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Colman

Just4DoingDance
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  1. Colman

    Raw eggs

    Colman replied to Melody's topic in Not Dance

    There is the point that mixing in sugar, alcohol and other preservatives tends to reduce the risk too. The one that gives me pause is using eggs in an uncooked mascarpone mix where there really isn’t anything around to kill pathogens. I wouldn’t serve that one to anyone that might be immune compromised.
  2. Colman
    Well done!
  3. Colman
    The government has not made any such commitment, surely? Freedom of Movement will only end at the end of the transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement, though what happens if no withdrawal agreement is in place (the No Deal scenario) is unknown, and even that depends on the details of the final agreements made with the EU, which depends a lot on who is actually running things after March. In the short run altering the Shortage Occupation List is just an attack on non-EU dancers. [What are the guidelines for this sort of discussion here?]
  4. Colman
    If you’re not serving your kids a big dollop of Russian melancholy on a regular basis are you really preparing them properly for the modern world? To be fair, our seven year old and ten year old boys made it through quite happily having got up at 4am and had maybe an hours nap before, but they’re both pretty ballet literate and used to the idea that some of them are a bit more grown up and boring than others. Maybe it would have been different if it was a first exposure.
  5. Colman
    Winter Dreams last Friday was a bit boring for the seven year old (and for me, I’m afraid: nice dancing, but I didn’t care very much about the story or the characters (except for the chair)) but he endured and the loud bit at the end perked him up. Though I suppose I’d warned him that it might be a bit much and that The Concert, which he giggled his way through, would be funny.
  6. Colman
    I was going to say something similar: you need to get your turnout working properly so that you can rotate your leg into position to have the correct muscles lifting it, otherwise you’ll end up learning to lift with the wrong muscles.
  7. Colman
    That’s a different view on which muscle groups squats target. I mean, clearly they target them, but not as the main or only group as far as I understood. Including from the bits that hurt the next day! The view I’ve formed, in general (and would appreciate expert feedback on!) is that for most adult dancers, especially early on, pretty general strength training is probably the most useful gym work we can do. Later on it might be worth worrying about refining specific muscle groups, but when you’re at the stage where you’re asking if gym work is a good idea, then the basic exercises twice a week will do the job.
  8. Colman
    All of this with the proviso that this is just what I’ve worked out based on advice from teachers and trainers, I’m no expert. Though I’m not sure there are any experts on this for adult beginners.
  9. Colman
    Quads (if that’s what you mean) aren’t really a primary target for dancers, as I understand it. It’s the gluteal chain that makes you jump, mostly. Based on what I’ve been able to work out, you’ve got two things: basic strength exercises and specific ones. For the basics you want the normal stuff: squats, deadlifts, that sort of thing. People differ on whether you should do high-rep, relatively low weight or high weight low reps. I suspect it doesn’t make much difference in practice, but the first is probably safer. It may make a difference if you’re a professional body builder, but we’re not. Do make sure you get proper instruction for the sake of your joints and your lower back. You will not bulk up. (Look at Claire Calvert, who was boasting of lifting 100kg, which must be well over 1.5 times body weight.) You probably want to be aiming to lift the equivalent of your own weight in squats. For the specific stuff there’s loads of video for resistance band exercises to develop turnout and so on on YouTube and Pilates and floor barre will help too. Maybe ask your teacher for specific exercises that migh help. “Science in Dance” have interesting videos on their Facebook and Instagram feeds (promoting their services, of course). If you’re asking these questions about bad posture a good Pilates class, preferably physio led by someone who will correct how you’re doing exercises would probably be a good thing to do.
  10. Colman
    I managed to learn to count music pretty well but only as a result of several years of violin lessons and a year of tap dance classes. Not everyone is a counter though - we’ve one teacher who has to consciously do it when teaching curriculum to those of us who are. I’d recommend a hunt around YouTube for music theory classes on listening to beat or pulse to get the idea, and then just listen for it in music - ballet curriculum music normally has an obvious beat in the lower grades.
