Michelle_Richer

Here is a question on pirouettes used in PDD on demi-pointe. I have always accepted that I could never get more than a single turn when assisted by my partner when on demi pointe, mainly because of the additional friction caused by his sliding hands around my waist. However one of the dancers at my rehearsal said she could get up to three turns whilst on demi-pointe when assisted by her partner. For me with no partner a double isn’t too much trouble, and on a good day a triple is possible. I have always put those wonderful multiple turn pirouettes in PDDs down to the low friction of being on full pointe. How much of this is down to my partner or me?

I can certainly agree with there description in the title caption that it is one of the hardest moves in ballet. As for Picturesinthefirelight DD’s two missing observations, could these be the lack of spotting in the animation, also the releve is described as a rise. I’m not an expert on Fouettes but I’m being coached on these at the moment for the ending of ENB’s Gulnare solo from le Corsaire, as this has a sequence of pose, double pose into two fouettes, repeated three times. In pirouettes I’m a riser with my releve’s rather than a snatcher. My teacher insists I must snatch up the releve, as will immediately be on my centre balance. They certainly aren’t easy in comparison to the usual pirouettes.

It seems my ballet diary is getting extremely full, it’s becoming difficult to manage, as I’ve already had to make compromises and switch some of my studio bookings. We seem to be running behind with our summer show rehearsals in London, as our piece covering “Autumn” seems to have evolved into at least four pieces danced to four separate pieces music but chained together, I think we will certainly need some extra rehearsal days to catch up, still lots to do covering the other seasons. Our RAD Associates group at Elmhurst have been asked to be part an event to celebrate The Patron’s Lunch and our Royal Patron’s 90th Birthday on the 12 June by putting on a ballet class demonstration at the New Street Station where Harlequin dance floors have agreed to provide and sponsor the floor for dancers to use. The adult class piece is likely to be approximately 30-45 minutes long and if there is the appetite; repeat the session late that day. I will certainly be up for that. Although it not a dress rehearsal as such, we also have to attend a practice run through session on that type of dance floor on the 8th of May. It looks as if my Rep group is finally off the ground with a date for our first meeting, its going under the name of Glen Ballet SHG (Self Help Group), and has the blessing of one of my local ballet schools where we are hiring one of their studios. At the moment we are very small, three ladies including myself, and two guys, one of those guys is my boyfriend. Although we are very small group I’m re-choreographing “Waltz of the Swans” from Swan Lake as our first piece due to a relive small number of movements, its tempo and repetitive nature of its steps as our trial piece. The session has the same basic format: Warm-up, Barre, Centre practice mainly based on step type required for Rep. The rep itself is built up week by week taking as long as required as my dancers have never danced from the classics before and are a little apprehensive about their retention level. Finally ending with a stretch/cool-down and closed with a formal reverence. Although I have another dancer who is keen to join us but can only do evenings, my boyfriend has suggested I do both as I have another studio available for Thursday evenings, but that on hold for the moment until we see how this pans out, particularly the infrastructure as that takes time.

LAB have a date for the Summer Intensive too, 1 to 6th August, I checked with Tom on Monday night as he is also my English National Ballet teacher, as yet he hasn't decided what the Summer Intensive is based on, at least not until the Spring one is out of the way. Just keep an eye on their website http://www.londonamateurballet.com/lab---the-lab... From Crystal Ballet(London) If you fancy a sunday of ballet this weekend then join us! We're holding a day of choreographic work - ballet class, a study of Willis from Giselle and even a new work by Vanessa Helen Fenton http://crystalballet.com/index.php/event/crystal-ballet-choreographic-workshop.html that sounds really good, sadly I cant make it, I must try them sometime.

