March 14, 2014

Would You Rather: Ballet Edition #1

PrintWelcome to the first ballet edition of “Would you Rather!”

I’m going to keep it short this time with five questions. I’ve you’ve got your own blog, you can answer the survey questions on their and join the link-up. If you don’t want to or don’t have a blog, feel free to answer them in the comments, too!

#1 Would you rather incredibly naturally flexible or have endless stamina?–By Kyla

I think I’d rather be incredibly flexible, since it seems to be so difficult to attain now.

#2 Would you rather take an early morning class (6am) or a late evening class (9pm)?

Early morning.  While I’m not the biggest fan of the morning, I perform so much better in the morning than at night. I’d probably fall asleep in a super late night class.

#3 Would you rather do 32 changements or 32 fouettés?–By Beth

I could probably actually never do that many of either, but if I could do fouettes, I’d pick fouettes. I hate jumping.

#4 Would you rather do a développé with proper techinque or a higher développé suspecting your instructor doesn´t see you cheat?–By FGH

Proper technique! There’s no reason to cheat it. Although if nobody could tell…

#5 Would you rather have beautifully arched feet or perfect legs?–By Kyla

Perfect legs. While I have far from neither, I feel like I’d rather have super strong legs!

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March 14, 2014

Beginner Ballerina Profile: Beth Porter of Trees and Toes

This week’s profile is of Beth Porter who runs a blog over on Tumblr called Trees and Toes! She also wrote a fabulous guest post last week, Turnout in Your Twenties.

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Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?

I had been intrigued by ballet for a few years, and after I moved to Washington DC, I found that I finally had time for a hobby and I needed something separate from my job and other passion (environmental work). Ballet provided just the right mix of a mental challenge and physical activity, plus offered an immensely freeing way of self-expression. I was hooked right away!

 Where do you take classes?

A few studios around Washington, DC: Joy of Motion, Dance Institute of Washington, and occasionally I do drop-in classes at the Washington Ballet. I travel a bit for work and try to take drop in classes at other companies like Alonzo King Lines Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet when in SF and Chicago.

 What is your favorite part about ballet?

As far as specific moves or exercises, I love doing circular port de bras, fondus, and rond de jambes at the barre. I also love arabesques and grand jetes en tournant are quite fun.

What is your least favorite part?

I’m always challenged by making my glissades a bit tighter and quicker! Long legs are tough to pull in quickly…so I’d have to say combinations with quick glissades. Also, when class is nearly over and we’re all worn out but the instructor asks for 32 changements. 🙂

 Who/What is your ballet inspiration?

I seek out taller dancers to follow, like Joffrey Dancers Valerie Robin and Fabrice Calmels, many of the dancers from Ballet West, as well as Teresa Reichlen from NYCB…they always inspire me to embrace my height and use my long limbs the best ways possible. I also adore watching Sylvie Guillem and her amazing fluidity and flexibility.

 What motivates you to keep dancing?

The drive to improve my technique in the hopes of eventually being able to perform! And honestly, when I go a week without taking a class or practicing on my own, I feel my entire attitude shift. Dancing keeps me positive and energized.

 Do you take any other dance classes?

Not yet, but I’d love to start learning some modern and branch out into contemporary ballet.

 What are your hobbies outside of ballet?

I’m kind of a tree nerd and love helping out local non-profits in DC that do tree plantings and education. I also enjoy going to the many art museums and galleries around the city and spending time with friends while eating delicious food!

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

As cliche as it may sound…don’t give up! It’s so easy to feel inferior as a beginner, especially when you’re in a class with dancers who may have been trained for years when they were younger. I try to remind myself that learning ballet is my own personal practice (kind of a yoga mindset) and that some days, my technique will be great and others not as much. It’s all part of the process of learning and the beautiful moments when you realize how far you’ve come are absolutely worth the confusing and sometimes frustrating moments when you’re just starting out. I also noticed a huge difference once I stopped looking at my feet, and tried to “fake it til I made it” by holding up my head and carrying myself proudly like a ballerina.

Do you have a blog?

