Ballet Heart

New Blog

2011-11-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Just in case you are interested, I have started a new blog called License To Complicate
http://blogs.ubc.ca/licensetocomplicate/ which I am writing for as part of the UBC Blog Squad. I still plan to continue this one, and perhaps do more interviews in the Winter/ next Summer, but probably will not be posting any time soon (expect for maybe Nutcracker?).

xxx <3

A Day in the Life: Hannah

2011-07-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hannah is originally comes from Montana, but has trained at the Goh Ballet Academy for the past five years. When we first met we barely ever talked to each other (she was a level above me), but over the years of RAD exams, performances, and competitions we gradually became really close friends. Hannah is known for her outgoing personality, great sense of enthusiasm and breathtaking contemporary work. She is tremendously hard-working and always the first one to take on any new challenge.

Q: What is your current daily schedule?

A: My daily schedule changes slightly from day to day depending on the teachers and classes that are being offered. I am staying in New York City for the summer and I am training at Steps on Broadway! I have enjoyed having such a selection and variety.

I wake up fairly early...about 7:15 AM and I do my hair and make up. I then eat breakfast and organize my lunch to go. I leave my apartment at about 9:00 AM and arrive at the studio by 9:30 AM or slightly earlier. I take morning ballet followed by a dancers Yoga or Pilates class. I have also taken the Advanced Contemporary Jazz class taught by Suzi Taylor which is incredible and a few other classes I have never tried like floor barre.

Q: Most memorable rehearsal ever?

A: My most memorable rehearsal would have to be the Willis rehearsal we had for Giselle coached by Mr. Chen at the Goh Ballet Academy back in 2007. He was by far the most strict teacher I have ever had and was known for his precision in all the pieces he rehearsed.

We had attended a couple rehearsals prior to map out where each of us stood and what the steps and counts were. On this particular day we begun rehearsal without music allowing for us to recap what the counts and steps were.

We first ran parts without music making sure everyone was sure of the count. As it got cleaner and we then ran the different casts with music. After, we were all feeling fairly confident and so we were asked to dance the entire piece.....roughly 25 minutes!

Just as we were getting into the more difficult corps parts, Mr. Chen, sat at the front of the studio and starting pounding this giant wooden stick on the dance floor so we all could hear the timing. He stopped the music numerous times to repeat parts over and correct the mistakes he saw. This lasted for well over an hour and a half and we had started to go over time.

Suddenly, while we were rehearsing the arabesque hop section in Act 2 of Giselle (which most ballet dancers are familiar with) he threw this huge wooden stick across the room slamming it right against the barre on the far side of the studio. We all froze in terror and the room got completely silent.

I hadn't experienced something so frightening in a rehearsal before.....After another moment of silence he told us that until we could do better there was no point in the rehearsal continuing on.... We were finished for the day.....thankfully.

Q: Favorite leotard?

A: My favorite leotard would have to be my first Yumiko! The base is expresso brown and the trim is dusty rose. The style is Daniela. I absolutely love it!

Hannah wearing her favourite leotard.

Q: What brand of pointe shoes do you wear and how do you break them in?

A: I am currently wearing Mirella pointe shoes. I have struggled with finding the right pointe shoe for years and it has been my shoe of choice for a couple years now. It is very light weight and requires hardly breaking it in at all. I bend the the shank where my arch is at its highest and then press down the top of the box until its snug against my toes. I have found it to work out great, lasting me roughly 3 weeks.

Q: What was your best on-stage experience?

A: I don't feel I have had one particular on-stage experience that stands out to me than all the rest. What I can say is that you really can't beat the feeling when you step off stage into the wings and you knew that you really gave every ounce of your energy into your performance. I feel so inspired and happy- I thrive for this very feeling!

Q: Favorite part of class?

A: I have to say I do really enjoy barre. It feels great to concentrate on different parts of your body....frappes are my favorite!

In the center I love grande allegro. You are your warmest at this point and get to move across the floor...I find this the most enjoyable!

Thank you Hannah! I will miss you! <3

A Day in the Life: Danielle

2011-07-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Danielle Gould is a dancer from North Vancouver. Currently she is dancing with the Goh Ballet Youth Company, but will be attending the Stuttgart ballet school next year on full scholarship. Amongst an extremely long list of achievements she was a finalist in the YAGP finals, has completed her Solo Seal, and has received numerous scholarships from the Vancouver Ballet Society, BC Arts Council and Hnatyshyn Foundation to name a few. Her long legs, incredible flexibility, delicate frame and extremely dedicated work attitude really make her stand out in class. Please take a look at her youtube channel to see her dance! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUjOujm0k_c&feature=related

What does your daily schedule look like?

Usually I dance 5-7 hours a day and 6 to 7 days a week. Right now I am doing summer school so my schedule is a little different from that of the regular year. Right now my schedule is generally 9-3 and the classes are a combination of; daily ballet class, pointe/variations and pas de deux plus some contemporary, musical theater and Pilates. During the year I have a very similar schedule of classes plus many other rehearsals or private coaching.

What type of pointe shoes do you wear and how do you break them in?

I wear Bloch Aspirations. I absolutely love these shoes and have been wearing them for about 3 years. I really don't have to do too much major breaking in of my shoes, basically right after I have sewn them I step on the box, to help alleviate the extra pressure on my bunions. Then I break in the demi-pointe of the shoe and the arch with my hands and they are ready to go. I don't like to bang the box as I like my box harder than my shank.

What is you favorite part of class?

Hmm. Well I think I would have to say that my absolute favorite part of class is adage, pirouettes and traveling exercises across the floor in center. But I also enjoy barre as that is where I can really focus on my center and technique, as well as get a good warm up. Basically I really do love doing class, so I enjoy every part.

