My Gala outfit

Would have been easier to have someone else take these photos, but it doesn't matter that much in the end :D

So, here's the dress and the bolero-type thing. And the new black (plastic) beads.

...my laptop on the floor... :D

Next up (or down - to be exact) -> the shoes.

Yap, the same ones I got last (2011) July :)

Aaaaaand finally, Le Me in le dress! :D

Didn't have the shoes on - and wouldn't have been able to take a pic with them (wall too close to the mirror-door). But quite okay still :) I really like the dress. And the pockets! My hair was pooffier than what it looks like. And more red. The lights make it look very different :o

One closer-up of the beads :)

Almost the same kind I had as a kid :D Just different color.

I'll take a photo of my ear decorations later, it's a fun piece of "jewelry"! :)

***

Tomorrow: no ballet. Thursday: no ballet. Friday: YES ballet!

Here's the National Ballets dancers' congratulations - in 21 languages! They showed this bit in the gala :)

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About Le Weekend

Saturday evening was Amazing, to put it shortly. I started to write a post about it right after, but it took me so long that I had to give up and sleep (training waiting the next morning). But also decided to post twice about it. First to list the works, second to give my opinion. My goal is to do both this week, preferably sooner than later :)

If you want to see a programme made of Saturday's performance, you can watch it online (for about 28-29 days left). It IS available also abroad, unlike said before! Have to say that I was personally disappointead with the amount (or lack) of dancing in it, they cut some works and left many totally out! What's with that?? BUT: the programme still is interesting and you'll see one of my favorites in it (a male solo from Ballet Pathétique, by Jorma Uotinen, danced by Antti Keinänen). The interviews are in Finnish, no subtitles.

The National Ballet of Finland - 90 years!

p.s. Took those 2 classes on Sunday (contemporary and ballet). Derriere aching at the moment. Was very much worth it! :)

One (short) special ballet memory

I'm very happy right now :) Just watched 2 (out of 3) episodes of a Finnish dance documentary called Askelmerkkejä (quick translation Stepmarks). It's a story of our (art) dance, including classical ballet, contemporary, jazz... Everything. In chronological order. First part was somewhat familiar, the beginning steps of the National Ballet and the brave people who took a dive into the new kind of profession. I have a book called "The smiling ghost of the Old Opera", lots of pictures of our first principal dancers etc. Same stuff in the episode.

via weheartit.com

But second part had the reason to my happiness! It had more and more talk about jazz and contemporary, combining them to ballet, different dance groups being formed. But also (again) clips from the rehearsals of National Ballet. And one clip showed my dear first ballet teacher, close-up! :) She had the same kind of scarf in her hair as she had when teaching. I've been missing her many times these years and hoping to catch a glimpse of her somewhere. Now I did :)

via weheartit.com

Also I've been playing with the thought of how nice it would be to meet her at the gala on Saturday. But it's quite far-fetched, as there's two evenings and LOTS of people. But one never knows, right?

I used to have a small article of her telling about her first big role, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. And there was also a photo of her. But I've lost it :( She's in one of the photos in that Opera book I have, luckily.

Should be packing at the moment, for the weekend. Decided on the gala dress yesterday, shoes and bag today. Jewelry - not yet. Too many options!

Back of my dress :) Love those birds! In front it has a V-neck, small pockets on the sides <3

I'm really really Really waiting for Saturday :) Also for the training we have, but also then for Sunday - as I got the chance to take 2 classes in Footlight and some dance geek friends will be there, too :) More stuff to pack, but who cares... YAY! :)

More Colors - this time it's nails

Today my flute pupils said: Hey you've got watermelon nails! :D Maybe so... I did try on some green stuff on Monday & yesterday. But only for testing and having a bit of fun, not to make any super fine art. So, here's some grrrreeeeeeeen for people! After all, Spring is coming. Quite soon.

Had to put 3 layers of this nail polish to have Any color... And the stuff look quite dark in the bottle. Blah. (See the glitter? No? Neither do I.)

