Okay, so pre-pointe class. How was it? Brutal. Stone. Cold. Brutal. But I lived to tell the tale! After a full 1 1/2 hour technique class I limped in to pre-pointe. It was pretty fun, actually. Lots of strength building. Relevés at the barre. Piqué arabesques. Chaînés. You get the picture. Lots of stuff where you are hanging out on your toes. Which is good, because I actually really enjoy that strengthening stuff. Whenever the teacher says "time for piqué roll downs" or "okay, put your leg up on the barre" everyone else groans and I go "awesome! Let's do this thing!". By the time we hit that last set of continuous relevés on one foot, though, I was ready to call it a DAY.
Today I feel it in my hips more than I had expected. Probably because I was focusing really hard on proper placement when we were at the barre. Holding turn-out properly and rising directly over my second and third toes rather than wobbling up there like (let's face it, ladies) we usually do.
Today I feel like I've been in some sort of accident, only I paid for the privilege and I'm raring to go back and do it again next week! Ballet, guys. It's hard.
I gotta tell you, though. Do not pick a fight with a ballet dancer. All that tininess and fragile grace is a total illusion. She can probably kill you with one swift kick in the junk.
Related: ballet class is probably the only place where someone you don't know very well can walk up to you and stroke your inner thigh and be like "that is great, RPrin!*" and it isn't even awkward at all.
*new abbreviation for this blog's title. Because it takes too long to type the whole thing and I am king lazy bones. Looks a little like a celebrity couple name, but I promise not to divorce myself so it's okay.
Ha, ha, the kick to the groin. And you know it would really only have to be the TOES!!! ;-)
ReplyDeletePre-pointe sounds awesome. I'm going to steal some of that and do it at home. Yes, I'm a wobbly one, having no balance/center yet, but am continually aiming for the 2nd and 3rd toe thing! But then I've only had two lessons so far.
Good for you for living thru the pre-pointe, after regular technique class. It really did sound like what I like. I was the same in ice skating - LOVING the technique drills - because those are what helped you to let go and "just skate" when you did your program!
let's see, what else did we do?
Deleteforced arch pliés, piqué turns, bourrées at the barre, and a sort of little duck walk with flexed parallel feet where you step from one demi-pointe to the other across the floor. Echappés, pirouette preparations across the floor (tombé, pas de bourrée to fourth, spring up to passé by scootching your standing leg underneath you while your working leg goes up), that sort of thing.
Do you wear pointe shoes in your pre pointe class, or Demi's? Or just slippers? We had Demi's for ours. I always like hearing what bigger studios do in comparison to the small one I go to.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a good time!! I too like the technique stuff. While I do enjoy the long combinations its so much easier to me if I have the technique to where I can do it in my sleep. And goodness knows I need the strength training in my legs some days more than others...
I'm go happy for you moving up!!
We're just in slippers until we graduate to full pointe. I don't even think there are any stores in town that sell demis! I have occasionally seen some of the more advanced students take technique class in deshanked pointes.
DeleteMy studio is pretty small, too. There are bigger ones in town and I haven't been really excited about any of them.
Yeah I have bigger studios around here too, but either they look down on you as an adult and just tell you the time of their Zumba classes, or the adult classes are one class and its not really expecting you to progress, so that class is it. My studio is maybe 30 people mainly little ones. I take classes with the 12 and up crowd. And my pointe class has a 10 yr old, 2 15 yr olds and my teacher (30) and her sister (24) and me (31) it's very small but lots of special attention.
ReplyDeleteWeird! When I went to buy mine apparently it is a big thing over here. They were pretty abundant in the stores. Guess its different everywhere! To me they basically are deshanked pointe shoes that are very dead. But 1/2 the cost, without the effort of killing them ;)
In a way I'd like demis because PRETTY and it would be nice to practice tying them just right before having to rely on those ribbons en pointe. In another way, though, it makes that final shopping trip for real pointes even more mind-blowingly awesome. Also: money. I don't really want to spend any more than I have to!
DeleteWe were required to have them so didnt have too much of a choice money wise. You get kinda fitted like a pointe shoe, not as extensive as you should not be trying to go on pointe in them, and the "box" is pretty soft even though it is still pretty stiff in comparison to a slipper (I did anyhow... But only standing holding the barre) the pointe shoes were still so super awesome sauce! There is just something so exciting about trying on 40 pairs of shoes and asked how they feel when you dont have a clue how they should... then you hand over $90 and for a brief second youre sad, then its back to facebooking and instagramming them from every angle! yup ausomesauce! though either shoe still sucks sewing on elastics and ribbons. I hate it. I have 1 1/2 pairs sewn. And I'm procrastinating hard.
ReplyDelete