The Pointed Ankle & Foot

We are doing a lot more work on releve than I am used to, and watching my foot in the mirror or just by looking at it, and comparing it to those who can point better than I, has had me wondering about something. I know "doming" is important to pointe work, but how much? How much of the pointed foot stems from the ankle joints versus the rest of the foot and it's intrinsic muscles? (In other words, do I need to stretch the ankle more than I have been?)

Fear not, we have the world wide web to answer this for us!

This image and the following info was taken from this link. Good read!

The perpendicular line shows where the foot would be if it were flat. Coming counterclockwise, that next line, the dashed one, shows how much of the point is coming from the ankle joint alone. Which means that from the dashed line to the dotted line (all approximate) is how much of the total angle that comes from the foot muscles alone! Those arrows show the joints from which the rest of the pointing occurs.

And an interesting factoid from that article: see the three top bones in the photo? One is the shin (tibia), one is the top of the foot bone (talus), and the other the heel (calcaneus). When a ballerina's foot is fully pointed, those three muscles essentially "lock" together, forming a stable platform! I think that is SO cool- like the body (or some bodies) wants to dance like this!

Still interested in ballet, still around!

So, I've had crazy stuff going on lately, and I've totally taken up sewing- which I am in love with, along with a bunch of other arts and crafts. Once I stopped going to ballet class, I kept up with working out (grande plies in both fifths work AMAZING for the upper legs!) for quite awhile- my legs are much more muscular than they've ever been.

Then depression started kicking in. Up until a few days ago, when I drastically lowered one of my medications, I was sleeping ALL the time. Go to work: sleep throughout the day. Go home: immediately crash and wake up the next morning to go back to work. The few days a week I was actually awake, I was working on my sewing- and still browsing Pinterest ballet pictures, wishing I had the energy to work on ballet some more.

I'm back on an upswing, it seems. Over the weekend, I added a couple of sets of plies and releves to my day. I've done a little bit more each day. Yesterday, I had something of a setback, that also has (hopefully) turned into something somewhat positive... Remember the injury I received from (idiotically) forcing my splits months ago? It was feeling a lot better, though not all the way. Last night I decided to try to stretch it some, and see how it went. I think I pushed just a bit too hard (and it wasn't all that much to begin with), so that it hurts this morning- not a good I've-stretched feeling but an "ow, this still isn't healed" feeling. It's been months! The fact that I'm getting older is starting to dawn on me more and more.

So what's positive about that? Well, I've been seeing some beautiful photos of ballerinas on pointe who DON'T have perfect splits or perfect turnout or this or that. And they're still beautiful. I wish I hadn't injured myself, but I did, and I have absolutely no choice but to let my body take as long as it needs to heal. So instead of being down on myself, I'm just going to go with the flow. The few movements I can't make with the injured leg aren't THAT big of a deal. (And frankly, it's not like I was going to get splits before the fall season!)

I can still work on splits with my other leg. And what's more, splits and that sort of stretching are pretty much the only thing I can't work on with that leg right now. On the positive side: I've been working on turnout quite a bit- sometimes even when I do absolutely nothing else. And my turnout seems to really be improving. I can FEEL the strength there deep inside my hips, and I can TELL that I'm rotating from there and not my knee. I'm getting more comfortable balancing in a larger turnout. And my injury isn't stopping me from working on that- which is probably much more important than splits anyway. (It's in a very close area, but the injury seems to be on the back side of that area, while working on my front side/rotator muscles doesn't touch it at all from what I can feel.)

So, I just wanted to check in, make a quick update. I've got lots to do the next few months. I'm still not sure what class I will get into next season. Either way is fine- I wouldn't mind being back in the same class so I can totally get down all of the things I was having trouble with because I never SAW it being taught. If I graduate and go into the next step up, that's great too- closer to pointe and I'll work extra hard to catch up on a few things, maybe take a couple of private lessons.

(Speaking of pointe- I've also totally still been working on my ankle, toe, and foot strength, and I'm seeing SUCH a difference, especially when I releve. The curve of my foot goes OVER my toes!)

Inspiration: Those arches, tho...

Surviving Parent's Night, Today's Success at Discipline

Parent's Night
Just a quick note: my ballet practice today went wonderfully. Actually, let me back up: parent's night was lovely as well. My mom did attend, which was fun, and there weren't really but a couple of other parents there (including one with a super nice camera... please don't post my splits online or anywhere!) I messed up on quite a few things, but that was okay. We also have another adult, which makes for three of us now!