What is your favorite variation?

I like a lot of variations as each role requires a different character, and each time you perform a variation you gain a better feel for the character and the elements of the variation. Some of my favorites would be Giselle Act 1, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote Dream Scene Var. and Talisman variation.

Most memorable onstage experience?

I absolutely love performing on stage and I have had many memorable experiences on stage. My first very memorable experience was my first performance of Snow Queen in the Nutcracker, and others include performing through out China, competing in New York and performing Les Sylphides, White Swan pdd and Talisman pas de deux.

Favorite leotard brand?

Well let me just start by saying that you know how people collect things like antiques and stamps, well I collect leotards. I mean i don't just hang them on my wall -I do wear them like every day for more than 3 hours a day- but I do love my variety of leotards. Some of my favorite brands include Yumiko, Bloch, Ainslie Wear and Capezio.

You are vegan? Do you have any advice for dancers with dietary restrictions?

Yes, I am a Vegan but I also have severe dairy allergy. I have had the allergy my entire life and have been 100% vegan since I was 13. My advice for any dancer with allergies or dietary restrictions is always make sure to pack lots of food with you and always plan for your day at dance. I never go to dance with out my bag of lunch/ dinner/snacks depending on the schedule for the day. Everyone is different and what works best for each person is very individual but I feel that the more natural and unprocessed food you eat the longer and healthier you will feel and that will come out in all aspects of your life.

One more thing:

I love to give back to my community through performances in as many public events as possible, it helps to spread the love of ballet and the arts. And I am very thankful to the community and people who support arts, dance and ballet. We could not do what we do with out the support.

Thank you Danielle!!!

A Day in the Life: Brichelle

2011-07-23T01:06:00.000-07:00

Brichelle is from Nanoose Bay, Canada. She is currently a dancer with Ballet Victoria (Victoria, BC). We both met when we were 15, when we had both just moved away from home to study at the Goh Ballet Academy. After 3 years of dancing together at the Goh, going to early morning classes at school, and going through the ups and downs that come with growing up, we finally graduated. Brichelle went to China with two other friends (Cheston and Takeaki) for a year to study at the Liaoning Ballet in Shenyang, China while I started YBC with the Goh. Known for her amazing arabesque, beautiful extensions, and friendly, down to earth attitude, she is one of those people that you never really lose touch with no matter where in the world you are!

What does your daily schedule look like?

Well my daily schedule is a little bit all over the place right now, which drives me crazy!!! I like to do my physiotherapy exercises at 8ish, after which I bike to my technique class that starts at 9:00. With Ballet Victoria we have rehearsal for a few hours, a lunch break from 1-2 and then we rehearse until 4:00 p.m. After this I head off to work at a grocery store from 5-10. I also work on the weekends.

My favorite schedule was when I was in China because all I had to think about was dance! We woke up at 6:00 a.m. for a run, then I would go to 2 ballet classes, (mens’ first and then girls’ class) before lunch break. After lunch I would do some exercises, abs and such and I would have a pointe class and variations rehearsal. Some days we also had character class. After dinner Cheston and Takeaki and I would do our crazy routine covering stretching and all our strengthening exercises until it was lights out at 10:00 p.m!

What type of pointe shoes do you wear, how long do they last and how do you break them in?

I wear Bloch aspirations in a 6C. They last about 2 weeks. I wear them once to bend the top of the shank and I put jet glue in the bottom of the shank after they have conformed to my feet.

What is your favourite leotard?

I really like my Larissa yumiko and the Jessica yumiko with sleeves! They both have a pink “jazz” trim and they are very comfortable!!

Who is your favourite dancer?

DREW JACOBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What has been your favorite piece to perform?

I really enjoyed the solo I did this year choreographed by Paul Destrooper. The piece I did was called Le Plat Pays, all of the songs were done by Jacques Brel. Every piece in this work was really nice to dance! I also really enjoyed dancing in Rise by Toru Shimazaki, there was something really uplifting about that piece!

What has been the toughest challenge you have had to face so far?

The toughest challenge I have had to face so far was definitely getting back in shape after my stress fracture. I had taken three months off -which isn't to bad really- but had an all or nothing attitude and had done nothing to maintain my strength. Coming back to dance was tough both physically and emotionally, but it was mostly a mind game! I still feel like I am recovering emotionally from taking time off, which is really strange! I feel like any sport or art form is far more of a mental challenge than a physical one. You NEED a strong mind and a lot of willpower, or you will never be as successful and happy with your dancing career as you could be!

This is Brichelle with one of her teachers -Sasha- in China,

Could you tell us a little bit about your experience in China? What advice would you give students wanting to study there?

China was amazing!!!!! I loved everything about my experience there and I am so lucky to have amazing people in my life that made it possible!!! The dancers there are beautiful and the attitude when training was awesome as well!!! There are no excuses, and the students are not babied like we are in Canada and the US. I feel like I went there with some of the wrong intentions though. I wanted to come back being a crazy asian dancer, with perfect lines and perfect everything!! It got to be a bit much at times as I lost some passion for dancing, going in every day standing beside gorgeous dancers that I could not look like even if I starved myself! You have to approach dance with a positive mindset everyday!!! Working to make your body the best you can be!!! You have to be healthy. I got quite carried away in China, some days just drinking juice for all of my meals!!! It was a bit ridiculous! Many of the girls there didn't have the passion for ballet, because the training was so grueling. I loved that all I had to think about was ballet though!! The studios were massive, and you could practice all the time! Everyone I met there was so extremely good to me, I really miss it, my teachers were unreal, and I would of liked to have stayed longer. But at the same time feel like it was good to figure things out for myself!