Ha! I've got 2 graffiti polishes, tried them both. Result -> watermelon nails! :D

First finger has already graffiti on it, but the other 3 don't. A blueish/turqoise polish, with a matt effect. And only ONE layer covers that much, such a difference to the first green one. Yup.

Turqoise nails with the two different graffitis. (Please ignore my awful cuticles :DDD)

Some Black, White and Purple for you. Here's latest pose of Viuhti, Her Royal Highness.

Ballet class reports

Rrrrrright. On Friday I was feeling alright and did Not fall down on the yard of our studios. The door to studio wasn't locked for some reason, so I went in early (as it was empty) and did some warming up, streching. And some turns. I Think I'm starting to get the idea of the speed I need - or in other words, the speed that I Don't need. It really doesn't require that much to go round yourself. What I miss most in my classes are the basic (preparation) exercises for pirouettes. Both teachers just assume that we all got them under control. (They should look better as we do not have that control.) Maybe a class with pirouette Theme every now and then would be good. I've been wondering, if I would dare ask for it... Maybe.

via weheartit.com

Back to Friday.

As more folk started to gather up and teacher also, I saw something NEW, completely new, happen. A man walked in. *Wow, goes the crowd.* He was a pro dancer, a teacher of my friend(s). His main "sport" isn't ballet, but he sure was good in it, too. There are contemporary dance classes by him on Mondays, but I've got like 0 chances of making to them from work. *Blah, goes the crowd.* Anyway, the class started and this dude trained with us. Very friendly and hard-working. And flexible. By the barre I could only catch glimpses of him, but saw his legs many times rising up. In the middle he was next to me, on the right side. But Still couldn't watch too much of his work, had to make myself work hard, too! But it paid off. My balances were better, also some jumps. And those darn pirouettes. No doubles, but clean(ish) singles.

I think our teacher wanted to work hard also. Last week we had a flic-flac-routine (barre) and she Mentioned that later on it'll be with a turn. Well, this time we had that turn. Already. And it was really challenging, for me at least. But fun to try. Also she was even more demanding in the middle than usual. AND she didn't let mr Pro waltz on his own, he had to improve some things, too.

In the very end of the class we started rehearsing our Spring recital coreography. The music is Humoresque by A. Dvorak, played by a symphony orchestra. Beneath something quite close to our version, except the soloists (which are marvellous here).

Saturday morning was very nice. Didn't feel too tired as I woke up, waited to get to the studio. Worked even harder than on Friday. My goal was to "fill the music with movement", in slow and fast routines. And in my opinion I succeeded :) In the middle there were some pirouettes glued in between some routines - and they turned out (haha!) fine. My pointe work wasn't my best - but not my worst either. 

By the way, I kinda forgot to take photos of my outfits during summer (except the first few). Haven't done it now either, but still want to describe it.

• Dark but colorful in all
• Red leggings
• Grey shorts
• Blue shirt (long-sleeved), black camisole top under it
• Black shoulder-warmer (bolero-type with long sleeves)
• Green leg-warmers (loooooong ones)
• Ballet-pinkish flats (Sansha Silhouettes)

via http://www.dancers-closet.com/

 Last but Not least -> the latino jazz! There were only 3 of us + the teacher, but it was still great. Samba-reggae for warming up, 2 short routines across the floor, then one longer routine towards the mirror. Basic jazz technique routines, then a floor-barre routine (my whole body/all the muscles were sore on Sunday) which was Very efficient. Competetive dance -type samba and in the end also salsa. Had some problems with my hips going the wrong way in the beginning, but at least my brains have the right idea now.

And once again I have to say this: I'm so frustrated as I can't take any of my classes this week :((((((((((((((( There is a teeny-tiny chance for some comtemporary and then ballet in Helsinki on Sunday, but I have a bad feeling about it. I mean, we have that Suzuki training and I don't know what time we stop... But if I'll have no classes this week, it means working even harder the next time. *Nodding determinedly.*

via weheartit.com

Knees with bruises

Today I woke up with loads of muscles aching - but wanted More! On Sunday morning only my left knee was lightly colorful, but today Both of them are very much colored.

