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Getting back into ballet is like catching up with an old friend. There are all the pleasant surprises, the "Oh, I'd forgotten about faillis, but I love them and they look so pretty!", but also the moments of "Oh god, I HATE doing chainés @#$&^@#!!!" To be fair, the movements I dislike are pretty much all the ones I suck at or can never do properly or gracelfully.
Partaking of Saizeriya's drink bar right before class perhaps wasn't the best idea ever... Aside from that, though, there's been improvement! I still sucked at the dégagés* in 2nd position, but my fondus were good, my ronds de jambe are getting better, and I almost nailed the small jumps! Until I got mixed up going into the entrechats, that is. Mada mada on the glissade-assemblé-sissonne-etc. enchainement, but I did better than last time, and not too badly at all on the high jumps. Pirouettes were going fairly well, considering, until something twinged in my hip. Luckily, the class ended then, so I spent a few minutes stretching and massaging it, and the pain went away. Let's hope it stays away!
I found it helped to translate everything into French in my head, because the mix of Japanese and Japanese-accented French the teacher explains it in is too much for me to process, on top of the disconnect between my eyes and my brain and my muscles, that I'm trying to mend. It's like trying to speak a language you haven't spoken in years: I understand the words, but it takes a while for the meaning to make it to the rest of my body. Also, I'm sure my head and arms look pretty weird, as this teacher does them differently from what I learned, in a lot of cases, so my rusty instincts are fighting the movements I see the others doing and am trying to copy.
Hands-on corrections are go, it seems, which I'm glad for. How can I improve unless I'm shown how to do better? The teacher didn't touch me last week, when I no doubt looked awful, but maybe he didn't want to scare me away? Maybe he's not sure if I'd understand a verbal correction. XD
Standing in a room full of mirrors surrounded by tiny Japanese women is nearly enough to make me dislike my man shoulders and weird thighs. I need to work on my 2nd position (haha, story of my life!) and find a way to make myself not look like a linebacker when facing forward. The long-sleeved leotard doesn't help, but it's more comfortable that the one with straps. Though I suppose I should show off the fact that my arms actually have some muscle definition for the first time in my life. ^_^;
Speaking of leotards, taking up dance again opens up a whole world of shopping possibilities: dancewear! :D At the very least, I need one or two more pairs of tights as back-up.
Most urgently need work: frappés, battements en rond, petits assemblés, petits jetés, grands jetés à gauche (the hell?!), écarté, chaînés. SPOTTING!
* Not to make excuses for my lack of grace -- I look like a penguin, though that's probably being too generous -- but my slippers stick to the floor, it's so worn. I can't understand how some of the other women keep putting rosin on their slippers! I can barely manage proper turns, so they're certainly not going to slip!
Partaking of Saizeriya's drink bar right before class perhaps wasn't the best idea ever... Aside from that, though, there's been improvement! I still sucked at the dégagés* in 2nd position, but my fondus were good, my ronds de jambe are getting better, and I almost nailed the small jumps! Until I got mixed up going into the entrechats, that is. Mada mada on the glissade-assemblé-sissonne-etc. enchainement, but I did better than last time, and not too badly at all on the high jumps. Pirouettes were going fairly well, considering, until something twinged in my hip. Luckily, the class ended then, so I spent a few minutes stretching and massaging it, and the pain went away. Let's hope it stays away!
I found it helped to translate everything into French in my head, because the mix of Japanese and Japanese-accented French the teacher explains it in is too much for me to process, on top of the disconnect between my eyes and my brain and my muscles, that I'm trying to mend. It's like trying to speak a language you haven't spoken in years: I understand the words, but it takes a while for the meaning to make it to the rest of my body. Also, I'm sure my head and arms look pretty weird, as this teacher does them differently from what I learned, in a lot of cases, so my rusty instincts are fighting the movements I see the others doing and am trying to copy.
Hands-on corrections are go, it seems, which I'm glad for. How can I improve unless I'm shown how to do better? The teacher didn't touch me last week, when I no doubt looked awful, but maybe he didn't want to scare me away? Maybe he's not sure if I'd understand a verbal correction. XD
Standing in a room full of mirrors surrounded by tiny Japanese women is nearly enough to make me dislike my man shoulders and weird thighs. I need to work on my 2nd position (haha, story of my life!) and find a way to make myself not look like a linebacker when facing forward. The long-sleeved leotard doesn't help, but it's more comfortable that the one with straps. Though I suppose I should show off the fact that my arms actually have some muscle definition for the first time in my life. ^_^;
Speaking of leotards, taking up dance again opens up a whole world of shopping possibilities: dancewear! :D At the very least, I need one or two more pairs of tights as back-up.
Most urgently need work: frappés, battements en rond, petits assemblés, petits jetés, grands jetés à gauche (the hell?!), écarté, chaînés. SPOTTING!
* Not to make excuses for my lack of grace -- I look like a penguin, though that's probably being too generous -- but my slippers stick to the floor, it's so worn. I can't understand how some of the other women keep putting rosin on their slippers! I can barely manage proper turns, so they're certainly not going to slip!
