The Closest I Get to Dancing on Vacation

A lot of people go on a vacation or other road trips and consider it a perfect time to try out the local dance studio class offerings. I ... do not. This is as close as I get to dancing on vacation:

It's a frappé. The kind that doesn't involve kicking yourself

repeatedly in the ankle and getting called out for your crap timing.

Also:

Drawing in the wet sand with rond de jambes.

While carrying a bucket and froggy umbrella.

Shut up.

Hippo Birdy Two Ewes

I turned 29 years and 24 months old today. Yay? I held off on posting this because I had plans to make pink cupcakes with pink frosting and a pink candle and eat one while wearing a pink frilly thing but my cupcakes turned out ... well... horrible. My ballerina dreams were dashed on the rocks of artificial strawberry flavoring and being too lazy to use a piping bag with a star tip. So, you don't get to see them regardless of how pink they are, sorry!

Anyway.

I feel like I am starting to get the hang of this double frappé business. I'm not saying I'm whipping them out like it ain't no thang. It's a thang. Trust me. And they are still kind of confused. But, at least I am not totally randomly flailing around for the entire combination. Small steps. Small steps.
Head lines are confusing me to death, though. I KNOW which way I should be looking while my foot is in a particular position... I just can't actually hook those things up together, yet. At least not in rapid progression. Left, front, right, front... bam bam bam. Forget it!
Other things to work on: not tipping over during chaînés turns, not deflating halfway through adagio, not getting migraines after every single class.

The Speed Of Light

The most challenging thing about this level three class is the speed at which we are supposed to do things. There isn't any time to think about what you are doing! I can do that annoying glissade/assemblé combination forward and in reverse, but only if I have enough time to get my brain around each step. Last night we started doing this crazy frappé thing at the barre, doubles. I can do it, sure. Physically, I can do it. But without the time required for my brain to catch up to my feet it's going to look like a hot mess.

On a different note: trying to do barre work with my left hand and wrist all bundled up in bandages kind of sucks. Nuff said.

Also a Tasty Beverage

Frappé! It's a thing you do! Because you have to! Even though they are awkward!
Frappé.
Think about it, won't you?

But seriously, frappé has been on my case the last few weeks. We've been doing them in sets of two slow, three fast en croix. But I can't seem to do them fast enough! It's like as soon as my foot is out there it's supposed to be back to it's starting position again.
Frappé. We need to TALK.

Oh but guess what? Waltz steps are finally starting to happen for me. It just clicked one day after a lot of trial and error. They need work but I am at least getting my feet to mostly go where I want them and I have finally figured out the step-brush-cross in front pattern that was killing me for so long. I mean, I'm pretty wobbly on demi pointe but how much of that is because I've just done an hour of ballet and my feet are getting tired? I can live with that. I feel like I have accomplished something.