Laetitia Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 (edited) Hello! Starting next week, every THURSDAY, I will be teaching a repertoire class on Zoom exclusively for adults. This is a chance to learn and explore sections or solos of classical ballets. I am a former First Soloist with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and qualified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), currently working freelance with Elmhurst Ballet School. THURSDAYS 10am (UK time) term time on ZOOM. Level: Intermediate onwards -though I could always cater and adapt to the attendants’ level. This is much more than learning steps. This is a fun and insightful way to learn about different styles and become a character from your favourite ballets. I was very fortunate to have performed many roles and ballets with Birmingham Royal Ballet and I love now sharing my experience in my classes. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. Don’t hesitate to contact me on: www.laetitialosardoballet.com Email: lklosardo@hotmail.com Instagram: laetitialosardo Images by Bill Cooper Edited April 15, 2021 by Laetitia 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 32 minutes ago, Laetitia said: Hello! Starting next week, every THURSDAY, I will be teaching a repertoire class on Zoom exclusively for adults. This is a chance to learn and explore sections or solos of classical ballets. I am a former First Soloist with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and qualified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), currently working freelance with Elmhurst Ballet School. Hello Laetitia and welcome to the Forum! I've moved your post to the Doing Dance Forum where it is more likely to be seen by adults who dance. We have a number of adult dancers who are members. (You are one of my favourite Swanildas!) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 15, 2021 Author Share Posted April 15, 2021 That’s great, thanks Jan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate_N Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 This sounds wonderful, although the timing is impossible for me (work 🙁 ) but I think you taught classes at DanceXchange? I think I've done your classes and enjoyed them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 I can imagine that a lot of adult dancers will be at work during the day. Do you have any plans for evening classes? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 15, 2021 Author Share Posted April 15, 2021 Hi! Yes I know that a lot people would be at work during the day. Evenings are limited at the moment for me, HOWEVER I do run repertoire workshops during weekends (every other month), generally around the school holidays. You can follow me on Instagram or send me an email to be on my mailing list for future workshops. It is from the success of these workshops that I decided to start a regular class. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 15, 2021 Author Share Posted April 15, 2021 Yes Kate_N, I used to teach at DanceXchange a few years ago, glad you enjoyed my classes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 Hi Laetitia Welcome to the forum. I wonder if you can share what pieces of repertoire you have in mind or at least inspired you choices. I see your classes start at 10am Thursdays, what is the duration of the class eg an hour. How many sessions are you planning on each piece of rep. If each piece of rep is multiple sessions, do you intend to record the Speaker View from Zoom for participants to use as reference and practice from for the following week. As the rep is basically centre work which requires a good deal of space, how big a floor space do dancers need at home in order to dance the rep you are teaching. How long a period do you see yourself offering on-line repertoire classes eg until the end of the year etc., as I guess normal in-studio class sizes will be restored, hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate_N Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 15 hours ago, Laetitia said: It is from the success of these workshops that I decided to start a regular class. It sounds great! Sorry I can't attend regularly, but are drop-ins (when work permits) OK? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiteduvet Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 My daughter has attended some of these classes (aimed at juniors) and really enjoyed them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 Thank you for your questions and interest. Classes are open to anyone who is of Intermediate level (and above) as I feel that Beginners would find it challenging. However, I would always cater for attendants and adapt accordingly. You do not have to commit every week. You can drop in when you can. Though, you would get most benefit if you attend regularly. Classes (and rep) are adapted for being home. As long as you have enough space to extend your arms and legs all around, this will be sufficient space - and a chair for a barre. I would do the same piece of repertoire for about a month -or until I feel the group is ready to move on. This would give everyone a chance to get a good grip of the steps, style and feel improvement. We will start with Swan Lake, particularly focusing on the arms of the Swan, as this is what I did in my last adult workshop and most people felt they wanted to keep working on it. I also try to keep it seasonal if possible (ie: Nutcracker at Christmas, Giselle for Halloween etc...) I’m also hoping to eventually go beyond the classics and maybe explore some Balanchine etc... For now, classes will be online -at least until the summer anyway. Also it gives an opportunity for people who are not local to Birmingham to access my classes. Even online, there will be an opportunity to feel the camaraderie and shared experience like in the studio, as I feel it’s important to discuss and share experiences (about the topic or steps of course) to expand learning. This is where this class would really differ from one-off workshops as there isn’t any time to do that in workshops. If the class is a success and there is demand for it, I will definitely look into hiring a studio for the future. