Colman

My wife started doing Hannah’s Friday class last week, enjoyed it. Ben Gartside has good classes going on Everybody Ballet, with about ten a week available. As a side note, I got into studio for about six hours or so over two weeks before Christmas and was pretty much ok, mostly stronger in fact, except that side to side movement - glissades for example - in the centre tired my knees and lower legs a lot. Online classes since March had neglected that movement pattern for obvious reasons. Didn’t try any grand jetes, suspect that might have gone badly.

I’m resigned to zoom classes until March, at least, and the U.K. looks to be considerably worse off than Ireland. You might reopen before is though, not sure how wisely.

Managed to get properly back in a studio last night for the first time since March (after a lobbying effort got the guidance for sports practice in our Level 3 extended to ballet) and my balance is right off. I’m going to have to learn to focus on objects more distant than the ornaments on our bookcase again.

Well, it could work for us, with all four dancing, but I realise that’s not entirely typical. (And at least one centre we dance at has already had a meltdown at the idea of two - my wife and I - of us being not socially distanced during class.)

Classes in Dublin won’t be back in the studio before March from what I can see: system is different here but it’s basically going to be a full year without proper studio classes. Possibly more, depending on how vaccine rollout goes. 🤷🏻‍♂️

You certainly don’t need to be specific if you don’t want to, a general “I’m sorry, I can’t do this due to 2020, I need to take a break” accompanied by a vague wave at the surrounding horrors should suffice as an excuse for pretty much anything at all under current conditions. I’m half surprised we haven’t all just retreated under our duvets and stayed there. I’d probably give my “home” teacher a bit more detail, but we’re pretty good friends with her on top of the professional relationship. I certainly wouldn’t feel obliged to tell any of the other three we regularly do classes with a

I’m moderately good at that but there’s something about the 2D projection on the screen that throws me off more than usual. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m taking about a dozen hours of zoom classes a week between ballet and tai chi at the moment and over the summer, from a mix of teachers. Some are better than others at corrections, and getting the technology right is important: a teacher with a big screen looking at well lit students who are fully visible on the screen and who doesn’t have to demonstrate the exercise has a fighting chance of doing good corrections - Ben Gartside is very good at it, even when both my wife and I are sharing the room. You get some problems from camera angles making it hard to be sure about alignments t

See Steven McRea’s recent rant about people complaining he’s built up muscle while recuperating: basically that while dancing a full schedule he couldn’t get enough calories in to build up muscle.

What are the fees like for non-EU students?

Lots of paths are unlikely to lead to financial security in the obvious jobs: studying for the bar and doing any sort of PhD spring to mind. Anything in the fine arts. Given the pace of change these days, I'd say you're as well off trying to make a go of what you want to do rather than trying to fit into a "safe" model that may or may not exist by the time you've finished qualifying. Obviously, maintain your fallback plans. You can do degrees or professional qualifications later if you need/want them.

No, as can be seen from the mess of the first sentence in the post!

My wife and U I been jumping on yoga mats on vinyl over concrete. In fact we’ve been putting the harlequin floor over a thick yoga mat, exactly as isn’t recommended. I wouldn’t do much jumping on it past the simple jumps on the spot and I certainly wouldn’t try to turn or move on the mat when it’s over a yoga mat but it hasn’t done our aged limbs any harm doing jumps as part of class four times a week. If anything I sort worry it’s too soft and I’ll be very careful transitioning back to the studio floors if we ever get back into a studio. The other obvious possibility is dance runners

All I get in my lair is "Share". No "Edit".

[Oooh, I'm too naughty to be allowed edit posts. I feel like a supervillain.] I assume you're aware of things like the INYB and the other youth companies that seem to offer a fair amount of extra work and training in at least Galway and Dublin? Not exactly associates, but an option for wider experience. I think there might be one in Cork as well?