Color Your Legs!

For a long time I'd been thinking about this photo project, usually so late in the evening that it wasn't possible anymore (because of lighting). But on Monday I remembered it in the afternoon and finally made it happen!

Here's what it was in the beginning...

So, in about 4 years or so I've "collected" a bunch leggings (and some tights). At first I got them to wear with skirts and dresses in the summer, but 2 and a half years ago it changed a bit. I started ballet again, first wearing these black capri pants, but soon didn't like to wear them anymore in class. The were too loose, you couldn't see knees properly. So, these days it's always leggings + shorts. I wear tights almost only for the recitals in Christmas and Spring time.

About the financial side... I could have written "Sponsored by H&M and Seppälä Store" as caption. Well, I have paid for them alright, but I bought (most of) them in these 2 shops. Always as a 3 pairs for 2 or other bargains/offers. The only ones I've paid full price were 4 pairs of ballet pink tights by Intermezzo (my favorite convertibles!) and Bloch. Anyway, if you divide the costs for 4 years, it isn't much. And I have worn them, almost all. Not yet the bright yellows nor one orange pair, but they're on their way ;)

...and this is what I ended up with! :)

Have a colorful weekend!

Long gone, but still here!

It's been ages since my last post, but it doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about writing. There would have been Many subjects for posts, but I had just a bit too much to do right before Christmas - and lots to sleep during holidays! :D Schools = work continued couple of weeks ago, so did the dance classes. I've found new energy to do things and really wanted to write.

So, here we are :)

Today the boost for posting was the finals of Prix de Lausanne. I watched it online, though the streaming wasn't too good... During classical variations it was pausing every 10 seconds, really annoying. But the contemporary ones I saw just fine and dandy. Which was nice, as there were couple of dancers who'd chosen Jorma Elo's work (he's Finnish). And in 2 of them the music was by none other than Jean Sibelius, our greatest composer (if you ask me... :D). Too bad it was only a very short bit, but I can tell you it was from the finale (3rd movement) of his violin concerto. One of my favorites. I urge anyone to listen to the whole piece, here's one Excellent version by our Radio Symphony Orchestra and Leonidas Kavakos as the soloist (the finale starts at 27.40 or so).

*** If someone's interested, I recommend also the version played by Pekka Kuusisto. *** 

I've been going to my regular classes now, Friday evening + Saturday morning + Sunday early evening (jazz) + Monday evening. And about 2 weeks ago I took one additional (tourist) class at Footlight (Helsinki) again, such a joy... :) Madame Greve was her "usual" delightful self, if I can say that as I go there so seldom. 

The class started with a short warm-up for legs and ankles, facing the barre. And as we started, Madame M-P was there behind me, giving some fine-tuning corrections! I really did my best the whole 75 minutes, still got corrections - and enjoyed every bit of them. There was one slightly embarrassing moment for me, though -> tendus. Madame represents the French school and I do know that she wants her students to Cross The Legs, I mean Really Cross them. My other teachers are more of Russian school, so no crossing there. I wasn't that sharp when we started and - well, we did the first degage tendu to the front and then the music stopped. Madame kindly reminded us all that we do cross our legs. I knew it was my fault, as I didn't THINK when the routine started. So stupid!! :D She did give me a small look before putting the music on again. 

But from that on it was all okay. Stomach in, shoulders down. One correction for my hand to stay a bit lower in front (as most of the routines were done with one hand on barre, the other in the basic position (not first or second)). As we had one leg on the barre a la seconde, Madame came and wanted me to Point my ankle and toes, as we did  a cambre to the side. "Strech! Point more! Good, good! That's better, look how beautiful!" And I was smiling.... :) There were other compliments too, in different routines, as she had given a correction and I did my best to fulfill it (good! very good!). 

The only thing I didn't hear during the class was "Strech your knees!" But she did say that I should have a bit of space between my heels (in 1st position), because of my knees are like that. And That was something new to me. 

As the routines were new / unfamiliar to me, I had to pay attention all the time very carefully. And I did feel it in my brains afterwards :D Only one set I remembered doing also in December (the last time I took this class) and it was a pirouette exercise in the center. Tendu a la seconde, plie in 2nd position, up to retire (working leg) - tendu to the back, plie in 4th position, up to retire - tendu a la seconde etc. again, but this time retire with releve (supporting leg) - same thing to the back, with releve in the end. It was a good basic exercise, just the kind I need to get a grip on my turns. 

