Update: On Class Hiatus

So, I missed a Thursday class a few weeks ago- I was tired, or had plans, or something. The following week, my car nearly broke down and needed transmission work. Just breaking down a transmission itself is quite a time-consuming process... then they had to figure out what was wrong with it... order the parts... fix something else that my car had been recalled for that I'd forgotten about... fix the transmission... put it all back together. There was a big week-long event in town the first week, so car rental prices were absurd. By the second, I'd gotten used to just getting a ride to/from work and saved car rental money. But I had to miss two weeks of classes, on top of the Thursday I'd missed.

Had I gone back to class, they were just working on the demo I wouldn't get to be in, and I'd be quite behind on learning the moves. And after the demo, class is pretty much over. I've also found a new hobby I'm adoring, so I've decided to just go on hiatus until the next ballet season starts in the fall. That doesn't mean I'm not working at home; I'm just not going to class.

There's another reason as well. Remember the injury my silly self got by overdoing splits? I'm still injured. It doesn't hurt to move or anything, but the slightest stretching and I can totally feel it. I've decided I want that to heal totally before doing anything major with it. (I'm reading Dancing Through It by former NYCB principal dancer Jenifer Ringer, and one of her teachers told her, when she was injured, "The slower the recovery, the faster you recover", or something very similar. The book is fantastic, BTW. I just covered many pages while at the doctor's office today. I highly recommend it!)

And honestly, I haven't done a ton of ballet lately besides tendus, rond de jambes, other barre work- with a big exception: I've been going plie crazy! I noticed the slightest hint of extra muscle definition in my legs recently, and it has spurred me to do at least a little exercise every day. I like doing my plies in fifth, so I will usually do 15 on one leg here and then a little later do the other side, and keep doing that throughout the evening, or during the day if it's the weekend.

I also do a lot of leg lifts towards the back (ballet term not coming to me) to work on my butt, focusing on keeping my legs turned out. I do tendus and rond de jambes. I do a lot of ankle rolls and foot doming (many times throughout the day, every day) to work on my ankle strength. I do releves, including releves with either leg in passe (working on turnout!) I do this exercise every night on my problematic, non-turning-out, tibial torsioned leg. I do arabesques and other things. Occasionally, I do an online class. Non-ballet-style: all four on the floor, left leg up behind me then bring back down, also to work on my rear.

And I finally got nearly everything I need to make my rotation disks! I may have mentioned this before, but at my job, they install speakers. To install speakers in a box, they have to cut out circles. (The circles aren't perfect- it's difficult to cut a perfect circle with the tools they use... I mean it's perfectly circular but there's an extra cut in them that makes them kinda unsellable... maybe... hmmm....) They were going to throw away quite a few, so I grabbed them and came home and was able to nearly finish one. I can use it now, just the top is not attached. Getting the other screws and washers I need will be one of this weekend's projects!

One other thing: I realized last night that even though I don't really want to stretch my injured leg much at all, I can still stretch the rest of my body, even my other leg (duh!). So I am going to start stretching again, possibly yoga. (It's too bad I wasn't injured on my right leg. That one's naturally more flexible, and I could have worked on the left one catching up, but oh well!)

So that's where I'm at these days. Still loving ballet. Kinda regretting already not getting right back into class- I don't know where I will be placed when I go back (the girls should all be moving up a level), but either way is okay with me.

I might not be posting as often as I was, but I'm still "into" ballet and haven't lost my motivation as I'd feared I would. (Well, a touch, but not to where I am going to stop.) I'm still finding gorgeous photos online and will still be sharing those!

Today: Stretching & Strengthening

I have done so little lately in terms of strengthening that I can totally tell. Grande plies are a bitch right now- I struggle with them again. I'm starting back with randomly doing pliés, relevés, and uh, I don't know if it's a ballet move but it's a développé derrière skipping the attitude positions- so like a back leg raise to target my glutes, basically. (I'm a bit afraid that doing as many of these as I like to do may actually hinder my développé derrières due to building so much muscle, and due to the fact that I actually do it a little outwards instead of straight back because it seems to work my glutes more, but the payoff is proving to be a much firmer ass, and so it's worth it to me to work on these. I do need to work more on keeping my extended leg straight, as that doesn't come naturally in that position.)

Basically, since I've started taking actual classes, my work outside of class has dwindled. I do try to arrive an hour early to stretch before class, and sometimes to have some of the girls help me out with some movements, and I also try to stay at least 20-30 minutes after class stretching some, but otherwise I haven't been doing as much as I was, and that needs to change.

