November Champagne lounge

[Jutty1224]

I'd figure I'd start one since nobody has and also because there was never one from October.

 

Oh, and might i add that yesterday the dvd our dance camp performance arrived thought I never requested one or paid for it, Should I sent it back?

[Redbookish]

Just to add my little bit of celebration -- I'm currently working in central Washington DC until Thanksgiving, and finally felt my foot was recovered enough from the plantar fasciitis, and cracked ligament to try out a class again! New city, back to class after almost 3 months ... I did wonder whether I wasn't crazy, but anyway, I had a great time!

 

I went along to an Advanced Beginners class at Joy of Motion in Dupont Circle, DC. I know there are probably bigger & better studios in DC, but they are all out in the suburbs, and I'm a non-driver, living on the Hill for a month so Dupont Circle suited me.

 

And I enjoyed the class and the teacher, who had a lot of good material & a clear way of teaching. Very knowledgeable and energetic, and a well-paced and structured class, particularly as there was such variety of dancing standards & knowledge. A relatively simple class, but nice slow pliés to start with, and two tendu exercises (from 1st & 5th) which was great as I was nervous about my foot.

 

A variable standard of dancer in the class, so I fitted right in, and found I can still turn, although connecting steps in grand allegro are still my downfall. Why is it that I make SUCH a meal of something so simple ? Grrr

 

A couple of mental adjustments about terminology -- I always understand "passé" as a movement, not the word for "retiré" and found myself doing retiré passé when I shouldn't be changing legs. And is grand jeté called saut de chat here? And "pas de boo" for pas de bourré? Well, that one jut makes me laugh (in my head, not out loud).

 

If anyone here goes to that class, I'm the blonde, plumpish English accented one, who just couldn't get the tombé, pas de bourré, glissade combination between the pique, faillé and the grand jeté!!

[Serendipity]

It's up to you if you want to send it back, but if you want to keep it, it might be nice to send along something to pay for it, because you know these things are generally done on a shoe-string budget (video).

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying your class, Redbookish!

 

For me, my celebration is a receding of the hip pain (thank you to my massage therapist in PT!!), receding of the ankle pain and even improvement (slightly) in the hamstring issue. The latter two I credit that lovely ultrasound machine. It works!

 

Finally, my splits are actually getting quite close to the ground! Only the middle one is still far away and I suspect it always will be. There's only so much one can do with a hip joint, after all...

[dancingjet]

I have a small celebration - I get to be in the party scene at DD's Nutcracker. My first time ever dancing on stage, and we get to learn a couple of dances.

[Boots]

Redbookish, which advanced beginner class did you go to at JOM - which day and which teacher?

 

and the pas de boo thing - I know a few teachers at JOM who say that as shorthand (they DO know the correct terminology )

[Redbookish]

JOM: Sunday afternoon with Miyako Hisaka. And the "pas de boo" thing I've heard in other US studios in other cities over the years!

[Boots]

Ah - glad you enjoyed Miya's class! I take her Saturday intermediate ballet and modern classes regularly. I would have been at the advanced beginner class on Sunday this week, but I was at a yoga workshop.

[Redbookish]

She has a lot to teach about performance, I thought -- and some of her general coaching on placement was great.

 

How much harder is are Intermediate classes at JoM? I was thinking of doing the Wednesday floor barre & then staying for Inter class -- it's a different teacher, I know, but just generally do you have a feel for the levels?

 

What a pity we weren't both in the same class - a BT4D mini-meet -- almost!

[Boots]

Hmmm. A bit hard to say on levels - it kind of depends on the teacher -- sometimes one teacher's intermediate is another teacher's advanced beginning (or another teacher's intermediate is like yet another's intermediate/advanced). But you would definitely notice a difference between the Sunday class you took and the intermediate on Wednesday.

 

Miya and Mane have kind of different styles, although both are wonderful teachers. I'm a bit too intimidated to take Mane's class, to be honest even though I take other intermediate level classes. (Although the last time I went to her class was a few years ago, so I really should give it a try again one of these days!)

 

Yes, Miya has wonderful pointers about performance and presence. I remember when I first started taking classes with her she made a comment (to the whole class) that was something to the effect of "you'll never get a job if you don't present yourself like a professional" and I was thinking, well, you know, I already HAVE a job, I'm just doing this for fun. But the truth is, that kind of attitude from a teacher is part of what kept me going back for more...

 

Maybe I'll see you there next Sunday.

[Serendipity]

I know I said this above but now I'm hoping I don't jinx - I think today's PT session actually FIXED the problem in my hip!! So far, it's several hours later and still I have no pain. USUALLY I have soreness and some of the pain back within an hour. Cross fingers for me?

 

Next issue she'll be dealing with will be that pulled whatever-it-is in the other leg. She says it's not the glute hamstring and used a big word that I can't remember. I hope, hope, hope she'll be able to do the same for that leg that she did for my hip.

 

YAY!

[Mazenderan]

I think I've had a lightbulb moment, where I've stopped thinking of steps in terms of poses or end positions, and started to think about everything as a process and continuous movement. My movements seem to have become much more strong and dynamic since I've started doing this. I've actually managed to stop just falling out of alignment when I go into retire from fourth now that I realise that it's not just a switch from one pose to the next! Yay.

[Reebs511]

Here's my November champagne moment - yesterday I took my first pointe class in two+ years! I'm not as strong as I'd like, but was impressed with my ability to roll up and balance in passe and do single pique turns without falling over. My toes were hurting, but it was great to be back on pointe!

[handan]

Little celebration for me; just recovering from a bad cold, and wasn't sure about going to class, but glad that I went. Normally I forget parts of the longer enchainements, but for the firts time since beginning again it really felt like it was all coming back! Maybe going in with low expectations made me more relaxed or something, now I hope I will still remember next week...

[Tiffany]

I think I almost got offered a scholarship! I was at a workshop, mainly for jazz/tap but there were also ballet classes. I had two ballet classes with this certain teacher & during the second one she handed out scholarships at the end. I went ahead & sat down since I am an adult & wouldn't accept a scholarship in place of a high school dancer & the teacher handed out the first scholarship then she said "well she must have left" as she looked around, then she gave the other scholarship to someone else. I have never, ever gotten a scholarship so this was the highlight of my day! I was the only person who sat down, besides an assistant teacher w/ our studio, so I think she must have meant me, since the asst. teacher is not a strong ballet dancer. I look younger than I am so the teacher could have mistaken me for one of the high school students. I know I'll appreciate looking younger one day but its annoying sometimes now because I am a nurse and I have had patients ask me if I am old enough to be a nurse! I don't want them to think I'm not qualified!!

 

Reebs, congrats on getting back on pointe! I took a year off from pointe & ballet one time because a ballet class wouldn't fit into my schedule; you'll get right back into the swing of things, it just takes time. I think I started back to pointe in September & danced snow in Nutcracker that December!

[ToThePointe]

Huge for me...

 

I'm out of my cast and into a walking boot

 

Now I can move around a little bit better and actually get things done for Nutcracker.