Progress Photos

I wanted to post some progress photos so I can see how far I move along. Also: hopefully, if any of you are feeling bad about a lack of flexibility or some such, you can look at these photos and be glad you aren't this bad! :)

So here is my turnout:

And here are my "splits", as I call them in jest:

Funny, huh?

And so you can see the weird setup I have to work with in my local gym:

Who designed this?? Basically, I can see from my chest up when I am at the barre. But I'm not going to complain: at least I have barres to work with, AND as long as there's no class in there, I've usually got the room to myself.

Once my schedule meshes with another exercise room they have at the gym, I'll go there to work on center movements. No barres, but full length mirrors everywhere!

I just couldn't stay away...

...Ballet is now in my heart!

Hello, lovelies! It's been over two years since my last post. Life happened, and ballet classes became difficult, but it hasn't left my heart!

I made a move in December 2015, and while there was a ballet class option for me as an adult, it was about a 45 minute drive one-way- a tough prospect even without the inevitable depression swings! I did make it to two or three classes. They were so much different from the classes I've normally taken. There was a lot more work on different combinations, but a lot less work on proper technique. It was definitely a lot of fun- it felt far more "dance-y" than usual, but I didn't really like that I had to focus so much on remembering what I was supposed to be doing that I couldn't work on form. I did, however, learn how to do a pirouette... technically, anyway! ☺

Fast forward to summer of 2017 and we come to my being back in my hometown. I hadn't been here long before it was time to register for fall classes at my favorite school, and circumstances were that I just couldn't yet make the commitment to attend class twice a week, so I didn't enroll. What I did do was get myself a gym membership, and I'm proud to say I've been pretty regular at going to the gym! Even better: my gym offers a Barre class (yuck, I tried it)... which means... they have BARRES in the studio, attached to the walls! Guess who has added some very basic ballet to her gym routine?

Now, I don't know if they changed their website, or if I somehow missed it (more likely), but I was drooling over the school's website one day, and I happen across this statement:

Adult students who are unable to attend on a regular basis may pay for individual classes.

Say whatttt??!! I could have been taking classes all that time without worrying about whether or not I missed occasionally?

So, of course, I made it to the next available class! I'd be too behind in the grade I've graduated to, so I took the class in the same grade I'd taken two years ago. I spoke with one of the administration and paid my drop-in rate. My class was going to be in a different studio, with a different instructor. Said instructor was surprised to see an adult in her class- "You spoke to admin? And they said it was okay? Well, okay...."

I also had to deal with my young classmates (8-9 years old or so) being surprised at having such an old lady (haha) taking a class with them. That part is weird for the first class or three- it's like they're either in awe of me, or terrified of me, or both! I've forgotten a lot of the steps, but I had a general idea of what I was doing. I found some of the little girls were sort of looking to me to follow, while I was looking towards another little girl to follow! I always try to be a really good student, because I'm really grateful to be able to take classes there even though I'm the only adult in the class, and one of the only ones in the school. I count out the steps or call out the movements the way we are supposed to when I remember, even though it's sometimes just me and the teacher doing so.

The huge highlight of my first class: one of my classmates asked me where I did ballet at. I told her I just took classes at the school. Her eyes grew big and she replied, "wow! you're really good!" That was awesome :)

Anyway, at the end of that class, they handed out the schedule to the Nutcracker rehearsals and such. I don't even know if I CAN be in the Nutcracker, and even if so, it wouldn't be this year, so I am waiting until the holidays are over, and starting classes again in January! I'm SO excited!

In other news, I'm tending to an injury of some sort, so I haven't even been to the gym in a week or so. I thought it was my hamstring, but it's flaring up to my rear end, so I'm pretty sure it's my sciatic nerve. I'm taking it really easy, babying it, icing it, and I tried compression when I thought it was just my hamstring. It doesn't seem to be getting better, though, and I don't know what to do :( I read to try and stretch out a sciatic nerve flare up, so I am going to try that again, but it didn't seem to help around the time I tried compression. I have a doctor appointment later this month, so if it's not feeling better by then, I will ask for help. I so badly want this to be healed by the time class starts back up!

Last thing: OMG, Instagram! All of these wonderful beginner (and more advanced) adult ballet students posting! Honestly, it's what inspired me to start writing in this blog again. the.pointer.sisters are currently my favorite ballet students to follow- more advanced than I which is so inspiring, and they always look like they are having such fun! Anyway, I haven't posted anything yet, but I plan on doing so soon, so please follow me @luvballetluv!

Actual last thing: I was very surprised to come back to see that I had a comment on my post about MDM ballet shoes- it meant someone's read this blog! At the time I read the comment, I couldn't find a US retailer of the shoes, but since then, it looks like they are once again available in the USA. I tried using them recently at the gym, which worked a couple of times, but the floor is really dirty there sometimes. I still really love the shoe, and feel like I get more of a foot workout with them than with normal full-sole shoes, so I may invest in a pair just for practice. (Currently using Bloch 205L, which are increasingly difficult to find.)

