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

[Anjuli_Bai]

So many voices wishing you well, Michelle - let me add my voice as well.

 

We all know of your deeply felt desire to experience, learn and perform this thing we call dance. All of us who have danced have been impelled by this intense desire.  But there is a reason that it is methodically taught and carefully nurtured.  

 

While the mind leaps for joy and sets a path and a pace - the body remains what it is - animated clay. And if one starts later in life, the clay is not as easy to knead into the desired shape - it has accrued some cracks and lumps.  At the pace you have set even a young professional dancer would risk injury.  

 

Anything regarding the Achilles tendon has to be taken seriously.  The intense desire of your mind is housed - as it is for all of us - in this clay and you must give it its due.  The body always wins in the end.

 

Be kind to it and use it with reason.

 

Enjoy the journey.

 

I hope you read this in the spirit in which it is meant.

[Michelle_Richer]

I am really touched by such wonderful caring comments from you all, I really appreciate them. So thank you all so very very much.

 

For me I am taking a halfway position but keeping it under review. As I have indicated in an earlier posting Tuesday is my heaviest day, I am removing 3.5hours of dance endurance from that particular day. The remaining days are a lot less arduous and in any case we are almost up to term break for Christmas.

 

Whilst with the physio, she has copied me the 13 pages from her reference book which amongst other things describes “Alfredson’s painful heel-drop protocol” in detail, she is very confident in its effectiveness and she is also fully aware of my existing ballet commitment. At the end of the day I am seriously trying to achieve the best possible compromise while my Achilles strengthens and heals, even though the exercise protocol is painful to start with.

[Michelle_Richer]

Ankles held up OK during ballet classes on Wednesday and Thursday, with Social Salsa dancing Friday night. It looks as if 3 hours a day is sustainable with my current heel-drop therapy. The exercise itself is very painful and sometimes I have to break that session up a bit, especially the bent leg part. But the main thing is I’m not suffering like I was after class. The most peculiar observation is, how much better my feet feel after my half hour pointe work on a Wednesday, but I guess that’s because my Achilles’ gets compressed, whereas the pain originates from stretching. Ah well, I guess I’m am going to have reconcile myself to pain for the next twelve weeks, as the heel-drop therapy protocol calls for weights to be added once the pain disappears in order to increase the load further until pain is detected again.

 

At the moment I have two ledge type surfaces, neither is ideal, so I need to look for something better over the weekend, as its likely I will continue with this strategy beyond the twelve weeks, but at a less intense rate.

 

As I’m reasonable happy with my pre-Christmas loading of ballet classes and performances, I’ve committed to doing Scottish Ballet on the 9^th of December, I’ve just booked the rail tickets and the hotel. Timing is now the only issue, as I will be leaving a RAD workshop in Kent at 8pm on the 8^th, my train from Peterborough leaves at 9.45am the following morning, its not going to give me much time for sleep, so I must catch that up on the train.

[Michelle_Richer]

Ankles are still holding up although the exercises are quite painful. Although I think I might have pushed things a bit today. Went to my local class the morning and the hall was cold at 14 degrees, I hired it for an additional hour after class to work through my Lincoln show sequence, which is still not quite completed, only Mondays class left and dress rehearsal on Thursday. That left me short of prep time for my 7 hour “Swan Lake” master class on Sunday at ROH, so I dropped my Peterborough class tonight, and a good deal of time was spent this afternoon and evening in my own studio to work on it, now my heels are getting quite sore.

 

Ah well starting Sunday I have a 15 day continuous run of ballet. My last class this year is 19th December and I will really looking forward to the break. Oh the joys of housework, cooking, the therapy of cleaning and even the washing up. I really cant remember what that feels like to be so chilled out.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Michelle_Richer

[BBA]

Wow 15 days off Michelle ?!! Balletcoforum won't be the same without your daily blog

[BBA]

Sorry wow 15 days if ballet ! Then you're off !!! Won't be the same without you !!!! ( hit reply too quickly !)

[LinMM]

See you Sunday Michelle even if now as just a spectator of the City Academy workshop so sorry not to be able to do this now hope it's a lovely day and will look forward to seeing the mini performance.

 

Only thing is will then have to go in the ROH stage door entrance all on my own this time. Can feel a nail biting session coming on!

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Lin

 

When they let you in at the stage door reception, go through to the artist's café, down to the bottom and turn right, follow the blue line to the lifts, go to floor +5 , then the Macmillan Studio is the one right at the end on the right, and don't stop on the way to watch the professions, its frowned upon, that's what I was told by a class I used to attend there.

