Stepping up the pace....

Well you'll be please to know, I've had no more injuries since Christmas!  For me - this is quite an achievement.

As many of you know, over the last year or so, I've been trying to run before I could walk.  I had thought I could tense my muscles the same, jump the same, put in just as much effort and my body would follow suit.  However, at almost 30 years old and many other issues (detailed in previous posts), things weren't quite that simple any more.

After class, all my joints tend to scream in pain, my feet swell and my hips feel like they are being crushed in a nutcracker.

Once Christmas was over, I decided to treat my torn calf with seriousness.  I made sure I took the appropriate amount of rest as specified by my physio (and actually adhere to it this time) and I warmed up fully before class - EVERY class.  One of the younger girls in the class before mine commented to her teacher, 'That lady is here SO early!  There's still 25 minutes of our class left!'  The teacher replied, 'That is because she has an injury.  You should all be doing the same if you don't want the same thing to happen to you'.

So many of the people barely warm up for class, if at all.  Until the last couple of years - I was one of them!  I never saw the importance, because I'd never had a problem.  My body did what I asked it to without complaining. I used to consider basic barre my 'warm up'.

Since all the trouble with my torn calf,  I now religiously warm up around 20 minutes before class.  I tried to get away with it once, and ended up injuring it yet again.  So I've made myself a routine and I stick to it. Warming up isn't about slowing 'breaking in' your muscles - it is actually about increasing blood flow to those areas - hence why many professional ballet dancers actually wear a million layers as they are beginning their classes.

Now we are nearing the end of April, things are SO much better.  I feel like I've come on leaps and bounds compared to all the set backs of last year.  I felt like I couldn't retain information and improve whilst I was constantly having time out.  After easing myself back into 2 classes a week in January.  I'm now in the studio 4 days a week.  Not all for physical class, one day and a morning are for teaching observations.

You might remember from a previous post that my teacher was encouraging me to train to teach.  I've learnt SO much from theses sessions and even stepped in for my teacher when she needed to split her very large class.  I taught a 45 minute lesson for grade 2's and I absolutely loved it!  I'm starting to learn the ISTD syllabus for all the grades so that I can eventually take the DDI exam, but I really need to focus on passing my Intermediate vocational exam first.

I've been working on the Intermediate exam a lot over the last couple of months and almost have all of the set exercises memorised.  There are a LOT!  I still find Adage the most difficult because of the weakness of my abdominal muscles.  Holding my leg a la second en l'air is extremely difficult, particularly the 3rd set adage which consists of a Grande ronde de jambe en l'air (big rounding of the leg in the air - for those wanting to know what the heck that means).  I don't know about any of you, but doing it en dedan is so much harder than en dehors!

I'm currently trying to tackle double pirouettes, brisés and failli assemblé.  Double pirouettes are my nemesis though.  I am almost trying to retrain my brain on my entire technique here, because I think I 'cheated' a lot when I was younger.  I'll let you know how I get on with those.  I did manage several ok (ish) ones last week when nobody was watching me.

So the Intermediate exam is hopefully going to happen in July.  I happen to be getting married at the end of that month too!  I just thought it would be highly amusing to really push my stress levels! :-/

I'll check in again before the exam and let you know if I'm pulling my hair out!

Rach

The ongoing dilemma of pointe shoe tip grip!

So I really wanted to share my great lightbulb moment with you!  Depending on what floor your studio has, you may or may not find that you have grip issues en pointe.  Those that have a 'company' style floor are probably absolutely fine.  These are usually sprung with a vinyl surface.  Most professional ballet companies now have these installed - White Lodge at the Royal Ballet, for instance.  They offer the best surface for the right level of friction whilst still providing easy movement for pirouettes etc.  A lot of local dance studios, however, are multi-purpose.  Many local schools teach an array of dance genres, needing a floor which caters for all.  This usually mens it may not necessarily be the best for your particular dance genre.

Our studio has a sprung wooden floor which is often highly varnished.  The school caters for ballroom, modern, tap, street dance, contemporary and more.  So they obviously need a versatile floor.  Unfortunately, with it not being the best surface for pointe work, it can prove a little tricky when you are either a beginner or tentatively getting back in the game.

I know if I 'trust' the floor, I will 'trust' myself more.  Of course I 'should' be perfectly fine on any floor if I am 'over my box'.  But when you are learning or teaching your legs and feet to remember how to dance again, sometimes things aren't always that simple.  You may not quite get over your box. You may come down from your pointes at an odd angle. You may be a bit worried getting that posé into arabesque.  All of these pose a significant risk of slipping on a varnished wooden floor.