Fantastic, the owner of one of my ballet schools has Ok’ed my use of her school to run my repertoire group. There have been a couple of further developments, one of my ladies has ask if her husband can come along to do some partner work, oh gosh PDD already. I am also aware that they may be at least one more that would like to join us but is working when the studio is available. I casually mentioned I may be looking for an evening studio in the future to another local Ballet school, and that owner has offered me Thursday evenings if I want it, as its available at the moment, but that could change. The group will meet weekly starting the first week after Easter. Had a brilliant day at Elmhurst with RAD on Sunday after the awful trip there through freezing fog. I spent the whole day with them doing all 4 sessions; they also gave me permission to use the studio during the lunch break. I got to run through the entrance of Kitri from Don Q a few times; however I couldn’t get their audio system working with my tablet. I ask one of our teachers but she didn’t know as we used a pianist for all our sessions. Next time I will take a small sound system of my own in, especially as it may be a different studio next time. Running a full day at Elmhurst into the next day with ENB has taken its toll on my legs Grrrrr . But never the less I think it was worth it tonight. It may be my imagination, but my grand jete’s seemed to be up for longer, my balance at the barre and in the centre with the leg in attitude derriere, seemed much more solid and stay up much longer than most. The only disappointing bit was when we were allowed to finish off our enchainement with our own choice of turns. I went for the ending of the Gulnare solo from Le Corsaire, which is a pose turn, double pose turn into a fouette. The choice of ending was presented in both the Advanced and Intermediate classes, my fouettes were awful, they came off balance; I think I was just rushing without my gesturing leg being turned out properly before whipping it in. I had only been working on that in the morning with my private coach but at ENB I just made a pigs ear of it, the other turns were fine. Guess its just practice, practice and more practice.

Oh yes Sheila.

Sorry if some of this is duplicated in other threads, but I was asked to compile a list for another forum and thought the info would be useful here too. Keep an eye on Holistic Ballet as Franziska does run some excellent Repertoire Workshops. I guess her latest one (25 to 28 March) is most probably fully booked. http://www.holisticballet.com/#!repertoire-course-2016/x01gf “She Said Ballet Intensive” by English National Ballet (London) 10 April 10am to 4pm Venue: Markover House, 39 Jey Mews, London SW7 2ES £50.00 http://www.ballet.org.uk/whats-on/shesaid/ballet-intensive-she-said-10apr/ Giselle Repertoire Workshop (London) by the Alive Ballet Company 24 April 10am to 5pm Venue: The Place Studio(Nr Kings Cross), 16 Flaxman Terrace, Kings Cross, London WC1H 9AT £105.00 http://www.dancealive.london/workshop/ballet/ Don Quixote Repertoire Workshop by RAD (London) 22May 10.30am to 1pm Closing date for booking 2 May Venue: Royal Academy of Dance, 36 Battersea Square, London SW11 3RA £36.00 http://www.rad.org.uk/events/adult-repertoire-workshop Sleeping Beauty Repertoire Workshop by RAD (Birmingham) 3 July 10.15am to 12.45pm Closing date for booking 13 June Venue: Elmhurst School for Dance, 249 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7UH £36.00 http://www.rad.org.uk/events/adult-repertoire-workshop-1 3 Day Intensive by Ballet Retreat 27 to 29 August Venue: Northern Ballet Studio’s, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PA £279 A combination of technique, artistry and repertoire. http://www.theballetretreat.com Don Quixote Repertoire Workshop by RAD (Birmingham) 4 December 10.15am to 12.45pm Closing date for booking 14 November Venue: Elmhurst School for Dance, 249 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7UH £36.00 http://www.rad.org.uk/events/adult-repertoire-workshop-2 It’s also worth pointing out that RAD Birmingham at Elmhurst do permit attendance of their Adult Associate classes on a drop in basis. I will check if they have any more Rep Workshops etc planned as I will be with them on Sunday.