 

I'm off to see the youngsters of my Peterborough class perform Saturday night at a local theatre, a couple of teens from my class are performing too, but non of the adults (Shame). Peterborough is generally a very nice class but unfortunately it will be one I will have to drop when I start LAB in January. I will also be dropping my local class too, but will still retain the hall for rep rehearsal, so I will still see Nicky my teacher even if its just to hand over the keys.

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Lin

 

I just had an email from City Academy, I'm not sure if you will have got it, since you transferred your class, but ROH are not allowing members of the public in for our friends and family performance. So the performance at the end has now been cancelled.

[Michelle_Richer]

Quite an eventful weekend: Saturday I attended the annual performance of my Peterborough ballet school “TU Dance”. I was expecting some out of the way small auditorium. When I arrived at Kingsway Conference Centre I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was huge, not sure how many hundred it could seat, but it was a lot. Large stage with a large video display scene at the back displaying close up of the dancers on the stage. Everyone could see in detail what was going on. There were brilliant singers from TU dances music theatre students, all different dance types including ballroom. Some ballet from pre-primary through to grade 4, a couple of the grade 4 teens were in my ballet class and they were performing to music from Giselle, funnily we had that as an exercise a couple of weeks back. However non of the adults from adult ballet were interested in performing when I ask a few months ago, which was a real shame. I was so so envious of being able to perform on stage at that venue. As it is I have all but said goodbye to that school as next term I’m with LAB and will only visit TU Dance when LAB is on break.

 

Saturday started off with a bit of a disaster. I left home at 6.15am and arrived at Peterborough Station at 7am for the 7.26 train to Kings cross for my ROH Swan Lake master class. About every ten minutes or so, the train expected time was put back by ten to 15 minutes, I wasn’t too worried as I had build in quite a bit of contingency. The train finally departed at 8.46am, which meant I arrived about 20 minutes late for my class, needless to say I was furious. Everyone was doing work at the barre when I arrived. I quickly and quietly joined then and just acknowledged my teacher. I spoke to her later.

 

The class was fantastic as we covered 4 scenes from swan lake, Entrance of Odette (Odette’s mime), Waltz of the Swans (Very much cut down), Pas de Deux (As we had a male dancer), Odette’s Solo (one of my favourites). Although all in all that was seven hours of ballet, my feet stood up very well, I just hope that last for the performances I have next Friday and Saturday night.

 

We finally managed to finish our Lincoln show sequence tonight (Monday) just the Thursday dress rehearsal to go now, some of the teens are a bit unsure, so our teacher videoed our last run-thru tonight which we will all get a copy of. This must be the quickest studio to stage performance I have ever done but I’m feeling reasonable comfortable with it now. I will be utilising the hire of my local hall on Thursday morning to consolidate it ready for dress rehearsal, then we have the finale to do too.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Michelle_Richer

[Michelle_Richer]

This week has turn out to be very challenging. After my 7 hours of Swan Lake at ROH my ankles felt fine, however after Tuesdays ENB classes with its associated jumps and the walk back to the tube station, my ankles were beginning to play up. I knew after the walk across the car part at Peterborough Railway station on the way home I was likely to have trouble the following morning.

 

I was right, I had real problems just walking about and I was due to start dress rehearsal for our show the next day. It was a huge gamble, I cancelled all classes for the Wednesday, virtually hoping for a miracle.

 

I was amazed how much recovery took place with just one day of rest from ballet, never the less I still did not want to push it on the day of the rehearsal. Firstly I did my local class with Nicky, I informed her that I would sit out on the jumps as I needed to preserved my legs for the show, she was comfortable with that. Secondly, I did a further hour at the hall which was practice for the show against our video of the last class. Unfortunately there was a fair bit of confusion towards the end of the video as the teacher was shouting instructions and various interpretations took place amongst the dancers.

 

At tonight’s dress rehearsal that came through, but it was the only real incident. I had a chat to my teacher afterwards as to what her real intention was, that’s now clear for me, so we need to get a short briefing tomorrow night so everyone is singing from the same song sheet. We also have to alter one of the formations into a “V”, rather than a line as the stage is a little smaller than our studio, but all in all it went far better than I had anticipated, both technically and physically from my ankle issue. The things I was dreading the most because of the pain they caused was (Jete en tournant and Pas de chat’s) which turned out to be a non-event. We only had one shot at our enchainement as every group had a piece to perform from three different performing arts schools. Unfortunately we never got to do the finale as the little one’s needed to go home. So we will basically wing it tomorrow night when we perform for real.

