Michelle_Richer

Hi Fiz I guess she must be rich then, or does'nt have the facility. Went to Ballet this morning after doing 2 1/2 hours workout at home, think it payed off. I was late taking up my position so I got the spot nearest my teacher (normally ist in the middle), thought Oh Sh**t, but got several not bads and only one watch that hip, some of the other girls got a bit of a pasting though, made me feel good. Think I will go for that position in the future as it does consentrate the mind a bit (a bit of motivation with a big stick). Had an email from another Ballet class but they are 40miles away, spoke to a lady on the phone, that will give me another day a week possibly two, I can organise one with difficulty but two is almost impossible with other commitments I have which involbes too many other people. I am sure Nickie my current teacher will tutor me privately on an ad hock basis, especially as I have my own studio, nearly ask her today but need to get things sorted out first, anyway Nicky will be organising any possible performancies at our local theatre so I need to keep in with her, even if im only the ugly duckling

AWWW that awful Fiz, are you in a position to fund private lessons with your old tutor, thats if she has the facility to do this. I do hope thing come good for you, Take care.

Webfoot: I am right at the beginning of the learning curve of Ballet as I only do one day a week which is tomorrow, when I found a class locally it was a dream come true as I had never do it when I was little as some in our class have, Some time back I had enquired but it was only available for youngsters. However I do dance every day except Mondays on other classes and dance socially, I was also teaching dance last night but that’s another story. In the beginning I was happy with that, it was well within my capability. One of my dance instructor’s (not ballet) mum, who was a professional Ballerina often asks after me and ask if I intended going for grading, at that time it never entered my head, but it planted the seed. Where I live there is no opportunity to do Ballet locally other than the class I already do, however after remarks on this thread, I have contacted a class some 40miles away that can accommodate me, but that’s still only two days a week. I also do a one hour Ballet workout every day without fail, even on ballet days, but that’s more about fitness than technique. As for faults at this stage I have many, but then so do the rest of the girls in my class, non want to be professionals, however it is my intention to ultimately perform as I am a bit of an exhibitionist anyway. My teacher this year put on a show with tap at our local civic centre theatre, two of the girls from my class performed in it, I’m not interested in tap. As far as I am aware she has never staged a Ballet performance, that what I would like to participate in and intend to plant the seed one day I’m shortly going to increase my daily workout significantly, I have ask my teacher to look at the plan as it will be documented and basically comment on it for approval as I’m inclined to stretch the envelope a bit. I have my own gym and dance studio at home anyway, the only drawback is my dance floor, as it was never intended for ballet, its by Harlequin dance floors and is intended to be resilient against high heels during Latin dance, which it does very effectively. However its extremely slippy in Ballet slippers and has to be used with care, especially with foot on the barre during back bends. So the frequency of my classes is not by choice, I shall simply work round it, but I have the determination to succeed meeting the objective I have set for myself. I do actively listen to what people say on this forum and even though I may play devils advocate a bit, it in my nature to question everything.

Hi SpannerAndPony Off topic what a gorgeous dog, sadly I lost mine in June this year, he died, he was a little tricolour King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, my best friend. Hope yours is still with you

PicturesInTheFireLight: I have followed all the posting on this thread from the beginning, I was not aware of other threads of Fiz as you have indicated and I wondered if you had intended to mean posting on this thread. If so I could not find reference to “by the way her classes were stopping whilst the rest if the school rehearsed for said show”. The rest is in this thread anyway and I had previously read it. Anjuli: Thats why I qualified my remark with a conditional IF. So no harm done, anyway I loose the plot sometimes I guess that’s what makes us human and not perfect, I can live with that.

Fiz: You surprise me a little with you comment about performing in a show as you have to do it or else, isn’t that what this is all about, forgive me, I guess I’m a bit of an extrovert and exhibitionist anyway and would see it as an opportunity to do something Id been training all this time for, the icing on the cake. Anyway good luck with that show, as far as I know my teacher hasn’t ever put on a Ballet show, but I know earlier in the year she put on some form of tap dance show at the local civic centre theatre as a couple of the girls in my class performed there. Drdance: OK about the motivation while being at class, I guess that’s true, but where its not possible you have to have enough self motivation to take thing forward. As for the small social element of class, I think I would rate that a bit further as I always enjoy class and never see it as a chore. I also do another class with the same teacher call Dance Fever which is a combination of Latin, aerobics with Ballet related moves for the cool down. As for the Adage, I like it. Your comment about intricate skills not being lost over night, well that depends how well that has been learnt over a number of repetitions, the quality of the muscle memory and setting of the neural pathways. For my social dancing classes, I learn a number of new moves every week some without names, unless they are refreshed regularly they will fade. Anjuli_Bai Ref post 44, if this refers to me as the newcomer on the block, then I think you have lost the plot. Firstly I do attend a weekly Ballet class, secondly I do standing in 5th both in class work and as part of my daily routine, similarly with leg up on the bar for stretches, both forward and back but only in my daily routine. Yes it helps if you have the feedback of your teacher, but there are times when you have to take the initiative your self. I have never ever been in a position where I have been forced to say “can’t do”, I’ve always been highly motivated in succeeding.

Hi Janet Thank you so much, some of it is close to what I do already, but its given me lots of ideals for inclusion in my own daily workout, so thank you again I really appreciate it.

Hi Fiz I really love that saying and I guess I agree, that used to be true for me when a girl from work introduced me to Tai Kwan Do, then as missing a day in this case Im taking of fitness training at home, I really did notice, but that was the start of my home gym, and part of the workouts I used to do. But now its adapted for Ballet. As for mistakes creeping in, I have them already., but then the rest of us get nagged at too by our teacher but in a nice way. She also complements us when the current week has been better than the previous one. I only attend one Ballet class a week, but train every day, but I have my sites on a second class but that’s 40 miles away. I do a number of other dance class. For me Ballet and dancing is for love, I do not intend to make a career of it, you may ask do I ever intend to perform?, your dammed right I do. One of my Latin/Salsa dance groups already performs at garden fetes, country shows and events to promote seaside towns like Skegness and I never miss one, its as much about promoting our group to keep it alive and viable with a good number of core dancers. Coming back to your point about mistakes creeping in, I already notice the odd slip in training videos, however I am unable to distinguish the difference in some cases between something that’s not quite right and styling. The reason I mention this, as when I go away to a residential salsa dance workshops, I usually attend the female styling classes. Ive seen similar things happen with interpretation of ports de bras when added to other steps, particularly the use of fingers. I’ve always been reluctant to add this into my ballet class exercise as a bit of eloquence as that’s not what my teacher has demonstrated either as a step or during our dance routine, what do you think?

Hi Janet Do you have a link to the first one, I really like this one, I can incorperate some of it in my morning workout.

Hi Fiz and drdance, Getting back to the main theme of the thread, firstly I feel for anyone who looses the opportunity to dance in there own area, as this was the position I was more or less in until recently, however I was a social dancer anyway. The only difference being I had never started ballet but was a great desire. A few months back one did open and for me it was a dream come true. But what does perplex me a bit,as you both appear to be advanced members you are so reliant on being at your class. OK it works for me too, but if it were not there I would continue with my Ballet as I have my own dance practice studio as I teach sometime (but not ballet), further more I do at least an hours non stop ballet fitness training every morning between my gym and dance practice studio. As for my social dancing, I dance everyday at either classes or dances with the exceptions of Mondays and the occasional Saturday, sometime at more than one venue on the same evening at the weekend, but then I do literally dance all over the country. My question is why ?, as advanced members do you have to have this reliance on actually being there in class to continue, or have I got it wrong?