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle_Richer Posted April 16, 2021 Share Posted April 16, 2021 Hi Laetitia I love the idea you have of running a piece of rep over multiple weeks, as you say about a month. If you only intend to run your on-line sessions up to the summer, I’m assuming the beginning of the summer break at the end of July which would give you between 3 and 4 pieces of rep. As for not having to commit every week, in order for those that either missed a week or started halfway through a piece of rep, would they be able to have a recording of the zoom class(s) missed of that piece of rep to allow them to catch up. I like the idea of Starting with Swan Lake and focusing on “Swan arms”, however to carry that forward into a piece of rep with space only sufficient as you say “As long as you have enough space to extend your arms and legs all around, this will be sufficient space” , seams very challenging. I've tended to stay away from on-line tuition for rep, even though I have 30 sq metres of harlequin sprung floor space with the floor marked for camera coverage. For me its just about sufficient with care to cover my Cecchetti Advanced 2 Syllabus centre work, rep for me does need more. I cant help wondering what rep within Swan Lake can be adapted down sufficiently to meet your criteria, the only piece I can think of is possibly Odette’s solo’s from Act 2, as I cant see the usual popular pieces for adult ballet rep like “Entrance of the swans, “Waltz of the Swans” and “Dance of the Cygnets” could be sufficiently restricted in movement to contain them. I guess the length of the music of the opening of Act 4 would be far too long to contemplating using that one anyway. I guess you are a gifted choreographer to squeeze the movements into tiny spaces, I would dearly love to see it. Sadly Thursdays at 10am I’m committed on working on my own rep in-studio with my own coach, ready for presentation in August each year. Never the less I love the sound of your offering and I'm so so curious as to how it can be squeezed. PS can I ask a favor with Swan Lake, if possible, can you include the mime scene from Act 2 just after the Entrance of Odette, as so many ballet companies have dropped it, and I for one would certainly love to keep it alive as an essential part of that ballet, and also the art of expression in using mime before its lost forever. Many thanks and good luck x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 Not everyone is fortunate enough to have their own studio, Michelle. I’m quite certain that as a former BRB First Soloist AND a fully qualified Teacher, Laetitia is sufficiently experienced to adapt her repertoire classes to not only the technical level of the dancers attending, but also to their available space - until things get back to normal. Your classes sound super, @Laetitia - wishing you every success. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 18 minutes ago, Anna C said: Not everyone is fortunate enough to have their own studio, Michelle. I’m quite certain that as a former BRB First Soloist AND a fully qualified Teacher, Laetitia is sufficiently experienced to adapt her repertoire classes to not only the technical level of the dancers attending, but also to their available space - until things get back to normal. Your classes sound super, @Laetitia - wishing you every success. I was very, very lucky to see Laetitia dancing many times during her BRB career. She was a great actress/dancer and if she can convey this over a small screen attendees will be very lucky indeed. I second Anna - wishing you every success @Laetitia. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Dancer Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 (edited) This sounds really great, I do a ballet class (mainly barre due to space restrictions) 2-3 times per week but I really miss centre work. I'm working during the weekdays so can only do classes in the evening but I'm following @Laetitia on instagram now for any weekend workshops. Can I check if you need to be en pointe? I've been dancing for about 2.5 years now but I've not gone en pointe and I probably never will as it has no great attraction to me (although I've massive respect for those who do). Do you need to be en pointe for your classes and workshops or is it alright to do it in normal ballet shoes? Edited April 17, 2021 by Tango Dancer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance*is*life Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 Some of my students have joined Laetitia's workshops on Zoom and they adore them! She is very clever at adapting the rep pieces for smaller spaces and explains really well. Having taught on Zoom for 6 months I know how difficult it can be. We are now back in the studio, but I was happy to give them permission to miss my class, so that they could participate in her last workshop on Zoom! They glow when they talk about her workshops! Wish I weren't too old and decrepit to join these adult classes! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justkeepsmiling Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 My dd has also done a few of Laetitia’s classes and absolutely loved them. She is such a lovely teacher and my dd got so much out of the classes. I would highly recommend them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 I’ve been working with Charlie Plunkett in Brighton and we just finished the ribbon dance from Fille...adapted of course but Charlie has become super clever at adapting pieces for smaller spaces. Before that we worked on Carmen, Black Swan solo, Snowflakes, and Don Q!! we are mostly Intermediate dancers and I’ve really enjoyed a bit of lounge Rep in lockdown. Ive also been working with other teachers not Brighton based who have set some lovely port de bras and adage with a bit of petit allegro very successfully for smaller spaces. I will definitely have a go at one of your classes Laetitia but it does clash with another regular Thursday morning class I’ve been doing so would have to be drop in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 I forgot we did the Russian Dance from Nutcracker as well ...even in a small space pretty knackering still🥵 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate_N Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 On 17/04/2021 at 10:17, Tango Dancer said: I'm working during the weekdays so can only do classes in the evening but I'm following @Laetitia on instagram now for any weekend workshops oo thanks for that tip, @Tango Dancer- the workshops sound great! And I know from Ms Losardo's classes at DanceXchange, that I will learn a lot. I'm getting to the age when huge improvements are never going to happen, so I love to learn from teachers who can offer new and interesting ways of working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 Thank you for your great comments 🙂 You don’t have to be on pointe for my repertoire classes. In fact, I would only allow pointe work if you have a proper dance floor, otherwise it could be really dangerous. During lockdown, I have kept all pointe classes at the barre. As I mentioned before, you don’t have to commit every week, drop in is fine. I realise that dancing at home online is not for everyone, but since the first lockdown and teaching online for Elmhurst Ballet School, I was amazed at the possibilities and what could be achieved in a small space at home. As a teacher, it is a great challenge and with an open mind and a bit of creativity, my students were able to do more or less do a full ballet class (apart from Grand Allegro) in their kitchen or their living room. And this was evidence when we were to teach in the studio again and students had retained their placement, strength and progressed! This has led me to organise my own classes, and with so many regular ballet classes online, I thought that repertoire could be something a bit different that people could enjoy and a great addition to people’s regular ballet class. