Today‘s ballet class was amazing. Tuesdays are traditionally dedicated to basics (for pointes as well as ‘regular’ ballet and floorbarre) so it was the perfect way for us students to kick (or grand battement?) the new year into gear, dance-wise. I do my best to take several classes a week when I am not traveling,… Read More Back to Basics
So many possibilities, and some lovely projects already in the works to look forward to. The New Year is wide open. These are my dance goals for 2019: For Ballet Dare to finally try a pirouette on pointes, on both sides 🙂 Dance (and survive) a full choreo en pointe at this year’s(!) recital. Work… Read More Dance Goals for 2019
Christmas is traditionally time for The Nutcracker ballet. Seven years ago (3rd of December 2011 to be exact) I performed in my very first ballet recital. The Nutcracker was our ballet piece for the year 🙂 I got to dance as one of the snowflakes, which was very exciting (my first time wearing a tutu!)… Read More The Nutcracker and Shakespeare
One thing that is inevitably a part of learning, of growth, is the time spent in (on?) plateaus. I am writing this post mostly as a reminder to myself, as patience is something I need to practise as well. Currently I am at a kind of plateau on pointes (which makes for an interesting visualisation),… Read More Pointes and Plateaus
I have just now – in collaboration with Dance4Children, my favourite non-profit charity team, set up a special D4C Gumroad Channel. All sales of it’s dance instructional videos (very soon the ‘Shimmy Sessions’ series will be re-released there in full, and hopefully new videos will follow in the coming year!) will go directly and completely… Read More Dance and Do Good
A quote I heard on a great podcast interview today: The Music lies in between the notes. How apt this is in a world that seems to be moving ever faster.. Just as the silence between notes is where the music is truly found, it‘s in the pauses between movements that a dance comes to… Read More Stillness in Motion
Today’s post is all about pointe shoe sizes. I’ve received a few questions about which pointe shoes I dance with currently. At the moment I use Grishko’s ‘Dreampointes’, size 5 1/2 XXX MF for class. For the very curious: I wear them in with Grishko gel toe pads model 2, and a smidge of silver spun lambs… Read More If the Shoe fits..
I used to think it was not possible for adults to learn to dance on pointes (or do the splits!), unless they had already practised it extensively as kids. I was also convinced that if I WERE to attempt to learn it, not only would it not work out, I would also be sure to… Read More To the Pointe
A short post on what to expect in a typical ballet class. Note: Exercises for different technique aspects of ballet are usually taught in a short-to-medium length sequence (longer for higher level classes), and then practised as a mini-combination to music, repeated first on the right (ie left hand on the barre) and then the… Read More Ballet Class Structure
Making the most out of your practice sessions – even when time is short! – is a theme I often receive questions about. Here are my favourite tips for working as effectively as possible at home, with or without practice videos and DVDs, as well as on how to get the most out of your… Read More Practice Tips