#class journal

[katsstudykorner]

A page out of a journal for a class I took in Greece

[katsstudykorner]

May 14, 2019, Olympia

Another entry from my journal from Greece. I ended up sketching what I thought the body of Aphrodite might look like based off my observations of her other statues. (You might have to click to see clearly)

[curiodances]

Radiance

[curiodances]

Evening class aesthetic

[curiodances]

You know it’s really showtime when I’ve found a secluded corner of the theatre to lay on the floor with my feet in the air

[curiodances]

Tech week brings with it a lot of weird moments, but making fried eggs and toast at 11:45 PM is up there

[curiodances]

Class 11 Nov 2019

Successes

All in all, class just felt really good! I was a little tense at the start because of driving on icy roads, but once barre began, I settled in and felt like dancing. In particular, taking barre on flat and center en pointe seemed like a good system; I felt warm and in control without already being tired and achey by the time we got to center.

Some specific successes:

My arabesque is ?? hella??? like wow where did that come it’s beautiful

My attitude turns (en pointe) were really smooth and lovely

I had a really nice, airy quality in our petit allegro and my feet were really nicely shaped in the developpe en releve in particular

Way to kill it in fouette turns (on the right especially)!! I felt like I could’ve kept going for ages

Overall, pointework was really nice — sure and precise but still with a presentational quality that’ll be particularly good in Flowers for Nutcracker

Struggles

Doing fouette turns out of soutenu really was a challenge today; when I managed them, it was only on the right and my working leg was really turned in. The rhythm/mechanism of that transition just didn’t click.

My pointe shoes on my right foot just don’t seem right. I think I need to go up 1/2 a size if I can: the heel kept slipping, my toe’s bruised from Saturday, etc. It made it really difficult to get en pointe especially in turns and piques.

Goals

I need to learn how to use my arabesque in my leaps. I have the flexibility and enough strength that I should be able to but I need to work on the coordination and mechanism of it.

Notes

I’ve been slacking off on my PT for the last week and I can really feel it in my stretches (which probably also means it’s impacting my extensions/etc). 

I need to resew the elastics and ribbons on my pointe shoes because they were all falling apart.

[curiodances]

Class 9 August 2019

Successes

Dance just felt good today. 

My pirouettes both on flat and en pointe were really solid. I didn’t get a lot of revolutions necessarily but I was in control from preparation to landing.

Overall my extensions were really solid, too. During adagio in the center, my extensions devant and a la seconde were at least at 90º and my hips didn’t feel nearly as grippy.

We started learning the Orange Solo from Birthday Variations  which is so far pretty fun. Plus we got to do a little bit of a men’s solo that was just pure grande allegro (& I got to do each side twice!!).

Struggles

My new shoes were killer during pointe. The higher vamp + harder shank combo meant lots of friction across the whole top side of my foot and I was ready to take them off before we finished barre. 

I still really need to work on maintaining my rotation, especially in my standing leg. I’ve gotten much more conscious of it when I’m on two legs such as in pliés or soussus but I tend to let it go when I’m working on one leg.

I hate these flat shoes so muuuuch. They feel like they’re sliding off my feet and the soles don’t cover my metatarsals and blech.

Goals

I really want to get back to consistent triple pirouettes on flat and at least strong doubles en pointe. I know I have the skill and technique, I just need to commit to the turns when I start and hold firm in them as I go.

Notes

Today’s schedule:

1 hr 50 min technique class

1 hr pointe class

1 hr variations class