Blog 43 A fun lesson

I could only attend the Monday evening class this week. An unexpected meeting came up on Thursday that lasted through the evening, so regretfully I had to text Lyda that I could not come. So only one class this week. Is the glass then half empty or half full? Half-full I would say. Moreover, we had a fun and relaxed class on Monday.

We practiced the regular barre exercises plié, tendu, jeté, ronde jambe, developpé, fondu, and frappé, of course, accompanied by that beautiful piano music. I'm still surprised by the many possible variations in these movements. As Lyda puts it: "I can think up of an endless variety of movements, I'll be able to surprise you until you're 100 years old."

The fondu is an intriguing kind of exercise. To achieve the quality of "melting," both legs need to stretch and bend at the same rate. The right foot moves from the 5th position to sur le cou de pied, and the left foot simultaneously does a demi plié, its knee turned out. Then the right knee opens forward (en avant) with the toes pointed on the floor, the left one straightens out and extends in the knee joint simultaneously with the right one. The right foot returns to sur le cou de pied, and the movement is repeated à la seconde, en derrière. A very controlled movement, très lentement, where the working leg successively and smoothly unfolds as the supporting leg straightens. As if you move when standing in a swimming pool. The resistance of the water makes you move slower.

Yes, I've learned that a swimming pool provides a perfect playground for a ballet dancer. Mind you, when you want to practice the developpé the water helps you to maintain your balance and lift your leg. But it also provides the extra resistance if you want to train on strengthening your muscles.

One of the students, Marion, lent me the book "Winter seasons, a dancer's journal," written by Toni Bentley. Toni wrote this book at the age of 22, as a young ballerina and member of the corps de ballet of New York's City Ballet, during the time Balanchine was the choreographer. She did not perceive herself as a successful dancer. She knew she would never become a principal or soloist. That feeling that her career had stagnated led her to take a long, personal look within, and she began writing a journal covering the City Ballet's winter season between November 1980 and February 1981. She left the City Ballet, but returned later. This experience taught her that the dancer's life is ingrained in her character; it was impossible for her to leave. Though still in the corps she rediscovers the joy in her role. Her life is simpler now, her energy directed toward her dancing. It touches me that though she didn't accomplish the top, she knew to reconcile with herself and find joy in ballet again. Ballet can be very competitive if you want to become a professional dancer. There is a downside to ballet when you look at it from this perspective. But this doesn't interfere with my love for this beautiful art.

This week Lyda added a link on the Facebook site of La Bayadère to a story of an older woman, Michelle Herman, who started ballet at the age of 62. It's an inspiring story. As a kid, she took modern dance classes for five or six years. She discovered classical ballet now, she is older and is in love with it. I can wholeheartedly recommend you to read the testimony of her new passion. 

Blog 42

I have to pay special attention again on my placement cause this was the second time this month that Lyda had to correct me in my placement. The knee of my working leg is slightly bent.

I understand the importance of correct placement. It really uplifts your performance. So here is a rehearsal, to remind me of the elementary lessons learned, but apparently seeping away. A wake-up call!

In a correct stance the weight of my body has to be correctly centered over the feet, with the armpit and the hipbone vertically aligned, shoulders low, the ribs in and flat, thus controlling the lower back and stabilizing the vertical placement of the torso directly on top of my supporting legs. In the aplomb stance, the patella is in an uplifted position, and this is a result of the contraction of the quads. You need to develop your quads in ballet to lift up your legs. Strengthening your quads requires exercising over some period of time. And these exercises are, in fact, the regulars of each lesson, tendu, jeté and so on. The trick is to perform the exercises with contracted quads, keeping your patella uplifted, so you build up strength. 

And looking in the mirror, of course, I tried to correct myself. 

I also noticed that a proper placement helps when you have to keep balance standing on demi-pointe.

And this brought me back to another eye-opener. When in tendu, I seem to have my working leg a bit bent in de knee. It's hard work for me to stretch that knee. Until Lyda remarked that my working leg was not properly turned out. So when I focused on turning my leg more out, the bent knee simultaneously became a stretched knee. 

And again, I discover that it is not yet part of my system that in ballet, all movements are performed with the legs turned out. 

We practiced the pas de chat (step of the cat) extensively in the Monday lesson. 

When going to the right on the diagonal: right leg fifth position back: the right leg is lifted to high retiré (not touching the supporting knee) as the left leg pushes off the floor and is lifted to a high retiré. The landing occurs on the right leg with left leg closing in the fifth devant. We did this in a series to the same side. Lyda added a special nuance with respect to the starting position: the right leg in the 5th position in front, from then on, as mentioned above. 

And then the assemblé (to put together, assemble) at the barre: the jump from one foot onto two. There are times when the assemblé seems to be so easy, but this day it was not. There are times when body and mind don't seem to work together.

On Thursday, we had a real ballet workout lesson. I loved it. 

Blog 41 

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit "(Aristotle).

Happy New Year, everyone! Time to start up again and make those wishes and intentions come true that you made on New Year's Eve.

My first disappointment this year came in fast: no exam this year, though a few weeks ago this seemed so real. I was so looking forward to my next exam. Not enough pupils enrolled, so the business case is negative for Lyda. I understand this, and yet I longed for that sense of purpose, that discipline when preparing for that Grade 3 exam. To bad!

In the week before Xmas, Lyda dedicated a lesson to flexibility and stretching. This week she mentioned the positive effect of massaging your neck on your stretching ability. And she referred to Lisa Howell, an Australian physiotherapist. Lisa is a well-known therapist in the ballet dancing community, a beacon for dancers with dance injuries.

Lyda experimented in her classes with the neck massaging method to improve flexibility, and she concludes that it is effective with say 50% of the pupils. So she invited us to try this for ourselves. By the way: the massage can be easily done by yourself. 

As you know, by now I'm a bit rusty. So about a year ago, I bought Lisa Howell's Front Splits Flexibility Program. There are a few eye-openers in this course. One of them is about fascia. A fascia is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles.

This fibrous connective tissue contains tightly packed bundles of collagen fibers that are oriented in a wavy pattern parallel to the direction of pull.

The fascia of each muscle links to that of many other muscles, so tension in one muscle group can be transferred to other muscle groups. So it is not the muscles themselves that interconnect, but the fascia. 

You can speak of a continuous fascial line: it extends from the muscles in the head and neck, through the upper back, lower back and pelvis, to the hamstrings and down into the calves and feet. 

Now you understand why massaging your muscles at the base of your skull can have a positive effect on all the other muscles down the back of your body even down into your legs. 

In my last blog I also mentioned the book "Relax into stretch" by Pavel Tsatsouline, a Russian sportsman. Worthwhile to read. A relaxed mindset is a key issue when we talk about flexibility. I immediately experience that relation when I have a busy day and have to run to be in my class on time.

I have to face it: stress causes tension of the muscles. And when in stress, it's not easy to start massaging your neck muscles. 

So time to form new habits…..

Please, let me awaken my 3 D's (drive, discipline, and determination) at times when I need them most!

On Sunday, I had a New Year's training in my boxing gym, culminating in a push-up competition. Primitive, raw stuff. I felt stiff the next day. Even my warm-up and flexibility exercises didn't work out well, so my first lesson of ballet started with a rigid body. 

But as soon as we started with the plié, accompanied by that beautiful piano music Lyda always provides for, I felt the relaxation unwinding my body. The delicate and sophisticated movements and music made me feel at ease, this was my moment of mindfulness. Ballet as a perfect antidote for living my busy and demanding life.