Dancing Through Life

Hello everyone!

It's Sam again, and I'm very happy to say that I'm on my Christmas holidays- finally! It feels like I've had no time for ballet with studying and exams and whatnot, but I've made sure to fit in some practice every day at some point, even just working on basic positions. I've decided to post a few tips for practicing dance over the holidays and all the ways dance can help you through everything in life.

1) Find twenty minutes to practice barre.
I find that twenty minutes is just enough time to do fit in a quick barre session. If you're a bit confused about how to lay out a barre session at home, it should go something like this (grab a chair to stand in as your barre, and make sure it's sturdy!): Pliés, battement tendus, ronds de jambes (à terre and en l'air), adagio (excellent videos on YouTube!), and grands battements. Throw in some developpés and arabesques wherever you see fit and get going! As I've mentioned, the Royal Ballet has an excellent class video and I find that their barre is enough to get the muscles and the brain working- everything you need in 25 minutes!

2) Work on your positions in your spare time
I've found myself doing this by accident out of sheer habit, and it isn't a bad one to form- practice your positions whenever possible. Waiting in line at shops or standing at the bus stop? Go from first position through to fifth and make sure that you're placing your weight properly over your toes. If you find yourself alone in the room, move through your arm positions too. One of my favourite things to do to liven up boring chores is to try to turn it into a ballet- it helps to work on your improvisational skills and your technique!

3) Mark your centre practice
If you study a syllabus like I do, you may have to learn off set pieces of centre work to perform on the day of the exam. If you don't have time to do a full class, which many people don't over the busy holidays, just walking through your movements may be enough to help you learn them. I've been really struggling with Allegro 3 in class, but marking it slowly has helped to imprint it in my mind and now I can dance it without thinking- I just need to improve it, rather than learn it all at the same time!

4) Relax!
Ballet is tough on the body, so take time to rest and recover from your practice. Stretch, do some yoga, and take a break for a few days. You've earned it! It's easy to get carried away with ballet and dance a full class every day, but your muscles need time to heal if they are to develop and get stronger- otherwise, they'll just tear and you'll get injured. Don't worry too much about food- the holidays are a time to chill out and relax, not stress over what you're eating! Everything in moderation and you'll be okay.

Ballet has helped me to get through so many struggles- as a teenager, I deal with my weight in drama, and ballet has become something I can do to take these worries off my mind. Dancers always say that you should leave everything outside the studio and at first I didn't understand, but now I do- when you dance, your whole heart should be in the music and the movement, nowhere else. Dance at home, dance at school, dance at work and dance in the studio- fend off the bad with ballet. Welcome the emotions into your dancing and let them move you freely. Ballet is an art all about expression- feel free!

Happy holidays everyone, and have a lovely ballet-filled week!

-Sam