How pain sometimes gets in the way...

Today we had ballet. I woke up not feeling very well but I thought I would try and attempt class. I danced in the first few exercises at the bar and discovered that I wasn't feeling too good. I continued for a few more exercises and then decided to sit out and spectate the rest of the class.

When I was dancing, I realised that I was able to try and perform the movements with my head and arms. In the reading 'Eye Flight' it describes that if you have something inside of you, a feeling, a desire, then you can use that to help enhance your performance on the outside of the body. Internal physicality gives external expression.  As I was thinking about the pain I was in, the co-ordination in my body seemed to just happen. I began to realise that I was starting to grasp the ballet ways and that I can co-ordinate my body in this technique now. I made the occasional mistake when I was dancing, and I just continued without pulling a face or making it known; I would never have done this in ballet before as I have always felt like I wasn't good enough. When covering up my mistakes I felt more relaxed compared to when I usually do ballet. I now know that if I relax more in ballet the movements will come to me a lot easier than when I am tense incase I make a mistake.

I'll show a few of the video's that I recorded when I was observing and I will explain what came to mind and how I thought I would have performed the sequences.

Observing Feliciana (Front) I discovered that she didn't move to her potential. When she began the sequence she should have thought about using every part of the foot on the floor throughout the sequence. I noticed also, that she wasn't fully upright on her standing leg, so her hips included a lot of movement. When I perform this is one of the main things that I think about, because I feel, that when your standing up or pulling up form the center then you are always on balance and you are in control of the rest of you body. Also, I always test that I am on my toes instead of sitting back on my leg; in doing this my sequence goes well and feel a lot happier in myself, along with a sensation of relief.


In the following sequence, they performed a Rond de jambe. I could see that most of the class end up forgetting about their feet as the sequence continues, as they are concentrating on 'what comes next?'. If I was performing this sequence I would be thinking about lengthening beyond the point of my toes, going through every metatarsal in the foot, across the floor, to push and lengthen round to the back (vise versa). As my turn out has improved loads since the beginning of this year, I can now concentrate on including my head into my dancing. When I do this I have a number of feelings that occur:

• Happiness.
• Overwelmed.
• I feel balletic.
• I feel like I am a part of the ballet class.
• Sense of belonging.

Again, I witnessed a few pupils in the class struggling with lumbar folds or forward bends due to their lack of flexibility. I feel that I could still attempt to lengthen out of my waist when performing this movement, as I have a tendency to relax as this comes easily to me. Using this flexibility that I have, when performing lunges at the bar I can get into a deep lunge, but i need to also think about a nice line from my toes to my head.

Thinking about the use of flexibility...

In this video you will see my teacher explaining the exercise to us. She begins the exercise with seven kicks. In these kicks you can see that she uses her body to move the leg and she uses the head to present the movement. She then goes through passe (brushing the foot) to keeping the leg turned out to straightening the leg front and to second. She continues on to brushing the floor whilst doing Grand Battement (en croix) to finishing facing the bar.

You can see that she has a broad range of flexibility in her movement and she looks balletic at all times (even when marking through the movement). Even though I have the flexibility to do this I cannot look soft and fluent. This makes me feel uncomfortable and as if 'I am letting myself down' as I try my best to be like this, but in myself I feel stiff.

Adagio (Adage).

When performing an Adage I enjoy moving. This is because I can feel my muscles and bones contracting through every piece of slow movement. This is an enjoyable feeling for me as this is where I think I can express my emotions. When I was watching the class I couldn't feel their emotions. This was a little disappointing for me as I was expecting a 'mini performance' from everyone and only one or two people showed me this, and I felt personally that Adage's are perfect to explore 'beyond the room' emotions and movements.

Next time I perform an adage I will be thinking of it as an opportunity to perform and explore the lengthening motions that go through the body. Moving slowly helps the balletic performance as you have a chance to move through emotion and show the audience that you are in control and you are relaxed about it. This is normally the only chance I get to do this in Ballet as normally I am stressing over certain movements.

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Being sharp!

Making every movement sharp in this sequence is a must. When performed with precision the movement looks aesthetically pleasing and 'on point'. Here you can hear the teacher talk about keeping 'up' as this helps to stay on top of the center and keep on balance, helping to keep the movement clear and continuous. Having the use of spotting when performing the pirouette will help to keep to turn equal and you will finish the movement correctly instead of off balance. You will also hear her mention brushing when preparing for the pirouette; this helps to feel the floor but also travel forwards, further than the leg.

When travelling from one corner of the room to the next, the teacher thinks about the dynamics of the movement. This sequence included:

• Pique x2
• Tombe
• Par de Bourree
• 4th
• Pirouette (Land)
• Attitude
• Step, step, brush leg around
• Tombe, Par de Bourree
• 4th
• Pirouette (Land arms in 3rd)
• Arabesque.

If I was to perform this sequence I would be constantly thinking about moving beyond my means of movement, whilst still thinking of the technique (attempting to travel). Turn out is essential throughout this whole phrase.

As a handful of the students couldn't grasp the pirouettes correctly, Shaun (teacher) decided to perform an exercise that included doing pirouettes around the whole studio. This would have been a massive help to me, had I have been able to perform, as I struggle doing pirouettes with ballet technique. I observed the pupils to see how they spot, stand over there legs and to see who was struggling and why this occured, so that I could practise the correct way when I was better.

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Following on form this, the next exercise came back from the corner and was a travelling sequence. This involved:

Again, the legs in this sequence need to be sharp when performing it to the full as this is more eye-catching. I felt like I could have performed this phrase with ease as it is very basic movements. I was therefore, disheartened when I knew that I wasn't able to perform.

Emotions that arose...

•  Disheartened due to not being well enough to do the class, as this is my main technique I need to improve on.
• Pleased that I could watch the class, as it is always good to view corrections and mistakes as I can apply this to future movements.
• Determination to improve.
• I thought to myself that I need to practise more.
• Attempting more classes outside of lesson may help further.
• Admiration for Shaun, as she is a fantastic dancer and person; if you put in effort you will improve and further your dancing career.