterday I realized I am probably stiff on one side because I have a cross-body messenger bag with the weight on the right. Duh. So it's back to the backpack, which has the added bonus of holding more things and not looking so dingy---the messenger bag is a bright yellow, or at least it is for the day after it's washed.
I don't know if this change will affect any of my 12 goals for 12 weeks, but perhaps it will at least have a positive effect in general moving life.
I had a modern class on Monday that used a lot of upper body strength and flexibility, and I was really sore in these particular side spots. Yesterday I realized I am probably stiff on one side because I have a cross-body messenger bag with the weight on the right. Duh. So it's back to the backpack, which has the added bonus of holding more things and not looking so dingy---the messenger bag is a bright yellow, or at least it is for the day after it's washed.
I don't know if this change will affect any of my 12 goals for 12 weeks, but perhaps it will at least have a positive effect in general moving life.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
12 goals for 12 weeks
My left foot (Ankle? Hip?) is my weak one. I think it's both physical and mental. I get a little nervous every time I have to do something en pointe on my left leg.
In any case, the best demonstration of this is that I can do fouettes to the LEFT en pointe, but not to the right. This is the opposite as in technique shoes, where I am better to the right. My dominant rotational direction is clockwise (when viewing from above), or to the right. But, en pointe, the weak foot trumps and my weaker turning direction is the only way that works (because it's on my stronger leg).
I'm supposed to be Summer Fairy in Cinderella this spring and it was described to me as a part that was "beautiful" and that needed a "STRONG" dancer, so now I'm really nervous that she's overestimated me. So, I've made a resolution. I made a PVC DIY barre, and I have wood floors at home, so I have no reason to not do this.
Conveniently, I have 12 goals for 12 weeks.
General body goals for April 25 (performance date):
1. Splits in both directions (I actually recently regained my ability to do splits to the right!! I haven't been doing that since I was like 15.)
2. Stronger iliopsoas for better extensions. I might have to work on my dancer's hip on the left hip (it's more severe on that side)
3. Get my modern abs back... I used to have pretty decent core strength. No longer.
4. More flexible back. The first thing I have to do is figure out my mattress problem. I think I've got it sorted now, but I need more nights sleeping like this to be sure.
5. I know this is not a big deal for ballet, but I want my modern triceps back, too...
6. Work my stamina up. I nearly died after that Dewdrop role.
Leg/foot-specific goals:
7. There's an upper inner quad muscle that I don't really have. It comes from pulling up in balances. I have them sufficiently to balance well in technique shoes but en pointe, those muscles fatigue very quickly. I would like that muscle.
8. Get my left foot to stop sickling in the passe. I don't know why exactly it does this... I think it has to do with my left hip being weak/stuck from dancer's hip, and I'm kind of digging into my knee to hold it up.
9. Strengthen both feet. I want to be able to do bourrees and pas de courus for real and for long distances. I mean, look at them. Just look at them.
10. ESPECIALLY strengthen the left and make sure that I get into the mental habit of doing releves on it to full power. I don't know if it's just that my right leg always does a full, strong releve and my left doesn't, or if my right leg actually gets away with a bad one too but is better formed/stronger/etc. and so it doesn't matter.
11. I want to be able to do one-footed eleves on both legs...
12. I want to be able to do at least 8 fouettes in both directions (consistently). I'm almost there for the left side but obviously to the right, on the left leg, is much weaker. It's not that I can't do ANY fouettes. I just lose it faster.
Most of these will take daily work, though I'm a fan of alternating days so that muscles don't just get tired and worn out. I don't know exactly what to do about iliopsoas strengthening. I did a couple of exercises two weeks ago, and the next day I had class, and the adagio KILLED. I don't want to be that sore for class. Perhaps I need to do exercises with less intensity.
Today I started on my leg/foot goals by putting on my dying pointe shoes and doing the exercise we start pointe class with: grand plie, roll up to full pointe IN the grand plie, straighten up, roll down, do three times each in first and second, plus a normal releve and balance; two times in fifth (the hardest position) with two releves and a port de bras forward and back in sousu. My hips and upper inner quads scream at me every week for this exercise. So... I'm going to do them more than once a week. (Stop screaming, or I'll give you something to scream about?)
In any case, the best demonstration of this is that I can do fouettes to the LEFT en pointe, but not to the right. This is the opposite as in technique shoes, where I am better to the right. My dominant rotational direction is clockwise (when viewing from above), or to the right. But, en pointe, the weak foot trumps and my weaker turning direction is the only way that works (because it's on my stronger leg).