Wow I seem to be away for ages, things seems to go downhill from half term. This was to have been a week to at least get a bit of chilling out done, however I did get to see Just Ballets new shop and her fantastic range of tutu’s, to die for. Thursday was my blackest day with only three and a half hours sleep as I had a full days meeting in London starting early. Normally I can tolerate a couple of days a week with only fours, but three and half really took its toll. The following week almost everything I was doing was going backwards, I am sure I was still suffering from inadequate sleep, the only upside was the beautiful new piece we were doing at rehearsal, it was to “Gabriel’s Obo”, the melody is really slow, the dance simple but so beautify, it stirs up such feeling and passion, it made you want to cry as it was so emotional. By the end of last week things turned around they became very very positive. Firstly, at one of my rep coaching sessions we ran though our version of the “Entrance of Kitri “ from Don Q, which has been re-choreographed to remove the interaction between the corps de ballet, which lies between the two halves, thus making it more dancey and truly a solo. The second half was also re-choreographed from Mariinsky as we needed a little more time to get into an assertive Spanish pose to punctuate the end, which really does say O’lay. We started work on a second piece which I had been playing around with as there was something I didn’t like about it. It was Gulnare Solo from Le Corsaire. It had a couple of flick jete’s in it, I wasn’t even keen on them when done by professionals, so I decided they had to go. The beginning of Gulnare Solo to ENB, with a lot of Mariinsky and Bolshoi blended in. After trying various options with my coach we went back to look a replacing the flick jete with turning cabrials from Mariinsky. This was a movement I wasn’t familiar with, and I found it quite difficult. Getting into the first turning cabrial seemed reasonably ok, but a second was connected by what looked like a flick to retire for what was to be the pivoting foot, a little bit like a lame duck. Eventually I cracked it, but it still needs tidying. We have taken every thing after the promenade, through the turning cabrials to the two jete en turnants , except we complete three. The final ending is to be that of ENB which I think is quite awesome with pose, double pose, fouette, fouette, all repeated three time and travelling on the diagonal. At the moment the ending is beyond me, however the last run-through at my coaching session as everything else went well, I just went for it, and managed to get at least one pose, double pose, fouette, fouette set of steps executed. For me that was a significant move forward. Something out of the blue: Two ladies from one of my classes have asked if I can take them through some basic rep from one of the classics. I have asked one of the teachers at that school if they have any objection to me hiring one of their studios for this purpose, as I don’t want to tread on anyone’s toes, she was ok with it, I have ask her to check with the principle as I don’t want to sour our relationship as they really look after me with my own studio hire. Finally got a quotation back for my studio extension, at the moment the pricing looks feasible although a little expensive, however I’m still waiting for the drawings so I can apply for planning permission, until then its only a may be. If its on there will be lots to do so I will have to seriously pull back on the amount of ballet I do,other than performance rehearsals and of course my annual one week of one-to-one rep coaching at Ballet West.

Hi BalletRocks1 I don’t know if you are aware but RAD at Elmhurst will permit drop-in. I have booked two of their classes for the whole 4 week term and I’ve asked them if I can cover the remainder of the classes for that day for the rest of the term on a drop in basis, to which they have said yes. For me its along way to travel (over 100 miles each way) and its all car journey, as its only one day a month, a Sunday. So it makes good sense to make the most of it and blanket cover all of their classes, besides they encourage other dancers to join the absolute beginners as I think there is only three of them, I guess the perception is, it feels less intimidating for the beginners with safety in numbers. RAD are thinking of adding a new level in next year as the existing dancers advance. Anyway it would be nice to see you there.

Hi BalletRocks1 Sounds good value, I guess there will only be time for one or two pieces, perhaps you could find out what scenes are being taught, I'm sure others would like to know. All of the R & J workshops I’ve attended have had the “Dance of the Knights” as a common piece; unfortunately some of the girls have to dance the guys part for partnering on this one. Although I have no interest in R & J, do keep us posted on other events coming up. I think some time ago you may have posted about the Adult Associates starting at Elmhurst, did you ever go?.

Just dropped a detailed request for info from Hannah, I will share the info if it looks meaningful.