But let me tell you: jazz was SO. MUCH. FUN. *heart*

What a gorgeous photo! (via weheartit.com)

There were quite a lot of people on the Sunday class (jazz advanced, I'd say). The funniest thing was when I sat on the bench changing clothes, one of my old ballet friends came in! We took same classes (also jazz and modern) during teenage years and also some time before that. Also some other dance friends take this class, so it felt like a dive in memories...

Warming-up consisted of (good music and) jogging round the studio. Then as teacher clapped hands, we did some rolling down (head and back, legs straight). More jogging. Then roll down, walk forward with hands so that the body's straight (feet stay put where they are), back up. Roll down, walk to the right, then back up (standing). Roll, walk to the left, get up. Jog some more. Roll down, walk forward, stay. After a while lift right hand towards the ceiling, whole body facing right. Stay. Same to the left. After this some tummy crunches, like a Swiss army knife. Below the fabulous music we had! The man's called Tuomo Prättälä, an amazing singer/musician/songwriter... :) I've got this album.

Next we had technique routines. Plie - grand plie - releve. Tendu - jete - pirouette (changing directions a Lot). Pirouettes (balance/prep, half turn, another half, single turn or double - then the other side - both sides twice in all, in one song). Then in diagonal some fast basic steps (walking via releve), with different hand positions and couple times with upper body/shoulders moving with accents. Moving on to jumps. Small ones in diagonal. Bigger straight across the floor - for example a combination of soutenu & grand jete entournant & a "twirl" on the ground (don't know how to explain it, haha).

Some streching for our legs by the barre. Take the heel with your hand, lift the leg up in front. Stay. Move the leg to the side, stay. Flat-back, leg still on the side, stay. Straight back, hand to the third pos, leg stays by itself on the side (mine didn't though...).

I'd like to get these :) -> http://www.blochworld.com/shop/p-195-neo-flex-slip-on.aspx

Back to the middle. A short coreography! ...which included also some "spinning" on the floor - hence the bruises. On both knees. And on the metatarsus -> same thing. But I LIKE IT! :D

For the last minutes we had split-exercise. One minute per side. Just stay put.

Lovely <3


***

And I can't make it to Any of my classes this weekend, it's just SO wrong! Luckily there's the 90th anniversary gala performance to see on Saturday evening in the Opera house, by our National Ballet. Have to figure out the clothes.

http://www.ooppera.fi/100/viikon_kuva

Exciting (dance)weekend!

Friday -> gooooood ballet class!

Saturday -> goooooood ballet class AND a gooooooood latino jazz class!

Today -> first round of Finland's presidential election AND my first (normal) jazz class in over 10 years...!!!!!


We've got very interesting and "interesting" candidates for our next leader. For example, one homosexual and then one whom I consider a racist,  two women, one crazy-ish person, one ancient relic, one plain idiot, one whom many consider a greedy person... I know who I want it to be, but this is The Most Interesting election I've voted in.

Get back to you later! :)

Tomorrow, tomorrow!

Tomorrow's Friday = ballet day! Yay! Then it's Saturday = ballet And latino jazz day! Double Yay!

Yesterday was dull. Except work. It was a bit surprising, because normally on a dull day also work is "dull supreme". But not this time, nope :) Had 3 pupils, all of whom had practiced their music very well. One showed her Christmas present, Harry Potter sheetmusic for 1-3 flutes. We flipped through it and agreed that some time during this Spring semester we'll play them.

weheartit.com

As I took the train home (luckily it was on time and the travel takes only 8-9 minutes + some walking), it hit me. No ballet. I was so used to it, couple of hours working, train to center, walking to the school, changing, streching and warming up... NOTHING in sight. It made me so gloomy that I didn't want to go home just yet. Wandered round the town, bought nothing, went to a cafe (no good for the on-going diet), did some grocery shopping... Slouched home. Felt soooooo irritated. Instead of doing the home-work-out (stupid me) decided to watch some ballet on youtube. Also flipped through vintage type ballet photos via weheartit.com.

