Simply Adult Ballet: the progress of one adult dancer who took up ballet later in life

[Jan McNulty]

Dance course at Bath College for Senior Citizens:

 

http://www.nowbath.co.uk/news/new-pensioner-ballet-course-offer-bath-college-58225/

[Jan McNulty]

A featurette about member Skydancer and her record breaking attempt:

 

http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/what-s-on/dancer-s-bid-for-record-books-1-6798829

[LinMM]

Thanks for that article Janet

 

How did it go Skydancer sorry am a bit behind the times just at present.

[LupusMelis]

Thanks Janet!

 

Lin, the record attempt is tomorrow afternoon

[LinMM]

I have just sent you a message via the forum about this can you have a look!!

[LupusMelis]

I have just sent you a message via the forum about this can you have a look!!

Lin, did you get my reply?

[Michelle_Richer]

Good luck Skydancer

[LupusMelis]

Thanks Michelle!

 

Well I reckon I broke the record Managed to do 1265 continuous grand battements. My back is pretty exhausted but not feeling to broken...yet!

[Michelle_Richer]

Wow that's fantastic Skydancer very well done.

[Jan McNulty]

Congratulations Skydancer!

[LinMM]

Wow well done just can't imagine doing THAT many grand battlements!! Will be in touch

[LupusMelis]

Thanks everyone! In quite a bit of pain today, but I'm sure it will all be worth it

 

From 300 to 700 hundred I hit a bit of a mental block, but powered on through it. The final stretch home (1000 onwards) got a bit easier!

 

Lin, look forward to hearing from you

[LupusMelis]

Just wrote a quick blog about it: http://skydancermel.com/2014/08/23/boy-did-this-bitch-kick/ NSFW due to swearword contained in the post!!

[Fiz]

Well done, Mel! Did you reach or exceed your sponsorship total?

[LupusMelis]

Thanks Fiz. Not even close, I raised a total of £50 in donations on the day from the friends who had come to support me and my Kickstarter reached a total of £110 in pledges. I don't even have a quarter of what I need to pay for Laban on 1st September and I haven't made the minimum total I wanted to hit to donate to Cats Protection League as well

[Fiz]

Oh dear. I wish I was rich or a magician.

[LupusMelis]

You and me both, Fiz!!!

[LupusMelis]

Radio Sheffield did a nice little interview with me prior to my record attempt. Being the one-woman publicity machine that I am I've made it into a little video and everything   Maybe it's not too late to raise awareness/funding...

 

http://youtu.be/3qqtDwxj1zM

Edited August 25, 2014 by Skydancer

[Michelle_Richer]

Had two good classes at ENB on Tuesday, we  had a new teacher cover both my classes as my regular teachers were on break. I had never met this teacher before but she was a bit of a stickler for timing with the music at the barre. The barre was a little different to what we were used to with our regular teacher so it was necessary to engage the brain a little more. Centre was particularly nice as we did a lot with pirouettes in both classes, routines we similar but different. At the end of class my teacher gave me a little help with part of one of the solo’s I’m learning which was fantastic.

 

Next month will be a little sad for me as I leave the ENB Tuesday classes and the friends I have made there. As Tuesdays I will be starting a performance course with City academy. However I have switched ENB to Wednesdays for both level 2 and 3 classes, but I will get my regular level 3 teacher for both new classes.

 

 

I attended a Beginners class at Sleaford tonight (Wednesday) as a fill-in for term break although many times reference was made to grade 7 but it still looked fairly basic but enjoyable. There were only three of us tonight, so plenty of room in the centre. The Stretch and Tone class that followed was as full as ever which I also attended with the same teacher. There was to be a class after that “Zumba” I think, but my teacher came back in and said it was a total no show, I guess its because its bank holiday week. It looks as if I may stay with the Sleaford class until 6 October when I restart with ENB, unless I can persuade ENB to transfer me for the last few weeks of September to Wednesdays.

[Michelle_Richer]

This week has started off really awful, I have never felt so lethargic, I'm not sure if I over did it at the week end pruning Laurels in my garden, I did feel a bit stiff afterward but that wasn’t unusual.

I forced myself to do “Body Balance class” on Monday but that didn’t improve things very much, I was also so dreadfully tired. I had an early night as I thought that would fix things for Tuesday but I was still very down, but never the less I went to ENB for my two classes.

We worked really hard, my leo was soaking wet at the end of the second class but it gave me the therapy I needed, I left on top of the world.

 

Again both of my regular teachers were on break, so it was new barre and centre routines, this time with a difference, we had freedom of expression in some of the routine in terms of body movement and port de bras, the theme was about adding dance quality. I really enjoyed that.