A Day in the Life: Zoe

2011-07-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

This new section of my blog is going to be focussing on interviews that take a sneak peek at the daily lives of ballet dancers. I hope that you find it interesting, also if there are any interview questions that you think might be suitable and you would like me to ask please feel free to add a comment below.<3

Zoe is a dancer from Sydney Australia, she is currently spending the summer at the Joffrey in NewYork. We first met three years ago at the Goh Ballet where at one point we had a hilarious time acting as the maids in Act One of the Nutcracker. As well as having absolutely stunning technique, she is one of the kindest people out there who will always bring a smile to your face. =) Alright I will start with the questions:

What does your daily schedule look like?

Well I've just moved to New York and am taking classes at the Joffrey at the moment. So on a usual day I will start the morning off with pilates followed by an open technique class, then in the afternoons there is pointe work/ variations and pas de deux.

What type of pointe shoes do you wear? How do you break them in and how fast do you go through each pair?

I wear Bloch European Balance and I go through about 1 pair every 1-2 months...European balances are quite a soft shoe to start with so I don't break them in any other way than just wearing them for class...I do like to take barre in new shoes though, because I find plies and tendus help to soften my shoes up nicely through the demi pointe.

Favourite variation?

I love Grand Pas Classique! It is so beautifully elegant and technical.

Favourite part of class?

Pirouettes, I love the feeling of being so perfectly on centre and balanced in a turn...(on a good day)

Toughest challenge to date?

Toughest challenge to date would probably be leaving home when I was 18 to dance overseas..Leaving behind my friends, family, the life I was used to and traveling half way across the world by myself for the first time was hard! It brought with it a lot of everyday challenges like adjusting to living by myself in a new country and of course the physical and mental challenges of being in a full time ballet training course. But challenges are a good thing and they make you a stronger person! That year I learnt so much and had such an amazing experience!

Something that you wish you had known 5 years ago:

I wish I'd known how important it is, when you find the thing you love and are most passionate about in life, to not be afraid to dream big and give it your everything!

When I was younger my dreams of becoming a professional dancer were clouded by worries that I would not be good enough even if I tried my hardest. I used to not put 100% of myself into my dancing and held back because I was scared to find out if my best was good enough. When I finally started to let myself dream and believe in my abilities, I put my whole heart in to my dancing and so many opportunities opened up to me.

It is so important to follow your dreams, love what you do and believe in yourself.

Thank you so much Zoe for your inspiration!!!

How to Make a French Twist

2011-06-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

French twists may seem notoriously difficult. I first started doing them a year ago when I challenged myself to do french twists for a week straight. From that day onwards I never wore a bun to class again! I love the way a french twists looks (much less studenty than a bun, you can wear it on public transit without as many strange looks) and after a little practice they are also much quicker to make. You do not need a hair net, hair tie or a whole lot of hairspray. No more hunting for hair elastics which I believe is a good thing!

What you will need:
U-shaped hair pins
Flat bobby pins
Smoothie brush
Normal hairbrush
Water
Two mirrors (so that you can see the back of your head)
Hair spray

1. Make sure hair is a little damp

2. Brush hair thoroughly with a normal hair brush

3. Pull hair back as if you are going to make a low ponytail (use a smoothie brush to smooth things out)

4. Start twisting hair while it is still in the low ponytail position

5. Once you have twisted it a little bit start twisting it upwards along your head

6. Continue twisting until your hair feels secure

7. Tuck the length of hair that is sticking out in underneath your french twist

8. Starting pinning your hair. Begin at the bottom. Stick your pin in at a 90 degree angle to your head, then fold the pin over, through the hair along your scalp and secure it back into the french twist

9. Continue pinning until your hair feels sturdy enough to make it through class

10. Fix any little things using a smoothie brush, and hairspray

11. If there are any strange pieces of hair sticking out, use two flat pins crossing over each other to secure them.

12. Insert a nice clip along the side of your french twist for a change.

TIP: To ensure that your pins do not stick out through the other side of your french twist you can bend them slightly. Then insert the pins so that they lie flush with your scalp.

WARNING: Try to practice this hairstyle before you decide to wear it for class/ a performance. It will not feel as secure as a bun, but you want to make sure that it will hold up! Everyone's hair is a little different, some people seem to prefer to do their french twists when their hair is completely dry (thick black hair), whereas others like to do it when it is wet (thinner, frizzier hair).

Sometimes the direction of the french twist also makes a difference. I like to twist mine away from the side of my head with the part. Also make sure that your french does not start too high up! Sometimes they can make you resemble a dinosaur... which is not a particularly attractive look!

I hope this tutorial helps! Remember practice makes perfect, so if you do not feel comfortable with a french twist at the moment keep trying until you get there. <3

12,000 pageviews!

2011-05-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

As the title says... I am pretty impressed!

I am in love with this video at the moment. Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg performing Don Quixote. Although they do have one issue with a turn, the performance is perfection!!! I love her expression and style. It is spanish but it is also very Alina.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_SuOBISkc8&feature=related

Alina Cojocaru in Don Quixote with ABT.

Still Addicted to Ballet

2011-05-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

As it seems I am still addicted to the drug. Ballet simply seems so much more real than academics. Words on paper are fine, but when you are dancing you are in the moment... whether you like it or not. It is physical work, and that work seems so much more effective than simply scribbling out chicken scratches on paper. I have so much that I still want to write about, I will be doing a post on french twists soon, and possibly a post on stage makeup. Probably in a week or so once my schedule frees up a bit!