Hi Sheila I was aware that you had moved up to Wisbech, I spoke to one of your girls a few months back at the old shop, you had moved but you hadn’t opened your new shop at that time. I see your shop was open now from another thread that you started. I must come over and see it in the next week or two as I have a little bit of breathing space at the weekends for a short while. After having a couple of lovely classes with RAD last weekend, I have been in touch with them again to ask if I can join their remaining Adult Associate classes at Elmhurst. They have said yes. It just makes sense as its 106 miles by car each way, so it’s a case of just making a complete day of it. I very nearly had a rehearsal trip to Edinburgh every week but that fell through. I see you have joined a local ballet class, is that in Wisbech?, its not the one above the Angles Theatre is it?.

I think the calf muscle is just about healed after tonight’s classes at ENB. I must confess I was expecting trouble from the calf as I had very little rest over the weekend. I had done two sessions this morning (Monday) and was really tired. I had done two sessions on Sunday with RAD at Elmhurst, with a really lovely teacher. That was no problem, but the journey home was. I came off the beaten track to call and see my aunt at Loughborough who I hadn’t seen since my teens. Journey there was fine, but on the way back I had to rely on my sat-nav which took me down all the little country roads, combined with the fact it was dark and raining heavily, visibility was extremely poor. It was just an awful arduous journey. Once I got going at ENB the tiredness disappeared, at the end of the two evening classes I felt absolutely brilliant, in particular, no problem with my left Achilles which is nearly always present to some degree, I just couldn’t believe it. That was a little short lived. I took the most gentle route from ENB to Kings Cross via 10 bus from outside the Royal Albert Hall to Knightsbridge tube station (nearest underground without long walk). Then underground to Kings Cross in a standing/ moving position to avoid stiffness through Lactic acid build-up. However minor but annoying discomfort was present in that Achilles when I got off the tube, however by the time I reached King Cross concourse, the discomfort had gone. Some discomfort had also returned after my hour long train journey home, it is just so very annoying.

Today was the acid test for my injured right calf, although still slightly swollen, just over half an inch greater in circumference than the left, it held up well during the Grand Allegro at my two classes at ENB tonight (Monday), the total class endurance today was just under 5 hours, more if you count the additional pre-class studio time I got at ENB as the company was away. Although its not quite fully healed, it much much improved. The only discomfort I have is on the full depth of a plie, and the height of a rise, however I can also feel it with stretched tendu to a la second. But otherwise it does not impede me to any real extent.

Hi Moomin Giving up just isn’t in my psyche, its not something I would do voluntarily. I remember when I first joined balletCo back in 2012, thinking that there was only so far I could go with my remaining life span. Well my horizons have moved and are far more fluid now, I do remember posting something to the effect that I had my own small ballet studio and it would not be worthwhile making it bigger by eating in to my capital. Well that seams to have gone out the window, I have a man pricing a 5 metre extension for me. A common thing I hear from teachers and dancers alike, injuries are part of being a dancer, I certainly believe that, but never the less one has to take care and listen to ones own body and act accordingly. I guess in the last couple of weeks there hasn’t been much time for recovery as its been ballet for 6 out of the 7 days, but whoopee I have a weekend off this weekend. Wednesdays however is always a nice day for me, I regard it as pleasure rather than work as in Mon and Tues. Wednesday is a couple of fitness classes and a beginners ballet class with a group of really nice ladies which is real fun. Never the less its quite challenging because of its simplicity. I find it quite difficult doing barre exercises like a penguin, that is, with the arms just stuck out in second. Its almost second nature that my body wants to go into port de bras as I would at my ENB Intermediate and Advanced class. The class at one time was very small only two or three of us, now its swollen to around 8 or 9. This week I had there Lincoln teacher join us again as one of the dancers, I think she was Fiz’s teacher at one time. She shared the centre barre with me. Oh Woops she picked me up on my right supporting leg when we were doing Rond de jambes, so I said with my legs parallel, look at my legs, you could clearly see the swelling on the right foot, so we both swapped stories about crashing jete’s . I did a stretch and tone class after that ballet class and achieved a first for me, we were doing box splits, but I have never been able to get my forearms flat on the floor, almost there last week, this week they were solidly down and I was quite chuffed. I love that school as I hire a studio there every Friday for a couple of hours to run through my own repertoire, its always spotlessly clean and the heating on prior to my arrival, they really do look after me well.