We go over terminology over and over and over again in class. For some reason, these kids just can't pick up the one-word definitions of "frappe", "petite", "degage", etc. I still have a few I mix up (frappe is one, actually), but for the most part, I know all of the definitions. So much of class, we all just stand there while the instructor calls out on of the kids who she knows struggles with the definitions, and we wait while the little girl (or boy) stands there doe-eyed as she pries the definition out. This happens with nearly every single movement we do. Tendus: "what does tendu mean?... Anyone... ***....? .................." Petite battements: "what does tendu mean?... Anyone... ***....? .................." On and on and on. It really eats up class time, and is a bit frustrating at times. I want to make these kids flashcards or something. I would, if I thought they might use it.

Anyway, on parent's night this time (this didn't happen previously), we barely went over any terms! Maybe two or three total! And it was wonderful! I worked so hard because instead of stopping so much for so long, we just went from movement to movement to movement. I was far more sore the day after than I usually am! I can't wait for all our classes to be like that!

I had my mom record a few of the movements I still have problems with, like the body positions. I haven't checked those out yet, but I nearly have them down. We are supposed to do a demonstration at the end of the ballet year. Positions are one of my lesser concerns, because it's very easy to sneak peaks at what the other students do, without being too out of sync. Unlike with, say, pas de bourree, where if you mess up and go the wrong way, it's super obvious.

Today's Practice (at home)
So today, I wasn't at all sure what I was going to do, or if I was even going to do any practice. I was doing some plies at my barre and decided what the heck, I'd get dressed and work some. Practice went so well. I just made up my own routine, and listened to some of the classical music I have. I did quite a few plies and tendus- I went through those two or three times on both sides. Especially with the tendus: they are easy enough to do... but I wanted to work on actually leading with my heel and keeping my foot on the floor as long as possible before bringing it up so my toe was on the ground.

Rond de jambes: I worked on really getting that turnout. The movement seems so easy, but it's difficult for me to remember to turn out as soon as I possibly can and as much as I possibly can.

Frappes: Worked on these as well. With my frappe, I think I flex my foot too much when it's at my ankle. My instructor recently told me to strike the foot farther out, so I worked on that and smoothly brushing it on the floor before coming up. This one's a little hard to do on carpet!

Chasses: I've almost had down our chasses in class- we do them a certain way, in a certain order. But I've also been struggling with these. I've understood the direction we had to move, but it wasn't making sense to me what foot crossed in front when. And then our instructor said something last class that gave me an "aha!" moment: the first half, the left foot is chasing the right and the second half, the right chases the left. With just that short description, I now have the movement down pretty well.

[Description: Start in 5th, right foot in front, arms down in preparatory. Plie. Glide forward (in plie), leading with the right foot, bringing arms up to first (fingers at naval... I just looked this up and realized my arms have been too high!). Quickly bring left foot back to fifth (in the back). With right foot, glide into second plie, arms out. Close to fifth (prep arms), this time with right leg in back. Now reverse that, using the left foot to lead and going to the left instead of right. (See, I kept trying to put the wrong foot in back when gliding into second.)

There are two ways we do this, both actually have an extra step that what I said above: à terre and en l'air. In à terre, before closing the non-leading foot to fifth, we tendu the non-working leg. So if I'm going forward with right foot, I'll glide forward, tendu back with my left leg, and quickly close. Glide right, tendu with left leg, close left foot in front. Glide back with right foot, tendu left foot to the front, snap it back to fifth in front. En l'air is the same, except we dégagé instead of tendu.]

Adagio: Finally (after doing my chasses over and over and over again), I went on to our adagio. We do this one both at the barre and in center. It's a passe through retire then the working leg extends up (grande battement?) and then releve (rise up on our standing leg). It's done front, side, back, side. At the barre, instead of passe, we petite battement, sous-sus (feet jump up- releve- in a tight fifth position), spot, and turn. I practiced that one last week. I was having a lot of trouble getting down what happened after the back, and now I have that one nailed- and my spotting has improved as well! (When in center, instead of spotting and turning around, we [try to] stay in releve, do a few short port de bras, then close in the opposite fifth and do it all on the other leg. )

Our adagio has been really difficult for me! I mentioned we do it à terre AND en l'air (in the air)... and I've barely even been able to do just à terre! So today, I did it over and over again- almost totally in the air. I've still got a long way to go, but I'm more or less able to do the movements without having to put my foot down so much for balance.

