Michelle_Richer Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Hi Fiz Just got back from my garage, they have estimated it at £200, a bit lower than I had anticipated, so Im thankful for that, but will have to limp it to Lincoln Ballet class tonight. The garage people have ask me to ring them at 1PM tomorrow to check if the bit is in, if so I can get it done without disturbing any of my other class. I particularly like tuesday dance fever class ( a combination of ballet and latin) as half the class including me have a social gathering at the end in the cafeteria for a chat, coffee and sometimes something to eat (they do gorgeous bacon rolls). All still doable in the timeframe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Northern Ballet have posted a video of the Academy's "Over 55s" class: http://northernballet.com/index.php?q=academy/over-55s-class-video 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Thank you Janet, I’ve drop them an email on their ballet fusion program, that sounds exiting. I know I qualify for the over 55 Ballet by my chorological age, but psychologically it’s a real mismatch, I watched the video an hear them talking about their age group, that definitely is not for me. However I am always reviewing courses and summer schools and I do like the video links you bring to this site. I’m still using the Scottish Core de Ballet everyday as a cool-down to my 2 hour ballet aerobics workout. Thanks for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Just got back from Ballet class at Lincoln, the time has just flown by; it was a good class, although we did run over a bit. But then again I would stay all night given the opportunity. Some returning dancers and even more newbie’s this week including a girl of 14 or 15, her parent brought her, her own class had folded, poor thing. It was good to see a healthy class size again, did count how many but I guess it was somewhere between 10 and 12. After class I left the building the same time as my teacher, I just casually ask her if she had done anything with contemporary ballet, apparently she teaches it at the local university. However she did say she was in talks with Lincolnshire dance (the people organising our ballet class), regarding providing a contemporary ballet class, she ask if I was in, I don’t think she needed to ask that. So I really do hope it comes off, but I’m now finding it difficult to reorganise my time slots, better that than no classes at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 You are so lucky to have such a lot of dance available where you live, Michelle, although I do know you travel to a lot of it. I have had such a lot of trouble finding an adult class and I would love to do much more than one hour a week, but round here I am lucky to have even that, sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Hi Fiz Yes I agree with the luck part, not so much the number of classes, but being lucky enough to have found them as they generally are not very well advertised. These have mainly come up in conversations with people. As some years ago I did look around for an adult ballet class and there was nothing, and just by chance in May I took my little dog down to the local village hall to find an adult ballet class had been running since the previous September. I must admit the casual conversation with Kat my teacher last night about contemporary ballet was a real stroke of luck. I got a reply back from Northern Ballet at Leeds today regarding there Ballet Fusion class, it’s a weekly fitness class, sounds very much like our Dance Fever class run by Nicky my ballet teacher this end. I may check it out as a one off if I’m at a loose end but that’s unlikely as I’m getting involved more and more. I met up with one of our ballet class girls today at the Dance Fever class, I offered to take her with me to the new classes, but unfortunately she does not have evenings free. The conversation got round to coming down to my studio and practice with me, she has been down to me before for ballet material, so she knows my studio and set-up. I think I know another girl from the same class who would like to do the same thing, our own mini class of three. Finally got my car fixed today £184, a little bit under what they said, so tomorrow its Sleaford ballet 6-7pm followed by Stretch and Tone 7-8pm, then come home shower and changed ready for Spalding Salsa at 9pm, should just catch the tail end of the class and social dancing till late. (Sleaford to Spalding is about 25miles) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurora Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Wow you seem to do so much Michelle! Do you have a husband/partner? I can't see my husband being quite so understanding if I was out every night lol! I'd have to drag him along but he unfortunately has 2 left feet!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Hi Aurora No, my partner died in 2005, I think since then I have done a lot of growing up to become very independent. At first I was completely lost, although I had my career I didn’t really know how to socialise outside work. It took a while but thanks to a girl at work who I had mentored through one of her projects at college during a bad period of her life, she got me into fitness which got me into dance. Now I dance every day of the week other than the odd Saturday, I also help out at some of the Salsa classes I attend as I dance all levels and both rolls. I do from time to time teach Salsa and related dances privately. I used to teach Salsa two lunchtimes a week at work for a couple of years to raise money for the company’s charity. Needless to say I love dancing and love to be first on the dance floor to christen it. Everyone can learn to dance, that is not the problem, many lack confidence to go on the dance floor and feel intimidate by those that can dance well, but everyone has had the same start. I always lookout for the newbie’s, often couples that are sat in the corner, perhaps only do the organised icebreaker dance at the beginning. If I see them I will usually take the lady on the floor first, only take her through a few basic steps so she feels comfortable and confident, when the music track has ended, I will take her back and wait for the next track and then take the guy on the floor, its up to him to lead, but the fact I have lead his lady through a few simple steps, he is unlikely to want to do anything more elaborate. Both can then go home and say “I’ve been dancing; it does wonders in building their confidence”. I literally dance all over the country and usually go on my own. Im at a dance workshop near Heathrow just after Christmas, Lessons during the day and social dancing in the evening until the early