And guess what?

It did make me feel better. Before closing this laptop in the (late) evening, I did also some thinking. And there were more positive stuff on this dull Wednesday than negative.

• -1,5 kg's in 2,5 days!!! Most of it some type of fluids, but still. Yay!
• Well, the 3 wonderful pupils, of course.
• The fact that I did Not buy that perfume on sale... (saved some money, haha)
• The thought of upcoming Thursday and Friday (first dance day) right after it! Yay!

weheartit.com

 Today was okay. Slept more than was planning to, but made it to work nice and on time. Pupils were okay, most of them had practiced, too. Mom came to pick me up again, we did the food shopping together (again). As I came home, Viuhti was happy to see me. I got her a new activating toy with a light. She chased it for a Looong time :)

And the best news is yet to be written.

-> Our Finnish National Ballet turns 90 this year. There's a gala performance on Friday the 27th and the following Saturday. They were both sold out, but today as I opened fb in the evening -> Opera informs on their page that there are some tickets available again! I just Had to see if there was any "reasonably" priced left. Well, on Fri there was 52 euros, Sat 68. The first ones weren't on too good seats, so I decided to get the pricier. Because I will be in town anyway (for Suzuki training) and this gala isn't coming up any time soon again. Except maybe in 10 years (as they turn 100), but that's a long time... :D

Also another fun thing! I considered booking a hotel room for the training weekend, but it was a bit too much. BUT today it turned out that the hotel I usually stay in has a special offer for 1,5 weeks now. So of course I got a room for 2 nights. And it turned out to be cheaper than the 1 night I was thinking at first. (So the money I saved on the hotel stuff went on the ballet ticket...)

weheartit.com

I've decided that I want to see the 3 classical pieces FNB is performing this season. Don Quijote, Coppelia and La Bayadere. I've seen non of them live, so it's about time to do that. (But some cheaper seats - and opera binoculars...)

And now it's time for some tea. And sleeping. In the morning I'll be bright and shiny at a meeting, then sparkly bright (intelligent that is) while teaching 2 pupils, after which super alert and diligent by the barre!!!! :)

weheartit.com

Molding Me - with Ballet

So, another year has passed - but it was sure different! Today - just like in January 2011 - I started this diet made by pro-trainers. It includes a programme for gym or if you're like me (and don't do gym), a programme to do at home. And of course the actual diet. Women and men have both their own lists. It's a free thing, all in the internet. One just has to registrate and follow the instructions. I've participated now 3 times (last year), so this is my fourth round. And it has worked quite nicely for me, even though I wasn't The Most Enthusiastic person.

I'm not sharing the actual measurements, but here are some facts. During 1 year I've lost a lot of things. For example...

• 8 kg's
• 11 cm's from my cheast (but it doesn't make my boobs smaller, which is annoying!!!)
• 7 cm's from my hips
• 15 cm's from my waist :)
• 5,5 cm's from my thigh (right side)
• 3,5 cm's from my calf (-//-)

...but NOTHING from my biceps!!! Right side has even grown 0,5 cm's :D

I guess all of this is good. At least it has made me feel good. I'm looking for similar losses this year - or even more. I was supposed to have a year of 4 x ballet and 2 x jazz per week, but now I'm having only 2 x ballet and maybe 2 x jazz. Have to "maintain" that home-workout more.

At the moment I actually enjoy seeing myself in ballet gear! :) Well, it doesn't yet include a leotard so often, but there are tights/leggings, tight shorts, tight shirt. So one really sees the figure. I know I'm still somewhat bigger than others in class, but it doesn't bother me that much anymore.