In summary (I think I am a bit over-explanatory sometimes... I used to write A LOT but now this blog is pretty much the only writing I do nowadays. I hope to improve as I continue on), I'm super proud of myself because today, I showed a lot of discipline! Not just that, but I was totally in the zone doing it. Sometimes I can try things but have my mind elsewhere, wanting to be doing other things. Sometimes the music that came on wasn't fitting for whatever I was doing, so I either turned it off for a while or I just ignored it (instead of allowing myself to become distracted by trying to find the perfect music or something). Today, I was disciplined! Here's to more of that in the future, and more often!

Now to nail my pas de bourres! I was only just starting to get the hang of the two we've been doing, and now there are two more! Slowly, I can do them. But when we are in center, we do all four in a row, and my feet start getting tangled up! I can do this, though. My boyfriend is convincing me I should, indeed, do the demonstration/performance at the end of the ballet year in May... and I think I just might. I think it's just the encouragement I need to really work hard to improve!

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.)

Office Exercises/Seated Stretches

My job consists of computer work five days a week, eight hours a day (plus an hour for lunch that I may or may not work during). I'm lucky in that I can get up and walk around a bit, and go outside once an hour for my (horrible, I know, I know!) habit of smoking (during which I am usually doing some sort of movement).

Since starting ballet, I've been playing around with various exercises and stretches I can do while at work, while sitting. I've looked around the internet for office exercises/seated exercises, and really haven't found as many as I thought I would. Many of the ones I've found... well, I'm in a large shared office with three other people and the occasional customer, and I'd look ridiculous doing most of what I've found. (How would I explain sitting down, standing up, sitting down, etc. over and over again?? Or holding my arms straight out and doing arm circles, while everyone else is working?) I've been doing some of those I've found, and otherwise been working on creating my own. So I thought I'd start a list here of some of the seated/office exercises I do, and you may want to try as well.

• Doming. Of course this is one. This is my most used one, actually, and THE reason why my arches and pointed feet are improving so quickly! (Seriously, I do it all day long.)
• Calf raises. (I just discovered this one- a different way, which inspired this post.) I've tried the normal seated calf raises, where the feet are in parallel and the lower legs get lifted into releve, but that didn't seem to do much for me. I just set my right ankle on my left knee and then did a calf raise, and the extra weight really helped me feel the exercise. Then switch sides. 
• Seated stretch #1. Same position as calf raises: right ankle on left knee. Lean forward. When you're ready, switch sides. I'm not going to attempt the anatomy here, but I do feel it in a number of places- be careful that you don't overdo this one, or do it too quickly!
• Ankle rolls. Pretty self-explanatory. Raise right foot, rotate clockwise. Rotate counterclockwise. Switch. 
• Pointed feet. Raise right leg slightly. Take foot from flat through demi to full pointe, going slowly. Reverse. Switch.
• Butt clenches. (A little controversy on whether or not this one does anything, and it can be noticeable, so do at your own risk.) Using the muscle only, squeeze one side of the glutes. Hold for three counts, then switch.

To be continued...

MDM Ballet Shoes!

OMG, I just ran to the mailbox to check the mail because I'd seen that my shoes were being delivered today. And yes! There they were. I rushed back home and, of course, put them on right away. (After skimming the bright red STOP instructions telling me to not make so much as an indentation in the shoes in case I needed to return them.) They fit!

MDM Elemental Leather Split Sole Ballet Shoes. Mine have the logo and sole writing in pink. 

The insole to the MDM shoes. They provide resistance to help build strength, shock absorption for jumps, and can help the wearer sense pronation.

I went with the MDM Elemental Leather Split Soles. The "Intrinsic" line is canvas, and they have a "Reflex" version of each. The Reflex shoes are designed more for a lot of demi-pointe work, because they have a little piece in them that expands and contracts when the foot goes back and forth to demi. Since I'm nowhere near a lot of demi, I went for the leather. Here was my initial impressions of the MDM Elemental Split Sole Leather Ballet Shoes:

1. Look! There's the hot pink insole!
2. This shoe feels like it should go on the other foot. (I don't think they are made like that, but switching felt better for some reason- I've been like this with all of my shoes, so I think it's a mental thing!) I switched and it was fine.
3. Cool! My first pair of split soles!
4. The leather is SO SOFT!
5. The toes fit... almost perfectly (at first). I have a much longer second toe than "big" toe, and my third one is long, too, so shoes that come right against my toes tend to make a bump or two where those long toes are having to bend at the top until the shoes get stretched out. 
6. The leather is SO SOFT that #3 isn't going to be an issue; I can tell this right away. The other instruction sheet that came with them also says that they mold very easily, and I've read another review stating that their shoes were molding in the first class.
7. There is no extra baggage anywhere around the shoes. When I point my foot, it's a very nice, clean line, so unlike the full soles I've been wearing.
8. The heel doesn't dig into my foot like my other shoes. (I can feel the edges of the suede.)
9. My pointed foot looks great! 
10. Cool, they even come with a little satin bag to carry them in!