I don’t want this to sound foolhardy but I have had some success. Firstly the swelling on my right leg increased the circumference by at least 1.5 inches compared to the left and it was as tight as drum, it just felt like a slab of lifeless meat. Monday just by chance on another group I belong to, I see a video on Calf Muscle Massage by Lisa Howard. That inspired me to try something, also as a precaution I didn’t attend my two classes at ENB as the impact of the grand allegro from them was sure to sustain additional injury. Monday I used a combination of hot and cold to reduce the swelling, it really didn’t have much effect, I also tried Ibuprofen tablets as an anti-inflammatory. After seeing Lisa’s video I tried massage oil but you can use any moisturiser, I then turned to using Ibuprofen gel. There was no real evidence on Tuesday morning that anything had changed, however I continued with the massage and ibuprofen tablets. It wasn’t until I got off the train at Kings Cross late Tuesday afternoon, that I realised I had a tiny bit more movement in the right leg, it wasn’t quite so tight. Also I had an almost involuntary urge to stretch it, I ended up doing an almost power walk trying to increase the range of that foot. This may sound silly but in a funny sort of way it was like it “hurts nice”. Follow the Link to Lisa Howard video: http://www.theballetblog.com/portfolio/exercises-for-tight-calf-muscles/ I think I had always intended to go to Tuesday rehearsal, even if it was just to observe, however I did tell my teacher of my injury and I would probably avoid jumps. We did our usual warm-up with a short barre and a bit of centre including jumps, and my feet felt reasonably fine but still a little stiff, they certainly were no problem running through the rep. At one point us girls had a bit of a break while our two guys were coached by our teacher, I did a few forced plie to extend the range of my right foot, afterwards I thought about something I was strengthening my foot and ankle to do via my private Monday teacher, it was the snatch-up releve’s for pirouettes, when on the snatch-up the toes on demi-pointe replace where the heels were, In the past I have been a riser rather than a snatcher for launching pirouettes. I tried on my right (weakest foot), it was no problem I ran about 10 or 12 off without getting tired, the same with the left. It seems the strengthening exercises set by my Monday teacher have had a very positive effect. Although thing have much improved and I have lost about half an inch of swelling, there is still some way to go before I am fully out of the woods, so I am still just a little bit cautious. Hopefully I will be fully fit by Sunday the 7th of Feb when I start RADs Adult Associate classes at Elmhurst.

This is a result of a mail drop from Sonya at Brightonballetschool “We are looking for amateur dancers from beginners through to advanced level in ballet, tap and contemporary, particularly male dancers, to take place in a show that we are planning to hold on 24th July 2016 in Brighton's Old Market Theatre, Sussex. We will be doing variations from Swan Lake, La Fille as well as several contemporary dance and tap numbers. If you are interested in joining us please get in touch 07595303180 www.brightonballetschool.co.uk email brightonballetschool@mac.com”

