'Dance is like wine, it matures with every performance.' - Alarmel Valli

I struggle badly with one thing in dance, and that is foot work. I have improved a lot but I could do with practicing a lot more on this.

Facing the bar in ballet I attempt brushes with the feet, thinking of lengthening through the spine so that it is easier to flick the feet.

In this video I am trying my best to brush along the floor, but you can see that sometimes I don't quite get my feet back to 1st and this is due to not officiating the turn out properly when squeezing the leg back in.

Again on another exercise that includes brushing the feet I got a bit confused. Starting in fifth position I performed a GrandeBattement, followed by a demi plie to brush the leg into another Grand Battement. This was performed en croix. In this exercise I had to be consciously aware of the brushing of the foot before Grand Battement, because if I didn't think about it and thought about my arms I would forget to brush my feet. This in time will become easier with practise.

In ballet I really struggle with jumping sequences. I am a strong jumper due to being an acro gymnast and having to tumble all of the time, but when it comes to jumping with ballet technique I get confused and get a mind block. The jump sequence I attempted was; sissonne, faille, glissade, assemble.

I was over thinking the sequence, which led to my feet doing what they wanted. When we performed it as a group I could do it, just simply copying and going with the other pupils in class, but when it came to doing it in twos I was stuck.

I need to find a way of being able to correct this and also find a medium for concentration (not over thinking), then I will be able to perform the sequence with ease.

When performing ballet sequences in class I feel like I have become more graceful and able to 'show off' more as my confidence has built up.

I have asked one of my dance colleges how they think I have performed in the technique:
"I think that you have improved because you approach it with a different attitude this year, you don't think 'oh my goodness I hate it'. You move through the movement more, you don't just do positions and think ' that needs to be here, and that needs to be here', your more fluent in the way you move now."