Like Breathing
Class last night was really good. Ballet & pointe are a lot harder this year than last year. I also have fewer classmates right now, so the 4 of us in class are getting work done that other girls (who will join later in the year) probably couldn't do right nowd anyways, and for that I'm thankful. She doesn't have to water down the choreography for us!
I started ballet when I was 3, I did tap as well but I was never great at that. To me, ballet is like breathing. I'm FAR from perfect, but my body instinctively knows what to do in ballet class. I've done it for most of my life, and I don't have to try hard to apply corrections.
During the day I had my space heater on at my desk because it was freezing in my house (oh Wisconsin), and I decided to put those infamous Grishko 2007s on it to heat up the glue in the shank. Doing so worked well while the glue was still hot, but even after I molded the shank and let it set that way, the shoes were still weird in class.
It's honestly a tossup-- those shoes have a much harder shank and I felt more shank support in them. I was able to do pique turns across the room correctly for the first time which was pretty awesome. Downside? I still couldn't get over my box in more than a shortened 2nd position, and the shank did very strange things to my feet. I think the solution will be to purchase one more pair of Gaynors with a hard or extra hard shank. I love the pair I have, but the shank support is lacking. Boo. I'm going to email them with some pics, I just worry about rolling over the shoe. The Grishko has a really deep vamp, which is partially why I can't get over the box, but it kept me more upright in the shoe. Back to the drawing board!
I added video number two in my monthly splits update a few days ago. Here is the first one:
And my latest update:
I haven't gotten a whole lot further down, but you can see a pretty distinct difference in the angle of my upper body. In the first video, I had to lean my upper body pretty far forward to get as low as possible. In my new video, my torso is much more upright, and still about the same distance from the floor. I've been working hard on my quads, IT band, and hip flexor flexibility, and it's paying off already. The flexibility in my legs doesn't seem to be the main issue, but tightness in the hips.
Other than that, my class load is 4 hours a week. I really like the fluidity of lyrical, but modern/contemporary has really thrown me. I secretly wish I had ballet all 4 class hours, it's definitely my "thing" in many ways. The owner and director of the studio teaches the contemporary class, and she's really good. She has a different way of explaining things, she has an organic and flowing nature to her instruction that I really appreciate. She gave us a combination and asked us to perform it to different music with different feelings behind each. It was hard for me to concentrate so much on feelings like "heavy", that I messed up the steps. It was one big hot mess.
The concept of letting loose but still retaining quality of movement is challenging for me. Then again, I'm the kind of person you won't likely see dancing with friends at a club or wedding... it is always awkward. Oh well, I'm determined to figure it out!
That's all I have for you today. Check back tomorrow for a post on the joys of the foam roller!
I started ballet when I was 3, I did tap as well but I was never great at that. To me, ballet is like breathing. I'm FAR from perfect, but my body instinctively knows what to do in ballet class. I've done it for most of my life, and I don't have to try hard to apply corrections.
During the day I had my space heater on at my desk because it was freezing in my house (oh Wisconsin), and I decided to put those infamous Grishko 2007s on it to heat up the glue in the shank. Doing so worked well while the glue was still hot, but even after I molded the shank and let it set that way, the shoes were still weird in class.
It's honestly a tossup-- those shoes have a much harder shank and I felt more shank support in them. I was able to do pique turns across the room correctly for the first time which was pretty awesome. Downside? I still couldn't get over my box in more than a shortened 2nd position, and the shank did very strange things to my feet. I think the solution will be to purchase one more pair of Gaynors with a hard or extra hard shank. I love the pair I have, but the shank support is lacking. Boo. I'm going to email them with some pics, I just worry about rolling over the shoe. The Grishko has a really deep vamp, which is partially why I can't get over the box, but it kept me more upright in the shoe. Back to the drawing board!
I added video number two in my monthly splits update a few days ago. Here is the first one:
Other than that, my class load is 4 hours a week. I really like the fluidity of lyrical, but modern/contemporary has really thrown me. I secretly wish I had ballet all 4 class hours, it's definitely my "thing" in many ways. The owner and director of the studio teaches the contemporary class, and she's really good. She has a different way of explaining things, she has an organic and flowing nature to her instruction that I really appreciate. She gave us a combination and asked us to perform it to different music with different feelings behind each. It was hard for me to concentrate so much on feelings like "heavy", that I messed up the steps. It was one big hot mess.
The concept of letting loose but still retaining quality of movement is challenging for me. Then again, I'm the kind of person you won't likely see dancing with friends at a club or wedding... it is always awkward. Oh well, I'm determined to figure it out!
That's all I have for you today. Check back tomorrow for a post on the joys of the foam roller!
Happy Dancing!
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