 

One odd thing that happened, that I cannot explain, when I first arrived with the studio to myself, I tried double turn en dehors pirouette, I couldn’t fully complete the two turns. I know my own hall floor is far more slippery and I put it down to that.

 

During work in the centre we had the choice of doing singles or doubles in our little enchainement. First time I did a single, second I went for a double and it was no problem and then I stuck with doubles, the only issue I had, I was behind with the music after two pirouettes against the rest in my group as they were doing singles. The only thing I could put it down too is the power of music, I have often thought that in other movements, that music make a massive difference .

[Fiz]

Ballet class restarted after three weeks off and it was great. Our teacher is lovely and the class is so friendly. I did notice that I was not as secure in turnout at the barre or in full plies in third and fifth so obviously I needed to get back! Everyone felt a bit rusty though but it was a lot of fun. I found out on Facebook last week that my previous teacher in Herts is having a baby in February and that is good news. She'll be a great mum.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Fiz

[Thecatsmother]

Really pleased you found a friendly class Fiz. It's so important to find somewhere where you feel comfortable????

[Terpsichore]

While my Over 55 class has been on holiday I have been crossing the Pennines to Manchester to take the beginners' and complete beginners' classes at KNT Danceworks. KNT is in Oxford Road, a stone's throw from the Palace Theatre and perhaps a cricket ball's throw from the University. It shares premises with the Northern Ballet School and the Dancehouse theatre. It has good teachers and I have enjoyed the classes tremendously.

 

KNT Danceworks hold classes in Liverpool and as you can see from the website they are offering a special one off evening of free dance classes at Liverpool Town Hall on 8 Sep 2014. Including ballet.

 

Now, who do I know in Liverpool?

Edited September 3, 2014 by terpsichore

[LupusMelis]

Ballet class restarted after three weeks off and it was great. Our teacher is lovely and the class is so friendly. I did notice that I was not as secure in turnout at the barre or in full plies in third and fifth so obviously I needed to get back! Everyone felt a bit rusty though but it was a lot of fun. I found out on Facebook last week that my previous teacher in Herts is having a baby in February and that is good news. She'll be a great mum.

 

Happy for your Fiz that you are back at the barre Congratulations to your former teacher! Both my ballet and contemporary teachers had babies this year, in fact Emily (ballet) brought her little girl to my record attempt and she was actually spellbound watching me...so cute!!

[Fiz]

Thanks, Skydancer. I wonder how many dance teachers have children who dance too. I know several who have or do.

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Fiz

I’m glad your back in ballet class at Lincoln, was that GoDance that you were with on Monday night, if so was Ellie your teacher as she joined us in class at Sleaford tonight. Our Sleaford class has been running all through the summer but only on a skeleton staff. Everyone is back now.  Unfortunately I’m only with them until the beginning of October when ENB’s new term starts, as I'm switching ENB to Wednesdays.

[LinMM]

It must be the year of babies.

One of my local teachers is just about to come back from maternity leave. She had a little girl .......so what's the betting that in a couple of years she will be in the "baby" class here!!

 

And of course a renound teacher at city academy will be off soon on maternity leave so one way and another 2014 seems to have been a very productive year!!

 

I have my last holiday class tonight which has been my one class a week and then next week LAB restarts so the Wednesday class there will be my one class for just a couple of weeks and then if everything is moving forward as it is now with the ankle I hope to be up to two classes by last week of September and back to three by November!!

 

Somewhere in the next two months I hope to be able to try out some basic petit allegro but there's no hurrying my foot it's taking its own sweet time.

My partner says that at last my brain is linking up to my feet and he thinks my foot will finally be better when Ive had enough time to think about respecting it!!

 

In the local newspaper here this week there is a story about a youngish lady (20-30) who has had Achilles Tendon problems for FIVE YEARS!! Apparently she was dropped doing some cheer leader stunt ( what do they do these days in cheer leading!!)

 

Anyway she had been going to a prayer meeting at a local church and last week she finally plucked up courage to go up and after a strange tingling sensation in her foot the pain has apparently gone and she has started running again!!

 

Well that's one way of getting a cure it seems though I'm not religious myself so probably wouldn't work for me.

 

However on a more down to Earth note I am going to see someone in London in a couple of weeks who has had loads of experience working with Royal Ballet dancers. I was very surprised that the cost was only marginally more expensive than what I pay locally.

 

I think there are some questions you can really only ask of someone who has done a lot of ballet.