Ending with some beautiful photos:

Update: Sick, Pas de Bourres, Adding a Bra to a Leotard

As luck would have it, just as I was getting over my not feeling so well from the car wreck I was in, I caught a cold earlier this week. It got bad on Tuesday, when I left work early, and I stayed at home in bed Wednesday and Thursday as well. I'm feeling much better. I pondered going to ballet both of those days (though I felt really bad, especially Tuesday), but decided that not only would it probably make me not feel better, I would likely spread it to all of my classmates, who would then spread it to their respective school classrooms and I would just be responsible for this huge catastrophe of sickness. So, I stayed home.

I'm definitely getting back into it today. Nothing too hardcore as I'm not at 100% but I can't not do anything today. I'm already worried my teacher is thinking I'm not taking ballet seriously- and I am! I'll explain to her what happened, of course. And today, I think I am going to work on some of the slower online classes that I know well, the ones by Tamra Chace, and do some stretching. At the end, if I feel like it, I will work on my pas de bourre. I'm really getting the hang of them, and want to really have them nailed the next time I go to class... or at least to where I'm not totally tangled up doing them in class.

I've been working on visualizing those pas de bourres a lot, since I haven't been able to do them. I've been watching two videos over and over to see how gracefully the dancers do them, and then try to imagine myself doing the movements as gracefully. Hopefully that's helping. One is from the Royal Opera House. We don't move front to back, only to the sides, but even so, I'm watching those movements too to help figure out how to gracefully do the sides. This is the other one and I don't even know who these people are, but I like that I can watch several people to see how each of them do the movements.

The other thing I am planning on starting today is this: I've been lamenting about my lack of leotard options as a woman with a D cup/fuller breasts. Basically, I have been confined to plain, basic tank leotards; plain, basic short-sleeve and long-sleeve leotards, and, well, that's just about it. (Although I have recently purchased one with lace at the shoulders, and can wear a bra with clear straps for that one.) But I still have my pretty leotards that I can't wear to class!

So I've decided to recycle an old bra to use with a leotard, probably my older white one (it's seen better days, so I will use it first. Also, it flattens me out a bit instead of pushing me up, which is better for ballet!). My goal is to cut the back off starting from an inch or two past the cups on the side, and cut everything from there back out. Then I am going to fold the edges I cut, and maybe add something else in for reinforcement there. (Excuse me, I don't know sewing terms.) And then I am going to add black elastic strips. With this one, it will probably be three horizontal straps, so that when the bra is on (which will hopefully just slip over my head? Or I may need to add hooks), the front will be supported and in the back you will just see three horizontal black stripes, which will hopefully blend in and look like it's part of my leotard.

I've been looking at a ton of ideas for doing this. I've got some ideas for straps as well. Here are some of the photos that have been inspiring me:

This is how the first one I plan to do will hopefully look, only under a camisole leotard with a very low back. I'm just not sure if strapless will be enough support. If not, I will add straps in somewhere...

Basically what mine will look like, hopefully, only the front won't match and won't be so pretty on my first try!

This was my original idea, for the really pretty black leotard I still have the tags on, because I just don't have a bra to match the straps and without a bra, it just looks awkward. It looks like with this one, you could actually sew in the bra straps inside the leotard straps, though I'm not sure how that will work with the one I have in mind.

I wouldn't put the adjustments there at the top like that, but I plan to use mine for low-back leotards. I'd love to make something where the straps could be worn or not... but if worn, they would match my leotards shape. So, not like the traditional multi-way bras that VS has and such.

Music & Markings

I happened to glance down at the record player (yes, my instructor uses an old-timey record player with vinyl records!) as I was walking out of class last week. Really, all I noticed was the word "Cecchetti", which possibly gives me something to go by when I'm practicing certain movements that differ between styles, such as arabesques.

Then I was watching some ballet videos and heard one of the songs that we use in class, the title below the video: Robert Long's "Battements Glisses". I just decided to check out the iTunes store and see if I could could find the album- and sure enough, there it was, along with a number of other songs we use in class. Of course, I shelled out the $10 so I can practice along to the right music :)

I also took some masking tape and marked where my feet should be in first/fifth near the barre (I tend to stand too close to the barre, and this is a proper distance away). Then I tendu'ed to second and put an X in masking tape where my a la seconde should be (since we don't have perfect turnout, my instructor has us do a la seconde wherever our feet point in first position instead of straight out to the side). I repeated for the other side, using the same mark for first/fifth (which I put near the halfway mark near the center of my barre). I've noticed (and it's been pointed out to me several times) that my foot should always arrive at the same place in many occasions when in a la seconde, so I'm hoping this helps me develop the muscle memory I need for this.