Some small jumps and then a loooovely reverence, all together with Madame. Her hands are just so lovely... And the feet and legs and the whole dancer. I like my regular teachers a Lot, but Madame has that spark from the big world, which gives the classes something extra. 

To close this jeremiad, I put together a tiny collage of what I've been wearing for class in January. I found this mint green, long-sleeved t-shirt from H&M, perfect for training. Tight, but not too much. Fabric feels nice to the skin. In February, maybe pink for Valentine's day? :D 

Made it in Polyvore -> http://www.polyvore.com/ballet_outfit_for_classes_in/set?id=71052536

Now it's time for some cold remedies, got sick on Wednesday evening and it's been getting worse day by day. Yesterday I managed to take a class, no chance today. Or tomorrow. Or Monday... :( But luckily there's a lot of ballet online, so my mind can work :)

Christmas Spectacle

Okay, now my official classes for this Autumn-Winter season are over. We had the recital this evening and everything went well, in my opinion :) The only "negative" thing was that our number was only 1,5 minutes long (or short). The stage at Verkatehdas is so wide that we really had to take loooong steps to get in right places (running ballerinas). But it was Such Fun! I really miss the days when we had more numbers, 2-3 with the ballet class, then a jazz number, also a contemporary one... *sigh*

Btw, our music was "Ballet dancer" by Adlan Cruz, a lovely piano piece. You'll find it in Spotify, if you're interested :)

I wanted to get some new things for the performance, even though I Could have managed with the old ones... Anyway, this web store called Zalando happened to have dance gear from Bloch in their selection, also they didn't have any mailing fees. Aaaand the delivery was supposed to be 4-6 working days (and it was!). So, this is what I got:

Endura -tights by Bloch

Sissonne -leotard by Bloch

...the backside...

Also I ordered a pair of Zenith-slippers, the new model made of strechy canvas. And I can tell you, they are Very comfortable. And they do strech. The heel has some reinforcement, like the Pump model. Split soles, both inside and outside. And there's a piece of rubber band / elastic between the inner sole patches, with gives the arch kind of support (or at least it looks nice). Didn't wear them to the recital though, wanted to have something I was more familiar with. So I had my Pumps on :)

Our dress was a dress/tunic from GinaTricot, fabric was very light tricot in color of choclity brown. Short sleeves, not too low neckline. The hem was shorter in front than in the back, knees were visible (front). It was actually quite nice to wear and looked pretty on stage, flowing with the movement :) I tried to find a photo, but there's none. Have to wait for the photos from the dance school. And the dvd, yikes... ;)

Here's one shot of my head piece, which was a bit worn out :D But still I think they looked very nice. Notice the "Greek style"... :P

Warning! Some legs visible...

On Monday I arrived at our studio a bit early, so I got the fun idea of taking some photos of my legs. Via mirror of course, because there were no others yet. And I wouldn't have asked them anyway, don't have the guts... :D

In the dressing room there's a pipe of some sort in the ceiling. I stood up (en pointe) and held on to it, with one hand, the other trying to take a wobbly photo. My goal was to get a profile shot of both legs/feet, not to look at the turnout or anything, just to see the arch, the knee etc. The texts in the photos are in Finnish, but the translations are given in the captions :) And just to remind you and me myself, these are definitely for fun, no serious meanings here.

"Full weight" on my right leg... and the left looks stupid :D

For comparison, full weight on the left leg.

My favorite warm-ups! :)

I have to say that I do like my righ one better. But to defend the left, it has was broken 2,5 years ago. So keeping that in mind, I'm quite happy :) About the leg warmers, I saw the same kind in THIS video! :D But I got mine before I saw it. And as I'm also quite tall (and not too skinny....), these look shorter on me than on that ballerina. But they are still very nice!

Giselle - the perfect Halloween ballet!

This was not my idea, but a friend's - Giselle suits perfectly with Halloween. Would be fun to have a version with a bit more "grim" touch to it, all the make-up and costumes... :D Or maybe Michael Jackson did it already? With Thriller? It does have lots of cool dancing and living dead in it, also some romantic aspect.

