Old dog, new trick!

32 x a certain pirouette, I think every ballet-inspired human knows what it is.

Fouetté en tournant

Last week we started doing a simple routine for prepairing them (barré), on Wednesday we did the routine in the center/middle floor! Woooooow and yikes x million! But I managed to keep my balance there, though there IS a lot to do with my core department. And the knees. And the balance... Anyway, yesterday we did the routine in 2 groups, standing around the "playpen" (a square-ish barré one can set up in the middle of studio). 2 x balance, then turn, balance (1), turn, balance, turn, switch sides. All in all, we/both groups did 2 rounds on both sides. And as the other group was in action, us others could just watch or practice by the side barrés (I chose to practice :)).

Let me tell you: I've tried fouettés only twice before and both times it was just like "let's try this for fun girls..." And it was not a pretty sight! :D This time (yesterday) my 1st round was miserable, 2nd much better! I did grab the barré too quickly after turning etc, but there were some almost clean turns. And our teacher saw them, gave immediate feedback (positive, yay). I'm hoping we'll keep them in repertoire for good, as they'll run away very quickly without practicing. And I'm Not dreaming of doing the turns in center for a while, I'm very happy & satisfied with the preparatory routines. Also the quantity will probably eventually be maybe 2 in a row, haha... :P 


To close this post, I'll present one of my favorite ballet bits via youtube. And it's my favorite because of the magnificent ballerina, Nina Ananiashvili. Her energy is unbelievable. It was amazing to see her live, even just sitting in the audience as a ballet competition judge! :D Unfortunately these particular videos can only be shared as a link, but do watch them. It's worth it.

Odile variation

Black Swan coda

p.s. 

My pirouettes en dedans & en dehors were quite clean (singles) yesterday. I've really tried to pay attention on the speed, knees, core and spotting. It seems to have worked, at least a little! :) Shall try to keep up working on them. Turning is so much fun!