Surrounded by Swan Lake

2011-05-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I have not posted in such a long time! I have been wanting to do a post about French twists, another about stage make-up and a billion other posts but ... obviously they will have to wait a little bit longer.

Yesterday however I took my first ballet class in three and a half months (it took a long time for me to feel ready to face a mirror again). However it really was not as bad as I expected. I did get a lot of cramps, and yes my extension and turnout were not quite what they used to be but surprisingly I am still very flexible and I can still turn!!! That was the most surprising thing for me. A month ago I decided to try doing a pirouette at home and promptly landed on the hardwood floor and have not even bothered trying since. However yesterday I managed to do triples and a couple of quads which really, really, really surprised me. They weren't all good but... not as scary as I thought they would be.

Back to Swan Lake, it seems that it has been following me everywhere. On a recent plane ride I watched Black Swan. I had been avoiding watching it but finally got up the nerve to watch it. It really was not as bad as I thought it would be... well with everything that I had heard I was prepared for something like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or something like that.
Then I went to see a friend perform a variation from Swan Lake at a local performance. I really enjoyed seeing that and it brought tears to my eyes. I did kind of feel like I was watching everything I had left behind me and it really sparked my desire to get a little bit more involved with the dance community again, i.e. take class.
Today I went by my old ballet school and upon looking in the doorway I saw my very talented and amazing friends doing Black Swan PDD. It is another one of my favourite Pas de Deuxs out there. I love Odile's character, and the music. The way that Odile commands the stage... <3
It is really interesting to watch different dancers performing this pdd as everyone brings a slightly different character to it.
If you watch these two videos you will see what I mean. They are both absolutely wonderful but different too.
Here is Marinella Nunez and Thiago Soares with the Royal Ballet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTQ1jGnekuc
And here is Polina Semoinova with Friedemann Vogel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q0z5nSiLUY&feature=related
They are two of my favorites! I also love Uliana Lopatkina in this Pas de Deux but I cannot find a full version of youtube. She has the longest, most beautiful arms in the world!

How to Make the Perfect Bun

2011-04-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh! A bad bun day. It is so frustrating when your hair decides that it has a mind of it's own right as your are trying to do it for class. Don't you just hate it when there seem to be a million loose hairs flying out of your bun? Do you ever have days where your bun looks like a doorknob? Or days when your bun is completely lopsided?
Having tidy hair not only makes you feel better in class but it shows your teachers that you are respectful of the art form. Making your hair look nice takes practise and experience, but there are a few tricks that I learnt along the way. Here I will walk you through the basic steps in achieving a perfect bun and a couple of different looks.

What you will need:

- Hair spray: the aerosol type works best for performances, but the spritzing kind is good for daily use, some people even get by by just using water if their hair does not have the tendency to fly away like mine does)

- A normal hairbrush

- A smoothie hairbrush / a boar bristle hairbrush: these are absolutely essential if you want your hair to look super smooth

- Water

- Thick hair elastics, you want something that will give you maximum hold, some people like to double up their hair elastics

- U-shaped hair pins, these are best purchased through Bunheads. They come in a variety of sizes and colours. Pick the colour that best matches your own hair colour. If you have long, thick hair buy longer pins and if you have thin, or shorter hair pick shorter pins.

- Flat bobby pins, these can be purchased at any drugstore, pick ones that match your hair colour. You can bend your hair pins like this to make them wrap around the contour of your head better when you slide them in.

- Hair nets, I will teach you how to do your hair without a net, but they are essential for performances and nice to use if your hair does not like behaving. Once again Bunheads make the best hairnets as they are durable and the right size for buns. If you cannot buy Bunheads hairnets look around at you local drugstore, you do not want to buy the thick knitted hair nets made of wool. You want hairnets that will blend in with your hair.

-Patience!!!

One last thing before we start, make sure that you have a good supply of hairnets and pins. Hairnets often get holes in them and hairpins have the tendency to disappear everywhere. You know you are a dancer when you leave a trail of hairpins wherever you go.

High Bun, Straight Back

This type of bun is very common for all sorts of performances as it looks very uniform and is very simple.

1. I like to wet my hair before I begin because it gives me a little more control, a smoothing cream also helps.

2. Using your normal hairbrush gather all of your hair towards where you would like your bun to be.

3. Then using hairspray and your smoothie brush get rid of any kinks and smooth all of the hair back towards your pony tail. Do this by using a little bit of hairspray, brushing the hair back, using a little bit of hairspray brushing another section back e.t.c.

4. Secure with a hair elastic

5. Hair spray once again

6. Rebrush a little with the smoothie brush if needed

The hardest part is now over! Make sure that your ponytail is very secure and that there are no kinks in your hair or parts that you might have missed. Now onto the bun.

7. Flatten out the hair equally in a circle

8. Then starting at the bottom, pull the hair around clockwise, tucking in loosely as you go, when you get to the end, tuck the bottom part under.

9. Flatten your bun by pushing it down and pulling it slightly counterclockwise. You can secure a hairnet around the bun at this point if you would like.

10. Start sticking pins in at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock. Slide the pins in flush with your head.

11. Check to make sure that your bun is uniform and then slide pins in at 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 & 11 o'clock. You may need more or less pins depending on how much hair you have!

12. Touch up with a little bit of hairspray and secure any wispies with a flat pin or two.

Please remember that a bun without a hairnet is not the most secure type of bun. Try it out a couple of times before wearing it to class to make sure that it is not likely to start unravelling in petit allegro. Also I would recommend using a hairnet for performances e.t.c where you might be having to change your hairpieces a bunch of times. It is much less stressful!

