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Rhythm/ pulse is just one aspect, but if you think you'd benefit from some help with this, here's a few resources that I use with students (I teach a musical instrument and music theory)... for feeling the pulse/ beat (whether it's in 2,3 or 4 time), if you have an ipod/ipad there's a helpful app from one of the music exam boards - http://gb.abrsm.org/en/exam-support/practice-tools-and-applications/aural-trainer/ - the free version has some practice exercises on this - basically it plays some music and you have to tap the screen on the main beat then stroke it on the other beats (so for something in 3/4 time you would go "tap-stroke-stroke"). It gives you examples so you can see how it works, and then when you try it yourself it shows you how close you were to the beat. As a broad rule, in most music there tends to be an emphasis on the first beat of the bar. (The other exercises in the app which test things like singing back a phrase of music might not be quite so useful!) If you don't have an ipod/pad then this video shows a similar thing - Rhythm is different from the beat/ pulse - where the pulse is the steady beat through the music, the rhythm is the actual pattern that the instruments play - this is easier to explain practically than in writing, this video shows someone teaching the difference. This site - http://www.soundjunction.org - is also good for exploring how music works.

Hello all! I was back at ballet last night after a month off when I just couldn't squeeze in getting to class. Did a lovely long barre followed by a short petit allegro, then half an hour of pointe with just two of us in the class so lots of individual attention which was really helpful. Discovered that (according to our teacher) I have very long achilles tendons - never knew that before! My legs ache quite a lot this morning but so happy to be back at it

Ah, that's fair enough Terpsichore - all that preparation can take up lots of time and energy! I do hope we'll see you back on stage one day (and also in Sheffield at some point!) And good luck with the pirouettes No ballet for me again this week - frustrating, but also a case of having to earn a living and not enough hours in the day!

Well done to both of you for Saturday. Terpsichore I love that you found the connection between parts of your job and dancing on stage.. both different types of acting really I often think performing is a kind of 'adrenalin sport'... been thinking about this a lot today as I played in a concert last night which was the outcome of nearly six months of rehearsals - you might not be jumping off a cliff or parachuting out of an aeroplane (neither things I have any desire to do), but there's the same build-up - anticipation - worry about things that might go wrong - the rush of the moment, which is over so quickly - followed by a sense of achievement but often mixed with a feeling of come-down, even disappointment. Especially if it's a one-off performance - all that build-up and then it's been and gone in a couple of hours or even a few minutes. Like extreme sports, it can also be very addictive... the sense of come-down never entirely goes away, but I do find it's helped by having more performances lined up

Agree with Janet, thought it was fantastic. Good to see such a big crowd watching ballet too - silent throughout and such a great reaction at the end (you don't often see people in ballet audiences jumping up and down in appreciation )

If any of you ever happen to visit one of the theatres in Sheffield, I would highly recommend the local ice cream made by 'Our Cow Molly' - http://www.ourcowmolly.co.uk/flavours/ - lovely texture and they usually have a few different flavours - the lemon and ginger is incredible. I love the fact that our local theatres support a local food business too.

Good luck Michelle and Terpsichore for Saturday - enjoy yourselves! And Terpischore please don't worry, as others have said we can see our own faults far more and judge ourselves far more harshly than we do others. I've seen you dance in class and your sheer enthusiasm for doing it shines through - I am sure you'll be an absolute pleasure to watch on stage. I've been attending an assortment of ballet classes with two different teachers over the last few weeks, not as many as I would like to (and none this week ) due to various other commitments - thankfully those are also things I enjoy doing rather than tedious commitments, but I do feel a bit creaky from lack of movement this week! My happiest bit of ballet news from the last few weeks is getting back en pointe - I have been wearing my old pointe shoes (which are still OK but on their last, erm, legs) but have now been fitted for some new ones and can often be found wandering round the house trying to break them in I'm exhausted by the end of the half-hour pointe class but can feel myself getting stronger. I'm actually quite astounded by all the muscles that have appeared in various places over the last few months

Oh yes, Betty's is a great idea! Understand your frustration Fiz, as my weeks are a bit of a balancing act at the moment trying to fit everything in! Hopefully you'll be back in the swing of it soon. Made the Tuesday beginners class this week - great to see Terpsichore again plus one of her colleagues from Huddersfield. Another different teacher and yet another approach to things. It was generally at a slower pace which I found a good opportunity to concentrate on posture and doing everything more precisely. We did some excellent work on getting our arm positions right which I could still feel the next day! Exciting news that we might be putting together a routine for the 'Chance to Dance' festival in Sheffield in July too. I've just come back from a lunchtime class at the gym and as we were finishing off with our stretches followed by "give yourself a clap" I was thinking how nice that little round of applause at the end of a dance/ gym class is. Just that little moment of bonding when you thank the instructor and congratulate yourself and each other for a job well done. Life seems better with small celebrations like that...