I have stopped working the classes I was doing online. I really want to focus on strength and stretching right now- and working on learning the movements in class as quickly as I can, because those are what I want to be practicing at home. I almost have them down to where I will feel comfortable practicing at home, but I'm not quite there yet: I'm afraid of practicing and getting a movement down well, only to be in class and realize I've been doing it wrong. But I am picking things up pretty well, and that will soon be an option for me.

I'm focusing a lot on stretching right now, after doing the warmup I usually do (which I have mostly memorized, so it's also what I do when I first get to the studio and get changed from work clothes). I'm quit excited because even though two of my splits are still embarrassingly high, one of them, my left side split, is actually making noticeable progress! I'm not to the ground yet, and am still inches away from it, but less than a foot, I think, and that's a big difference for me!

So yep, back to it!

Oh, edit! I just wanted to say that when I first started, leg raises/releves were kinda difficult for me- I mean, well, they are hard.  When I first started, I would do about 12-15 one-legged relevés (usually with the other leg in sur le cou-de-pied or retiré) and 30 relevés in a set. Now I'm up to somewhere like 60-100 relevés and I've doubled my one-legged retirés, doing 25-30+ each set. (And I guess I've been doing enough lately, because even with some weakening, I am still able to do these with some ease.)

Recently...

Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated! I've been super-busy in my personal life (involving a whole lot of sleep, among other things- I believe it's the meds I'm on. I just can't get enough SLEEP!) I had to miss one of my ballet classes, along with about five days of practice/workout, because my stomach was very upset for awhile :(

I went to class, let's see, last Tuesday, and skipped Thursday. I went to both classes this week. I'm feeling a bit mushy because I just haven't worked out like I was, but it's okay because absence makes the heart grow fonder; I'm actually craving workouts and stretches, which is something I don't think I have ever done (except maybe once, a semester over a decade ago, where I took three glorious months of yoga classes). Tuesday I still wasn't feeling well, but went to class. Wednesday I started back up with some minor exercises (throwing in some plies and leg raises when I can). Thursday, yesterday, I started really feeling some improvements in class.

I've had a hell of a week or two. It's been quite stressful for me, and overwhelming. I usually try to keep my life very, very simple. I limit stress as much as possible. But one thing happened that was very stressful, and another thing has happened that is positive but still overwhelming, so it's a bit stressful too. So I've constantly had all of these things on my mind. And the ONE time I am able to totally clear my head, not think or feel anything, is when I am in class. (That's a big difference from working out at home while doing my own ballet-oriented workouts, because my mind was somewhat free to wander.) It's absolutely fantastic. After only a handful of classes, I crave going to class, being fully in my body instead of in my head (where I usually am) or heart (where I can sometimes be found). I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!

I'm starting to pick up what exactly we are doing. I still don't have everything down, but I am getting there. I am starting to be fussed at for my arms, because sometimes I am just so caught up in making sure my feet are doing the right thing that my arms are just doing whatever, occasionally moving to the right direction only to stay there while everyone else moves on.

So, I just wanted to make a quick update. I hope to be back on some sort of routine schedule soon, and be able to post more.

My First Classes!

I know you, my dear (eventual, at least) reader, have been on the edge of your seat waiting to hear how my first classes have gone, the ones with the second year nine year olds. And I'm here to let you know...

I LOVE IT!!!

All of my fears went out the window just about as soon as we started the first class. First of all, my teacher (whom I'd met before) was very nice and put me at ease. I was feeling a little shy, but she told me to go ahead and take off my shirt to get to just my leotard/tights/slippers, and told me to get behind one girl who is very good, and in front of another girl (who was good as well, though not to the first's level).

Everyone (about six or eight children total, all girls except one boy, and I'm the oldest one by decades) was already on the floor starting their warmups. (I did a half-hearted warm up prior to class, but there were moms around and it was my first day there and I felt too nervous to do much the first day.) Almost immediately, I saw one thing I need to work on: ankle rolls! I've always done maybe 5-10 in then out at a time. Nope, not here. We start each class with 64 counts in and 64 counts out. OUCH! (Luckily, this is something I can work on while sitting in my chair at work.)