Before... (haha! :D Found via weheartit.com)

Some day I may post before and after photos, but Just Maybe. And it'll take many more weeks. Or months. Or year(s). At the moment I'm very eager to see our Christmas Performance video :D My pants weren't the best, but it was a fun coreography! And the local paper called it "one of the night's gems" even! :)

...and after! (also from weheartit.com)

That's it for today. Soon off to sleep, or maybe Jersey Shore first... Yes, I do watch it. I think it's hilarious! :D

Found via weheartit.com <3 :D

First classes and Ouch!

I was quite excited on Friday, my first ballet class in 27 (TWENTY SEVEN) days! So I left home early enough, walked in the snow and storm (haha) (well, it Was snowing and windy), got to the buildings of the culture center and... fell. I was walking with normal speed or even slower, but under the fluffy snow was icy hard snow. Hit my knees hard on the ground, left one more than right. There were two ladies present, who didn't ask me if I was okay, only expressed their feeling of surprise and fright. Luckily I got up quickly and could walk just fine. (And as a flute player: Luckily didn't injure my hands or face!!!)

Not a good start for the year, I say... :D

To the barré! Our Friday-teacher was on a good mood. We had nice routines, interesting ones even. Turning a lot, new hands and stuff. My legs were Super Heavy after the break and being sick, but what I'm proud of: not giving up even on the adagio! :) Pirouettes weren't visible by the barre that day, but I tried. Next week I'll try more.

My Friday spot :)

In the center we did tendus, jetes, grand battements, some pirouettes (did better than by barre)... Lot of routines. My goal was to remember the moves, on the second round to improve my balance. In the end we had some big jumps. Also a fun set across the floor (in diagonal):

Preparation - chasse & sissonne arabesque - chasse & sissonne arabesque - chasse & sissonne arabesque - some bourre suivi - chasse & sissonne attitude - run away... (gracefully, of course - haha....)

Another was like this (straight across the floor):

Chasse & sissonne (working leg flies in front, hands in third pos.) - chasse & sissonne (same) - chasse & sissonne (same) - prep. for soutenus -> 2 x slow soutenu - 3 x fast (double speed) soutenus - end in third arabesque.

The 90 minutes didn't feel as long as they sometimes do, in Friday evenings... ;) Anyway I was happy to leave, as my dad came to pick me up and there was SAUNA waiting for me. Loved it. Some good food with the parents, then home. On Saturday morning I was super sleepy, with the left knee hurting a bit. Didn't feel like going, but would have regretted it So Much. So I did go and it was great. Interesting routines, though I would have liked to do a bit more in the center (our barre took 60 out of the 90 min. we have). Also we had 12 people participating + our teacher, quite many for our class. It was weird in the center, as it felt even crowded. But managed to Not hit anyone!

On the left we've got the longer barre, in front the shorter one :)

Saturday's center adagio consisted of temps lie par terre, in different directions. I liked it, because it's stuff I know well :) ...easy, might one even say... Some tendus & pirouettes, not bad. Across the floor (not diagonal) some biggish jumps. For the pointe-15-minutes I had my boys in work, the Capezios. They felt So Nice... But the box is still too big and the vamp too high. And overall they are a bit too big. Next week I think I'll take my girls (Bloch Suprima) or their friends (Serenade). I _really_ would like to get the perfect pair. But this season I'll go with these that I have. If the Bloch's still behave badly, then the boys have more work.

These I wear with the boys, as there's too much space round my toes.

One more class to report! It was the latino jazz in my old school (same as my morning class). The Thursday class that I was planning, has been cancelled. But I maybe prefer this weekend one, as I'm not tired from teaching/working myself. This new teacher is actually an old dance friend, we had some same classes as teenagers. She's developped this jazz variant herself, it combines the typical latin moves (samba, salsa, cha cha etc.) with jazz. And from what I can say based on the first class, I like it. Challenging for me, yes. But still fun! Also I might be the oldest taking it, but I hope the younger ones won't think it's weird...

