Best pointe class ever!

Hi all!

Between my crazy dance schedule and my crazy work schedule, I'm not finding much time for writing lately, but tons has been happening!

I'm moving into my 5th full week back to dance for the season.  I was really worried that my increased class load would be too much, but my body has adapted well and recovery time is shorter and shorter each day.  

The first two pointe classes of the season were really rough.  My instructor (while well meaning) gave us some really difficult and fast paced combinations that I did NOT get at all.  I was having issues with my shoes and after class 2 I had 3 huge bloody blisters on each foot. I struggled through them and then felt all out of sorts about it the rest of the week.  

I went into my third class with thoughts of quitting nestled quietly in the back of my brain.  It ended up being the best pointe class I've ever had!  All feelings of dropping the class are now totally out the window.  Phew.

I was able to execute and actually perform our combinations correctly and with proper timing.  It felt REALLY good.  It was probably the only time I've felt beautiful and that I truly had my s**t together in pointe class, instead of just struggling my way through it and being behind the music.  I find that being so tall, it takes extra effort to stay on time with the rest of my shorter classmates.  My long limbs were pretty much made for beautiful slow adagio pieces, and focus on allegro is high on my priority list this year.

I'm also making an effort to treat combinations in class as if an audience is watching, and that visualization is really making a difference.  I think dancing every day (despite the genre) is also a huge help.  My body is always in dance mode and it's a really strange (but admittedly awesome) feeling.  Seriously, though, it was the best class ever.  

I went back and forth on the shoes I'd buy for the beginning of the semester.  I considered a re-order of the Gaynor Minden shoes in a hard shank, but decided against it.  I'm still not 100% sure if the GM Hard shank will be hard enough.   Instead I ordered a pair of Grishko 2007 Pro in a hard shank.  It's amazing how much better the hard shank is for me!  Wow!  Even being through what, 12? 13? pairs of shoes in the last two years, I'd never had harder than a medium shank.  The hard shank makes so much difference for me.  My left foot has always been weaker than the right, and I've always had some fear due to lack of support with single footed work on the left side.  In these shoes I feel so much more secure and supported, and it really shows in class.  

Other than that, I'm loving my advanced jazz class this year.  It's by far the hardest class I'm taking.  The instructor is amazing though, she really pushes and expects a lot from us.  She's teaching lots of leaps I haven't done in many years....  reverse leaps, calypso, side leap, etc.  It's really fun trying them all again, and the burning desire to master them is always in the back of my brain now.  I know for sure that I can get a nice side leap and most likely even the calypso, I need to work on letting go of the fear of landing wrong or injuring myself as I land.  I really admire a fantastic huge calypso leap, and if there is one I want to master, it's that one.  The sass factor in jazz is really appealing to me, and it's working out well.

We started working on this FANTASTIC piece in Contemporary.  We are acting as if we are marionettes, and the class was so excited about it that I believe we are using it for our recital number next spring!  It's amazing and I can't wait to learn more.

I feel like this is the year that I'll see drastic improvement and really come into my own as a dancer.

That's my update, I have a few other things to write about but I'll save them for another post.

Happy Dancing!

-L