I'm not sure about flexibility but it feels good - in a painful sort of way - and I feel like it helps my muscles recover from exercise quicker. Mine's a Physioworld make, got it from Amazon, and it seems pretty sturdy.

Love that saying Balleteacher! I hope you're feeling more positive Fiz. Looking like I will only be able to get to the one beginners class this week, though looking into a couple of other options for later in the week. Booked into a couple of daytime pilates sessions at least, and a Latin dance 'taster session' at lunchtime tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to.

I suppose I just want to get more of an idea of what it'll be like before I sign up - it's a long time since I've done any sort of dance workshop!

Well, I have to admit that I automatically read your name as Terpsi-core, and it wasn't until I heard you say it that its origins 'clicked' (oops). I went to secondary school in Scotland in the 90s and was on the very tail end of Latin being offered - it was an option, but we only had a few taster classes towards the end of our second year, and then at Standard Grade (GCSE) it was timetabled to clash with the modern languages we'd already been learning for two years so it wasn't really a viable option - I think only three people chose Latin so the class didn't run, and that was the last time it was offered at the school. I got most of my grounding in grammar and the structure of languages from my Spanish teacher, and an English teacher who mainly ignored the syllabus and insisted on teaching us grammar even though she wasn't 'supposed to'. I always thought the lack of classics in our education was a shame, and a few years after I left school I did Open University courses in Classical Greek and Latin in an attempt to address some of that gap in my knowledge. I found the Latin fairly straightforward having studied other languages, but the Greek was one of the most challenging things I've tried to get my head round (I did pass.. just)! The one thing I can say about my level of classical education is that, compared with say my parents, I don't pick up classical/ mythical references in literature etc quite so readily, and I feel like there's a chunk of cultural knowledge that a lot of my generation and younger is missing. What 'should' be included in education is definitely worthy of debate. I'm fairly sure I'd never have voted UKIP though, no matter what

Sounds fun exercising in the shopping centre Michelle! Hopefully someone will have seen it and been inspired to give it a go I enjoyed being able to stay for all three of our classes last night - sadly our last Tuesday ones with Fiona - I feel like we'd just settled in to her way of working and were starting to really benefit from it (I can certainly feel it in my legs this morning!) It will be quite strange changing to yet another teacher next week, but it's interesting seeing all the different approaches to teaching, and I'm sure it's really beneficial getting input from different people. Fiona has said we're welcome to come along to the Monday (intermediate) class that she's teaching at Hype too, so I may give that a go. Funnily enough, I had been looking around at other classes locally as once a week doesn't seem quite enough any more. Have discovered that it's possible to do an adult class of some sort every weekday locally at various places, although I think that would be overambitious for me at the moment with the amount of work/ other activities I've got going on. Investigating how many of them run over the summer though, as that's when everything else is quieter for me. I've spotted a ballet workshop here next weekend - http://www.aimtodanceandcreate.co.uk/timetable/timetable_workshops.htm - have asked for more details about the level expected as I'm not sure if I might be a bit out of my depth.

Lin, that must be so frustrating, hope you're healed up and dancing again soon. I've not come across Gyrotonic before, it sounds interesting. Terpsichore, that piece is fantastic! As a flute player, I think I might need to seek out the sheet music and grab a couple of friends to try playing it... No wonder you're looking forward to dancing to it

Good to read other people's tips here. I've been trying out the Dans-ez Minimal Bounce 'Air'... (I usually wear a Shock Absorber Ultimate Run bra which is the best sports bra I've tried - and I used to run a lot so I've been through a few - but has very obvious straps at the back. Fine for a class which doesn't have a uniform, but I struggled when I had to find something for a performance and ended up just wearing a leotard that was a bit too tight to "hold everything in" - thankfully our dance wasn't too long so it was OK-ish...) I find the Dans-ez one very comfortable and I don't think you can see it at all under my Bloch tank leotard. I'm not totally convinced about how minimal the bouncing is though! It's fine for most things but not sure I feel entirely happy with it when jumping. I think the issue might be that I fall between two of their sizes though. I might experiment with taking a bit of length off the straps as they feel a bit too long.

