The dress, Aztec and ugly toes

The wedding on Saturday (continued till Sunday afternoon) was just Lovely. Good music, wonderful people, loads of Love. My legs/feet were so tired on Monday that after thinking loooooong about it, I didn't go to class in the evening. (Also had some other health issues, but everything's okay now.) Do regret it now, but not So much. And tomorrow I'll definitely go!

(Got to love picmonkey... ;)) These 2 were So Cute :)

Me and the dress before leaving home :)

Yesterday evening I decided to put on some nailpolish on my toes, as I didn't have time to do it on Saturday morning. Picked up a bottle that I fell in love with already in Spring, but bought just a week ago. It's from this funny little (chain) shop called Accessorize, they have an online store also. The color isn't just one, it's many! Blue, green, gold and bronze, purple, pink... Everything in between. The photos from my toes don't look so amazing (awful to be exact), but the bottle gives a little bit better idea.

Not ideal toes for pointe shoes...

Love the diversity!

So, my toes are READY to dance!

Recently in the studio

I haven't been writing too much about my classes lately, but I sure have taken them. To put it short: we haven't practiced fouettés after the couple times nor the variation I mentioned, but there has been a lot of other useful stuff.

For example...

I've noticed a definite improvement in my flexibility, compared to last summer. The splits aren't a random success anymore, more like a yes-I-am-able-kind of a thing. They don't go all the way down so that I could just sit there comfortably, but quite close :) Have to specify that I'm talking about splits with one leg in front of me, the other behind. Sideways they are still far from the floor - but closer than last year!

Keeping the previous observation in mind, the grand battements are higher than Ever. Seriously. They didn't fly this high even as a teen. Definitely yay! Not close to my face/ear/back of the head, but I'm very happy about them.

After one class with Signora G. (teacher @ Footlight in Helsinki) I've started to get a new kind of grip on my developpes. I still do _not_ like them (nor fondues), but there's a thought of finding new muscles for the lifting part and keeping it turned out. This is something I have to constantly think and remind myself about. (Not that I would be all excited about it all the time, nope. But it makes the movement more interesting.)

I'm better at pirouettes. Biggest points (insights) have been the amount of speed, straight knee on the supporting leg and good & better & more better turnout on the working leg. Had to mention speed first, as it was the most important (or that's how I feel). As I wanted to figure out the clean single turns. I had always been taking waaayyyyy too much speed, then got troubles of all sort. But now it's quite good - if I remember the leg observations... And still last week I (we all at Señora S's class @ Footlight again) got a simple, yet so amazingly good, advice ->
When you're going to make a single turn, you must think about only 1/2 or 3/4 turn, then already about finishing the turn. When you're making doubles, it's 1,5 (or 1,75) turns and then finishing it. If you think of one full turn and after that finishing, you'll go over it and it won't be clean. Same thing with doubles.

So, in pirouettes - keep calm and (still) be quick. That's what S. said and she knows the stuff.

***

Have to continue later, there are more things I want to make notes about. Now it's time I pack some things for the weekend, a friend is getting married tomorrow and the wedding goes on for 2 days! :) 

via weheartit.com

Ballet slippers and Tiara!

Slippers I've been wearing regularly also this summer, every Monday and Wednesday, but tiara? Not once. Except this week 24/7! :D

The feathers are part of a cat toy :)

Essie: Ballet slippers / Orly: Tiara / Mavala: top coat fixator / Viuhti: the cat.

Lazy summer days on the balcony table... :)

***

I've been adding (again) some color to my dance classes also. I've had a pink day, bright red one, purple (with some black), orange... :) Green one is about to emerge, have to do some laundry first. 

And Finally a pair of soft slippers is about to meet it's end! And of course it's the one that's been my absolute favorite by far (Sansha Pro1). I've decided not to buy new ones, as there are some waiting already (not exactly the same, though). But new pointe shoes I have to, since none of the current ones work for my feet anymore. I'm dreaming (of a white Christmas but also) of Gaynors. They might be the answer to my very different feet (left one bigger). Or not. The first thing is to book an appointment with the fitter. Don't know when I'm able to do that. And when they are available at Footlight's. Make a call, one must.

p.s. For today's class I'm gonna wear the red stuff again, it was fun! :) And today it's been raining at last, so it might be possible to breath in our studio (Monday it was extreme, I tell you). 

French & Saunders - Dancing Academy

Monday - a Goooood class for me. Today - hoping to have another one just like it! But first, here's a hilarious clip from some of my favorite comediennes, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Guest stars none other than Darcey Bussell and Anthony Dowell! :)

***

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!