 

There are only 7 dancers in my group including me, one other older lady and the rest teens. One of the teens is ex-royal ballet, but she has said she will be going back after the summer break.

 

As the only ballet I have planned in the next two days are the performances, that should help my ankle recovery an awful lot. I’m really looking forward to performing now, without the worry of pain striking.

[Thecatsmother]

Sorry to hear about the pain. If jumps bring the pain on then it might be worth doing one in front of your dance Physio so he/she can look at the way you are landing and if this is exacerbating the injury?

[Michelle_Richer]

That was one of the things I had to show her, apart from doing a retire/ releve on each foot to asses strength etc. On jumps I would deliberately not go fully down on the heel as that stretch was quite painful, hence heel-drop therapy, however my ENB teacher spotted this, as I had some recovery through strengthening. I guess the combined effect of Sundays 7 hour stint and especially the ENB jumps where to be fair, I gave it all I got, full flat feet at the bottom of the plie and as pointed as I could get when in the air, I just over did it. I was without doubt my own silly fault.

 

Although I have several classes still to go before the end of the year, most are getting down to single figures even if they are scattered all over the UK. Christmas will be a total ballet shutdown for rest and recovery (20 December - 3rd Jan).

[Michelle_Richer]

My feet are substantially better today. Our show went reasonably well other than about two thirds in, we all got a little ahead of our timing, but there was a point where a large signature in the music was present that allowed us all to regain timing and finish correctly. I really enjoyed it and I think the rest of the dancers in my group did too.

 

Another performance tomorrow night, must check the timing this time, but I think I know what went astray with our group.

 

A really good turnout in the audience and quite enthusiastic with their applause during the finale.

[LinMM]

Sounds like some rest is the order of the day Michelle.

Good luck with the performances anyway.

[Michelle_Richer]

Tonight’s performance by adult ballet went really well, our teacher said “it was spot on”. One of the ladies from the audience when she collected her little daughter (a ladybird) after the show, came up to me and was very complementary about our Adult ballet performance, I guess that was the icing on the cake.

 

The bad news is, it was videoed professionally and will be available later, then I guess the cracks will show and bring the euphoria back down to earth. Anyway I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was my last performance this year.

 

Tomorrow it a Nutcracker Rep Workshop by RAD in Kent, then Monday off to Scottish Ballet in Glasgow, trains permitting. And back to my regular classes at ENB on Tuesday. I finally get a break on the 20^th.

[Michelle_Richer]

I badly over estimated how long it would take me to drive to the Rep workshop in Kent. I simply did not believe my Sat Nav and I arrived a little after 12.00, but the workshop was not until 3pm for registration. I did pop into the South East Dance Studio to make myself known but there was nobody on the desk, so I had a nice chat to a lady whose's daughter was in there. As I had time to kill, I though I would walk into the village (Hextable) and find a nice pub for lunch, but nothing doing. I managed to find a couple to ask, and they told me it was a 20minute walk to the next village Swanley and recommended a pub there. I did wonder a bit about the effect on my legs but they stood the walk there and back. As it was, I was a nice day and I was wrapped up well, although on the way back two ladies did stop and offer me a lift but I declined.

 

The workshop was fantastic, but the details are on the other thread.

 

Scotland was mostly about fact-finding, firstly I was wise to have taken the longer time option for transfer at Edinburgh Waverly station. I couldn’t have done it in 15 minutes as it’s a very large station to find your way round. I actually met up with a lady who had missed her connection for the same reason.

 

The class I attended at Scottish ballet was labelled as their Intermediate class, but they allowed drop in dancers like me, but they do stipulate 4 years experience. After class one girl in the changing rooms ask me how it compared with my level 3 class at ENB.

In general terms it was very similar, but their session was slightly longer by 15 minute, although their barre session was shorter.  ENB’s enchainement are a bit longer, but Scottish enchainement including pirouettes went into doubles, where ENB doubles would have been an option as many are still with singles. The teacher we had was not their regular teacher as she introduced her self to the whole class but she was know to some of the dancers. Her manner was very encouraging and complementary although occasionally she did give out corrections. She would use the term “ladies”, where I am used to “girls”, and in that context when someone refers to me as a lady it makes me feel old. I don’t know if it was her accent or what but she gave it an air of elegance and I liked it.