That is wonderful to read Mimi.

How exciting! And lovely to meet you tonight, hope you enjoyed the class again. I'm really enjoying being made to think about everything in such detail - ribs, ribs, ribs!

I'm feeling similar today Lin after a full day of digging and weeding on my allotment yesterday! Off to pilates shortly, hoping that will stretch out some of the aches before ballet tomorrow

Yep, there are a lot of similarities in technique. The differences confused me sometimes when I was doing a lot of classes, e.g. I used to have to keep remembering to switch my hands from Highland to ballet 'mode'! Brilliant! Having grown up in Scotland I associate Scottish country dancing with our annual school Christmas dances, which were.. well, you can imagine the general embarrassment and chaos that surrounded trying to get a load of teenagers to dance with each other... The actual dancing was great fun though. I searched for Highland classes locally a while ago, thinking about trying it again, but couldn't find anything nearby. I've been to the jazz classes at Hype a few times, and really want to do more of that - again, lots of similarities to ballet but the differences definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. Loving all the different videos - so inspiring

Thank you for all the lovely welcomes! Terpsichore, fantastic that you'll be there again next week, I should be there for the Beginners class at least. I think I've figured out who you are (had to think about the shipping directions a bit there, and certainly didn't see any old ladies! ) I was on the main barre, I'm quite short, with reddish (dyed) hair with a fringe, and glasses. My dance school when I was young focussed on ballet and Highland - our teachers used to recommend that the Highland dancers did ballet to help their technique, and ballet dancers to take Highland for extra strength and stamina. Apparently my jumps are fairly good and I suspect that years of bouncing up and down in the Fling and Sword Dance had some influence there! Thanks for posting those brilliant videos Spannerandpony - off to have a good watch of those...

Hello all! I've been 'lurking' on here for a while, but felt compelled to sign up and post after seeing Terpsichore's review of.. my regular ballet class! Bit of background on me... I did ballet as a child from about 3 years old until I left school. Also did Highland dancing, which I was probably better at, but ballet was my first dance 'love'. I can't quite remember what grade I got to - the memory (and certificates) are lost in the mists of time! I had done a couple of years of pointe work by the time I left. I did the occasional 'ballet workout' class in my 20s, and sporadic attempts at the New York Ballet Workout video/DVD at home, but didn't go back to dancing until last year (I'd actually emailed a couple of dance schools a few years earlier, but it took me a while to get up the courage to go). Sixteen years after my last proper ballet class I nervously tried again - and discovered I still loved it. The first few months were a bit of a whirlwind - mostly learning a show routine which we performed in March - it got me back into dancing and much fitter very quickly! Anyway - Terpsichore, I'm so glad you enjoyed the class, and sorry about my adopted home city's terrible road system - I still get lost! The class was a bit different from what we've been used to - more time on the barre and a bit of a faster pace in the centre - but I thought Fiona was great I usually stay for the Improvers and Beginners Pointe (though I'm not back on pointe yet, but working towards it) but wasn't able to last night. It would be lovely to say hello if you come through to Sheffield again! Talking of levels of classes, I followed that discussion with interest. I was advised to re-start with a beginners class, which I think was absolutely the right decision, especially as I wasn't very fit at all. Once I started to find it fairly easy, I asked the teacher if she thought I'd be OK to try the next class up (as she taught both levels). I thought I was ready, but it seemed natural to me to discuss it with her, rather than just 'promoting' myself. If she'd said she thought I should wait, then I'd have been a bit disappointed, but I'd have respected that. I'm also a teacher in a different subject and I think those sort of decisions should be a joint process wherever possible. I've seen quite a few people (in various areas, not just dance) come in as a beginner or a returner to an 'intermediate' level group, struggle with it and end up being put off and not coming back because it was too hard and they think they "can't do it". That's probably enough rambling for a first post....