There are SO many methods of preparing your pointe shoes and SO many ways to prepare the tips too.  I go more in depth about the pros and cons of different methods in my previous post which you can read Here.  However, since this post - I did a lot of research and found there really isn't a lot of advice about this.  Probably because the most obvious information comes from companies who have ballet-specific vinyl-surfaced floors.  After trawling the web for hours on end, I came across two posts where a couple of professional dancer shared a 'top tip'.



PLASTIDIP!



Oh my God it really is such a Godsend! I don't know how the ladies had come across this solution, but what a great one it is.  They spray a thin layer or two on the bottom of their pre-ripped pointe shoe.  Allow a good hour or so to dry before applying multiple layers.  Simply leave to dry overnight to make sure and Voila! There you have it!

I wanted to try this out properly for myself and use them in studio before advocating my little find.  But I can surely say, it really does work.  It creates enough friction for a bit of grip (no A over B moments) yet enough movement for turning and echappés etc.  I feel much more confident now, result in stronger legs and more meaningful intentions (no 'dipping-toes-in-cold-water' uncertainty).

So feel free to go and try it for yourselves! Let me know what you think?  Click HERE for the official website, but you can get it cheaper on amazon etc if you have a look.  I chose the spray as it is easier to apply.  You can even get colours and glitters if you are feeling Disney-inspired!!

Back at the barre

Wow!  I haven't written in a long time.  Quite a lot has happened actually, which is probably why.
The lead up to Christmas and the Christmas period in general were hectic to say the least.  We ate a LOT of food and so did our little sausage dog.  She is a bit porky now too, so we're all on January diets!  Here is a picture of the little fatty :-)

We did the traditional trip to the theatre to see the Nutcracker (well, live streamed to our local cinema - LOVE that they do this now!!).  I think the Nutcracker is a must at Christmastime.  It really embodies the sparkly, exciting bubbly feeling we all want to kick start.  We saw Francesca Hayward as Clara and she put all the emotion in the world into her performance.  Lauren Cuthbertson played the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, amazing as always!  The one that really stood out for me was whoever played the Rose Fairy!  She was so strong and held her positions remarkably!  I didn't catch her name because the cinema didn't give us programmes this time, which I was quite miffed about!

Me being me, I obviously pulled a muscle just before Christmas.  So I spent the end of December making sure that healed properly.  I am now making a point of spending 15 minutes before class warming up properly.  Dynamic stretching only, of course.  I don't want to cause any more issues! (I'll write an article on the difference between dynamic and static stretching soon).

My physio also recommended deep heat to keep the muscles in prime condition.  So I've been using that to warm my muscles before class.  Although, I was a little worried as my teacher said not to use it before a class in case I won't feel the pain of pulling a muscle.  Luckily, my physio assured me that deep heat doesn't contain anything like ibuprofen etc.  It basically warms up the area and increases blood flow to it- which is exactly what you want.  It may give the feeling of 'pain relief' because it has warmed up and loosened your muscles, but this will actually help you during your exercise, not mask a potential injury.  Phew!  I might just use the non-smelly patches for class though because everyone could smell the deep heat when I wore it too class and it is rather potent!!

During October and November I really felt like I'd started improving.  I'd started memorising the Intermediate syllabus better and was working hard on increasing my stamina.  The afore mentioned Christmas binge totally ruined a lot of this.  So here I am, at the start of January and needing to shape up!

I've set a target with my teacher of completing the Intermediate exam by July.  This was a a fabulous idea, as this month is also the month of my wedding.  So that won't be too stressful at all! *bites lip in worried frown*  Having said all that, I need to have a goal to work towards, otherwise I will become extremely de-motivated if there isn't a plan in place.  The main things I'm acutely aware are a big problem for me at the moment are pirouettes and developé a la seconde in the centre.  With my distinct lack of core, my body really struggles with these.

Towards the end of last year I started chatting with friends and family about my burning ambition to gain my teaching qualification. I think at this point in my life, self doubt had crept in, extinguished that desire and left but a few glowing embers.   I didn't believe I would ever get to the point where I could consider this again.  I remember reading the course specifications over and over again last year and thought, 'No....I can't do it. I'm not good enough'.  But with some perseverance and lots of encouragement, information and insight from my teacher, I began to see it was a possibility not too far from my grasp!

If I can just get through the Intermediate vocational exam at some point this year, I can think about doing the teaching course.  I can't actually express how happy it would make me to teach others all about what I love so much!

Anyway.  Just thought I would check in, and I will make a point of writing more over the next few months about my journey into 2016!!