The class was comprised of 13 dancers including me, all young ladies. But one of the dancers said usually there are about twenty, which I think the studio we were in would be a bit crampt, but then I’m spoilt with the large upper studio of ENB.

 

When I first arrived in the studio, there was only one other young lady in, so we had a bit of a chat. She was 19 and had trained and qualified with Bolshoi in Russia, later on after most of the other dancers arrive another young lady joined her of a similar age. During barre work they were directly in front of me on the first side, many of the exercise they did was with the supporting hand off the bar, otherwise the exercise was identical in every other way. When it came to centre practice in small groups, those two would always go together and last, there technique was streets ahead of every one else, they were brilliant but never the less our teach would still add in advice for them. On one occasion when they completed a very impressive enchainement I gave a clap, but found myself very alone with that, so I'm not really sure how the other dancers feel in their presents, for me they were an inspiration and has certainly raised my personal bar. At ENB if some does well most of the class clap in support and is very encouraging. My time at that class just whizzed by.

 

The out come of the trip, I have made some useful contacts for the future and understand the logistics of going there, next time I need sufficient time to explore Glasgow too. The down side was the 5 hour train journey from Glasgow Central to Euston on Virgin Trains, that is a very long boring trip.  To round the day off I did my two regular classes at ENB but level three was with a relief teacher this week. At the end of it my legs seemed to have survived reasonable well. One class already done today, Ballet + a stretch and tone class to go for tonight.

[LinMM]

Well you've survived it all somehow!!! How you managed to do those classes at ENB after that long train journey I can't imagine.

 

Although I enjoy the travelling (mostly) itself I'm not that good at moving locations too fast and too far as it seems to take my subtler bodies a while to catch up with the physical so I feel "together" Occasionally it's the other way round and its my physical body lagging while the rest of me is raring to go!

 

I think you should investigate Bristol next.....and not quite so far.....as there seems to be a lot of interesting ballet going on there at the moment!!

Would you go up to Scottish Ballet again?

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Lin

 

I had a look at Ballet Bristol, only problem is I couldn't commit to every week, so rep/performances would be out. Rail journey is over 4 hours for each way and cost will exceed a hundred pounds each trip. Although it looks extremely attractive its not feasible.

 

As for Scottish ballet, yes I will be visiting their intermediate class occasionally to keep the relationship alive but more importantly their rep workshops as and when they come up, as I missed the last one with only 10 days notice.

[Michelle_Richer]

Today has not been a nice day, my right foot has been playing up again.

 

Went to my local morning class, fortunately we didn’t do any jumps this time, however one of our short enchainements has a couple of Pas de Chat's in it, as soon as my right foot hit the floor to take my weight, I knew things were not good. I tried to do my best but they were to be honest rubbish.

 

After class I had my hour of hall hire, for once I hadn’t got any rep practice for something I was doing the following week. So for once I could start on Le Corsaire, which I have had to put on hold for a few weeks now. However the Harem Girls Dance contains six Temps leve’s at the beginning performed on alternating feet. Each time the right foot became the supporting/hopping foot it was extremely painful. I persevered for a while but clearly I was not going to acquire any meaningful muscle memory for that enchainement.

 

I switched over to Odette’s Solo from Swan Lake as that had been a very recent piece I had been practicing for a workshop just over a week ago. Everything was fine until I got to the sissonne’s, then landing on the right foot was murder. After 45 minutes of hell I gave up, closed the hall and took the keys back.

 

I'm not sure just why my right foot was so bad, as Sunday we were doing lots of Temp Leve’s as part of our Nutcracker rep. However the hall was cold when we first started the ballet class as the heaters had only just been switch on, temperature on leaving had only just crept up to 16 degrees, also the floor in the hall is not sprung, although its great for pirouettes. On the plus side its bigger than most stages.

 

Just to finish a bad day off this afternoon, I had a dental appointment for a routine check-up. When I handed my card over to pay, the card machine was out of action that cleaned virtually every penny out of my purse.

 

No more ballet this week until Monday then its quite thin as most of my schools is on Christmas break, however I will be with Northern Tuesday and Thursday next week.

[mimi66]

Michelle, I am sorry to hear that your foot is playing up again. 

 

I hope you can give your right foot some rest, soon.  Also may be you might want to seriously consider focusing on "consolidating"

your techinque at least for the next 6 months or so.