[Fiz]

I am fairly sure that only the healer has to have faith, Lin. In "Dancer off her feet", the dancer in question had had faith healing when she was first injured. It did not work despite her earnest prayers as well as the healer's. Five years later, she was still injured and was at a very low ebb. A Christian minister offered to try to help her again and the poor girl told him to do what he liked, she didn't care - but it worked. There truly are more things in heaven and earth.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Fiz

[LinMM]

Well this young lady talks about the fact that she went up that particular day. She had been thinking about it for ages but thinks she went then because she was ready for something to happen.

 

I don't doubt at all that some people do experience these type of cures and it is unexplainable but marvellous if it works.

[Fiz]

Yes, Michelle. Elle (I think she spells it like that) is at Go Dance here all day on Tuesdays. I am thinking about adding cardio barre as well as ballet and Pilates all on the same day. I must be mad! I am still a bit sore from Pilates in places where I didn't know I had muscles. It uses different ones from those in ballet.

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Fiz

 

I though it was, Elle has been my teacher a Sleaford for a couple of times otherwise she dances with rest of us if Harriet is teaching. I like both of them, however I only pop in on breaks from my other Wednesday classes, after October its likely to be Christmas before I see them again. OK about your Cardio Barre, it sounds a bit like Extend Barre which we did sometimes at Stamford. I also did a little bit of Floor Barre at one of the LAB intensives, that’s quite hard work particularly on the abs.

 

When I’m at Sleaford I usually do Stretch and tone after the ballet class, but in the morning of both Mondays and Wednesdays I also do Body Balance at Spalding which is a combination of Tai Chi, Pilates and Yoga, so I guess I’m mad too.

 

Today hasn’t been a good day. I was down my local hall this morning as I have a recurring hire for ballet practice every Thursday morning. I’m currently working on a solo from Le Corsaire, although I have learnt the sequence before the pirouettes were only done as singles. Last week I was starting to make some progress with doubles as the pirouettes are a bit tricky at least I found they have been. They are launched from fourth which is not unusual however the turn is terminated by stepping the gesturing leg in font on demi-pointe, the pivoting leg goes behind into arabesque en le air and hold for one count before swishing the arabesque leg through to become the pivoting leg for the next pirouette. This week I just had no energy, everything up to the pirouettes seemed OK but once I dropped into 4th prep my body just didn’t seem to have the energy to provide the push for the gesturing leg. I tried three or four time to run the sequence with the music but it always failed at that point. In the end, off went the music I was almost in tears I was along way from where I expected to be. So it was full concentration on the pirouette arabesque combinations only. It took 15 minutes to get to where I was the pervious week, however in the next 15 minutes, in possibly 10 tries or aborted tries I did manage to complete the set of 5 three times, something I had never been able to do before. I even managed a complete the full run-through of the sequence to music when set at 80% of its normal speed. After that the pirouettes just went downhill, I think I was just too tired, but I did concentrate on the rest of the sequence, when I finished I was exhausted.

Later I went up town to do some shopping and my legs just felt like jelly, although the results were disappointing at least I had made some progress and I hadn’t wasted my time at the hall. I think its just been a bit of a bad week as I cant put it down to anything specific.

[Fiz]

I have been told two things which could help. For pirouettes, the preparation is all in the plie which gives you the impetus to follow through so if this part is wrong, the rest will be too. It does sound as if you might be tired and things always seem worse than they are then. I was often told as a child by my ballet teacher that I was trying too hard. It puzzled me at the time but I realised she was right. If you force something it tends to go wrong. It is easier if you can relax.

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Fiz

 

I agree with what you are saying but at the same time you only need to put just sufficient energy into that pirouette to complete the desired number of turns. I realised when I dropped in the plie and I was getting ready for the push, it just wasn’t there, I was along way off form, I just didn’t feel right. That was a real downer as I had been waiting all week for this. I know when things are right, when I can just complete the desired number of turns and statically hold the releve / retire in the final position for several seconds after completing the pirouette. Whilst I cant do that every time as I mainly wobble off balance but I have now had several times when I have and it feels like pure magic, every thing is in the right place.

 

I think for yesterday I just have to be satisfied I made some progress and hope to pick the pace next week. Once I’m at least happy with the consistency of the pirouettes on each and every run-though of the set of 5. Then I need to develop them further for one of the black swan variations. This was from a Workshop I did quite recently where we only used a single turn pirouette ending in attitude . I want to at least take it to 2 turn pirouette followed by 2 full attitude turns without bringing the gesturing leg down between them, then I will feel I’m getting somewhere.