  11. Colman
    <closes all the drama and acting classes, cancels all the rehearsals> 🤷🏻‍♂️
  12. Colman
    They’re acting. How do you think they learn to portray/evoke those emotions?
  13. Colman
    That sounds very romantic, but I’m not sure it’s got much going for it in practice. I’d attempt to add helpful acting advice here, but it’s one of the things on my list to start sorting out in 2019: I think my teacher’s recommendation would be to make up a simple story that fits the music and act out the emotions from that.
  14. Colman
    Normally it’s not something you’d notice: they decide which is working best based on some measurement of what you do - maybe increased clicks into products or sales or whatever.
  15. Colman
    Congratulations @Monroe. Actually, 72kg is perfectly doable (at least for the lower lifts where I’m taking the lady’s weight on chest or shoulder) especially with a partner who will jump into the lift (and won’t squeal the whole time, as at least lady did at the last partnering class we had). The bigger problem is the ladies being strong enough to do the lift - she’s actually doing an awful lot of the work, and it must be worse on those overhead lifts. The position has to be held solidly if he’s going to be able to hold and balance her up there. Haven’t got as far as those lifts yet!
  16. Colman
    It doesn’t sound excessive, if she can handle it. Our ten year boy was doing more than that a year or two ago. He’s down a few hours at the moment, but only because of how classes have fallen.
  17. Colman
    I’m inclined to plead for either tights or shorts on dancers. There’s nothing quite like coming out of a forward port de bras a bit early behind a lady with a leotard and no tights or shorts. Dance skirts don’t help the situation much. 😱😳 (I mean, look, I’m as professional about the whole being-surrounded-by-scantily-clad-beautiful-women thing as possible but really …)
  18. Colman
    Yup. The problem is that perception matters, that there is a certain amount of subjectivity involved and all you need is one or two people on a panel that are annoyed by sloppy presentation to make the small difference between yes and no. The Osipova look doesn't work unless you're Osipova … in which case, carry on!
  19. Colman
    Yes, I’m getting to a stage where I’m feeling that myself. One of my ballet todo items at the moment is “learn to walk like a boy” 🙄. In the short term I’d be inclined to do the pointe classes for the strength and versatility, sort out some strength and fitness training for the extra weight and just raw strength and figure out what extra occasional boy training he can get from whatever is within reach if there isn’t a suitable local school. Then I’d try to get into an associates programme again. I know the RAD do some boys events - there’s one in January in London our son is doing - and day/weekend courses often have boys taught separately.
  20. Colman
    That's a big difference for that age group though. Being the 7 1/2 year old in a class of six year olds is a big deal.
  21. Colman
    "Pretty Happy"? Good grief. I'm officially in awe. You should be delighted, even adjusting for understatement!
  22. Colman
    Throwing a seven year old into grade 2 seems like a bit much. I’d be happier with her at primary as a parent - I think that’s what our 7-8 year old who’s been dancing for a few years is doing* - than at grade 2, especially if it’s very exam focused. I’m pretty sure grade 1 is where our ten year started when he started around that age. Are the primary students very much younger? (* There are four of us going various dance exams. I can’t keep track. Also, Irish students tend to do exams a bit later than in U.K. )
  23. Colman
    No choreographers … Unknown Soldier seems to be getting an at best lukewarm reception with very few enthusiasts, and I'd argue it's for relatively objective reasons rather than the normal "down with that sort of thing" cohort. It's a badly constructed piece of dance and dancing it well doesn't save it. Woolf Works, for instance, had its haters but it had a good number of people who loved it. I don't think I'm seeing that here.
  24. Colman
    It does seem a bit weird. Are you sure it's doubles (50ml) as opposed to large singles (35ml) (which would still be a sneaky change)? Though I suppose if they're technically considered as cocktails then the rules for spirit measures might not apply? Don't drink and drive.
  25. Colman
    Different setups. ROH likely has the advantage of incorporating new surveillance tech into the rebuild. The museums use the security checks and queues as crowd control measures too: they deter people from entering when the queues are long and allow them to throttle entry.
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