 

I am no expert, but have done ballet long enough  (and have seen many others making the same mistakes) to know that if you are in too much in a hurry to learn the "moves" before your body is ready, that will lead to injury. Particularly if you have something hurting already.

 

When one part of body hurts, other parts of body will be compensating, and thus those parts will start to go wrong...and that is not fun!  Also one should always keep in mind that in your 30's (and beyond) ,your muscles do not develope as quickly as younger people... and even for younger people it takes YEARS  (not 1 or 2, sorry) of training to develpe strength for their body to cope with what they do at their level of proficiency. (Here I am not talking about mimicking the movement.)

 

A few weeks rest and a few months addressing the problem now would be much better than having to stop dancing for 3 to 6 months (possible if you hurt your knee or lower back).

 

I have read that you have already seen a physio.  I hope you can fix your foot problem soon... so that we can all keep dancng as long as we want.  In my class, we have a 70 year-old who just showed off echappe sur la pointe on her birthday!

[Fiz]

Kudos to your class mate, Mimi.

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Mimi66

 

I think we have completely different mind-sets. Before I ever got into ballet I was already a dancer. For me I am first and foremost a dancer and my aim is to dance in such a way that is pleasing to my audience within my own physical capability. That said consolidation is a continuous process and the majority of my classes contribute to that. Perhaps the most significant is my level 3 teacher at ENB, when we first met I made it clear that I actively wanted feedback, that I get and she really pushes me. Not only that but my local teacher Nicky has given me an eye for detail, so much so it often gets me into deep water. Only last week I had occasion to query the technique used by a couple of my teachers, both were from very prominent ballet companies. The first was a port de bras done after a plié with arms away from the barre, which should have closed through first and didn't. What I could see of the rest of the class, they followed the teacher. I queried this with the teacher and she confirmed it should have closed through first. The other was an ending port de bras pose where, I cant remember if that was during plié's or not, the one hand remained on the barre, the other in fifth high and open. However the arm was extended behind the shoulder with the head facing devant. Again I queried it and that teacher confirmed technically it was wrong but made the comment it looked nicer that way, so that's where it stayed. I completely agree with her comment, I can just imagine that being done as a gesture for an "O Lay". In any case my local teacher would frown if I were to use swan arms in class, as she sees drooping elbows in port de bras as a big no no, and calls them chicken wings, so where would Swan Lake be without them.

 

So in a nutshell I will never get hung-up on complete compliance to technique when performing, its more about artistry of interpretation and its pleasing presentation to the audience. But please don't think for an instance I'm trying to use that as an excuse for bad technique.

 

As for consolidation over six month, not a chance, that could represent a significant period of my remaining active life, besides if I look back over the last six month, that contains all the performances I have done. That totals 7 different type of performances, and not 7 days, as one performance alone was done on 6 days.

 

Yes I am in a hurry, like there's no tomorrow and will always tread that fine line between overtraining and injury, that's where the most significant physical development is likely to be made. As for things hurting, one has to make a judgement call, is it because I'm damaging something, or is it because I'm developing something to make it stronger?

 

My heel drop therapy hurts like hell, when it stop hurting during exercise then I am to take on additional weights to work my feet even harder so it hurts again, that's how its strengthened. In that case hurting is a necessary part of the healing process.

 

As for taking years to develop muscles etc even for young people, if I were to take it to its logical conclusion I would give and say its impossible, or I would park it in a box labelled "TOO HARD". Neither is an option for me and I WILL GO THE DISTANCE, I'm not faint hearted about that at all, however in reality I am trying to limit the majority of ballet activity down to three hours a day, however summer schools and rep workshops will always exceed these. Rep workshops have become a significant part of my schedule averaging around three a month.

 

I note your comment "Here I'm not talking about mimicking movement", well I guess I am guilty as charged, as I will always attempt to perform and practice movement not taught, cant do is not an option for me. For instance non of my classes teach doing travelling turns in a circle, that I had to teach myself with trial and self correction, I had no option other than "CAN'T DO".

One my last pre class session at ENB I completed the full circle and could stop on sixpence without feeling particularly dizzy, that wasn't done overnight.

 

The repertoire I learn is often simplified which is only a starting point for me, as I will invariably take it as close as I can to the full professional version. Usually I will base it on three or four companies performances and take elements from each that best suits my own physical capability. Sometime I even make minor modifications to improve original presentation. EG in Odette's solo from act 2 (RB version) Odette does not include the double beat in each and every developpe in the two sets of three developpe's, it looks more aesthetically pleasing if it does. The class was taught it as a single developpe, however I included it. Later after a few rehearsals when our teacher was dancing along with us, she included them too, with each and every one. I always try to be careful how much I include over and above what we are taught in class. So I am sure you can interpret that as mimicking.