I do! http://treesandtoes.tumblr.com/

 

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Filed Under: Adult Ballerinas, Interviews Tagged With: Leave a Comment
March 13, 2014

Frozen Peaz Review

Disclaimer: Frozen Peaz provided me with a discount code for 30 percent off to purchase this product for review.

As someone who has struggled with shin splints and stress fractures, I’m always constantly icing my legs after any type of activity (running, ballet, etc.) as part of my regular recovery routine. Your typical ice pack makes it difficult to target a specific area (especially on my legs) and tends to lose its cool pretty quickly.

So when I first heard of Frozen Peaz, I knew I had to try them out. They’re flexible hot and cold wraps that come in all sorts of shapes and sizes depending on what your need is. They’re a bit on the pricey side, but totally worth it.

Here’s a little bit of information about them via their website:

The secret to the performance of FrozenPeaz® packs is the unique Clear Ice™ Solution. Unlike gel based beads and pearls, the VirtualPeaz™ in FrozenPeaz packs won’t break down with frequent usage. And unlike colored gel packs, the VirtualPeaz are floating in a non-toxic Clear Ice Solution that is free of preservatives, petroleum-based products, and animal by-products. The ingredients in the Clear Ice Solution are 100% natural! So natural that they are certified by the Natural Products Association (NPA).

Frozen Peaz

My Frozen Peaz arrived super quickly (they ship via Amazon Prime, too, if you’ve got it) and I was surprised to find that they were pretty heavy–a lot heavier than I expected, and a fair amount heavier than your typical ice pack. I ordered a single large wrap for my shins/calves.

I’ve been using the Frozen Peaz ice pack for about a month now and its the only ice pack I’ll use now. It stays colder than most other packs (I can get at least 20 minutes in on each leg at a time) and conforms to my legs really well (ignore my messy bedroom, I had just gotten home from class):

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The only cons I really have are a) they are heavy and therefore tend to fall down if I try to get up and move around and b) they don’t conform to my calves (from underneath) as much as a would like. They still work better than anything else I’ve tried.

Frozen Peaz has been nice enough to offer 15% to all my readers if they use the code “Ballet.”

How do you deal with ballet-related injuries?

Filed Under: Ballet, Info, Outside Class, Reviews, Running Tagged With: , , , Leave a Comment
March 12, 2014

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday Misty Copeland Book Signing

HQ and I met Misty Copeland last Sunday at her book signing on Sunday, as part of a present to myself for two years of ballet classes.

Here’s some photos:

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I plan on sharing more about what I thought about the book and meeting her later!

Filed Under: Ballet Tagged With: , , , 1 Comment
March 11, 2014

Taking Class in a New Ballet Studio

I’ve only taken ballet classes in a handful of different studios since I started ballet almost two years ago now.

Philly Dance Fitness recently started holding classes in a new studio in Center City Philadelphia. Once the studio was finally overhauled with new floors and wall barres, they started offering a Beginner II ballet class there (and they’ll offer another one in a couple of weeks).

I was super excited for my first class there, especially I wasn’t able to make it to the previous night’s ballet class because of work.  The new studio is also super close to where I live and I can walk to class in about 20 minutes.

Even though I was excited, I was still a little nervous. While not as nerve-wracking as attending a class at a new studio with a new instructor and new ballerinas, I was still nervous as to what the new studio would be like. When I first got there, I went to the wrong place (PDF classes are upstairs while there’s a store front downstairs). Luckily,  I was quickly directed to the right place.

I was a little bit late, so I had to quickly throw on my legwarmers and slippers, which helped to distract me from my nerves a little bit.

It was a little weird working off a wall barre (at the other studio, we have portable barres), especially since they were a bit higher than I was used to. A corner of the room was blocked off for storage, which made organizing ourselves in the room a little difficult. Other than that, things went relatively smoothly. I’m excited to keep taking classes there, as well as test out the beginner class on Mondays.

Here’s some photos from our first class:

Post by Philly Dance Fitness.
Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Info Tagged With: , , Leave a Comment