Today there would have been the first (normal) jazz class, but in the morning the knee didn't feel good, so I decided to skip it. And try next week again :)

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p.s. I would Love to have more classes in the morning (or before 12 am). It makes me wake up smoothly (despite sweating) and gives excellent feeling for the rest of the day.

Some Spring Schedule

Okay, the term was Supposed to start tomorrow for me. But it won't and I am somewhat bummed by the fact. And why is this? Don't know. I mean, our Wednesday-teacher only sent a text saying that the classes will be on break, indefinitely. I haven't been more disappointead in ages, but one just has to live with it.

And make new plans! There ain't no more ballet classes offered in our town besides the Friday & Saturday ones that I'm already taking. But there's jazz! I'm going to the adult education centre's office tomorrow to ask if I could join 1-2 courses this week. The first one is latino jazz on Thursday, the second "normal" jazz on Sunday. Also I want to take the 1-week-long intensive course on modern dance (week 9, our winter break).

If I'll take all of those, it means something like this ->

Thursday / 18.30-19.30 / Latino jazz (basic)

Friday / 18.00-19.30 / Ballet (intermediate-advanced)

Saturday / 10.00-11.30 / Ballet (interm.-adv.) + short pointe session in the end

Sunday / 17.00-18.30 / Jazz (interm.)

+

Week 9 / Monday - Friday / 18.00-19.30 / Modern dance

I'm not too jazzed (haha) about 4 days in a row, but there isn't much to do about it. There IS a teen-ballet-advanced class on Monday evenings, but it's a bit expencive. Plus I don't feel quite yet ready... :D I did take that class once in the Autumn, but they'd already been doing the barre routines for a while (weeks, I mean) and all my energy went on trying to pick stuff by watching as we did the stuff. If they still have it in this August, I might go. Just Might.

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p.s. Bought a pair of shoes today. Will tell more about them later. 

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p.p.s. They were on clearance sale.

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Shhh.... Watch it while you still can!

Just found this in youtube and LOVE it. I've nothing else to say about it! :) One never knows how long these videos stay there, so take your 15 minutes and 25 seconds to watch it Now.

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p.s It's snowing outside!!!!!!

Some (ballet) photos by me!

Just before Christmas I went to see a ballet-geek-friend's Christmas Performance. Well, it was their school's but still. There was a fairytale as the red line, tale of wild swans. My friend was the Evil Queen! :) She had a solo and all! Took some photos with my small camera, had some problems with the flash and stuff, but I'll share some of the pictures anyway :)

We started our ballet day with some DELICIOUS cake at Cafe La Famille (Tampere)

I had time to wander around the center, saw this lovely blue Xmas tree by the Xmas market :)

 By the market I also met these! :) Mr Nutcracker and his friends!

Nice big tree also in the theatre's hallway :)

Sat down on the 2nd row and felt the exciting atmosphere... Lot of playwriter names up there.

Wouldn't want to sit there!

So the show began. First there was bollywood style, very energetic as you can see :)

The dancing people in the castle.

Soon there was also The Solo!!! Yay! :)

Later on the princesses turned into swans... Managed to snap this on the perfect moment! :)

Another solo, but not by my friend. This ballerina was very much enlightened, hehe... :) But it was beautiful.

Took lots of other photos, too, but don't want to show them :D I really enjoyed the story and many dance styles! Made me remember my old days (as a teen) in my dance school, sometimes had 3 or 4 different styles to perform and even 2 dances from some... Loved the rush and changing of clothes and accessories and shoes and all. I really like performing and hope to get to the stage again in May. Some of the people in my classes do not want to perform, I think it's a pity. But everyone has their own reasons, and as we all are adults, it's not obligatory to prance round the stages... ;)

Next post... Hmm... Maybe about my goals for this spring? I set one in August -> double turns. Well well. Shall write more about them later :)

New Year

Happy This Year everyone!

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Thanks for my middlebrother for swishing with the sparkly stick :)

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Notice the 2 different colors! :D

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