 

Here is another instance of mimicking which I would call improvising, I left my Salsa party quite early Friday night as not many dancers were present and I was quite bored with it. I arrived home about 10pm, so decided to pop over the road to the mermaid Hotel, my local pub/restaurant, as I get on very well with the land lady who is an ex-Salsa dancer. Generally I go over for the odd meal and a chat. Normally the place is fairy quiet, however this time the bar was full of very rowdy guys aged somewhere between late twenties and early thirties. The lounge that I was in was almost empty other that a mum of one of the revellers, apparently it was someone's birthday. I had a little chat with the mum, then she left. One of the guys shouted across the bar where the pumps are which divided the two rooms, I didn't hear what he said, so the land lady said "She's a dancer". Then I was asked if I was a pole or belly dancer, to which I replied "I do Salsa and Ballet". Another guy said "I used to do ballet, come and show us your pirouette". I went round to the other side and said "Ill show you my pirouette if you show me your", he agreed. The revellers both guys and girls made some floor space for me, I dropped my handbag and cardigan on the floor and kicked my shoes off, it was a carpeted floor. I proceeded to do a single turn en dedans with arms to fifth, landing in fourth with arms to low gesturing second almost like a curtsy. The guy does a complete 360 but his gesturing leg is along way from his pivoting leg and only halfway to retire. When I ask him about his leg, he said he wasn't a professional like me, I just laughed and said I wasn't either.  

 

A girl from behind shouted out "Can you do a flying lift like they do in Dirty Dancing", I turned round and said "not with this guy, he could never hold me", I thought that was an end to it. A big guy from behind heavily built, looked as strong as an ox, said "I can", there was silence for a while and I thought "mmmmm maybe he can". Although I have never been lifted before, I had done something very similar with our male dancer at the Swan Lake workshop. It was in the scene "entrance of Odette", were Odette return to Siegfried after pleading with Von Rothbart, there I was stepping on to demi point in arabesque with swan arms swept back with my back arched and supported by our male dancer (Siegfried). however as with the RB version I was still on the ground although I would have fell forward if I wasn't supported. In the Mermaid I took a three step run and strait through the demi-point step with momentum, with that I was airborne. The guy just took me up above his head a held me there for several seconds and we got a tremendous applause from everyone. The guy let me down very gently. The Hotel owner bought me the next two drinks and said that's for entertaining the boys, now does that make me a professional ?

After that several of the guys bought me drinks too, I even got serenaded by one of them. I finally left a little after 1am and quite merry.

 

Mimi66 you may think I was foolish, to me it was a calculated risk, also risk verses reward also plays a part in this too. For me I will take away the memory of being lifted above a guys head in front of everyone there and the applause, that will be will me for the rest of my life. I ask you this, what did you do on Friday that you will remember for the rest of your life.

 

I have a life to live, and I mean to live every single moment and make it count, so do you really think derogatory terms like "mimicking" is really going to make any significant difference.

[mimi66]

Kudos to your class mate, Mimi.

 

Indeed!  I must also add that she was very sensible about the whole thing.  This wasn't something she thought of in the morning and decided to be a bit of a (misguided) show-off for fun.

 

She did vocational level ballet training when young, became a perfoming dancer (classic, but not ballet) for a few years but gave up because of her study.  Much later in life, she took up ballet again and has been doing the ballet class regularly for about 12years. The last time she wore her pointe shoes was when she was 18. 

 

She started to prepare for her 70's birthday "performance" 2 years in advance.  Building up strength slowly over 2 years.

Of course she had no difficulty just standing and fluffing about on pointe (I guess it's like riding a bicycle), but she wanted to do it properly - eg no bent knees nor sticking your belly. Otherwise there is no point(e) in doing it, she told us.

 

When she finally showed us the echappe sur la pointe, we all went wild!  It may be a "boring" thing for some, nothing fancy like fouette on pointe, but it was beautifully executed and it was a dance in itself.  Actually , it was a celebration for life. and pure love for ballet.

 

She claims that , as she learned how to use her body correctly, she should be able to keep dancing till 80 (touch wood). She also added that it was the best gift from her ballet teachers, the life time of pleasure, dancing ballet. 