hours. The only regret I have, about 18 months ago I went to India for my company on a transfer of technology project. I found a Salsa class within 2 miles of my hotel, unfortunitely I was working past midnight every night and didnt get a chance to go. I would loved to have added a bit of indian influence into my dance. Sorry if this has gone a bit off topic, but the Ballet bug has also bitten as you can tell from my previous posting on this thread. I was hoping to do a ballet workshop in New York in february but unfortunitely its been cancelled and moved to August when many UK summer schools should be available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurora Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Oh I'm sorry to hear that. It's wonderful that you have found something you enjoy so much to help fill your time and keep you fit and sociable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Hi Aurora I never need things to fill the time, I really don’t have enough of it, however I do try to live and make every moment count, as life is so very precious. Went to my new classes tonight, that experience wasn’t so good. After Christmas I wanted to attend two of their ballet classes in parallel, my new teacher will not approve that in the short term (up to Christmas) , I have said I will review it on the last class before Christmas and if we cant agree then I will have to leave. One thing I don’t do is wait around for grass to grow so to speak, in my working life I was always highly motivated and made things happen, this I find so infuriating. The ballet class itself was reasonably OK; the facilities weren’t brilliant, relatively small studio. The stretch and tone class did surprise me, the class itself was OK but I was very pleasantly surprised with my own fitness level. I know I have been doing a 2 hour ballet aerobic workout every morning for a while now and it really has made a difference. When I left that school tonight I was feeling very down but managed to get to the Salsa class in Spalding just after 9PM, they were just starting on the second to last dance routine at intermediate level. So I did both of those and a little social dancing and finally left at 11pm. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBA Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Michelle, I feel exhausted just reading how much dance you do. Well done to you !!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Ballet was good last night. We spent most of it practising our show dance and voting for which leotard we want to wear. There are four lacy ones in Dance Direct and the one with the most votes is the winner. The younger ones want the ones with racing backs, but I don't - they are not flattering! The youngest girls were quite hyper and silly and I felt slightly annoyed and I could see that the would be vocational student was steaming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Hi Fiz I guess it my turn to say "you are so lucky", after last night experience with my new ballet teacher, I did not sleep all night. Went to my local class this morning, that was OK but I was very tired, videoed Nicky my teacher doing some new combinations after class had gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Beelam Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Fiz, could you not wear a selection of lace Leo's? If they're all black with the difference being lace panels in different places or different straps, it could still look co-ordinated? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 I have never understood this attitude about teachers sharing a pupil except in one particular case when when very ambitious and from personal information, unpleasant girl, played both sides against the middle and went to two well known studios in Cambridge and was entered for a prestigious dance competition and then both schools claimed her as their pupil. Fur flew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 I think Mary wants us to match as far as possible. Having been messed around over the question of tutus, I think she wants to be democratic and be able to shove an order in ASAP! Seeing the way TOOW grabbed the catalogue and wouldn't relinquish it until she had finished with it, I think she is feeling somewhat frustrated! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Sounds like the dance teacher needs to do a bit of foot-putting-down on the subject of costumes and make the final decision herself, because this is going nowhere at the moment. How aggravating for you! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 (edited) Another good class today, the one thing I have learnt, it’s not the facilities that make the difference it’s the teacher. The facilities in my Thursday class is quite minimal, a village hall with chairs as barre. But the hall is modern and quite large with a good floor but I don’t think it’s sprung. Never the less the position of the chairs is such that my teacher can see everyone and everyone can see her during barre work. During that class we seem to cover a lot more than the other classes I attend, and in far more detail too. I certainly get a lot more feed back. After class nothing ever seems too much bother, but I always email her before hand and ask if we can do an extra 10 minutes or so after class, she is also very responsive to email queries. Unlike my Wednesday teacher (my newest class), I have been waiting about a week now over a very detailed email that I sent in. Wednesday evening she said she had not seen it. Also at the end of class she had no time as she had another class to go to, different to the week before when I ask her about attending two classes in parallel. I really think she was avoiding me. During class there seem to be no proper plan it was a case of “Oh I think we will do”, no building of last weeks work, totally unstructured. Grrrrr. Monday is usually another good class, with good facilities too; however the class was cancelled this week as my teacher was sick. I think we both caught the same cold from TOOW student. I had to abort going to two dances on Friday night as I had a very nasty cold, fortunately mine cleared up sufficiently to attend two dance classes by Sunday. Wednesday’s class is now under serious review, and is likely to be replaced when I find one to fill that slot. I’m holding fire for the moment as I may be joining a new contemporary ballet class when it’s launched and I know what day it on. Edited November 29, 2012 by Michelle_Richer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) We get to wear the leotard we want! Apparently the only reason our teacher was taking numbers was to ensure that we do not all wear the same one. She wants a mix of two, maybe