Its been three weeks since starting back after the Christmas break, I assumed with the loss of LAB rehearsals, things would be getting a bit slack for somehow it seems quite different, particularly the tiredness at the end of the week. Although I didn’t hear anymore from Edinburgh Ballet Circle, the greatest impact I think has come from my one-to-one technique class, which follows stretch and tone class from the same teacher. Our topic for focus is pirouettes and travelling turns and she really has gone back to basics. At the second session I mentioned my abbs were starting to get a bit sore, she replied that’s because your strengthening your core with the exercises I gave you. The next week that had disappeared, but I was starting to feel muscles I had never felt before particularly at the back of my legs behind the knee, also I felt a change in my right calf but I wouldn’t describe it as pain plus it was a little stiff too. On the following Wednesday I did Sleaford’s Adult Ballet Beginners class , there we had two new ladies that only started for this winter term . After class they said they were following me for the centre work and I had lovely legs, they could see every muscle working. I couldn’t believe it, were my muscles more prominent, I never look at them, was things really changing. In the end I just put it down to wishful thinking. All changed on Thursday, this was my two hours practice time down my local hall, the first hour is rehearsal practice, the second hour for my rep coaching session on Friday. About 45 minute into the second hour working on “the entrance of Kiti” from Don Q doing the second part of that variation my foot gave as I took the weight on demi-pointe when coming down from one of the grand jetes, something in my right calf had torn or done something nastie, I couldn’t even take my weight when just being stood on demi pionte on that foot, something was clearly wrong and I stopped dancing immediately. The following morning I told my rep coach/teacher what had happened and suggested we just refined the head positions and port de bras of that variation . About half way through the session my leg was feeling so much better, so we resumed dancing the variation with a bit of extra care, all was well when I left that session. An hour later is my two hour stint running through variations to try and keep them refreshed in body memory. During the second hour my attention turned to “Entrance of Kitri “ again as I was still not happy with the timing coming out of the Grand Jete section of the second part, its almost like a manege which consists of a tuning balance ( fan touching the floor) into a mini gallop, step grand jete, repeated three times, befor the travelling turns to finish, I always seemed to be late for the travelling turn. During one of the run-throughs and I had done several times, my leg let me down again and I had to abort that final hour early. Saturday was rest, things began to feel somewhat better for Sunday. Sunday was the Alive Ballet Rep Workshop on Don Q (5 hours), for the Entrance of Kitri and the Spanish Dance. On arrival I did warn my teacher of my possible foot problem and was told to be careful. As all workshop it began with Barre and centre before starting on rep, however part of the centre work was biased towards the grand jete’s of the rep. It was on one of those that my foot let me down again. I continued through the rep as best as I could, but the jete were rubbish, my body just refused to jump, let along landing on a flat foot, as the morning went on, I think it just got worse. The rest at lunch time just made things stiffer. The afternoon warm-up began with a short barre session, I couldn’t even do a plie properly as my lower right leg and ankle was very very tight, however I persevered knowing the next rep was far less allegro, it was the Spanish dance which was quite waltzy . I had done very little prep for this one so I had to concentrate. It wasn’t until we were about an hour or so in, and I realised my feet were getting significantly better. I had taken a Spanish costume in for both parts as it was very much in keeping with Kitri, but with my foot problem I wasn’t going to wear it. However by the end of the Spanish dance prep, things changed and I put it on , I really did enjoy that piece. Then came our final “Entrance of Kitri" for our course video, my legs were still very stiff but I checked at the barre and I could take my weight again on demi-point on the right. Well I got through it, but along way short of what I was hoping to do, and really grateful we didn’t do the second part of Kitri, although I know it reasonably well. Monday morning (today) leg very still almost couldn’t walk on it and badly swollen. I had a fitness class and one-to-one booked. It was also my ENB day, but that I cancelled as I know the grand allegro we do there is likely to sustain further injury and prevent my Tuesday rehearsal. Although the leg is still swollen and stiff, I did manage the fitness class but stretching that calf was impossible. The one-to-one after a few painful releve’s at the barre freed the legs off sufficiently to carry on with the pirouette enchainement set for this week. I’m glad to say I winged it and got through it successfully. Its just lots of hot and cold applied to the calf area and deep massage plus hold back on the allegro stuff in order to help the healing process in the hope it doesn’t get any worse. PS The Dance Alive Don Q Repertoire Workshop was brilliant, I thoroughly enjoyed it in-spite of my leg injury.

I don’t know if this helps but when I have been buying tutus, which I have many, I have supplied this measurement guide and the resulting fit has been absolutely fine. I have had only one exception and that was due the top 2 or 3 layers not being correctly aligned when stitched through on about a quarter of the top surface, undoing a re-stitching was simple to do and fixed the problem. Sorry if the fitting guide cant be read, as its was ok before adding it to the posting.

