#learn ballet

[sailormoonsub]

I think maybe he needs to take a little time to figure himself out, first. Focus on school. Ya know.

[emily-pfeiffer-blog]

How to Do Basic Ballet Jazz - Ruggieri Dance Academy

[basketballsizedbumblebee]

Does anybody know a site where I can learn ballet except not pay for it? Or I guess that doesn't cost very much?

[onpointeopaki]

Merry Christmas! I'm celebrating mine with my brand new soundfreaq sound spot. Love it already. Soon this will be pumping out swan lake to dance ballet to, but right now I'm rocking out to Shaimus and the Pixies and Smith Westerns in my room. 'Taint ballet, but dancing like nobody's watching is always satisfying.

Have a lovely one, you guys.

[onpointeopaki]

My chances of becoming a ballerina are zero

So just for fun, I decided to check out the likelihood that I could ever make a career dancing. Not that I thought I ever had a chance, but the chances are, like, depressingly low - even if I started dancing at the age of four. Standards to get into ballet schools and companies  are increasingly high. According to The Guardian, at the White Lodge ballet school in the UK, only a dozen out of a thousand applicants are chosen each year and only a quarter of those students get into the upper school. Students are assessed at the end of each year and kicked out if they don't meet the standard. Technique has also grown more difficult over time. The development of ballet techniques as an art has influenced changes in other areas of performance. For example, costumes have become shorter over time to show off complex moves. It also became more difficult for older dancers to achieve the physical perfection required: The Telegraph states that between the 80s and the 90s, the average retirement age dropped from forty to twenty-nine. Standards for body shape have also evolved. Many instructors of the White Lodge ballet school would not have passed their own standards for students when they were teenagers. Students today also achieve more extreme flexibility than they did in their time.

To compare the how standards, costume and technique have evolved, this is Sarah Lamb, a dancer currently employed by the Royal Ballet. 

(Picture obtained from theballetblog.tumblr.com)

This is what ballet dancers from the early 1900s looked like - the woman in the middle is Prima ballerina. They are curvier, their proportions are more balanced, the leg does not appear to achieve as extreme a height, and the skirt is a bit longer and less stiff.

Portrait of the Mathilde Kschessinskaya (1872-1971), Prima ballerina of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres)

The ideal body for classical ballet has long legs and a short torso, which, so says Pointe Magazine, became fashionable after the choreographer Balachine became famous, as that was preferred aesthetic. As someone with long legs and a long torso (ending up several inches too tall for the petite look traditional companies aim for), I certainly wouldn't make the cut.  However, there is room for dancers of different body types depending on the style of dancing and company you work with. Supposedly there are different niches of dance that are ideal for different body types. For example, contemporary dance tends to have dancers with more muscular builds. It all depends upon the aesthetic that the director is trying to create, and what is fashionable and popular at the time. Dancing is a visual art, and the way a person looks factors into that as well as technique. Different bodies create different lines and may not look harmonious with other bodies. Even Russia's alternative ballet company, the "Big Ballet", which hires dancers who are overweight, has to keep this in mind, and has certain requirements to keep a symmetrical aesthetic - the minimum weight to join is 15 stones, or 210 pounds.

Dancer from the Big Ballet (acquired from thisisthinprivilege.tumblr.com)

There are niches for a variety of body types in the dance world, but the fact is, though, that standards are extremely stringent, especially in more traditional companies. Anastasia Volochkova was fired from her position as prima ballerina from a Russian company after getting 'too heavy' at 110 pounds. Ballet is also an extremely popular pursuit and competition for having a real career in it is high, which makes the standards even higher. This means the number of extra 'chances' that Tara and Kat and other students seem to get in the TV show 'Dance Academy' is really unrealistic, especially for a prestigious school with high integrity. It also means that my chances of having a career in ballet are incalculably close to zero.

I don't have dreams of becoming a prima ballerina, but I genuinely wish lots of luck to those of you who do. :) I'm seriously impressed by you all who are pushing the limits of dance even higher through hard work. Just don't kill yourselves doing it, please.

Source Articles: Ballet by numbers - The Telegraph Will they make royal ballet? - The Guardian A brief history of ballet - Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Big Ballet needs bigger dancers - The Telegraph Too fat? Too thin? Too tall? Too short? - Pointe Magazine

[hotsauceonlemons]

It's so annoying when you dog decides to tap dance when it's sleepy time

[whatsyourbucketlist]

[blvddelam-blog]

This year I resolve to: Learn ballet and touch my toes.

(via: Boulevard de la Madeleine |source: We Heart It)