Our barre exercises were so much fun! From what I've gathered, the girls have been working on the same basics every class. They say a little chant of what each foot is doing as it moves (touch back, touch front, etc), and we've gone from tendus to plies to frappes to petite battements sur le-cou-de-pied to rond de jambes and a few others I'm forgetting. The exercises are quite a bit different from what I've been doing. I don't quite have them down yet, but it's definitely doable.

Note: What I just mentioned is THE best thing about my class. I can do the exercises, but I don't have them down yet- the order, the making it look pretty. So it's just right: difficult, but not overly so.

With the barre, I am having trouble with my arms and head. I only touched on that with my online classes and DVDs and am not used to doing it more frequently. I'm already getting the hang of some of the movements, but when we get to more complicated foot patterns, I focus on that and try to keep my arms in second or first (though sometimes they are all over the place).

After barre, we moved to the center: two rows, me behind the proficient girl. The center was more difficult for me, as I suspected it would be, but again, not overly so. Mostly, it's a matter of learning the order of each exercise, and then with the center, balance is another issue I'll be working on. The hardest thing for me as far as balance goes has been maintaining it while doing grand plies, especially fifth. Luckily, that's something I can work on at home. I also have trouble with my arabesques, but I'm quickly picking up the arm positions- I almost have the general placement down and then it will be time to fine-tune that.

Finally, we did some movements across the room diagonally, both ways. The first thing we did was a little three-step skip thing. The next one was way harder for me- I was totally lost. I told the little girl behind me to go ahead in front of me, so I could watch a little longer. (She is ADORABLE! Cute little girl with long, curly red hair! She's one of the staff's daughters.) She looked up at me with big eyes and whispered, "We have to go together." And so we did.

The only time I really felt out of place some (and honestly, this would have happened even if I was their age) was when everyone did splits. Only myself and one little girl cannot do at least one split- we hover a foot above what everyone else can do. I knew that would happen, and I knew I would compare myself, but I'm already working on that. (Okay, well, I feel a little out of place when I'm looking in the mirror, and towering over everyone. I think I've gained a little weight- it fluctuates- and I think I've gained a little extra muscle mass in my legs, so not only am I taller than everyone, my weight really stands out, too. Yes, I know I'm an adult, but... ok, I'm self-conscious about the way I look!)

Tonight's class was a lot easier in terms of my anxiety. I left work a little earlier than planned and ran home and changed. I arrived at the studio early, and spent time doing some decent stretching. I was just on the hall floor, and then the little redhead comes over to me and opens the door to another studio room and tells me that's where we usually go and warm up. So we went in there and I was warming up and the little girls were making their way in and warming up, playing on the barre, talking.

Tonight went pretty much the same (though we didn't have to do awkward grand plies, yay!). I did better at keeping up, though I still have a ways to go. I got a few corrections tonight, which did not happen in my first class. (I'm also trying to take in any corrections she gives others and apply them to myself, as long as I'm not totally wrapped up in just trying to get a movement down.) My little red-headed friend seemed happy that we partnered again (her mother told me she'd been all excited that we were partners the first class!). At the very end of the class, my teacher went over that last diagonal movement we do. It involves a plie, a tendu, two steps, a half-turn while switching to a third step with the other foot, a very small arabesque, two backwards steps, and a half-turn switching feet to land in a plie with tendu. (Whew!) Luckily, my little friend brought me into the extra studio room after class and she pretended she was the teacher. First, she showed me side by side how to do it. (And didn't complain when I asked her to do it several more times with me.) Then, she sat in the teacher's chair and played teacher. She helped me with it some more next to me, and another girl came in to work on it with us. I lingered a bit in the hallway as everyone was leaving, practicing this step so I could work on it this weekend, with four days in between classes. And I pretty much have it down! I'm SO glad my friend showed me. It's one of those things I am definitely going to have to do over and over to pick it up (and that's before actually making it look somewhat pretty), but I have the steps in my head in the right order, and that's half the battle.

So yes, totally psyched about ballet! I'm definitely not ready for the next level, and am definitely fine staying in this one until I'm ready to progress. I'm going to try not to rush my progress and rush getting into the next class, for I know that the longer you work on your basics, the better a foundation you'll have (especially once en pointe- provided I make it that far, which I do hope!)

My self-teaching has definitely helped me. One thing I've been doing incorrectly, though, has been my rond de jambes en dedans- my toe is supposed to come more in front of the toe of my standing leg, so I'll be relearning that some. I've also been using third instead of fifth, but we work from fifth even though none of us have 180* turnout.