Aaaaanyway. As I fell (inside a buss, yes) on Sunday and got 3 days of sick leave because of my hand injury, I had some spare time. And today, especially after the "nice" visit to dental hygienist (brrrh......), decided to watch Giselle on my laptop. I had 3 versions to choose from, Royal Ballet (in 2006 with Cojocaru), La Scala (Ferri, don't know the year) and Mats Ek (don't know who's the leading lady nor the year). Decided to go with RB, as it had also the amazing Marianela Nuñez in it (as Myrtha).

Took a comfortable position on my bed with big pillows, cat curled beside my legs, pressed play. The BBC production had a bit of hosting in it, don't remember the lady's name. But there was also a short interview from Alina.C. herself and her fiancé, Johan Kobborg, with short bits from their rehearsals.

Most of the music (by A. Adam) is familiar to me, but I don't remember if I've ever truly seen the work as a whole. There was a lot more choir pieces in the 1st act than I remembered, which was interesting to look at. But at the same time made me wonder about their existence. I mean, most of them had really nothing to do with the actual plot, they were just there. But of course, if they didn't exist, the 1st act would be quite short. And as the dancers were so good, it was a pleasure to see all of it, don't take me wrong :)

Johan Kobborg with Alina Cojocaru, by Bill Cooper (c)

Still, my favorite bits were the variations (including the Peasant pas de deux, despite what I wrote above). As much as I enjoyed both Cojocaru and Kobborg performing from their hearts, I wasn't too much a fan of this Albrecht's facial expressions. His pirouettes, jumps and everything else I did like, a lot. It had nothing to do with how he looks or anything such, no. I just didn't get the Feeling. Sometimes this happens. The couple were was still very nicely in balance with each other, as they are in real life... :) (You can read here about how they got engaged!)

Alina Cojocaru by Bill Cooper (c)

Between the acts there was some other video footage again, behind the scenes. Short bits of interviews again, and which I found quite funny, the names of main dancers/roles. Why weren't they in the beginning? Weird... Back to the 2nd act. Marianela Nuñez was super "chilly" in her cool essence of Myrtha, the queen of the wilis. I've enjoyed watching her (many times) in La fille mal gardée, sadly not live but via computer. (Hooray for teh interweb!!!) Also seen some parts of Swan Lake. The wilis were eloquent, also I liked very much their costume. As you can see in the pic above, the hem of the tutu isn't straight cut, which made it a bit more ghost-like. Not too clean. And the veils over their heads in the beginning, yes. Giselle had it also when appearing for the first time.

I have to admit, I'd completely forgotten what happens to poor Hilario! I Did remember him existing in the work, but his part of the plot was somewhat surprise. It was one of the most effective scenes in the 2nd act. How cold were those wilis to him, such a destiny.

The ending was beautiful. The whole piece made me tear up a couple of times. Also it made me hope that our National Ballet would perform it in the near future... :) I know for a fact that I'd get chills with the opening music already! :D

Alina Cojocaru by Bill Cooper (c)

For a comparison I watched the La Scala version, too. Except that I skipped some of those choir bits...... (*shame on me*) Alessanda Ferri was so divine in this role. Really. As I became a new fan for Miss Cojocaru after the first Giselle, I found prima ballerina assoluta Ferri maybe even more fascinating. I've seen her as Juliet, which is kind of a legend performance in ballet field for me (as a ballet fanatic). And she was wearing the traditional blue peasant dress in the 1st act, which I missed a little in RB's version (just to be honest).

*Maybe to balance the situation, the "Italians" had very traditional tutus in the 2nd act. I liked the English version better ;)*

Massimo Murru starred as Albrecht. He had some seriously neat turns and jumps. Will have to try to see more of him. And as a fun detail, Roberto Bolle danced in the Peasant pas de deux in this production! :) He's one of my favorites.

I think I'm done with Giselle for a while now (maybe 2 weeks or so, haha). As Christmas comes, I'll start the Nutcracker marathon again (as we don't have in the Opera this year!!). But before it I think I'll choose some other work(s) to see and compare. Some classic(s), probably. I'll let you know then :)