Edited December 15, 2013 by mimi66

[Dancer Sugar Plum]

Not only that but my local teacher Nicky has given me an eye for detail, so much so it often gets me into deep water. Only last week I had occasion to query the technique used by a couple of my teachers, both were from very prominent ballet companies. The first was a port de bras done after a plié with arms away from the barre, which should have closed through first and didn't. What I could see of the rest of the class, they followed the teacher. I queried this with the teacher and she confirmed it should have closed through first. The other was an ending port de bras pose where, I cant remember if that was during plié's or not, the one hand remained on the barre, the other in fifth high and open. However the arm was extended behind the shoulder with the head facing devant. Again I queried it and that teacher confirmed technically it was wrong but made the comment it looked nicer that way, so that's where it stayed. I completely agree with her comment, I can just imagine that being done as a gesture for an "O Lay". In any case my local teacher would frown if I were to use swan arms in class, as she sees drooping elbows in port de bras as a big no no, and calls them chicken wings, so where would Swan Lake be without them.

 

So in a nutshell I will never get hung-up on complete compliance to technique when performing, its more about artistry of interpretation and its pleasing presentation to the audience. But please don't think for an instance I'm trying to use that as an excuse for bad technique.

 

As for consolidation over six month, not a chance, that could represent a significant period of my remaining active life, besides if I look back over the last six month, that contains all the performances I have done. That totals 7 different type of performances, and not 7 days, as one performance alone was done on 6 days.

 

Yes I am in a hurry, like there's no tomorrow and will always tread that fine line between overtraining and injury, that's where the most significant physical development is likely to be made. As for things hurting, one has to make a judgement call, is it because I'm damaging something, or is it because I'm developing something to make it stronger?

 

My heel drop therapy hurts like hell, when it stop hurting during exercise then I am to take on additional weights to work my feet even harder so it hurts again, that's how its strengthened. In that case hurting is a necessary part of the healing process.

 

As for taking years to develop muscles etc even for young people, if I were to take it to its logical conclusion I would give and say its impossible, or I would park it in a box labelled "TOO HARD". Neither is an option for me and I WILL GO THE DISTANCE, I'm not faint hearted about that at all, however in reality I am trying to limit the majority of ballet activity down to three hours a day, however summer schools and rep workshops will always exceed these. Rep workshops have become a significant part of my schedule averaging around three a month.

 

I note your comment "Here I'm not talking about mimicking movement", well I guess I am guilty as charged, as I will always attempt to perform and practice movement not taught, cant do is not an option for me. For instance non of my classes teach doing travelling turns in a circle, that I had to teach myself with trial and self correction, I had no option other than "CAN'T DO".

One my last pre class session at ENB I completed the full circle and could stop on sixpence without feeling particularly dizzy, that wasn't done overnight.

 

Michelle, I would echo Mimi66's advice about resting your foot and not attempting to dance through your injuries. I can confirm that it's no fun trying to dance through injury pain, thinking that 'it'll all be fine', and that 'it will get better if I just don't do X', but in actual fact this just delays when your injury will completely heal.

 

You mention that you have a 'eye for detail' for pointing out teachers' 'mistakes' in recent classes you attended. I would just like to point out that these were technically not 'mistakes'. For example, the arm recovering for port de bras towards the barre is just as 'correct' going through first before opening to seconde, or opening fifth to seconde. Usually when people talk about 'eye for detail' (in the ballet world) it's about being able to spot whether someone is off alignment, for example: is his/her hips not level; has he/she sank into the supporting side; has the working foot sickled; has someone turned their foot/feet in during an exercise; have they not got back to the fifth they started off with, etc. This list could apply to looking at yourself too, not just when you look in the mirror, but how you feel yourself; it takes time to get to this level of competency. I have a teacher who tells me that from someone's plies you can tell how much/little training someone has had because it's such a technically difficult movement to get correct. And that's just the first exercise in a class!

 

This is why it takes several years to get to a competent level in ballet, even for youngsters who are considered 'talented'. You never hear of a young person being 'discovered' and whisked off into X Ballet Company without spending years in serious training. In fact, I once read in recent years that ballet is the one dance type that TV producers are unable to make into a reality-type programme, like Strictly, because it's just not possible to learn ballet from scratch in a short space of time to a competent level. I may gone off on a tangent in this post, but there was a time when I believed I was improving in ballet just because I was attending more classes, including classes that were too advanced for me at the time. I had the mindset that 'more must be better' and just getting through class was enough. But in fact, with ballet it's the quality of your technique that counts. It was a big mistake I made, and when I finally realised my mistake it took a significant amount of time and effort to correct all the bad habits that had crept up. Just wanted to share my experience and hope it helps other people not to make the same mistake I did.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Dancer Sugar Plum

[Anjuli_Bai]

From Dancer Sugar Plum's post above:

 

"I have a teacher who tells me that from someone's plies you can tell how much/little training someone has had because it's such a technically difficult movement to get correct. And that's just the first exercise in a class!"