Additionally some people prefer to make smaller buns because they make your head look smaller. The one necessity is that it is decently flat. It should not look like a doorknob sticking to your head =). For performances remember to hairspray, hairspray, hairspray! <3

*This post is dedicated to Ms. Melissa Johnston! Thank you for teaching me how to do my hair way back when we were both in PB*

Improving your Feet

2011-03-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Since stopping dance I have been very aware of the fact that I have a huge amount of things that I have learnt in my days as a dancer sitting around in my head. Piles and piles of useful things that I realize that I may forget after a while. So my next couple of blog posts are going to be related to the little, extremely handy things... tricks of the trade I suppose. I have had a few people commenting and asking about improving general flexibility and their feet, so this post is dedicated to getting nicer feet.

When I first started my professional training I realized that my feet were something that I really needed to improve. If you don't have nice feet some teachers will barely even look at you! If you are lucky and happen to have very high arches then you may have a little bit more difficult with control and -sigh- making your pointe shoes last, but you probably will get more attention in class. Sad but true, you have to look to part if you want to play the part.

A lot of the things that make ones feet look beautiful are largely predetermined by ones genetics. There are some things that you will never be able to completely change, but you can improve your feet dramatically if you dedicate a lot time and work to them.

My foot in 2007 (I think), this is when I first decided that I needed to work on my feet.

My foot in 2010... after years of hard work, they continued to improve afterwards but I stopped documenting their progress after this picture =) not perfect, but acceptable.

For my feet to improve as much as they did I stretched them about three times a day for 4 years, I cannot imagine how many hours I have spent working on my feet. It probably adds up to at least a week straight. I also did a lot of theraband exercises and took classes daily.

The most important aspect in improving your feet is not flexibility but surprisingly strength. Theraband exercises are the best! Especially if you buy the extra strong therabands, they are a lot more thick and opaque than the regular bun heads ones. I think the thickest ones are usually grey or black. They are also an excellent way to warm your feet up before class. If you do the excercises again in between class and putting your pointe shoes on, even better.

Everyone has their own routines depending on what parts of their feet they need to strengthen. Personally because my toes are quite weak and by ankles have a tendency to sickle I would do 32 full points rolling through my entire foot (make sure not to bunch in your toes) then 64 points just using my toes and then 32 winging exercises. I usually did this 1-3 times a day... they are great for those days when you have a billion rehearsals spaced throughout the day. If you have very high arches you might want to mainly concentrate on the full roll throughs and if you have really terrible feet you might want to repeat these exercises again. This website may be helpful if you are lost:

Another exercise for people with less than wonderful feet (this one comes from the Freed store in London) is to sit down with your feet flat on the floor. Slowly bunch your arches together while keeping the toes flat on the ground. You do not want to scrunch your toes at all, you want to feel like you are picking up a towel on the ground with the entire metatarsal area.... do not bunch your toes. It will take while but you should begin to feel your arches burning, that's a good thing! This exercise is great because you can literally do it anywhere, while you are doing homework, at school, on the bus. A lot of people who have difficulty getting over their shoes will see a great deal of improvement. In one set I would usually do about 400 reps... or just time it for ten minutes or so if you like.

Another thing that I would like to write about is stretching your feet.... Anyone who knows me know that I have always been absolutely obsessed with stretching my feet. I would not necessarily recommend it. It is kind of dangerous and I know that I have had a fair amount of tendinitis resulting from prolonged foot stretching, but it sometimes seems to do the trick although it also weakens your feet. If you want to stretch your feet I would recommend doing theraband exercises, point flexes, and releves after stretching your feet (and also make sure that they are fairly warm before hand).... hmmm so please be extremely careful when you are stretching your feet. If you are doing it with a partner, make sure that they are reliable and will not hurt you, that they understand if your foot is sickled and that they will apply firm, even pressure.

Here are a couple of different ways that you can stretch your feet:

-In your pointe shoes, probably one of the safer ways to stretch your feet. Kneel down, and put one foot up on pointe. Place your hand on the heel of your foot and apply gentle pressure to slowly push your foot over on pointe. The angle and pressure can be changed to stretch different areas of the foot. Note: make sure that your foot is NOT sickled and make sure that the floor is not slippery and your foot will not slip out underneath you.

- Also in your pointe shoes you can hold onto the barre, rise up into first position and then plie while on pointe to push over your shoes.

Alessandra Ferri stretching her feet...

- With a partner, sit down with one leg stretched out fully. Place a bootie/towel underneath your heel to make a little cushion. Have your partner kneel facing you, he should put his hands right on top of your arch. Slowly and gently have him apply pressure downwards. Make sure that you foot is not sickled. Stop when you feel a stretch, stay there for about 30 seconds. Then if possible go deeper into the stretch, be very careful when you do this. For some people it is a lot more painful that for others so listen to what your stretching buddy is saying! Do not overstretch your feet.

-Variations of this include having you partner stand on your feet, putting them underneath a couch, set of drawers, piano, door. These are not safe and I do not recommend them as you could seriously get hurt. If you do try, make sure that you do not do it for long as it will damage your feet. Also make sure that nothing will fall on you, and that you have a lot of cushioning around the foot. Tendinitis is not cool!
A dancers feet are some of his/her most important tools and they must be treated accordingly!!!!

Hmmm I think that is pretty much all I have to say about improving your feet. Theraband exercises are the best thing that you can do to improve your feet. They can get kind of boring so listen to some music while you do them and just do a certain exercise per song. I find that I get a lot more out of it if I work on each foot separately but to each his own! Also remember that while having nice feet will certainly help you in the dance world but, being able to control and express using your feet is a lot more important. A dancer with nice feet but no control looks terrible on stage.