Then I tried on one of the new ones and one of my first pair of leather ballet shoes. Immediately, I noticed that my old ones, full-soles, provided pretty much no resistance to the pointing/arching of my feet, while the MDM shoes definitely provide resistance. It was like being barefoot with my old shoe. And, yes, when I pointed the foot with the old shoe, the arch was not a clean line at all. It bunched up in the front, wrinkling some here and there. With the MDM, it showed my arch beautifully.

Note: Before ordering, I took the fit quiz to show which sizes would be best for my feet. It worked well. The ones I ordered are my shoe size (7.5) with a medium width, but the Intrinsic (canvas) line would have been half a size down and narrow (7N) while the Elemental Reflex would have been a whole size down and wide. (6.5W) So yeah, take the quiz!

I'm definitely keeping these. I'm wondering if my teacher will say anything about wearing split soles as a beginner, because if so, I'll be like "No! Check it!" and show her the awesomeness of advancements in ballet shoes.

I'm so excited. I am going to save these for class, or at least try to! I do my ballet work at home on carpet, which wears down the suede soles of my shoes. My first leather ones are very worn and the suede is pretty much slippery- but that's helpful to me on carpet because I can slide my feet without them catching so much on the carpet. (I haven't gotten into turns much, so that doesn't really matter.) I'd love to have a spare pair for home, though! When those wear out, I'll definitely use them at home, too!

I will have photos soon! I've also gotten several new leotards and such that I want to show you. (Including a chiffon ballet skirt I picked up for $7... at Walmart! It's the 14/16 kids size, and it fits me. [I wear a 1 or 3 in jeans]).

A week and a half til real pre-professional ballet classes! Woot!!

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 II

This evening's ballet went so much better than it has for a few days (which seems like weeks)! I was just totally into it. I could tell I'm making definite improvements: in posture, flexibility, and technique. When you're going every day it's a bit harder to tell the differences, but I feel like I kinda bummed out the last 3, maybe 4, days and just hadn't been into it.

I started with the usual Lisa Maree warm up. As I mentioned, I learned the basics of doing glissades. (I did a few more after that post, and those went well.) Then I did Tamra Chace's Lesson 4 Barre and half of the center. (I did quite a few exercises multiple times.) With both of them, especially the latter, I was doing so much better with balancing while shifting my weight. That's really tough, and I've definitely been struggling with it. But tonight I was even able to do rond de jambes almost without losing my balance.

I just felt the placement of my body better. When I was on one leg, I was able to center myself better. I was frequently able to remind myself of the little details besides just doing the exercises, especially regarding my posture. And yet, I was also able to let go of the posture issue a little. I think that's one of the things that's been bumming me out- all the things I see wrong with my body. But tonight it was more of "yes, pull up in the spine, working on pulling the bottom of the ribs back, but just notice it, shift if needed, and let go." When I'm not so focused on everything that's wrong with me, I can actually notice the things that are right! I even felt "ballerina-like", especially doing derriere developpes en releve! I think that was the highlight.

This video caught my attention while I was browsing through videos: How to Do Développé à la Seconde. I briefly looked at their website and they seem to have quite a few videos like this that are ballet-oriented. The preview looks pretty good. I like seeing the muscles that are working, where they are and what they are doing. When I am able to visualize something in my head, I'm better able to do it when it makes sense what I'm doing.

Anyway, I worked a lot longer than I expected and it's almost my bedtime! So I'm going to cut this short. But I do want to say I am SO glad I had a good session tonight! It's very inspiring; I was getting worried I was just going to give up. But the obsession remains strong!

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.

Reminder to Self: Sickling (Don't!!)

Oh! I'm glad TRB posted this photo!

I have been working on proper foot positioning while turning out (I'm showing a tendency to force turn-out, which I can see by the way my feet will turn inwards towards the arch- I forget the technical term), but I've forgotten to work on not sickling when my feet are in the air. I will work on this one tonight! *counting down the minutes until I can go home... haven't decided whether to take my dog for a walk as a warm-up or just get right to it!*

I haven't done much while at work... I mean, exercise-wise! A lot of times I will get in stretching/strength exercises whenever I can. I have done some releves while in the bathroom (20-25), and I've done some ankle rotations. I have on my (new!) sneakers, so I don't want to use the Therabands with them on. When I wear flats, I have no problem taking my feet out and working with the bands... even though I share an office with three others! (I don't think they can see me from here, haha)