 

 

Indeed - this is very true.  When a new person showed up in class (pro/semi-pro level) I would set myself the task of how soon during barre I could place his/her level.  It was not even the first plié - but as the hand went to the barre and the dancer "placed" him/herself in preparation for that first plié.  That single moment literally foretold the rest of the dancer's class level and ability.  

 

As for the "eye for detail" - that  is a good thing for sure.  

 

But there is no concrete "correct" or "incorrect" set port de bras for any particular movement/step/pose.  There must be a dozen different ways - paths - for the arms to travel in any given pas, enchainment, stretch, port de corps, etc.,  depending upon style, school, syllabus, tradition, history, choreographer.  Though the ballet seems so structured - and it is - there is an exception for every rule,

 

There are some turns which are not spotted, some jumps which are not done  with a pointed foot, a run in parallel rather than turned out as preparation for a jump, a jump which uses the arms for impetus, and even a "chicken wing" or two.   There is one jump which the book says - as well as the teacher in the classroom - that the turn must happen in the air with no preparatory turn before the body leaves the ground - and yet physics says this is impossible.  Slow motion shows that physics is correct - the turn has to begin before the body leaves the ground.

 

Were it truly possible to cut the years spent in not only acquiring the tools to dance, but to become the tool for dance, who would not do it?    Who would spend all those years of classes?  Stopping one's turns in a circle on a dime (sixpence) is a good thing - but was it dance?  I'm not saying it wasn't - but (rhetorical question) was it?  What were the arms doing?  Was it well placed?  What were the feet doing? What was the shape of the circle?  Was it consistent?

 

Having a history of dance in another genre before coming to ballet is a good thing.  But ballet fairly well stands alone in its demands.  One of the things I adored about my years of ballet was knowing how very democratic it is.  It requires not only a modicum of physical attributes, but more importantly an investment of time, care, and a fire in the belly.  No  one gets a pass or can truly operate outside those requirements.  It just doesn't happen.

 

Just my opinion.

[Thecatsmother]

I would agree with the comments made above. One can have a great idea of the recipe to make an exquisite cake but if the ingredients are not of reasonable quality and put together following the recipe then the cake may not turn out as defined. Put it in an oven that cooks too quickly then it will not be baked faster..it will just burn.

[Flit and float]

Perfect analogy Balleteacher! Just what I've been thinking about...in my open class I do (reasonably advanced but variety within ages & abilities) you sometimes have people who might know the ballet vocabulary/terminology/what the steps are....but if you're not able to manage a good tendu at the barre you're not quite ready for a tricky grand allegro/pirouettes etc across the floor! You said it better...!

[LinMM]

Well you both took a risk there Michelle!! Luckily it had a good outcome......or as far as you know. If this bloke was showing off he may be regretting it right now!! Lifting strange ladies above your head especially if have "had a few" is probably a recipe for a Christmas back problem!! But at least he didn't drop you or it may have been you suffering and a night to remember for different reasons!

As it is though I'm sure it was very entertaining for everyone and added a lot of enjoyment to their evening but do take it easy so you can get a genuine shot at Aurora in April!!

[Anna C]

Perfect analogy Balleteacher! Just what I've been thinking about...in my open class I do (reasonably advanced but variety within ages & abilities) you sometimes have people who might know the ballet vocabulary/terminology/what the steps are....but if you're not able to manage a good tendu at the barre you're not quite ready for a tricky grand allegro/pirouettes etc across the floor! You said it better...!

Welcome to the forum, Flit and Float. Love your user name - Sound of Music fan? :-)

[Flit and float]

Ha yes! And generally nice waltz-y, balancé-y type ballet too - flitting and floating!

[Anna C]

Fabulous! :-)

[LinMM]

We did a lovely waltzey -balancee enchainement on Saturday in class we ended up doing a piece of group choreography created by the teacher as we went along and the music has been going round in my head since. I'm sure it's either a Strauss piece or from one of the operas. But it was very jolly and we all felt energised after the class!!