So yep, that's how my first two classes have gone. I love going, I'm already getting more comfortable, I already have something new to work on (oh, plus some port de bras in the different stage positions, if I can remember... along with terminology- she quizzes the little girls on that a lot, and they stumble over it), and I'm definitely more motivated now to stretch!

Frustration, motivation, pas de bourrée, arched feet

I've developed this habit of coming home from work, BSing around for a bit to win down from work (usually on the computer, and part of it is because I've been doing some serious eBaying for Christmas gifts lately), and then doing ballet. The problem with this is that by the time I get through with a good ballet session, it's time to hop in the shower and get in bed... or I can sacrifice more time doing ballet to do a few things after ballet. I think I need to start coming right home and putting on my leotard. That way, if I do ballet first, I can have time after that to wind down for bed, and I'll hopefully use that time more diligently towards things I want to do instead of just aimlessly doing stuff.

Today, I was getting a bit frustrated with ballet. I am not so happy with myself in that I have missed way more than usual in the past week. I was just busy (and then I was on vacation and lazy relaxed). I'm at the point where I'm finding things a little repetitive again. I've done Tamra Chace's over and over again, except the last one where she suddenly flies through the first exercise or two and I get lost and lose interest. I've done that one video with Kathryn Morgan, though I still want to get to the other two.

I'm getting to a point where I have the basic movements down and am now able to work more on form, on technique- keeping my standing hip pulled up, actually accessing those deep turnout muscles (still very hard to keep up, but I'm more mindful of it and definitely improving), focusing on relaxing my body from being so tense. But I've more or less been doing the same videos over and over and over for more than two months now. I'm antsy to change things up, but I don't know how- or I do, but lack the motivation for some reason.

I think part of me is overwhelmed by just how much there is to learn. I mean, yes, it's exciting to learn and perfect- but I've never been a disciplined person. I've never worked on really honing in technique on something like this, not something physical, not something so new and foreign, really. It's always been hard for me to stick to things, especially through times like this, where the motivation has waned and I have to find it again- by myself and on my own.

One of the things I've been slacking on has been, well, everything BUT technique. I haven't been doing my stretching or working out like I was. In fact, I think that the next couple of times I put on my leotard, besides my warmup and a few basic moves, I'm going to do more of what I just said instead of working on technique. THAT is how I am going to change things up! The toning of my body has stagnated a bit, and I only have less than three weeks before I'm in the middle of a season of ballet classes. So that's what I am going to do, yes! Along with the stretching- three weeks is plenty of time to make more progress in my flexibility before starting class.

I just need to keep finding ways to change things up. Three more weeks, and I'll enter a whole new world of real ballet classes at a nice school where all students are taught as though they are pre-professional (!!) When that happens, I am sure I will have other things in mind to work on outside of class, and it probably won't be so difficult to motivate myself, since I'll be learning and not just trying to teach myself.

Speaking of which, I think the first few times I take class, I may sit out of center exercises and write things down. (Yes, I'm intimidated by the center after the one class I had, along with the knowledge that I've done way more barre and struggle with picking up new movements quickly.) I got this idea in my head earlier when I tell you about...

A good ending to my post about motivation and frustration! When I ran out of things I wanted to do this evening, I remembered I have that other Finis Jhung DVD, Basic Ballet Movement Skills Lesson 1. I was watching the previews to it today during work, and decided to get it out instead of using the Centerwork for Beginners. I was all bummed out and then we started working on pas de bourrée en avant. The first movement is something that should be very simple, but it took me quite a few tries to even begin to feel like I was getting it right. (Yes, this is so new to me! I finally wrote down the steps because I learn well when I write things down- and it did help, ergo what I said above about centerwork in class.) At some point, though, I felt it! I felt like I was doing ballet. I was able to get into it, feel it flow, get out of my head some (not all the way, but more) and not focus on what I am doing but just letting myself do it. Doing the steps and instead of figuring out what foot goes where and how my arms move at what point, I was able to do those and let myself loose enough to become the movements, to feel a little graceful. It was super-awesome. In times of low motivation, a little something new can be very invigorating.

(In case you're wondering- and this helps me when I tell others how to do something- the movements in the first exercise were: start in fifth; front leg tendu with a plie with arms raising to first; step on the floor with that leg reaching out past the point of tendu into relevé, standing leg immediately comes up into relevé; step forward again with front leg but the second time the back leg crosses in front to be in fifth. Lower and repeat on the new working leg.)