Good luck, I hope that these tips help your feet improve!

Svetlana Zakharova in Cinderella

Even more Pointe Shoes

2011-02-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

Alors, these are some pencil holders that I made during the summer. I will show you how to make them:

What you will need:
-Dead pointe shoes
-Extra hot glue gun
-Newspaper
-Wooden coasters
-Spray paint
-Decorations

1. Detach any ribbons, or elastics from the pair of pointe shoes you no longer need
2. Heat up your glue gun and attach the platform of the shoe to your coaster so that the shoe stands up nicely, this might take a couple of tries but I am sure you will figure it out.

3. Spray paint the pencil holder (do a couple of coats of paint)

4. Decorate the shoes according to your own style.

5. Use them to hold, pencils, cell phones, ipods, cameras, or simply use them as a decoration!

20 Pounds of Dead Pointe Shoes Continued

2011-02-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

All right, so I have never managed to get these pictures up, but seen as I am taking some time off I figured I would show everyone what I created with their donated pointe shoes. Thank you so much to all my friends, I love you guys!

(These are Christmas wreaths that I sold during the holidays)

January

2011-01-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

Well this month has been a month of interesting... dreams, disappointment, stress, excitement... you know a good mix of everything.
Anyways I have come down with an awful virus type thing and am not feeling so great. I hate being sick because it limits you so much!!!

Back to Life!!!

2011-01-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

My last post was titled Death by Nutcracker but thankfully I am still alive for anyone out there who was wondering. It has been a very busy two weeks:

Nutcracker this year went well, the best it has ever gone for me personally. I really enjoyed performing onstage, everything went perfectly all of the nights (for me), I was much more relaxed onstage and felt much more confident. While onstage I really felt a connection to the audience and I also felt a lot more secure about everything that was happening around me. It was great and I always was so happy while we were performing.

Offstage however I was the COMPLETE opposite, I felt really terrible about my parts, I kept telling myself that I didn't have the level, the body, the energy, anything. I knew that I was being negative but that didn't help me. I felt like most of the positive energy I had was sucked out of me and reserved for the stage. I felt very self conscious and insecure.... it was very strange.

All in all I had the best round of shows that I have ever done, but it was not until the after the last show that I felt truly happy. I was so relieved that every I had pulled my part for every single show. Finally the pressure I had been crushing myself with was off as well.

After Nutcracker I had intended to keep dancing by taking open classes. But when I woke up on the Monday morning after the final performance there was no way anything was going to happen. I had so many things to do. Suddenly all of the things that had been pushed aside during the year were super important. I was out of the house by 9:00 that morning and came home at 6:00. Most of the following days followed the same pace. Running and racing everywhere to do this and that and this and that. So while I did have a break I never really stopped rolling. Then after boxing day I had one day where I stayed at home all day and after that magically my need to dance came back!!!

I took various open classes, I have also been getting back into shape. For the last few days I have gone on two 7.5 km runs, been on the elliptical for at least an hour every day, started stretching and strengthening my feet, back, and legs... and doing a lot of ab work. However I know that tomorrow will be a shock to my body no matter what. Well we will see what happens... I better go sew some pointe shoes. <3

Death by Nutcracker

2010-12-18T08:39:00.000-08:00

Well we are in the midst of all of our shows at the moment. Have been at the theatre doing two full runs a day for the last week or so. One performance a day. Today and tomorrow we have two performances a day. We are all pretty tired but running on a lot of adrenaline! And coffee. and tea... Yesterday my flowers part felt like it went really well so I was really happy! We also received a really lovely review in the Vancouver Sun.
Take a look at it by clicking here

"They were elegant and graceful without being staid and formal. During the Valse Des Fleurs, for example, the 16 dancers comprising Les Fleurs were grouped together in four sets of four. Facing inward to each other, they gracefully waved their arms and rose and up and down like flowers responding to the diurnal cycle of light and dark."

On opening night I was one of these flowers. Our group was one of the groups in the front and we were smiling at each other every time we went up and down(we were smiling sooo much).

Anyways I need to get ready for the theatre and the matinee at 2:00. <3

Nutcracker Marathon

2010-12-13T21:43:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the start of our Nutcracker marathon. Today we had the day off to prepare for all of the shows... I spent the morning running around buying Christmas things, making tea, cooking, catching up with my grandparents, making Christmas wreaths out of pointe shoes, tutoring, listening to X-mas music, writing Christmas cards, cleaning my room and packing for the theatre! It was a busy day and now I am stretching and doing some body conditioning.

Once tomorrow starts we will have 8 shows and 5 runthroughs of Nutcracker.... 13 Nuts to Crack in total and then we are done for the year! I'm sure this week will go by very, very quickly but I am looking forward to all of our performances. <3

Today

2010-12-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

9:30- 11:00 Gym
12:15-1:15 Warm Up class
2:00-9:30 Flowers rehearsal, Snowflakes, Opening, Finale, Runthrough B cast, Runthrough A cast....

Tomorrow class starts at 9:30!

What a day, I wish I was felt more energetic.

So much to do, so little time.

2010-11-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

We are back after the trip to Victoria!

