July 18, 2014

Beginner Ballerina Profile: Leanne Jessica

216portfoliosonlineCheck out this great profile of Leanne Jessica, who runs http://www.straighttothepointe.net:

When did you start doing ballet as an adult?

I started doing ballet when I was 21.

Did you ever take lessons as a kid?

Sadly I didn’t take ballet as a child but I always wanted to. I did jazz and modern ISTD instead. I did so much as a child that I couldn’t do ballet aswell. When I grew up I thought it was impossible for adults to start. Thank goodness I found an adult class!

Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?

I decided to take ballet up because I was doing dancing in night clubs (nothing seedy by the way!) and also burlesque. I always wanted to do a performance incorperating ballet. I never realised adults could start ballet but after doing some research I realised they could! I also wanted to do ballet for fitness reasons and also for good escapism and relaxation.

Where do you take classes?

I take classes at a dance school in Basildon in Essex. I also sometimes take various classes in London.

What is your favorite part about ballet?

All of it! But of course I adore pointe and seeing my progress.

What is your least favorite part?

I’m not very keen on arabesques or attitudes.

Who/What is your ballet inspiration?

My ballet inspiration comes from many things… Such as fellow adult students, ballerinas, dancers I see on the internet and youtube, and also just looking back on yourself and seeing how far you have come is an inspiration in itself!

What motivates you to keep dancing?

I don’t need motivating 😀 but what makes me excited for it is knowing the escapism and relaxation you achieve from it and knowing that each day is different… Although we all have days where our balance is off or we feel we can’t achieve something… But hey ballet isn’t ment to be easy 😉

Do you take any other dance classes?

Not anymore. Ballet is my main focus!

What are your hobbies outside of ballet?

I love to do pilates. I also enjoy ballet pilates which is called ballates 🙂 I also love to see my friends, vintage, shopping, running my mobile pointe shoe fitting business and helping dancers get the right pointe shoes, running my blog and YouTube channel, photography, modeling, eating out, the beach, travel, all sorts of things 🙂

What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?

To believe in yourself and go for it! Don’t be shy or put off by the other dancers around you. Everyone starts somewhere. It’s also handy to film your classes sometimes, because you can then track your progression. Also, remember your limits… Don’t push yourself too hard to the point of injury!

Anything else you’d like to add?

Yes! If any dancers reading this would like a thorough pointe shoe fitting with me please get in touch. I’m based in Essex and London in England but I can travel too.

Connect with Leanne:

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/straighttothepointe
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tothepointefitting
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pointeballetuk
Instagram: www.instagram.com/straighttothepointeballet

Filed Under: Adult Ballerinas, Ballerina Profiles, Ballet, Interviews Tagged With: , 1 Comment
July 16, 2014

Busy + Stressed = No Posts, But I’m Here, I Promise

Work kind of got the best of me last week– I had a highly stressful, but productive week (just not on ABP). I spent my weekend being a teaching assistant at Girl Develop It Philly‘s WordPress class and felt way out of my league at times, partially due to the fact that I hadn’t had a chance to review any of the materials for the class ahead of time. In the end, though, it was a great feeling to help the people that I could learn more about WordPress.

I did  get the chance to get excited about all the cool improvements I can make to Adult Ballerina Project to make it looker better AND have more functionality–especially the studio guide.

I’ll also have my first (of many, hopefully) post going up on Geekadelphia this week (which I’ll be sure to share) and a ballet profile coming up on here on Friday.

Unfortunately, I haven’t made it to a ballet class in what feels like ages.

My legs have felt pretty crappy lately–I’m guessing due to them not getting a proper chance to heal and rest due to all that stress–but I’m hoping Thursday’s class will be alright. Fingers crossed (and stress-reducing tips appreciated).

P.S. My email was sending out spam Sunday night/Monday morning EST, so sorry if you got any of it–DON’T CLICK ON THE LINKS. It shouldn’t happen again (the issue should be resolved)–but please let me know ASAP if you get another. I’m so sorry it happened.

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , Leave a Comment
July 1, 2014

Let Training for the Philly 10K Begin! @thephilly10k

I’m not going to lie–HQ and I haven’t been running in about three weeks–and 10K training (for the Philly 10K I wrote about a couple months ago) has kind of crept up on us. I was kind of oblivious to the fact that it was almost time to train until I saw a post from Be Well Philly featuring a 10-Week plan for the 10K–and it clicked that we should probably get moving if this race was going to happen.

I’ve never prepared for a 10K before and I wasn’t sure where to start.  I considered going with the plan provided by the Philly 10K and Be Well Philly, but it seemed a little intense–so I went looking for a plan that was a little bit easier that would be more on my level. I discovered Women’s Health Beginner 10K plan.

What I think I’ll enjoy most about this plan is that the easy days are all by time–this way I don’t have to worry about how far I’m running in the mornings–just how much time it’s going to take me. I’m hoping this will help me get up earlier, too.

We’re going to start training now–even though the plan is only 7 weeks–in order to allow for a few hiccups that may happen along the road.

 What training plan do you usually use for your races?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Running Tagged With: , , , Leave a Comment
June 29, 2014

Back to Work!

It’s been a fabulous two weeks off from the blog–but I’ve missed it! HQ and I spent three days on the beach to celebrate my birthday–which was wonderful.2014-06-20 10.47.36-2

After we got home from the beach, I quickly jumped on a train to head out of town again to help one of my friends, Sarah, pack her things up to move:

2014-06-21 15.45.53

Then on Sunday, I came back to Philadelphia pretty early because my parents were in town because my dad had jury duty. We went to Yards Brewery for a tour and then went on a boat tour of the Delaware River:

2014-06-22 16.56.28-2

Then I spent the rest of the week working. I was finally able to make it to a ballet class Thursday night, which didn’t go as well as I had planned. I was super tired (which seems to be the case whenever I’m in ballet class these days) and managed to mess up a combination that I was kind of upset about. Because I’ve been feeling super tired lately (lack of sleep, I guess)–I didn’t make it to Friday or Saturday’s class.

On that note–if anyone has any tips on how to be awake and alert in night classes–I’d gladly appreciate it. Or just general sleeping tips.

I’ve got another busy work week ahead of me–but I’m hoping to make it to Thursday’s ballet class at least before 4th of July weekend starts!

How has your summer been going so far?

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June 15, 2014

A (Brief) Hiatus

Pink rose birthday cakeI’ll be taking a super brief hiatus over the next week and a half or so.  My birthday is at the end of the week (plus our anniversary is the week after) and I’ve been fairly busy at work, so I feel like a little break is necessary right now.  I want to be able to enjoy the brief free time I have over the next few weeks and not feel like I’m going to go crazy.

I’ve just about run out of ballerinas to profile, so if you or someone you know is interested, please shoot me an email at adultballerinaproject at gmail dot com if you’re interested. If you’ve already been profiled, I’m always looking for guest bloggers as well.

You can also fill out this form if you’re interested in either:

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , , , 2 Comments