Oh! One other good note to end on! Actually, it was a bit of the cause of some of my frustration tonight... I'm having trouble with sur le cou-de-pied/wrapped foot. But... the reason I'm having trouble with it is because my feet are getting so much stronger and I'm able to arch them so much better... but now it's problematic because I'm having to angle my foot so much more to have the arch fit "wrapped" and getting that angle is a bit of a struggle! LOL, what a conundrum! Really, though, my feet are looking sooooo much better! (Though I realized tonight doing pas de bourrée en avant that I have a long way to go to "enough" foot/ankle/calf strength!)

Tonight

My turnout seems to be better with the tape on my knee. I don't think I'm imagining it- when I turnout, my left knee is more over the toes than in front of it, and that wasn't the case before. My turnout in retiré is maybe a little better on the left- I still have a ways to go. But I'm definitely able to feel the rotation of my knee just from the tape, and I'm also able to use my muscles in that leg to rotate my knee further into a "straight" position. (It's not taped to the max it could be.)

The tape did get a little bothersome today- I had to pull it up a bit in some spots where the skin was just pulling too much. I took an NSAID to reduce any possible swelling. I was a little more careful on that leg today, especially up and down steps. I didn't want to use it fully in this new position. I am going to take a break either tonight or tomorrow night, and possibly put ice on it because I am worried about swelling. (I can't really tell if it's actually swelling or if I'm just imagining it because I know something's different.) There's a little aching on the knee, but it's not pain. I'm paying really close attention to it.

I was teaching myself glissades and getting the hang of it. A bit too much jumping for my knee tonight, though. Another time. I just wanted to try something new.

Tibial torsion's effect on ballet

So I finally got around to taking some decent photos last night. AND I taped my knees. First, here is a side-by-side photo. (My left leg is on the right.) On the left is how my legs, especially knees, look when my feet are parallel and touching. (My right knee has some tibial torsion as well, but it's not as bad as my left and it doesn't affect my ballet attempts too much.) On the right photo you can see that I can laterally move my knees out using only the muscles of my legs, which rotates the kneecap and tibia.

Tibial torsion is exaggerated on my left knee (left leg is on the right side). Leg muscles can pull the kneecap and tibia into a more straightened position. Note the location of the "V" shaped shadow on my left knee in each photo.

Here are my legs when I have them lying flat on the ground. On the left my feet are kept touching in parallel. On the right, my kneecaps are pointed  straight up. Both feet lean outwards, but my left foot's rotation is far more pronounced.

On the right photo, my ankles are held parallel. Kneecap on my left leg is exaggeratedly pointed inwards. On the left photo my kneecaps are held straight up. Both ankles point outwards, but it's definitely more noticeable on the left.

I want to show you now exactly why this sucks so bad for me in regards to ballet, and why I've been obsessing over it so much. Here is what my legs look like in retiré. On the left photo my left leg is the standing leg and my right leg is in retiré. On the right, I've horizontally flipped the photo so you can compare them side by side. (In the right photo, it's my left leg in retiré.)

Legs held in retiré. (Left photo is right leg in retiré. Right photo is left leg held in retiré.) Notice the difference in line and aplomb.

See how much forward my left knee is? That is not pretty in terms of ballet. This is also how my legs look when I plié: my right knee is aligned quite well over my right foot, but my left knee is very forward of my left foot (in spite of the fact that both legs have similar turnout). (Actually, my left leg LOOKS like it has even better turnout than my right because of the extra rotation in the ankle- but the location of the knee, especially in plié, tells a different story.)

Now that I look at these photos for the first time, it also looks like I am holding my body quite differently in each photo. I had something I was holding onto for balance, and it was definitely harder to lift my left leg up, but it seems my standing right leg is pushed more forward and I am leaning more forward. This may just be because I had a ten second timer to get myself into position, and it was more difficult to do with the left leg going up, but definitely something I'm going to pay more attention to now. (My knee is also blocking my backside more in the left photo, so it could just be that.)

Anyway, I got to taping last night and took photos of that as well, but I'll get to that post later. (I will say that right now, my left knee looks more like my right knee, for what that's worth!)

Today's Classes

Year One Lesson 3 Center: Focusing on keeping turnout with rond de jambes. Working on graceful port de bras including my head movements. Have switched from a fifth to third. <-- Those were my notes in between movements. Regarding the last one, I've been reading here and there that if you don't have a full fifth position, you can instead substitute it for third to get cleaner lines. So I was trying that today.

