November 8, 2012

Are you a bunhead?

The one thing I can never seem to manage is to get my hair into a perfect bun for class (I have the thickest, curliest, most unruly hair in the world).

One of my best “bunhead” days, and it still looks kinda crappy.

While it’s by no means a necessary part of ballet, sometimes it just makes me feel more like a ballerina, when I manage to do an okay job at (and my ballet instructor always comments that I’m officially a bunhead now!)

So what are your tips for doing your hair in a bun? I have to do my hair when its sopping wet with lots of hairspray (sorry environment!) and a ton of bobby pins.

And if you don’t do your hair in a bun, how do you keep your hair out of your face for class?

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October 29, 2012

What is your favorite leotard?

The Adult Ballerina Project wants to know, what is your favorite leotard and why?

Capezio corporate logo

Capezio corporate logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I only own two (with a third one in a mail and on its way from Discount Dance Supply–although I’m sure it’s going to be a little while because of Sandy). I ordered a Theatrical pink leotard because the reviews weren’t bad and it was super cheap.

My favorite of the two is my black camisole one from Capezio–the fabric is soft and it does a good job at making me feel super sweaty (gross but true). It was also fairly cheap from Amazon.

So tell me what your favorite leotard(s) are and which ones you’d recommend to your fellow ballerinas!

I’ll be spending my day stretching and working out since it’s unlikely that my ballet classes will be held for the next few days!

 

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October 24, 2012

Inspiration for Beginner Adult Ballerinas

English: Modern pointe shoes. The edge of the ...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Or anyone, really.

Watch this short (22 minute) documentary about the Alonzo King’s LINES Dance Center in San Francisco, California. It focuses on beginner ballet instructor Kathy Mata, who you can tell really loves her job and teaching beginners ballet. It’s great to see people from all backgrounds try ballet. What I really love is that Mata is in charge of a beginner ballet company, and they do 8 shows a year.

I really wish someone in Philly would do this. Does anyone know of any other studios that do?

(Thanks Legal Ballerina, for the link I stole it from your sidebar).

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October 23, 2012

How do you workout?

exercise ball

(Photo credit: keepon)

While I’d love to be in ballet every single day of the week, it’s just not possible given that I’m a broke college student and that I’m fairly busy. I know that I’m lucky that I make it to 2-3 classes a week. And if you’ve been following the blog, you know I’m out of ballet for at least another week (and it’s so hard not to go but I know it’s better for my ankle injury this way–I’m working on strengthening it and babying it as much as possible).

But since I can’t be in a studio every day of the week, I’ve started exercising in different ways, usually some sort of toning using either my foam roller (my favorite piece of equipment for working out sore muscles after a tough workout or ballet) and my new stability ball. I’m really looking forward to using the stability ball to workout my core since I could definitely use more core strength for my ballet.

Here’s some of the workouts I’ve been testing out, now that I haven’t been able to go to ballet lately or hit the gym and the treadmill like I used to:

Foam Roller Back Stretch: Haven’t done this one yet, I’ll let you know how it feels tonight!

Stability Ball Roll Out: Another set I’m testing this evening.

More Stability Ball Moves: I love the reverse crunches, ball curls, and pike. I can’t manage to figure out the skier without falling off (and Prevention’s video link is broken). Let me know if you’ve done it or a similar move.

Foam Roller Workout: The butterfly lift and the shell curl are wonderful exercises (the shell curl is great for rolling out your lower legs). Boyfriend said the scissor balance was tough but felt like it was a good workout while I couldn’t manage to do it. This link also has great recommendations for foam rollers. I personally love my theraroll. You can check out some muscle release techniques from them here.

Theraband Exercises: My ankles are in desperate need of strengthening so I love the first exercise she snows since it’s how to properly do it. Thanks for the link DisneyBallerina!

What exercises do you do to help strengthen your ballet muscles?

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October 16, 2012

Better Pirouettes

Here’s a post from a fellow blogger on pirouettes! How did you perfect your pirouettes? What advice would you give to beginners?

I can’t wait to get back to working on pirouettes!

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