I'm taking a NEW ballet class!

my new leg warmers

After taking an open adult basic ballet class since Sept. at a fancy ballet studio downtown, I decided I needed more ballet in my life.  I love my Sunday class, but I feel like I've hit a plateau of what I'm learning in class.  The class is pretty big (15-20 people on average) and there is no personalized attention in the class.  I don't get corrected and the entire time I'm pretty much in a frenzy to copy whatever the teacher is doing.  I can't possibly be doing things correctly when I'm frazzled and trying to stick with the choreography.

So, I found a small ballet studio closer to my house and I've taken 2 classes so far and I LOVE IT.  My friend is doing it with me too and we are learning SO much.  I think I've learned more in the 2 classes I've taken than the entire 6 months of open classes I've attended.

The studio is run by a Russian family and my instructor is a former Russian ballerina named Anastasia.  Seriously.  She is kind but firm and really wants to make sure we are doing things correctly.  So far there have only been 3 students in each class on Tue. nights: me, my friend who is a beginner too, and another Russian girl who is way more advanced than we are.  But our teacher is patient and makes sure to correct our poor technique every time.

Here is my new ballet teacher Anastasia.

So far I've learned that I stick my butt out too much and don't suck my stomach in enough during class, that I am gripping the ballet barre for dear life instead of lightly holding it, that my toes are never pointed enough, but that my turnout isn't all that bad.

The class is only for one hour but we really do learn so much in that short hour.  In the last class our teacher asked us if we were interested in participating in a short performance that the studio holds in June! Can you IMAGINE that?  Of course I said yes, but I'm SCARED SHITLESS. 

So of course, the next logical thing to do would be to order a ballet barre so I can practice at home.  It should be arriving in 2 days!

Until then I'm making sure to stretch every night.  I leave you with some of the things we do in class:

We start with simple plies in 1st position, 4th and 5th positions.  Then we move on to tendus in 1st position to the front, side and back.  Then we do grand battements, some work on releve, then we do what the teacher calls "adagio" which is simply lifting our legs slowly to the front, side and back.  We continue practicing our cou de pies (aka really hard work), then we stretch, practice running and finally jumping and stretching.

I'm very excited about finally getting better but I think it's going take a LONG time to notice some real improvement.  Ballet is freaking hard.