The one thing I really have trouble with on that class is the battement tendu jete. This is what they look like done slow, but in this class, the music is fast, and we do a battement tendu jete on each count. This is supposed to be a center exercise, but due to how fast the movements are, I find it very hard to balance. So I hold onto my barre while doing it (and STILL have trouble, especially with getting any kind of articulation of the movement going!)

Year One Lesson 5 Barre: This is the second time I've done this class all the way through. I LOVE IT. The beginning starts off dull, routine. Both times, after about three exercises (both sides), I'm bored and about to switch to something else. And then, suddenly, the rest of the exercises are fun and/or challenging (yet not overly so).

I think my current favorite exercise is what Tamra says is preparation for a rond de jambe. I think one of the reasons I like it is because it incorporates the arms, and it all feels very fluid and "ballet-like" to me. It starts in first, no preparation. 1) Plie in first, hand at waist (uh, first? still learning arms). 2) Still in plie, tendu to the front, arm/hand extend straight out in front. 3) While rising from plie, rond de jamb (move in a circular motion) to second while hand moves out and around with the foot to second position. 4) Close foot back to first, arm stays where it was in 3, then when you go back to number one, swoop the arm down to first. So there's a lot of arm swooping with rounded, circular leg movements.

After doing that for a few counts, it reverses. 1) Plie in first. 2) Plie still with tendu to the back. 3) Straighten body with rond de jambe from the back to second. 4) Close to first. But with all of this, the arms are doing what they were doing with the first movements, so now instead of the arm following the leg, it's going in opposition, then rounding out to meet in second.

(Note: It really helps me learn and remember things when I write it out and/or teach it to someone else. So I may be doing that some on this blog.)

Anyway, here is how what I just described looks like in motion.

After that comes full rond de jambes, starting with tendus from front, side back, close followed by the rond de jambes front. Then it goes backwards. After those exercises, fondus. I haven't liked them so much in the past, but in this video I enjoy those a lot more. A tendu is when you are in one of the positions (usually first or fifth), then you push the foot out in front of you (pushing with the heel) until the foot can't move out flat anymore and it keeps going while the foot eventually fully points, while the toes (at least the outer toes) are still on the ground.

Since you're supposed to be turned out all the time, when doing a tendu, ideally the top of the foot and the knee are pointed all the way out, i.e., if you're doing a tendu with the right foot, the top of the foot and kneecap should be facing the right wall due to outward hip rotation. And the tendu can be done a la seconde (second position), with the leg and foot to the side (top of foot and knee facing up or even behind), or it can be done in the back, with the top of the foot and knee ideally pointing towards that right wall (if right foot) or beyond.

A fondu is pretty much the same thing (although I'm sure there are a number of variations), but (in this particular class) it's like a tendu in the air. (Honestly, I could have avoided all of that and said it's basically sticking a pointed foot out in front of you. Or a flexed foot.) There are different ways to start it, but today: 1) plie, bring right flexed foot (knees always turned out!) up to lower calf muscle, 2) leg straightens out, foot points, both in the air. Repeat.

Both the tendu and the fondu can be done to the front, side, or back!

The other exercise I'm having fun with- I don't know what it's called. 1) First position. Plie. 2) Releve (rise up on the toes). Repeat, the on the 7th and 8th count, tendu to second, again, tendu to fourth, again, tendu to fifth, again, end with bringing feet in fifth on releve closer together, find your balance letting go of the barre, hold. (There's some sort of ending, but I just hold then lower down.) But the music is fairly fast, so it's bend down, bounce up, bend down, bounce up, and it just seems like a really "happy" movement to me. The first time I did it I really got into it and kinda felt like Pinkie Pie. (I never watch non-adult cartoons... until I discovered My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!)

And finally, we end with one that I am pleased to say I have almost nailed: the pas de bourrée. (Click on the link to see what it's supposed to look like.) It means something like drunken walk or such. I can't even begin to describe it, but it's the most complex movement I think I've done so far, and like I said, I almost have it down! (Click here to see how we are ideally doing it/the way I nearly have down.) I think I'll end this post here- I have one more exciting thing to post.

Progress

I'm really happy with the progress I've been making. It's not a TON, but I can see definite improvements in both technique and in strength since I've started. (I have just completed my third full week [give or take a day or two] of 5 days a week, 1-3 hours a day, usually 2-3 hours.) I think I've mentioned this before: my primary focus right now is on building strength, but I'm learning where I need to focus my strength-building through beginner ballet videos I've found.

