January 28, 2015

The Off Day Ballet Dictionary

Messy classes are unavoidable, despite our best efforts. So, perhaps we should make lemonade and think of off days as a unique subset of ballet with its own rules and definitions. (Apologies in advance to ballet teachers worldwide.)

Lemonade ballet 3

Created with Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image 1, Image 2.

Arabesque à la Seconde: The proper name for “a la sebesque”.

Hawaiian Rond de Jombe: Yes, it’s correct technique to include a little hula.

Petrushka Jumps: Pointed feet and stretched knees would just spoil the effect.

Port de Bras de Coppélia: The ability to move like an emotionless, mechanical doll can be invaluable.

“Reverse”: Dance historians now believe this originally meant “take a moment to freestyle”.

Degas Chicken Dance

Created with Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.

Runway Updo: A messy bun is fashionable after all.

Spotting: The critical skill of whipping your head around to see just-what-on-earth-is-everyone-else-doing-anyway.

Superman Penchée: Arching your back would ruin the streamlined look. So would lifting your leg above 90 degrees:

superman penchée

“Superman Penchée”. Created with Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.

Tombé: The correct way to arrive on the floor…

Variation: As in your own personal variation of whatever the combination was supposed to be…

Vibrato: A sophisticated addition to any balancing exercise.

Zombé: Any step performed with an appropriately dead level of energy.

Zombe

Created with Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.

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January 19, 2015

Updates: Nutcracker, Back to Basics, Friends in Ballet

Back in December and early January, my ballet class was working on choreography for the Spanish dance in the Nutracker, which was really fun. My instructor even brought in fans for the final classes we practiced it in the first few days of January.

Soon after that, we dove back into the basics for the yearly crowd of newcomers as the new year began. Surprisingly, it’s been really tough going through the class relatively slow (tough but good). The first weekend of those classes I made it to three classes in one weekend and was super sore. This weekend I found myself sick and barely made it through two classes.

This weekend I did make it to a pointe class, too, despite being sick. That was tough, especially since my last class in December was really tough and painful (I’m still not sure why).

I’m happy that in this weekend’s class I managed to keep my pointe shoes on for the entire class (and not have switched to flat slippers), but I know there’s still a lot of work left to be done there. I’ve tried to keep up with strengthening exercises everyday at home and trying to make it to every class that I can.

I’ve also had one of my coworkers join me for a class, and I’m looking forward to her joining me for more. I love bringing new people to class.

How’s your first half of January been? Please share updates in the comments–I love reading them! 

Haven’t taken the reader survey yet? Check it out here.

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January 18, 2015

2015 Reader Survey

Last year around this time I ran my first reader survey. I received a lot of great responses that were really helpful to me in figuring out what type of posts I should be writing. You can check out some of the results here.

This year’s survey has some of the same questions and some new ones as well, so I’d appreciate it if you could take the time to fill it out again.

Take the 2015 Adult Ballerina Project survey to help them decide on content for the next year.

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Filed Under: Ballet, Blog Tagged With: , , 3 Comments
January 13, 2015

Quick update about the forums + Twitter Chat

As you may have noticed, the forums are gone. I couldn’t get them to work correctly and they ended up created a lot of spam on ABP. However, we have quite the growing Facebook group going on at the moment. Just request access and then introduce yourself!

Also, I’d love to start hosting Twitter chats again! We held a few about a year and half ago. Let me know if you’re interested in the comments (and please leave your Twitter handle if I don’t already follow you!) I’d also like to get people to co-host and ask questions with me on a regular basis, so let me know if you’re interested in that as well.

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January 13, 2015

Adult Ballerinas in The Nutcracker

Performing in The Nutcracker isn’t just for kids or professional dancers. I’m excited to report that there were five adult ballet students in Birmingham Ballet’s 2014 Nutcracker! Meet the cast below. Maybe you’ll be inspired to try performing yourself!

ABP- KellyKelly Milam

Role: Clara’s Mother

How long have you been dancing ballet as an adult?

I took ballet classes as a child, but didn’t pick it back up until I was 26 or 27. I was assisting a teacher at the dance school where I now teach and decided to get back into ballet since I have always loved it so. I was excited to be in the recital numbers along with the teenagers. I just never revealed my age. I guess they just wondered. Now that I am 48, and have been dancing ever since that first recital, I still don’t reveal my age. I still want people “wondering.”

What inspired you to start performing in Nutcracker as an adult?

My mother saw a poster advertising auditions for Birmingham Ballet’s Nutcracker back in 1999. Knowing how much I loved to dance, she told me about the audition and encouraged me to attend. I was so excited to be a part of the performance and loved every minute of it. I was a party mom and encouraged a friend of mine to be a party dad. He only did that one performance, but I was hooked from then on!

Did you ever perform in Nutcracker in K-12 or college? If so, what were some of the roles you had?

I never performed in the Nutcracker as a child or teen, but I remember seeing it one time when I was about seven years old. I remember wishing I could be on the stage.

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