I'm supposed to be Summer Fairy in Cinderella this spring and it was described to me as a part that was "beautiful" and that needed a "STRONG" dancer, so now I'm really nervous that she's overestimated me. So, I've made a resolution. I made a PVC DIY barre, and I have wood floors at home, so I have no reason to not do this.
Conveniently, I have 12 goals for 12 weeks.
General body goals for April 25 (performance date):
1. Splits in both directions (I actually recently regained my ability to do splits to the right!! I haven't been doing that since I was like 15.)
2. Stronger iliopsoas for better extensions. I might have to work on my dancer's hip on the left hip (it's more severe on that side)
3. Get my modern abs back... I used to have pretty decent core strength. No longer.
4. More flexible back. The first thing I have to do is figure out my mattress problem. I think I've got it sorted now, but I need more nights sleeping like this to be sure.
5. I know this is not a big deal for ballet, but I want my modern triceps back, too...
6. Work my stamina up. I nearly died after that Dewdrop role.
Leg/foot-specific goals:
7. There's an upper inner quad muscle that I don't really have. It comes from pulling up in balances. I have them sufficiently to balance well in technique shoes but en pointe, those muscles fatigue very quickly. I would like that muscle.
8. Get my left foot to stop sickling in the passe. I don't know why exactly it does this... I think it has to do with my left hip being weak/stuck from dancer's hip, and I'm kind of digging into my knee to hold it up.
9. Strengthen both feet. I want to be able to do bourrees and pas de courus for real and for long distances. I mean, look at them. Just look at them.
10. ESPECIALLY strengthen the left and make sure that I get into the mental habit of doing releves on it to full power. I don't know if it's just that my right leg always does a full, strong releve and my left doesn't, or if my right leg actually gets away with a bad one too but is better formed/stronger/etc. and so it doesn't matter.
11. I want to be able to do one-footed eleves on both legs...
12. I want to be able to do at least 8 fouettes in both directions (consistently). I'm almost there for the left side but obviously to the right, on the left leg, is much weaker. It's not that I can't do ANY fouettes. I just lose it faster.
Most of these will take daily work, though I'm a fan of alternating days so that muscles don't just get tired and worn out. I don't know exactly what to do about iliopsoas strengthening. I did a couple of exercises two weeks ago, and the next day I had class, and the adagio KILLED. I don't want to be that sore for class. Perhaps I need to do exercises with less intensity.
Today I started on my leg/foot goals by putting on my dying pointe shoes and doing the exercise we start pointe class with: grand plie, roll up to full pointe IN the grand plie, straighten up, roll down, do three times each in first and second, plus a normal releve and balance; two times in fifth (the hardest position) with two releves and a port de bras forward and back in sousu. My hips and upper inner quads scream at me every week for this exercise. So... I'm going to do them more than once a week. (Stop screaming, or I'll give you something to scream about?)
Saturday, January 31, 2015
The bubonic nutcracker
This is an extremely delayed post, but the story must be told.
I was asked to dance with the company again for the Nutcracker, which had five performances: November 30, a school performance in the morning on December 12, and then three more Dec 12-14.
The part I was doing was "side tea" (perhaps the cream vessel?), along with another girl as side tea (sugar bowl? Or were we teacups?) and the main tea herself (the teapot?). It's a fine part, even though it's not a main part. It's one of those parts that is easy enough to "just do," but hard to do well. I didn't have anything else in the first act, which was actually nice because the dressing rooms were packed. And I got to help with all the quick changes!
Anyway, the November performance went well. Then there was another two weeks of rehearsals, and the proverbial excrement started to hit the fan.
Early in the week of the performances, I got an email from the director asking if I would be able to understudy Snow. Apparently there were no understudies (for 2 demisoloists, 6 first corps, and 8 second corps... and also not for the Snow Queen and King either), and one of the first corps dancers had gotten ill. It was a cold that was so bad that she was kept out of school with a fever and hacking cough. They thought it was the flu, but they went to the doctor and it wasn't.
So, I learned that part off of videos. Luckily, the dancer was able to come back to dance, though she was still obviously ill and "out of shape" (for a high schooler) from nearly a week not dancing.
Then, everybody started getting sick. Some were so sick that they couldn't even get out of bed. On Friday morning, we found out that a lieutenant mouse was out with the stomach flu, so our Dewdrop filled in for that part, as she had done it several years ago and only had to review the choreography a little. She did that part both Friday morning and afternoon. She said she was starting to feel like a cold was coming on, but it would be okay (and since she had finals coming up, she absolutely would NOT allow herself to get sick!).
Meanwhile, both Spanish female roles and the Snow Queen/Marzipan/Flowers demisoloist are clearly being affected by some chest cold or something, though they are still dancing.