Today was probably the most I've worked, around 3.5-4 hours total, and I still plan to use the Theraband to stretch my feet, and one of those larger (but not huge) super bouncy balls to massage some of the tightness from my feet.

Finis Jhung Technique
My first rental from Dance Flix came in: "The Finis Jhung Ballet Technique, Level One: Barrework for Beginners". It's exactly what I was hoping for! Today, I went through Tamra Chace's "Year One, Lesson Three"- both the barrework and (for the first time) the Center work. I'm really enjoying her videos- they are helping me learn new movements with some focus on technique, and giving me an introduction to choreography. The Finis Jhung DVD I'm working with is going into a lot more detail on technique, with some light choreography right now. It's an excellent supplement to Tamra's videos.

On Friday, the day after I got the video in the mail, I went through eight of his lessons. Here is what the first eight cover; there are 17 exercises in all (and yes, you can use the menu to skip around, which is perfect):

1. Posture
2. Turning out, demi plié in first position
3. Isometric grand pliés, relevé
4.  Battement tendu en croix, first position
5. Port de bras
6. Battement tendu à la seconde, grand plié
7. Battement tendu devant & derriére
8. Working the foot, relevé in plié, 1st position

I stopped with the last one because I was having trouble pushing my foot up with the precision being used, and figure that working up through that lesson will be my focus for this week, along with Tamra's Lesson 3 Barre and Center.

Today, though, I did the two Lesson 3s (working a little extra on the faster rond de jambes) and I went up to number 4 on the DVD. I was really focusing on doing the grand pliés properly, since that's such an essential thing. I also worked on my demi pliés in the five positions, because I'm having trouble getting my weight balanced evenly on both feet in three through five.

Turnout
The other really important thing I worked on (again) was my turnout. I've heard two helpful ways to get into the right turnout for my body. One was on a YouTube video I don't recall, and the other was Jhung's way. From the YouTube video, stand with the feet parallel/in 6th. Then sort of quickly pop your feet to the side. Don't push it, just let them go as far as they will in that quick motion. That really makes a lot of sense: do it quickly so you don't have time to think about it, and your body won't really let you go past it's limits unless it's forced.

The Jhung way is one I've started using more of since I first viewed it. Again, stand in sixth, feet parallel. Lift one leg up into the air in front of you (not too far) and turn out the whole leg, then put it in that position on the floor. Do the same with the other leg. This way seems to force you to only go as far as your hips allow, as long as you aren't trying to force it.

When we were doing the isometric pliés, I discovered something new. I won't go into the isometric ("opposing forces") technique of it (rent/buy the DVD!) but he has the viewer doing pliés in a VERY wide second, maybe a foot less on each side than the length of the arms when they are spread out to the sides. The feet start turned out before going into this position.

I was in that position when I pushed my hips forward just a little bit. I felt a stretch deep in my hips, so I pushed to one side a little bit, then to the other. All of this had me feeling those deep turnout muscles getting stretched! I did it really slowly, really feeling my body, making sure I wasn't pushing it too hard to avoid overstretching. But it really seemed to make a difference! I paused the DVD for a bit and just did that slow stretching, really feeling the muscles. After a few nice minutes of this, I decided to try his version of turning out... and it was SO much of a better turnout than only a few minutes previous! I'm definitely going to work on that more!

Legs are heavy!

Yesterday evening went better than the previous evening. I made it all the way through "Year One Lesson Three (Barre)". I like the faster rond de jambes. I'm having a lot of trouble with two of the parts, though, and those will be my focus of the week. The first one are frappes. Holding the upper thigh in the air gets tough, especially to the side and rear. It makes sense, of course. When have I EVER had to make my legs move into that position? (Never.) So I spent the rest of my time after the class was over working on my side and rear frappes, including getting as close to a 90 degree angle as possible (I don't know what the position is called... but I've seen it used and it's a good exercise for building those muscles anyway.)

The second is a demi plie into tendu and up into releve. I've been working a lot on my calves, even at work, so I don't know why this is so hard for me- maybe it's the demi plie first then up into releve in fifth. By the last one my calves burn and I can barely get a good releve (aside from this, though, I've noticed my releves are definitely improving! It is almost a straight line down my leg through to my toes, whereas when I first started, there was a definite angle at my ankles!) I've been doing a ton of releves, but now I'm going to make my focus doing the demi plies to tendu right up into releve in fifth.

