How do you want to improve in your next session?

[Striving for Grace]

Many of us are starting classes again this month, or have already. I find that when I make a list of what I want to get accomplished, I usually fulfill most of my goals- even surpass them. This is even more true when I tell someone about my goals- I feel like I can't "chicken out" or pretend I never made those promises to myself.

 

So let's get some specific goals written down, dancers! List your top 3 goals for your current dance class session.

 

I'll start:

 

1) Nail a consistently clean pirouette en pointe

2) Get my attitude to >90 degrees

3) Successfully do a series of nothing but piqué (posé) turns across the floor on both sides

 

Can't wait to hear your goals! Post here when you've achieved them, as well!

 

Grace

[hart]

Supporting leg, supporting leg, supporting leg.

 

1. Feel the difference between proper weight distribution on my foot vs. being pulled back.

2. Gain better awareness of what it feels like to be turned out on my supporting leg while keeping hips, ribs and shoulders as square as my body will allow.

3. Practice transfer of weight exercises, working to quickly find proper pulled-up weight placement and turn-out of the supporting leg while moving.

4. I have really improved my awareness of my spinal alignment and gained a great deal of core strength in the last month; keep it as I practice the above exercises.

 

OBSTACLES

1. Hyperextension and tibial torsion

2. Tight TFL, psoas, arches, and calves, all of which seem to pull me back, turn me in, and make it difficult to feel the floor.

3. Poor body awareness and sense of balance

 

MEANS

I have finally come to accept that taking more classes doesn't necessarily make me a better dancer, it just makes me burnt out (because I'm introverted and somewhat perfectionistic), and physically fatigued. I improve more quickly when I have time to work things out on my own, and then return to class where the teacher can make sure I'm making good adjustments.

 

During all of August, I have spent a half hour/day working on core strength and the fundamentals of ballet while taking very few classes. I have created a little routine, using Deborah Vogel's concepts, ballet barre music, a mirror, and my wonderful i-pod. It is working for me. I'm less stressed, making observable improvements, and truly enjoying ballet again.

 

I plan on continuing to work on the fundamentals 30 minutes/day and then take three classes to work toward these goals. I'll let you know how it goes. I have been doing pretty well with my routine so far.

[insidesoloist]

I'd have to say I'd want to release unnecessary tension in my body, modulate the tempo of my turns better, and smile more. I have a constant internal smile when I'm dancing, but I don't show it all that often, and I know from a teacher's perspective how nice it is to see a student smile when she or he is dancing.

[appleblossom]

I'll start:

 

1) Nail a consistently clean pirouette en pointe

2) Get my attitude to >90 degrees

3) Successfully do a series of nothing but piqué (posé) turns across the floor on both sides

 

 

Not to look like a copycat... but.... they're exactly where im at.

[Juli]

Um, considering I still havn't found a studio here that I like, that's my number one goal.

 

Dance wise I'd like to learn how not to look down at my feet . I prefer that to looking in the mirror and somehow my brain thinks if I don't look at them they'll do the moves wrong.

 

My second dance goal is to make my turns more consistent.

My third dance goal is to make my leg muscles work better. I can get my leg up to my head but holding it there is a different story.

 

My biggest goal for in a studio is to be more friendly to the people. I tend to get to focus on the lesson that I don't learn but the other people's names ( sometimes if that).

[Guest pink tights]

Extensions, extensions, extensions.....

[Guest lostchyld]

1. I'd like to throw a good single once en pointe. I'm not really a turner, but over the summer, I really worked on sorting out the theory in my head. First day back to class, I managed several well done singles on flat. I want a day like that en pointe.

 

2. Arabesques. I have a bad habit of not fully straightening my knee in arabesque. It was one of the things I got marked down on in my last exam, and I intend to fix it before my next exam in Oct.

 

3. Non-syllabus combinations. I need to improve the speed at which I remember things. I get lost on fast or long combinations because it takes too long to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Long combinations are worse because I often haven't had time to process the whole thing, and so get partway through and can't remember. Beyond that, I can't reverse combinations until I can remember the sequence in the first place. I can always remember when I get out of class, so I know it's not that stuff is slipping past me, just that information is bottlenecking in my brain.

[scoop]

1. Get my double-pirouette groove back. I think I lost my confidence in them, so I've wimped back into doing singles -- which are mostly nice and solid, but BORING!

 

2. Focus on musicality and artistry and dancing rather than just doing the steps.

 

3. Get back into pilates to strengthen my core and thus my balances.

[Blanche]

Foot and ankle strength (really it's that I'm getting in touch with all of those teeny little muscles that make a big, big difference).

[AmyKL]

I guess the whole 9 yards. I have more general goals than specific things right now. My main one is to improve strength (core, especially), flexibility and balance. I've been doing more pilates and cross training for these and I can already see a bit of a difference.

 

I definitely need to do some more work on turnout, too. Not just having it, but using it. The more fatigued I get, the fast it disappears.

 

The only other thing is that I have a tendency to be a bit timid looking in combos. I would like to dance with more confidence. I don't know why I hold back so much, either.

[undertutu]

1. Stretch hip flexors, pull them up (straighten) especially in extensions

 

2. Strengthen releve in pointe

 

3. Improve flexibility in ankles (an seemingly impossible task) and back

 

4. Straighten both legs in arabesque, remember to feel continual stretch out during extensions

Edited September 10, 2006 by undertutu

[ania]

I have one goal with three parts.

 

More consistency in :

1) Fouettes

2) balance in arabasque

3) pirouette on pointe

 

Basically it all comes down to being well on my leg and releasing my shoulders.

 

Does anyone else ever feel that the process of learning ballet is 3 steps forward, 2 steps back?

I am in a one step forward phase after a summer of being 2 steps back. Lets see how long it lasts.

 

ania

[missvjc420]

Great topic, I have plenty of time to think about what I want out of class, and what I need to work on. I'll probably come back and edit this post as I figure more stuff out.

 

1) Core work is desparately needed. Every time I injure myself (not that it happens that often, but it's such a bother) I lose core strength because what I do to build strength is to keep dancing. I'm trying desparately to keep working on building up my core while fighting the " this sucks I can't do anything" blues.

 

2) I really want to work the left side more and even everything out a bit more.

 

3) I want to be challenged with MORE- more beats, harder combinations, bigger jumps. I feel like I've gotten in a rut of doing the same thing, so I want to find a class I really have to work to keep up in.

 

4) I am going to keep working on the feeling of artistry and working on mime. The trick is trying to figure out how to do that. My idea was to watch videos, especially older ones, and try to emulate some of the movements while thinking of the role. I don't know how I'll use this in class yet, but I'll do something with it. I guess I can just show how particular movements make me feel.

 

5) I'm going to have to work hard on everything coming back from this injury, but pointe will be the hardest to regain. I know I have to pace myself, but I love my pointes, they are the reason I dance. I'll have to dance on flat for a while, and not do jumps before I put them back on, but I'm hoping that I heal quickly.

[Siegelife]

Ok, since I'm a beginner and had my one class so far.....

 

1. Be able to remember the combinations.

 

2. Attempt a developpe.

 

3. See improvment in flexability and rotation, if possible.

 

[AnneUVA]

I'm with Siegelife for these two:

1. Be able to remember the combinations

2. See improvement in flexibility and rotation

but for 3: Know where my arms and head are supposed to be all the time! or at least more of the time.