Saturday I arrive at the theater for the call and everybody is abuzz because our Dewdrop is so ill that she can't even stand. And... of course... she has no understudy either. She's never missed a performance in her life until now. The director was down trying to figure out what to do. Should last year's Dewdrop do it? She really didn't want to make her, since she didn't quite remember the choreography and she was already doing Columbine, Russian, Snow, and Flowers. The two Flowers demisoloists offered to just make stuff up where it would be awkward if there wasn't someone on stage, but the director didn't like that idea.
Then she turns to me, since I have only one part, and I actually have an understudy. She says, would you be able to do this? I know it's a lot to ask, but I just can't put more pressure on [former Dewdrop with four parts this year]. All you have to do is go out in the beginning of the waltz and bow to Clara, and then in the diagonal just do the step, and for the rest of it it'll look fine if there's not someone there... so you can just run off...
We also find out that the male Spanish dancer is just half-dead on his feet and carrying around a bucket. He's also the Harlequin doll in the party scene, without an understudy (seeing a theme here?? lol), so last year's Harlequin (this year's teapot) fills in.
So the seamstress lets out the bodice for me and finds a tutu, and we figure out how exactly I'm going to do the quick change from Magic Castle to Tea (since my understudy couldn't do the actual tea variation, but only the finale). A girl in Spanish/Flowers remembers that there's a youtube video of Waltz rehearsal, so during Act I I am literally in the hallway in my tutu and bodice and learning the part via this girl's phone. I've only been back on pointe for four months at this point, so there's no way I'm doing those fouettes... figure I'll do some turns from fifth instead. Really try to learn the parts where it looks super awkward if nobody's there.
The director comes back down after the first act and asks if I'm okay, or if I need anything, and tells me how to do the bow, tells me that there's a little part in Magic Castle where someone tells me something and I tell Sugar Plum something, which I had never noticed before in all our rehearsals (oops). Then I realize that I have minor partner stuff in the finale and find the guy that I'd be doing it with to make sure I know what I'm doing. Meanwhile, chaos around me with people all hacking up lungs and pulling plastic snow out of their bodices and changing for Act II. Putting up my Tea costume so I can do the MINUTE AND A HALF fast change.
That fast change was probably the worst part of that whole performance. We nearly didn't make it, and the other two Tea dancers were panicking XD oh, other than the part where I nearly ran into the Russian dancer in the finale because I thought my entrance was eight counts earlier than it was, and then I had to kneel awkwardly early on the stage while the little rosebuds came out and did their thing (which is when I was supposed to come on... with them). The actual Dewdrop part didn't go terribly, though I did forget some of it and had to improvise. It was okay. I mostly stayed in the center and tried to not run into anyone.
The next day, I was supposed to do the part again, but the night before I had been watching the actual DVDs of the performances (the ones that I had to learn Snow) and learning the part. It went much better. I didn't have to improvise at all! And I wasn't even close to running into Russian!
- Our Harlequin/male Spanish dancer was better but still weak. He didn't need to keep a bucket backstage for this performance. Also happily, his brother did not get sick (Snow King/Marzipan)
- Various younger dancers in parts like mice and angels were getting ill
- Snow Queen/Marzipan/etc. came to warm-up feverish and dizzy (but she powered through!)
- Lieutenant soldier/party teen was ill, but he powered through too
- Both Spanish dancers still coughing, sometimes onstage during their variation (but they held that renverse in unison the last time and it was FANTASTIC)
- Tea stayed remarkably healthy, despite all of us being in the dressing room of pestilence together
- Arabian was still getting over her Cold of Death
- One of the lambs in Marzipan was ill as well (luckily, he had an understudy)
The moral of this story is to always have understudies. And to eat chicken noodle soup before performances.
I was asked to dance with the company again for the Nutcracker, which had five performances: November 30, a school performance in the morning on December 12, and then three more Dec 12-14.
The part I was doing was "side tea" (perhaps the cream vessel?), along with another girl as side tea (sugar bowl? Or were we teacups?) and the main tea herself (the teapot?). It's a fine part, even though it's not a main part. It's one of those parts that is easy enough to "just do," but hard to do well. I didn't have anything else in the first act, which was actually nice because the dressing rooms were packed. And I got to help with all the quick changes!
Anyway, the November performance went well. Then there was another two weeks of rehearsals, and the proverbial excrement started to hit the fan.
Early in the week of the performances, I got an email from the director asking if I would be able to understudy Snow. Apparently there were no understudies (for 2 demisoloists, 6 first corps, and 8 second corps... and also not for the Snow Queen and King either), and one of the first corps dancers had gotten ill. It was a cold that was so bad that she was kept out of school with a fever and hacking cough. They thought it was the flu, but they went to the doctor and it wasn't.
