• Dance Class Recaps,  Progress Or Lack Thereof

    beating and nothingness

    Whoops, I have taken three classes without posting here! I did start to write something after last Wednesday’s class, so let me start there. Wednesday Something is not right with my arabesque on my right side (right leg is working leg). I don’t know when or how this happened. I glanced over in the mirror and it just looked awful. My back was a weird C-shape and my leg seemed to be somewhere in orbit around my body rather than attached to it. Why am I getting worse? Once I noticed it, I reigned it in a little by keeping the leg lower. Although I’ve lost and gained height over…

  • Dance Class Recaps

    ghost in the balanchine

    Free class day was on Saturday, so I went back to that big, old studio I’m in love with. The class was accurately labeled for once, as “intro/beginner.” But the “intro” part was maybe too accurate, and it may have been just a little too watered down for my tastes. It was still a good workout but I’m not sure how much that class would really help me improve. Taylor’s Saturday class at my regular studio is much more on my level. Next year when I start taking class on Saturdays, I’ll probably just go there. Both classes have a pointe class afterward. Just sayin. After class, one of the…

  • Dance Class Recaps

    Ballonnaise

    Class on Wednesday was packed! We were already pretty full when three students walked in slightly late, all absolute beginners. I forget sometimes Wednesdays are billed as “beginner ballet.” We had to pull out a second barre, a rare occurrence. It was nice having the beginners in class, although Taylor didn’t change much and it was still a good level of challenge for the regulars. She just jumped in with the beginners and gave them some variations (hands on hips, etc). It was nice to see ballet class through fresh eyes—like wow okay what I am doing is actually pretty difficult and it really did take SO MANY YEARS to…

  • Dance Class Recaps

    C’est n’est pas un chat

    When I arrived at the studio on Monday, I whipped out my class card and was totally shocked to see that my card was full and I would be using my free class! The class cards are buy ten, get one free, but it was actually my 13th class since starting ballet again. There was a free class day and then I paid for a single class before purchasing the class card. Lucky number 13! I continue to love Monday classes in a different, yet complementary, way than Wednesday classes. They are actually very similar in structure and difficulty. Sometimes I forget which one is supposed to be the “intermediate”…

  • Dance Class Recaps,  Uncategorized

    Can’t trust that bourree

    I should stop over-eating every single weekend so I don’t feel bloated and sluggish every single Monday. I should, but I probably won’t. I did go to a yoga class on Saturday. I hadn’t done yoga since I started back with ballet. It amused me that I was very sore afterwards—from the waist up! My legs were fine. I guess there aren’t any muscles in the lower body that dancing doesn’t hit. Ballet class on Monday was good once I got going, as usual. There were some new faces. One woman attended who was pretty advanced, but maybe she hadn’t danced in a while. We both struggled to get the…

  • Dance Class Recaps

    Time to go ahead and get *talking about my HOOVES* and *making Center Stage references* out of the way

    So… let’s talk about the class I took on Wednesday! This is the “beginner” class as opposed to “beginner/intermediate” but in reality, the two levels are pretty similar. I have to say I like the bit of extra hand-holding we get in the Wednesday class. I mean like the teacher calling out steps, giving heads ups as to which side/step/leg/arm is coming up next… just because it gives you the opportunity to work on technique instead of fatiguing your poor brain with remembering choreography after a long day of work. I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to work on my releves*. I’ve been trying really hard to get as…