Summer school

Last week, I went to my second summer school- it was local, and just ballet, for three hours a day. Our teacher, Miss Judith, was so wonderful and enthusiastic- but soooo strict and meticulous over our technique!!! On the first day, we had been in class for over half an hour, and had only done plies, tendus and glisse at the barre. And wow, I had no idea that three simple exercises could be so wonderfully complex when considered in intricate detail- Miss Judith explained exactly which muscles to use to increase our turnout range, and corrected things that id never even considered; such as the positioning of the arm in 5th, or using the inner thighs to give stability in releves.... I also liked how on some of the days, before we began barrework, we did some floorbarre and Pilates exercises, to strengthen the core muscles. The actual classwork was easy (except for a few advanced steps- jetes battus or double pirouettes to arabesque!), but it allowed for a lot of focus on artistry, and purity of line; the style was how I imagine it would be at White Lodge- very refined and graceful, with a lot of emphasis on strength, and immaculate technique! It was hard work but so worth it- I think it helped me improve a lot, I'm even more determined to go to full-time ballet school so I can dance every day!!!! Hope everyone's having a great summer xoxo

BTUK Summer School

Heyya! I'm really sorry I've not blogged in ages! Anyway, last week I was at Ballet Theatre UK's Summer Course- it was Amazing!!! There was a lot of pointework, which I found quite challenging- I ached so much after the first day!! To be honest, it did make me wonder wether I'd ever be able to cope with full-time ballet school, and I felt like giving up. But then, I thought back to Associates on Sunday, and the wonderful sense of achievement I felt in the adagio exercise, when my teacher said to me "Yes! That has improved a lot!" I know that it would be impossible for me to live without dance, there's just something irresistible in striving every day to improve, to express the music through strength and grace..... At summer school, we learnt the pas de trois solos from "The Snow Queen" and also the Waltz of the Flowers from Alice in Wonderland. I loved how dynamic and creative the choreography was! The other girls on the course were all Amazing dancers so I felt kind of intimidated by them, but they were really friendly and talkative which was lovely. I really enjoyed the classes taught by dancers from the Ballet Theatre UK company, I learnt a lot about performance technique! At Associates in July, we received our reports- my musicality mark wasn't as good as I would've liked, so summer school was a great opportunity for me to focus on that, and make sure that I showed the connection between the music and movement. Also, the contemporary and Jazz classes were great fun, I've not really done much Jazz before but it felt good to dance in a different way to ballet! I hope everyone is having a great summer, I'm off to the leisure centre now for swimming, yoga and gym :D