More: Tibial Torsion, Anterior Pelvic Tilt

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. I have no medical training. I do NOT recommend anyone to attempt anything I am about to discuss in this post. To do so could provide serious injury! Furthermore, should I post at a later time positive results from attempting the things described in this post, this still does not mean I recommend anyone trying anything here. I have personally done a lot of research on what I will be attempting (I have exceptional research abilities including the ability to decipher professional jargon and understand it), but since I have never been trained, I could totally be screwing up. "Screwing up" can result in serious injuries and the possibility that if something were to go wrong, I may not be able to dance anymore. I accept these risks personally, but again- I do NOT recommend ANYONE to attempt this on your own and without the help of a trained professional.

I've been reading more on tibial torsion and anterior pelvic tilt. This video is short and simple and says that the rotation of my foot outwards (tibial torsion) can be caused by an IT band that is too tight. That makes sense.

I've also been reading about kinesio taping. I mentioned that I tried it before on my knee, and it did indeed turn my knee out some. But I've been reading more and decided to order real kinesio tape, along with leukotape, which is mentioned often. I got four boxes of KT on eBay, precut at 2" x 10", with 20 per box. It was $25 and seemed like the best deal; most of what I want to try (so far) involves strips about that long. The LT was $10, and I didn't get nearly as much, but I can always get more.

I totally don't recommend doing this, but I'm taking the DIY approach here. No, I have no training in what I'm going to do, but it honestly doesn't look that difficult. The hardest part seems to be how much to stretch the tape, so I'll take it easy and hardly stretch it at all. As for where it goes, I've found two sources that pretty much tell me what I need to know.

This (pdf) discusses a study that was done on taping to fix anterior pelvic tilt (with positive results). The actual instructions for taping are on page 8, and while I haven't had to use terms like "medially" and "obliquely" in quite some time, I think I can figure it out. There is also a handy photo showing what it looks like on page 20.

As for the tibial torsion, I will use the video I used before along with this (pdf). The tibial torsion taping is explained starting on page 52. (This video shows how to make a "tab".) There are also a lot of different techniques given for different issues, but I'm only focused on these two.

So I think I have enough info to work with, although I will continue researching. (Note that the links I have posted are not the sum total of all I've read by any means.) I'm excited for my tape to come in, and- of course- will post updates on all of this once I have everything and get going!

"Floor Barre", Leg Extensions & Hips

I read a great article awhile back (I may have linked to it before, pdf), entitled "Functional Anatomy in Dance Training: An Efficient Warm Up Emphasizing the Role of the Psoas". In it is this picture, which has stuck in my mind since reading it:

Développé à la seconde. Incorrect placement of hip in left photo. Hip is raised. Corrected in the middle photo. Incorrect use of glutes in the third.

I've been working on this while doing ballet lately. I was pretty much convinced that a) my hips and legs just don't work like that or b) the only way I would ever be able to understand how to get my hips and legs like that would be one-on-one instruction from a professional.

Then I read a post (on one of the ballet forums) about floor barre. Apparently, the term "Floor Barre" is a registered trademarked technique that you may be able to find classes for, though they don't seem to be common in smaller cities. But- you should know me by now!- I'm not going to worry about flying or driving to some other city to learn Floor Barre. I'm going to teach myself! (So we'll say I'm just borrowing the term, uncapitalized,  to describe what I am doing, and it should not be taken to mean that I have ever had any class on the trademarked technique of "Floor Barre".)

A couple of nights ago, I decided to give my own version of floor barre a shot. I wanted to work on those things in the photo above. And what do you know? When I lie on my back I am able to bring my leg forwards and sideways without moving my hips! (It's so much easier to work on when all that pesky gravity isn't making extensions so difficult to do!) So now I know that my hips will allow my legs to raise properly; it can be done. My goal is to work on this while on the floor and hopefully gain muscle memory so I can perform the actions correctly while standing. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing differently, but with practice, I hope to understand (and be able to DO!).

My DIY Rotation Disks

So I ordered some items from eBay to make rotation disks for hip rotation. Unfortunately, the wooden circles I got are less sturdy than some cardboard I have, so I am going to have to rig them differently than I'd planned (and it's going to look way less pretty, but will still accomplish the same thing). I haven't screwed anything in place since I haven't quite decided how I want to do it, but I put it all together anyway and was able to work on hip rotation (doing it very carefully since nothing was properly mounted). And: wow! It was extremely helpful!

First of all, the good news: my right hip can rotate past 90 degrees! If I can get my left leg up to par, I will have amazing turnout. It takes quite the effort to turnout my right leg that far, but it will definitely go.