The latter is also troublesome for me because at the end of doing it on one leg, we are supposed to be in fifth and turn our bodies around so we can work on the other leg. I was really confused when I first saw this- but now I can execute the turn, I just have trouble making sure I'm in fifth on the other side when I turn. So I am going to work on that as well.

I've been doing one class a week. I think I will work on this one for longer since it really seems to be a lot harder for me than the first two classes. Also, my Finis Jhung DVD should be in soon. I hope it doesn't start off super hard. If not, I will follow up Chace's lesson with one from that DVD each night.

Unmotivated & Discouraged Last Night

I got a little discouraged with myself yesterday. I should have just gone through "Year One, Lesson Three (Barre)" but not only does it get harder than I am able to do right now (though I know that means it's what I NEED to work on- something a little harder than what I can currently do), there is a part in the beginning when I can't see her feet, so I can't follow along so well (I'm still learning the names of movements). And I was kinda jumpy, trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and pretty much never deciding on anything.

I did check out my second DVD purchase last night... I thought it was the actual 101 and 201 courses, but I was incorrect. It's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECX6KU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000ECX6KU&linkCode=as2&tag=agenamer-20&linkId=W2A4NDTDOAONRWG6">Ballet 101 & 201, Combinations</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=agenamer-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000ECX6KU" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (disclaimer: referral link). So it's the COMBINATIONS of moves learned in different DVDs, so that's over my head (and certainly feet) for me right now. I wish I'd looked at what I was purchasing more closely.

I practiced some releves and plies and a few hip rotations, but that was about it last night. I started looking up different videos and got distracted by that, and so in the end I didn't accomplish much, and I'm not very happy with myself about that. But I DID go on Dance Flix to sign up and I ordered what seems to be Finis Jhung's easiest ballet DVD class. I can keep it as long as I want and then exchange it.

One other thing: my daughter's half-brother's (her dad's son) mother grew up with a ballet family: her mother and father own a ballet studio locally, the only one that has classes specifically for adults. My daughter talked to her and she said I can take the adult classes for $10 each or $35 a month- nearly half of what I was expecting to pay! I'm a little worried she will be teaching the class- I don't really talk to her much, though we are on friendly terms, and having her instruct me would make me really self-conscious. I know she still has part in running the studio; I just don't know if she teaches. BUT that was the school I had planned on going anyway when I start, and now I can do it for about half off!

I also think I've been fighting a little bit of depression lately.

Weak! :D

I'm making my way right on through "Year One, Lesson Two". I'm excited... I'm totally getting the hang of everything! I can do this! Confident in myself, I proceed to "Year One, Lesson Three Barre". (This is the first lesson that has a Barre video and a Center video). It's going a little faster and I'm keeping up, even when she only speaks some of the moves instead of showing it all. I have to skip the double tendus- the video cuts off her feet and I can't see what I am supposed to be doing. My rond de jambes are getting more consistent: we've (me and my online instructor! Ha!) been doing them very slowly: front-two-three-four, side-two-three-four. I decided to check out another video the other day to see if I could get any more tips and I saw what a real rond de jambe looks like- wow! Not like what I've been doing. But today, they improved some!

So then we get to tendu with a plie and up to demi, going pretty speedy. I'm going the right speed... but my calves are getting tired already. They can't keep up! My calves have always been one of my strongest spots, thanks to years of speed skating when I was younger. But I see very quickly just how little strength I have- and that's in my strongest muscles! (I do give myself credit for figuring out the turning part- I practiced that one a few times without the video- I need to work on my technique, but I have the gist!)

The next exercises are even harder! My confidence is quickly hit. Actually, it was hit when my calves started going out so soon. Frappes! My legs are SO heavy! All the photos I've been looking at make it seem as though legs are weightless... that's so far from the truth! Hahahah! So yeah, time to do some strength stuff- including some frappes!

(Note: I took off the past two days- I've been so sleepy, and just could not get my butt up to work! But I woke up this morning determined to not only put in at least a couple of hours, but to do so AFTER installing my mirror. Yes, I now have a nearly perfect-length mirror on the wall that my barre is on- it fits right in between my barre with like an inch to spare on either side! I can see my feet very well in it, and my arms up to my wrists. It's perfect! Now all I need is a hard platform and I'll be set- working on carpet seems to be more difficult than when I try in my kitchen.)