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 10 hours ago, Laetitia said: This has led me to organise my own classes, and with so many regular ballet classes online, I thought that repertoire could be something a bit different that people could enjoy and a great addition to people’s regular ballet class Definitely. We’ve talked elsewhere on the forum about the scarcity of repertoire classes for adult dancers, especially for young adults who have taken their ballet to an advanced level (and/or trained full time) but who, for various reasons, have changed path. My daughter’s been doing a lovely online class while studying but hasn’t been able to do any repertoire classes. I think it’s a great idea. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate_N Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 11 hours ago, Laetitia said: I was amazed at the possibilities and what could be achieved in a small space at home. As a teacher, it is a great challenge and with an open mind and a bit of creativity, my students were able to do more or less do a full ballet class This has been my experience: I've been able to do regular classes every day with really wonderful teachers, and at a variety of levels. I've improved immensely in really basic technique, and got very strong. All in my kitchen! I've been so appreciative of teachers' abilities to give such expert corrections online (even if I miss the actual hands on corrections), and really, this has got me through lockdown. So thank you for doing this!! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 We just started the Lilac Fairy solo this morning! The reason we are starting this now is that Brighton has the second biggest Lilac Tree collection in Europe in one of the parks so the plan is in a few weeks to literally gather under the lilacs! Some should be in blossom by then anyway. I would be interested in workshops too and love learning any sections from ballets including Corps and National as well as more famous solos. But the idea of a regular Rep class on a weekly basis is a good one. Some could be harder some slightly easier. I loved learning a version of the clog dance online in the Autumn!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 Well! What a fantastic first class we had today! Thank you so much to everyone who attended! Loved every moment. Swan Lake is such a fantastic score, and so moving! I love its lyricism and it was so nice seeing every really get into it! I can’t wait for our class next week for more! 😊 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swanprincess Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 (edited) It was a lovely class! Thank you so much Laetitia for organising it, can’t wait for the next one! ❤️ Edited April 22, 2021 by swanprincess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balletbuds80 Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 I attended Laetitia’s class this morning and even though I was unable to attend last week, I was able to “catch up” with the rep this week. I absolutely loved it. We did Odettes entrance and mime which was adapted slightly to fit. Can’t wait for next week 🥰 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 Really glad you enjoyed it Balletbuds80 🙂 Repetition is key to really embody the movement so we would always cover the same section or number for several weeks and I would always fully explain everything every time. So anyone can join at any point. I am so enjoying these classes! I’m getting such positive feedback, it’s wonderful. Even my husband has been commenting on how good it is to see ME in such high spirit after this class! Ha! Ha! Ballet and classical music are such good therapy, to get inspired and to be moved, and Swan Lake is just perfect for that! We’ll done everyone! I can’t wait for next week for more Swan Lake! 😊 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pointeshoesarethedream Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 It’s an absolutely brilliant class. I love that it’s repeated each week and we can really improve. I love the zoom element too as I can really throw myself into it without being worried about others watching. I was definitely on the stage in my tutu today 😁. Although I would absolutely love to take one of your classes in the studio @Laetitia 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laetitia Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 That’s great @SJBallet! That’s exactly what I hoping those classes would do, I’m so glad! At the moment, I am only teaching in the studio for Elmhurst Ballet School. I hoping to sort out a studio space maybe by September. I will post on this forum if/when this might happen. For now, it’s home from home and like you said, you can dance like no one is watching 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pointeshoesarethedream Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 35 minutes ago, Laetitia said: That’s great @SJBallet! That’s exactly what I hoping those classes would do, I’m so glad! At the moment, I am only teaching in the studio for Elmhurst Ballet School. I hoping to sort out a studio space maybe by September. I will post on this forum if/when this might happen. For now, it’s home from home and like you said, you can dance like no one is watching 😊 Sadly even when you do get back to the studio I think you’ll be too far from me so please don’t stop doing zoom 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balletbuds80 Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 10 hours ago, SJBallet said: Sadly even when you do get back to the studio I think you’ll be too far from me so please don’t stop doing zoom 😁 @SJBalletthank you for informing me of the class x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverTooOld Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 My back has been bad for the last couple of weeks but is improving so I really hope to be able to join you soon. The class sounds amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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