The bad news (which isn't so bad since it's far better to at least know this now): my poor left leg has been turning out FAR too much with my left knee. I kept trying, and the harder I pressed out, the worse my knee felt. It took quite a few tries, but eventually I was able to access those deep rotator muscles. I had to switch to my right leg a few times to sort of show my left leg how to get to those muscles. (I've been using them a little, but not enough at all.) Once I started getting them, it was really neat. I was able to feel all of these little muscles deep inside my leg that I've never really felt before. There was one small muscle in there that I was pretty much able to access just by itself. When I found it, the use of it was so small my leg was hardly moving at all, but that muscle was certainly getting a workout!

I also noticed how much I've been using my glutes. Well, it's not a ton but it's more than I should be using. On my right leg, I noticed there was some work from my calf muscle involved with my hip rotation. The calf muscle wasn't actually working, but it felt more like it moved a bit when I rotated externally. (Too bad ballet doesn't work with internal rotation or I'd be a master!)

One other thing that was interesting was that when I was rotating from my hip on my left leg, what could only be my iliacus (or maybe my psoas) was feeling a tug... on my right side. I understand the connection between the two slightly, but otherwise find it kinda odd, something going on that I don't quite grasp.

Anyway, I woke up this morning with definite achiness (the good kind) in both hip rotator areas (especially on my left side). Unfortunately, my poor left knee hurts from straining so much trying to get it right. I'm going to be extra careful with it, but it's so great to know now what I've been doing wrong, and how I can fix it!

I'll post some photos once I get my rotation disks put together. I may just sell them for really cheap- they're so expensive to get prebuilt! Mine may not look so great (and I won't be able to use on non-hard surfaces like carpet), but they're certainly going to get the job done. It would be nice to be able to help other ballet students who don't want to shell out $100 on a set... but I just don't know what they are actually going to look like right now (would it be embarrassing to sell such an ugly product, even if it works??) :)

Tibial torsion... taping?

I've been really focused on this tibial torsion, if you can't tell. What's interesting to me is that I can actually twist my knee around to the place it should be at. I was looking up more videos on it and came across this one. Judging by his uploads, he seems to be a massage therapist. No, I don't believe a random massage therapist on the internet is an expert on anatomy, but he is doing something that actually occurred to me to do: taping the knee and surrounding area to it's ideal position on someone with T.T. He says that T.T. occurs because the sartoris, gracilis, and semitendinosus (hamstring) muscles are weak, and not pulling the knee where it is supposed to be. (I've heard the hamstring mentioned regarding this a lot- no clue about the other muscles.)

Lately, when I've been stretching my left leg, I've been focusing on using my leg muscles to turn my tibia externally. I am able to do this; I don't need to use my hands, so this tells me it IS possible to get the knee back in place. It seems like, well, just what he's said and others have said- certain muscles are weak and certain muscles are too tight.

In the video, traylbodywork shows himself taping a patient's knee into the right position. I recently considered doing something like this myself, but wasn't sure if it was a good or at least decent idea, or a terrible one. But apparently, "Kineseo Taping" is a thing. I'm intrigued.

I was about to whip out some duct tape this evening, but I don't want to mess with my class tomorrow. This could be a very bad idea. It could mess up my knee even worse. But my intuition tells me there is something to it. After class tomorrow (or the next evening), I am going to be my own guinea pig. I'm going to try this taping business out. While continuing to focus on it the way I have been. I'm really convinced this is fixable. We're going to find out! (I am going to try to take some decent photos before I try this so I can have something for comparison in the future.)

DIY Ballet Barre, Beginning progress photos (demi-pointe, turnout, doming)

Just wanted to post a few photos I've been meaning to. First of all, my barre setup (the mirror is low enough that I can see my feet while at the barre, of course, and it is tall enough that I can see my arms raised to my wrists, but I can't see my hands unless I move away from the barre. I'm 5'3" and this mirror is 48"x30" and sits 17" above the floor. The barre is about 12" from the wall.):

Was really simple to do, and cost under $20 (for the barre). (Be sure to get anchor screws if you're not screwing into studs! Preferably the heavy duty ones.) The brackets were around $4 each and the dowel rod was cut to the right size for my space (3"). It was $8- I went for the more expensive one because it was smoother. There's a screw underneath the dowel so it doesn't move too much. I happened to have a mirror the perfect size for my space but used one of the cheap door mirrors before I got that one up. (You could take two of those mirrors- I think it'd fit- and take the frame off, then hang the mirrors up side by side. In the middle, when aligning the clear plastic mirror things, line up the left one so it's flush with the right one right above it so you can get the mirrors as close together as possible, with a minimal gap.)

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instead of:

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(so you have one plastic hanger apart instead of two.)

And I started taking progress photos last week. These were taken on the 20th. I will put the ones up that I took today- I can already see progress! Here's my demi-pointe on October 20th:

Here's my turnout on October 20th:

And here's my "doming" (yes, I know my toes are curled here. They were much less curled in today's pictures- a work in progress):