So, I learned that part off of videos. Luckily, the dancer was able to come back to dance, though she was still obviously ill and "out of shape" (for a high schooler) from nearly a week not dancing.
Then, everybody started getting sick. Some were so sick that they couldn't even get out of bed. On Friday morning, we found out that a lieutenant mouse was out with the stomach flu, so our Dewdrop filled in for that part, as she had done it several years ago and only had to review the choreography a little. She did that part both Friday morning and afternoon. She said she was starting to feel like a cold was coming on, but it would be okay (and since she had finals coming up, she absolutely would NOT allow herself to get sick!).
Meanwhile, both Spanish female roles and the Snow Queen/Marzipan/Flowers demisoloist are clearly being affected by some chest cold or something, though they are still dancing.
Saturday I arrive at the theater for the call and everybody is abuzz because our Dewdrop is so ill that she can't even stand. And... of course... she has no understudy either. She's never missed a performance in her life until now. The director was down trying to figure out what to do. Should last year's Dewdrop do it? She really didn't want to make her, since she didn't quite remember the choreography and she was already doing Columbine, Russian, Snow, and Flowers. The two Flowers demisoloists offered to just make stuff up where it would be awkward if there wasn't someone on stage, but the director didn't like that idea.
Then she turns to me, since I have only one part, and I actually have an understudy. She says, would you be able to do this? I know it's a lot to ask, but I just can't put more pressure on [former Dewdrop with four parts this year]. All you have to do is go out in the beginning of the waltz and bow to Clara, and then in the diagonal just do the step, and for the rest of it it'll look fine if there's not someone there... so you can just run off...
We also find out that the male Spanish dancer is just half-dead on his feet and carrying around a bucket. He's also the Harlequin doll in the party scene, without an understudy (seeing a theme here?? lol), so last year's Harlequin (this year's teapot) fills in.
So the seamstress lets out the bodice for me and finds a tutu, and we figure out how exactly I'm going to do the quick change from Magic Castle to Tea (since my understudy couldn't do the actual tea variation, but only the finale). A girl in Spanish/Flowers remembers that there's a youtube video of Waltz rehearsal, so during Act I I am literally in the hallway in my tutu and bodice and learning the part via this girl's phone. I've only been back on pointe for four months at this point, so there's no way I'm doing those fouettes... figure I'll do some turns from fifth instead. Really try to learn the parts where it looks super awkward if nobody's there.
The director comes back down after the first act and asks if I'm okay, or if I need anything, and tells me how to do the bow, tells me that there's a little part in Magic Castle where someone tells me something and I tell Sugar Plum something, which I had never noticed before in all our rehearsals (oops). Then I realize that I have minor partner stuff in the finale and find the guy that I'd be doing it with to make sure I know what I'm doing. Meanwhile, chaos around me with people all hacking up lungs and pulling plastic snow out of their bodices and changing for Act II. Putting up my Tea costume so I can do the MINUTE AND A HALF fast change.
That fast change was probably the worst part of that whole performance. We nearly didn't make it, and the other two Tea dancers were panicking XD oh, other than the part where I nearly ran into the Russian dancer in the finale because I thought my entrance was eight counts earlier than it was, and then I had to kneel awkwardly early on the stage while the little rosebuds came out and did their thing (which is when I was supposed to come on... with them). The actual Dewdrop part didn't go terribly, though I did forget some of it and had to improvise. It was okay. I mostly stayed in the center and tried to not run into anyone.
The next day, I was supposed to do the part again, but the night before I had been watching the actual DVDs of the performances (the ones that I had to learn Snow) and learning the part. It went much better. I didn't have to improvise at all! And I wasn't even close to running into Russian!
- Our Harlequin/male Spanish dancer was better but still weak. He didn't need to keep a bucket backstage for this performance. Also happily, his brother did not get sick (Snow King/Marzipan)
- Various younger dancers in parts like mice and angels were getting ill
- Snow Queen/Marzipan/etc. came to warm-up feverish and dizzy (but she powered through!)
- Lieutenant soldier/party teen was ill, but he powered through too
- Both Spanish dancers still coughing, sometimes onstage during their variation (but they held that renverse in unison the last time and it was FANTASTIC)
- Tea stayed remarkably healthy, despite all of us being in the dressing room of pestilence together
- Arabian was still getting over her Cold of Death
- One of the lambs in Marzipan was ill as well (luckily, he had an understudy)
The moral of this story is to always have understudies. And to eat chicken noodle soup before performances.
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