The trip sped by because there was so much to do. On the first day we arrived we had to be at the bus terminal at 6:45. It had snowed heavily overnight and it was not easy for everyone to get there on time. We took the bus/ ferry to Victoria and arrived at the hotel just before noon to find out that our rooms were not all ready.
We had to share a couple of the free rooms so that we could unpack and do our hair e.t.c. In an hour we managed to get everything organized and get to the theatre for warm up class, blocking and runthrough (we were very speedy!).
   For me the Victoria show was quite stressful because I was an adult in Act 1, a Snowflake, and a Flowers soloist. The soloist part was my first "big" part in one of the Goh Ballet's shows so I was really excited to perform it but also really nervous..
   Stupidly I have spent the last couple of months freaking out about losing my part and thinking the entire time that they were going to take my out of it for sure. I was so certain of it. I know it sounds stupid, but last year that is what happened to me. Two weeks before the show I was switched from A and B cast snowflake to just B cast. That really upset me last year, and made me extremely neurotic this year. It wasn't until after the runthrough on stage that I realized that I would really be doing the flowers soloist part... That was really exciting and scary at the same time because such a big part of me had been preparing to lose my part. I had been thinking so negatively that I was sure it would shine through.
   To see highlights of our Nutcracker click here
   The first night I was exhausted but could barely sleep because so many thoughts were going through my head. I had a quick change between Party scene and Snowflakes that involved me taking off my high heels, hair piece, hair pins earrings, necklace, bracelet, cutting myself out of my dress, and then putting on my toe pads, pointe shoes, two tiaras, one with a veil thing that had to be pinned, and snowflakes tutu as well as rewarming up my feet! I would literally tear off my heels, hike up my skirt and run to the dressing rooms as soon as I got off stage from party scene.

Mara Vinson in PNB's Sleeping Beauty

   The next day everyone was very sore. Being in the theatre all day is very different from in the studio because it is much colder, you do not really use the same, and you also are under a lot of pressure/ have a lot of adrenaline going. That really affects the body! We were in the theatre from 11:00 a.m -10:30 p.m. most days but we did have breaks where we were able to run to get a bite to eat, some tea or coffee. I enjoyed it because really we had nothing else to think about besides ballet, ballet, ballet. Sometimes it is nice not to have all the distractions of life begging for your attention
   The principals for the Nutcracker in Victoria were Mara Vinson and Karel Cruz from PNB. Not only were they kind but they were gorgeous. Just to be able to dance like that would be amazing!!! She had such beautiful feet, strength, turns. I really liked her expression too. It was different than other sugar plums that I have seen, strong and confident. He had amazing legs! Literally they were the longest legs I have ever seen. And then way he jumped! His landings from his double tours were super elastic and so, so, so quiet (Karel Cruz's bio)! They both were amazing performers and all of us enjoyed watching them from backstage.
   All of the performances went relatively smoothly, there were a few slips due to a fog machine that was not working quite properly. It spewed out an oily feeling substance on the ground during dress rehearsal which disrupted the dress rehearsal until they got it cleared off. And although they fixed it a bit before our first performance, the downstage left part of the stage still became slippery. Fortunately it was sorted out after that performance and we did have a problem with the fog after that! The spacing was a little scary because it was much smaller than what we were used to. For snowflakes which meant that our lines were not as perfect as they should have been. That was not good.
   We got very good reviews though and everyone who saw the show was very pleased with it.

I really enjoyed the experience. Going on tour is really stressful but really fun too. We got a very good review after opening night which was a morale booster.
http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/Nutcracker+sparkles/3895973/story.html
I am really glad that I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to experience everything.
Our days were so packed that they disappeared so quickly though and I do wish we had stayed on tour longer. Nevertheless we still have 8 more performances in Vancouver. Please come and watch them! Tickets are through ticket master here.
http://www.ticketmaster.ca/The-Goh-Ballet-tickets/artist/1431959

I'm still alive!

2010-11-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry I have not been posting much lately! We have been having rehearsals and rehearsals and rehearsals!!! We have been lucky to be rehearsing at the theatre at couple of days a week, and soon we are off to Victoria to tour for Nutcracker! Please come see our performances.
I will probably have a lot of stories once we come back... I'm so excited!

Runthroughs, Dress Rehearsals and More...

2010-11-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

   Lately we have been having a lot of runthroughs of Nutcracker. We have rehearsals for Nutcracker 4 times a week. Snowflakes on Wednesday, Flowers on Fridays, Snow Scene/ Opening/ Finale/ and Runthroughs on Saturday, and Party Scene/ More Runthroughs on Sunday...
   Do you think that we would start getting a little tired of Nutcracker? The answer is yes, considering that we have been rehearsing for it since August, and most of us have done Nutcracker, year after year after year.
   However the practise and repetitiveness is what makes it perfect. So we do it again and again and again. If one person is out of line or off the music we do it over. If everyone's arms are not at the same angle we get corrected. If we are not turning at the same time or if our legs are not at the right height we practise to make it perfect. No matter how tired we are or how sore our feet are we do it again and again. It gets to the point where you can sing every song and know the nuances of every piece off by heart. While sometimes the music makes us feel like we should be suicidal, it also is something that as dancers we have been brought up with. Nutcracker is a ritual and when ever you hear it all the memories attached to it come flooding back.

"Remember that year when so and so did Toy Flutes (Mirlitons)? Remember when the Nutcracker fell over that one time at the end of Act 2? And remember so and so Flowers choreography? It was so beautiful... but so hard. Remember when we did Snow and it snowed during the performance???"

Those are the types of things that we talk about during the ruthroughs when we are not needed inside the studio. Nutcracker is more than a tradition for dancers... it is almost a way of life. Almost every classical company does a Nutcracker during the Christmas season because it is such a money maker. The classical versions are the most popular compared to the contemporary versions which can range from weird to extremely disturbing! No matter what everywhere you dance the music will come back year after year again.

