Milwaukee Ballet Open Classes
Happy weekend everyone!
Saturday is normally the day I sleep in, but yesterday I woke up around 9 and decided to take the 10:45am Milwaukee Ballet intermediate open class! The class was taught by Milwaukee Ballet Choreographer In Residence Petr Zahradníček. The class marked many firsts for me, and I had a great time.
- First male instructor
- First instructor with international credentials
- First class at a nationally accredited ballet school
- First class with live piano accompaniment (what a treat!)
I don't actually live right in the city of Milwaukee, so it took about 25 minutes to get to the studio, which isn't in the greatest neighborhood to tell the truth. It's nice and large-- built in an old Milwaukee warehouse with several different studio areas. I was super nervous as I ran in the front door and registered, I got a little bit lost and was cutting it close on time. I had no idea how many people would be in the class, if there would be any professionals dropping in, or what the studio would be like.
The studio was hot. I was sweating in the first 5 minutes! It was a nice lofty area with well worn barres running the 3/4 of the room and marley floors. That took some getting used to-- I have a lot of rosin on my shoes, my current studio has wood flooring that get slippery in the winter.
The instructor, Petr, was great. Very energetic and gave clear demonstrations, and very constructive comments and corrections. He had an interesting way of describing certain things, like when balancing only think about making your hips and shoulders line up to create a rectangle. That visualization really helped, when I only worried about those 4 points I balanced a lot longer than normal, and I've already been getting better in that aspect! Can't wait to use his corrections in my regular classes!
We did a few normal barre exercises. Plie, tendu, rond de jambre, rdj en l'air, panche arabesque, fondue, frappe, grand battement. It wasn't especially hard, but since it was so hot in there it was tiring! We moved to the center and did a nice simple adagio, some bourres into pirouettes, and a quick balance allegro. We ended with pique turns across the floor, and he asked us to really stretch as if the corner were pulling us across the floor, to lengthen our stride a great deal. It was really fun moving so big!
It was great having a live piano accompaniment, we never had to worry that the CD was going to run out during our combinations, lol! I felt a little spoiled.
There were 4 other ladies of varying ages and abilities in the class. Another lady with two young kids in the student classes was also having her first class at this studio. There was another younger girl, I thought perhaps 19, and two other middle aged ladies.
My favorite part of this class was taking the time to appreciate that each instructor has something different to offer, no matter where the studio. Petr was able to give me several small pointers that were worded in a way that just clicked for me. Sometimes just hearing something a different way can really help!
Finally, to top off the evening I attended the Milwaukee Ballet Winter Series with my mom. She bought me the tickets months ago for my birthday. It was essentially 3 different choreographers presenting their take on ballet without boundaries. Each piece was performed by amazing dancers, but it did make me realize just how indifferent I feel about certain forms of modern dance. There was a point during the first variation where I hoped it would end, which really pains me to say. I just didn't really get it I guess, not my cup of tea. The second one was better, and the third was my favorite. It had a lot more traditional ballet moves, jumps, turns, leaps, etc. The first two had a lot of very slow precise movement which I appreciated for the control, but it was very repetitive to me. I want to like it more, I just can't.
It was a good weekend, but I was welcomed home with a terrible headache that is still pounding away now. All in all, I think next time I pay to see the ballet, I'll make sure I know what they'll be doing before I buy tickets. I will be going back to that open class though! I'm not painful today just a little bit achy-- the good kind.
I'm excited for classes this week, can't wait to learn more of our recital numbers!
Have a good week, happy dancing!
RB
Saturday is normally the day I sleep in, but yesterday I woke up around 9 and decided to take the 10:45am Milwaukee Ballet intermediate open class! The class was taught by Milwaukee Ballet Choreographer In Residence Petr Zahradníček. The class marked many firsts for me, and I had a great time.
- First male instructor
- First instructor with international credentials
- First class at a nationally accredited ballet school
- First class with live piano accompaniment (what a treat!)
I don't actually live right in the city of Milwaukee, so it took about 25 minutes to get to the studio, which isn't in the greatest neighborhood to tell the truth. It's nice and large-- built in an old Milwaukee warehouse with several different studio areas. I was super nervous as I ran in the front door and registered, I got a little bit lost and was cutting it close on time. I had no idea how many people would be in the class, if there would be any professionals dropping in, or what the studio would be like.
The studio was hot. I was sweating in the first 5 minutes! It was a nice lofty area with well worn barres running the 3/4 of the room and marley floors. That took some getting used to-- I have a lot of rosin on my shoes, my current studio has wood flooring that get slippery in the winter.
The instructor, Petr, was great. Very energetic and gave clear demonstrations, and very constructive comments and corrections. He had an interesting way of describing certain things, like when balancing only think about making your hips and shoulders line up to create a rectangle. That visualization really helped, when I only worried about those 4 points I balanced a lot longer than normal, and I've already been getting better in that aspect! Can't wait to use his corrections in my regular classes!
We did a few normal barre exercises. Plie, tendu, rond de jambre, rdj en l'air, panche arabesque, fondue, frappe, grand battement. It wasn't especially hard, but since it was so hot in there it was tiring! We moved to the center and did a nice simple adagio, some bourres into pirouettes, and a quick balance allegro. We ended with pique turns across the floor, and he asked us to really stretch as if the corner were pulling us across the floor, to lengthen our stride a great deal. It was really fun moving so big!
It was great having a live piano accompaniment, we never had to worry that the CD was going to run out during our combinations, lol! I felt a little spoiled.
There were 4 other ladies of varying ages and abilities in the class. Another lady with two young kids in the student classes was also having her first class at this studio. There was another younger girl, I thought perhaps 19, and two other middle aged ladies.
My favorite part of this class was taking the time to appreciate that each instructor has something different to offer, no matter where the studio. Petr was able to give me several small pointers that were worded in a way that just clicked for me. Sometimes just hearing something a different way can really help!
Finally, to top off the evening I attended the Milwaukee Ballet Winter Series with my mom. She bought me the tickets months ago for my birthday. It was essentially 3 different choreographers presenting their take on ballet without boundaries. Each piece was performed by amazing dancers, but it did make me realize just how indifferent I feel about certain forms of modern dance. There was a point during the first variation where I hoped it would end, which really pains me to say. I just didn't really get it I guess, not my cup of tea. The second one was better, and the third was my favorite. It had a lot more traditional ballet moves, jumps, turns, leaps, etc. The first two had a lot of very slow precise movement which I appreciated for the control, but it was very repetitive to me. I want to like it more, I just can't.
It was a good weekend, but I was welcomed home with a terrible headache that is still pounding away now. All in all, I think next time I pay to see the ballet, I'll make sure I know what they'll be doing before I buy tickets. I will be going back to that open class though! I'm not painful today just a little bit achy-- the good kind.
I'm excited for classes this week, can't wait to learn more of our recital numbers!
Have a good week, happy dancing!
RB
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