My posting has resulted from a conversation I heard at ENB where it has been suggested some of the Advance Pro dancers persuade there dancing friends from other classes they attend, to join them at ENB. It seems we only have typically 6 to 8 dancers taking this class every Monday night. Normally ENB limit class sizes to around 28, so there is an awful lot of spare capacity in that class, and its only available on Mondays. I spoke to some of those girls as we use the same changing rooms as my class, about them posting on this forum, but they ask if I would as they weren’t aware of the forum. I have know actual experience of that class, but I have been taught by that teacher in my advance class when my regular teacher has been away, I have always found her helpful and nice, she always speaks when I see her although I’m not in her class. This is how ENB describes the Advanced Pro class "Designed to challenge dancers who are looking to further develop their technique and artistry. This class is ideal if you are a dance graduate, ex/current professional dancer, and are looking for a non-syllabus, artistic class. (ages 18+)" I tried to find out if they were offering this class as a pay as you go, similar to that of an open class, but unfortunately when I rang them I always got an answer machine. If anyone is interested then do try ringing them and post the results on this thread. I will try and see the teacher next Monday night, and report back on this thread as it seams a shame to let those Advanced Pro places go.

Well thank you girls for the info, I think I was so pre-occupied with the manege of 10 saute de basques I had been doing from Giselle, I guess I was a bit blinkered. I have now check that also in my Video Dictionary of Classical ballet, it has an excellent example of a Coupé Jeté en Tournant in a manege. In know there is often different terms for the same thing, one that comes to mind is a Jeté en Tournant which we use at ENB, however in the Alive Ballet Company its simply described as an Entrelacé for a “Jeté Entrelacé” Kate_N In intrigued by you comment “which may be why you've never come across it, as most Beginners or mixed level classes wouldn't introduce it” I guess that assumption is largely true but not on the whole. I must confess I have attended two Beginners ballet classes this week, Tonight’s one I guess could also be described as a mixed level class as it had a couple of beginners but most were regulars and me of course, it also had one of Fiz’s teachers as one of the dancers who sometimes joins us. The reason I go is mainly social and help keep the adult class offering viable as I hire one of their studios for a couple of hours every Friday and sometimes other days too. That school really does look after me and I appreciate it. My second class was a one-off, I went there to check out the studio for hire and the possibility of finding an alternate teacher should my main private tutor no longer be available, in other words not putting all my eggs in the one basket. That mission was successful and I enjoyed the class too, I even met an old Salsa dancing friend who I hadn’t met for some years, doing ballet there. I must confess there are things which I have covered in mixed level classes that I haven’t come across in the Intermediate or Advanced classes I do every week at ENB, namely Cabriole derriere, when these were commonplace at a ballet school I attened in Stamford about 3 years ago, admittedly the teacher usually gave easier and harder options for the centre work. However we occasionally do Cabriole devant at ENB but I find that extremely common in rep. As for not coming across a Coupé Jeté en Tournant movement in class, well I have but never known the correct terminology for it, besides I’ve always regarded this as a male grand allegro movement. Then I have only seen it taught is in Rep worshops for male solos. I do remember a “Le Corsaire” LAB summer short which consisted of Gamzatti variation for the girls and one of the Male solo,s for the guys but I cant remember which. It did have this movement in it and I so wanted to dance it as the music was so powerful, it really energised me, but I guess I was too shy, however one of the girls did dance quite a few steps of that solo. I assume your fellow dancers at the ENB event at RAH were of a mixed level where you learnt to dance with Coupé Jeté en Tournant in a manege, or am I wrong. I wonder when that event was as I went to see ENB’s Swan Lake in the Round, but Im not sure if I was with ENB then, I joined ENB in April 2013. LinMM I love the Footlights video you included, when I played it, it was a voice from the past , it was Tina Rogers principal and owner of Footlight Performing Arts of King Lynn in Norfolk. I was with them in 2012 about the time I joined BalletCo, her mum Karen used to teach me, it was a tiny class of three at the most, sometimes it was down to one-to-one. Tina always came into class at the end. The studio in the video is the one we used, it has a wonderfully sprung floor on metal springs, Karen’s son designed it. Wow what a small world. This week for me is all change, since loosing LAB: 1) Additional one-to-one started on Monday focusing on technique and body strengthening. 2) Application in for Adult Associates at RAD Elmhurst. 3) Week at Ballet West for one-to-one Solo and PDD Rep booked 4) Should get a phone call from the Artistic Director of Edinburgh Ballet Circle this week, then I can look at the feasibility of performing with them.