This year please come see our Nutcracker it is running in Victoria from Nov. 26-28th and in Vancouver from Dec. 16-19th at the Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver
Tickets can be purchased through http://www.ticketmaster.ca/.

My life as a whirlwind

2010-10-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

I'm back after having not written for a while.
Literally my life has been so hectic, these last two weeks have gone by in a flash.
  We haven't had a day off for a while because we put together the show for the Dance Centre. It was very stressful because we barely had three weeks to put an hours long show together, also two days before the show one my friend's back was too injured (she could barely walk) so we had to take her out and put new people in. On top of which we have been having overbearing Nutcracker rehearsals like crazy. On top of which I had shin splints, a ton of tutoring jobs, no time to go work out or relax really, on top of which my stomach problems started coming back and a million other things.
   On Wednesday we had rehearsal until 9:00 at night, on my way home I fell asleep on the bus and missed my stop (that is how tired I wish). Thursday (yesterday) we had the mini-show, we got to the Dance Centre at 9 to warm up. There was a lot of confusion as to where we were supposed to be and what we were supposed to be doing. The show was SOLD OUT and I had about 6 people coming without tickets! So I had to organize getting them on the waiting list during my warm up time. Blocking/ lighting was a bit of a catastrophe. We didn't have enough time to block all of the dances. By the time we were finished blocking it was only half an hour to the show. I didn't know if any of the people who were coming were able to get tickets. My stomach was a mess. I didn't have my eyelashes/ all my make-up on. Or my costumes sorted out (most of us had 4 quick, complicated changes and not very much space). And I didn't feel warm because I hadn't even had time to put my pointe shoes on to warm my feet up. I hadn't stretched and much as I would have like too. Ahhhh!!!
   Anyways everyone just put their head down and did what they needed done.
The show started and from then on everything went pretty seamlessly. I felt very content with most of my numbers and the best part was that my dad and Grandpa and our family friends managed to get in and see the show. A wave of relief flooded over me when I spotted them in the audience.
   I managed to do the Grand Fouettes in both of the pieces I had to do them in. I was so happy about that because they are a tricky step in general, a couple of months ago I would not have felt comfortable doing them. Especially in the theatre we performed in where it is very difficult to spot because it is all black.
   My turn were good though, I think sometimes I just have to relax into them and they work better.
   In the end I was happy about the show despite all the pre-stress. Actually I was super happy, because it went 1000 times better than how I expected it to go.

After the show we had to rush back to the academy and have our scheduled contemporary class (we had half an hour from the end of the show to get there).

After that I went home. Had 15 minutes to relax before I started tutoring.

Finally when my day ended I had a relaxing time with my family.... and I got to sleep in this morning =).

Rehearsal starts at 5:00, I think I will go swimming before then.

I'm sorry I haven't updated as often as I wish I could have... but as you can see, my life has been a whirlwind!

Eat Sleep Dance

2010-10-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Literally my schedule this week is packed yesterday for example:

10:30-12:00 Technique
1:00-2:00 Tutor
3:00-4:30 Snowflakes
4:30-5:30 Opening
5:30-6:30 Finale
6:30-7:45 Waltz of the Flowers

I went home and went straight to bed with four icepacks.

Today

11:30-12:00 Private !!!!
12:00-1:30 Snowflakes
1:30-3:00 Party Scene
3:00-5:30 Act 1 Runthrough
5:30-6:45 Mospigel (Neoclassical piece)
When I get home my parents are having people over for dinner.

Monday

9:30-11:00 Technique
11:00-12:30 Rehearsal
1:30-2:30 Gym
3:30-4:45 Rehearsal
5:00-6:00 Tutor at library
8:00-9:00 Tutor at home

.... ahhh

Random Things That I Like

2010-10-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite websites to look at when I am wasting time on the internet:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ballerina-project/22455674948?v=wall

http://ballerinaproject.blogspot.com/
They have a facebook page but also a little blog, the pictures are absolutely stunning below is one of the one that turned up on google but there are sooo many to look at. I could literally spend hours just clicking away.

Also I love my leotards my friend got me from China, the brand is Vivgio. I wish I could understand the website so that I could order more =) www.vivgio.com

Also I love my Gaynor Minden pointe shoes. Mainly because they are the only shoe that even fits my feet, but also because they always arrive exactly the same and you don't get random bad pairs of shoes! They are reassuring, that said Gaynors don't look very good on a lot people's feet because they tend to go way to far over the entire time. I wouldn't really recommend them to most people unless you are like me and have tried almost every brand in the book.

Ok, random post tonight.... must be all of the Waltzing I have been doing lately in Nutcracker rehearsals! <3

All of these rehearsals!

2010-10-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

  Well I have been sick with cold which is why I haven't been posting as much, as well as the fact that ever since google yanked my adsense account. Now I am not making money from my blog, so I don't have as much of an incentive to write = (. Stupid I know, don't get adsense.... hmmm
   I have been extremely busy as usual, I had one day off yesterday for Thanksgiving which was nice. We have a small show in 16 days that we are getting ready for at the moment as well a Nutcracker rehearsals. The show will be at The Dance Centre downtown on Oct 28th at noon, tickets can be purchased at www.ticketstonight.ca . They are quite cheap only $10 for adults and $8 for students, we will be performing a mixed bill of all kinds of dance including but not limited to ballet, contemporary, chinese dancing, and character.
   I am just stretching my feet right now and have decided that I need to start stretching way more again. My hips, knees, hamstrings, things, calf muscles e.t.c have all become very tight from all the ellipticalling that I have been doing and I am having trouble pulling up through my legs.
   I have to do my theraband exercises now, goodnight <3