three styles since there will be eighteen of us on stage. I am so pleased about this as I do not want to pay £25 for a leotard I do not like and will not wear again. I am in love with the Degas one Just Ballet "auctioned" and I bought! Edited November 30, 2012 by Fiz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Good news! So which style will you be going for? :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi Fiz I guess that’s a good result and everyone happy too, including miss grumpy ( TOOW). My new class teacher isn’t so hot. I found a number of alternatives last night; I already got a couple of emails from one. Funnily they didn’t advertise adult ballet, but I had a feeling that they may, so that looks good. There is another one that is part of a theatre, I don’t have any details other than they do adult ballet, I hope they may involve the class in some form of small production, but I guess that’s wishful thinking on my part. There is a couple of others in my contingency list too, but the one thing they all have in common, I will have to travel further. Having a really nice day today, off to my old workplace and collect one of the girls I taught to dance, we are doing lunch together. Then I'm dancing tonight in Boston, a freebee as a taster for the New Year party offered to the general public by a large pub/restaurant in Boston. We did New Year there last year and they have ask us back, that is, the Salsa group I belong to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) This one, except it now says it's out of stock . I see they have also reduced the price :- http://www.dancedire...dancewear-p542/ I do hope it comes back into stock or we will have to chose another and I really like this one. Edited November 30, 2012 by Fiz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi, Michelle! I may start another ballet class on Saturday morning too! I spoke to my dance teacher and she doesn't mind. The only thing is, they have not yet replied to my email, sent on Tuesday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 This one, except it now says it's out of stock . I see they have also reduced the price :- http://www.dancedire...dancewear-p542/ I do hope it comes back into stock or we will have to chose another and I really like this one. That's lovely Fiz. :-) If it doesn't come back in stock, Bloch do a similar one. My dd has it in pink, but it comes in black too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Hi Fiz I often find Ballet establishments don’t respond very well to emails, I’ve just got home from dancing tonight (Midnight) eager to check my emails for the Theatre Ballet class and nothing. I will phone them on Monday. Do you have a phone number for your Saturday class? The other one I’m really interested in “Foot Light Performing Arts” exchanged two emails last night, I was really impressed with that. I don’t understand why you think your dance teacher should mind. For me, I decide what classes I am going to do, but at the same time I let my teacher’s know how much I value them, that’s important if one is to establish a close relationship with them, its like a partnership. For me to achieve my goals efficiently it takes effort on both our parts and we have to work together. Daytime classes are quite rare, I have one which is local and the best one I go to. I have offered to take some of the girls to the other classes I attend as it’s no problem for me and may help them. The response tends to be the same; they want to be with their families in the evening. As a result in conversation with a couple of the girls it was suggested they come and practice with me in my studio during the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 Thank you, Spanner! I will have a look as it will be a big help to my teacher. She is starting to stress about February already! Michelle, I do and if I haven't heard by Monday I will ring them. I will start next term, if at all as thanks to our highly unpleasant neighbour we have an £800 bill to pay just before Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 Re my teacher minding, my daughters' dance teachers all minded immensely if they went anywhere else. I think they were afraid another school would take credit for them. I don't suppose anyone cares about adults since we aren't likely to get into a prestigious dance school. Anyway, I thought it polite and politic to ask! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I would suggest a phonecall to dancedirect. Plume is their own brand isn't it so they should have an idea if they will be getting more stock or if the discounted price means its being discontinued. I hope it works out well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 (edited) Thank you, I will tell her and ring them first on Monday to check. I have been on the Bloch website and I cannot see the leotard that resembles the Plume one there. Edited December 1, 2012 by Fiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Beelam Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 We have a few lace ones Fiz. The one most similar to the Plume one is the Gaynor Minden one. The model wears it off the shoulder, but it has "shoulders" in the lace, so can actually be worn on the shoulder. I know as I have this one and have worn it as a top! There's also some from So Danca and Dans-ez. Sx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 I do have a problem with your site on my computer, Sheila. The images disappear from the page which makes viewing it difficult! Help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 (edited) I will start next term, if at all as thanks to our highly unpleasant neighbour we have an £800 bill to pay just before Christmas! Hi Fiz, Sorry to here about your neighbour problem, especially just before Christmas. I will have an unexpected bill too, on the way home from ballet the other night the break warning light came on the dashboard, I guess it’s the brake pad wear indicator, so it will have to go in again this week. I guess with cars it never ends. As for neighbours, I dont have any other than those in the church yard, and they dont complain much. If my two new prospective ballet classes are still running the third week of December, I think I will go and check them out rather that waiting until 2013. I know I can start the Performing Arts one as it the only class I have that evening, but it’s the best part of 40mile away. The theatre one will mean I will have to give up the Sleaford ballet class, which is no big deal, but I will miss the stretch and tone class that follows ballet. Edited December 2, 2012 by Michelle_Richer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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