Wow Kate_N what company were you dancing with when you were doing travelling turns around the RAH circular stage, that sounds awesome. However I don’t understand the Coupé Jeté term in the context of the manége you have described, when I try and picture it, it sounds very much like a gallop followed by a Saut de basque, is this correct, if so then I have done something similar with a manége of 10 saut de basques from Act2 of Giselle (a solo in part of the willis), but those were three steps rather than gallops as connecting steps. I would love to do the mixed turn manége at the end of RB's version of the Sugar Plum Fairy variation on the RAH stage, it is by far the most difficult one I have attempted.

I loved the creative choreography bit too, it was really fun and so enjoyable. I checked the ENB site for Le Corsaire and its fully booked, I thought it was. Only the full day intensives at ENB's studio's at Markover House are still available at £50 each: 10th April “She Said” 29th May “Swan Lake” I have already booked both Le Corsaire and Swan Lake. I did Le Corsaire with ENB at Oxford about 2 years or so ago, I must say it was the best ENB workshop I have ever been to, I'm looking forward to it again this time. Lin see you at Le Corsaire on the 17th

This is the response I got from RAD: The difference between Improvers 1 & 2 is simply ability / level. Both classes follow the classic ballet class format of barre & centre work. Improvers 1 is aimed at Grades 3 to 5 and Improvers 2 is Intermediate (Grade 6 to 8). We have a number of different teachers over the course of the phase and they decide how they are going to best bring out a particular artistic quality with each class that they teach. The Body Conditioning class is also taken by different teachers each time. The exercises are specifically aimed at body conditioning for the ballet dancer with a focus on how to bring that technique into your daily ballet class. Hope that helps

Simple, I was told not too, health and safety what ever that meant; I was gutted at the time. But now I don’t want to dwell on it, it’s not important. However as Thursdays have become free, and for the moment I’m saving on travelling expenses, that alone allows me to add another weekly one-to-one session in. For that I will have to select another teacher with the right mindset to work with. I have already arranged for an addition one-to-one on Monday in the New Year for Technique which will follow her Fitness class. I already do one-to-one weekly rep on Fridays with her and have done so for over a year now, but I don’t want to put all my eggs into one basket should anything happen to her availability. I’m seriously considering doing the RAD Adult Associates classes at Elmhurst, I’m talking to someone at Battersea tomorrow as Midlands are already on Christmas break. I don’t know if you are considering joining Lisa in the interim until 2017 when hopefully LAB will reconvene. I have opted for Mondays after March when my winter term at ENB has finished, but that is a tough call. ENB is the one place where the classes are taught progressively and I really enjoy them since I have been doing them with Tom. It seems each year I take stock of what I have done, and sort of reinvent myself with a new course of actions. First on the list is something I thought because of my age I would never do, is to at least cost out increasing the size of my own studio and equipping it for dress rehearsal with programmable lighting and projected backdrops. Second: Full documenting my own rep including assessment videos, all with configuration control, as this has got out of hand recently with the more I have done. In an attempt to keep pace with refreshing it, I went from 1 hour studio hire to 2 hours, as things stand that's no where near enough on its own. Third: Create my own performance opportunities: Develop short performance pieces that consist of a PDD with one of two female solos for performance at dance parties or other similar gatherings of friends and aquantances.