Fosse...where to begin? When Ms. Mack first told us that she was going to set a Fosse piece on us I thought "Cool, Chicago dance!" I was way off. Fosse is so much more than that. You need to remember to have personality and remember all of the details. Learning Fosse has been a difficult experience but also a fun one. Ms. Mack chose to set Sing, Sing, Sing on the entire dance program.
When we first started learning Fosse, I felt like a spaz. After we had been learning Fosse for a few days, it started to feel a little more natural. At this point, I still don't feel completely comfortable but by the time the show comes around, I'm hoping for it to feel as natural as possible. I will be upset when we won't be performing Fosse anymore after the show.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Teen Arts...
Over the course of the 2 weeks, we have learned phrases for the piece the morning class is taking to Teen Arts and Ms. Mack has set the dance on us. I have tried my best to pick up the phrase work and find the details as quickly and accurately as possible. When we started the piece, Shalima and I were faking the counter-balances but now I feel that we actually go for them. I feel that this piece is helping me release in my body even more. When it comes to the parts where I am lifted, I try to help as much as I can by not giving all of my body weight over.
When Ms. Mack gives us notes, I put them into effect immediately. For example, the other day she told me not to step with my heels first and the next time we did the dance, I fixed it. There is a lot of cleaning up to be done with the dance tomorrow and on top of that there's a half day, which means we'll have to work our butts off tomorrow and hopefully everyone is in school or we're in trouble.
When Ms. Mack gives us notes, I put them into effect immediately. For example, the other day she told me not to step with my heels first and the next time we did the dance, I fixed it. There is a lot of cleaning up to be done with the dance tomorrow and on top of that there's a half day, which means we'll have to work our butts off tomorrow and hopefully everyone is in school or we're in trouble.
What is on my mind?
I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed right now. Between having an SAT class twice a week in New Brunswick and an Italian class in between those two days, Monday thru Wednesday is pretty busy for me. Sometimes I don't even get home until 10:00 and then I still have to eat dinner and do my homework. Luckily after tonight, my Italian class will be over.
I'm worried about the final for my Italian class because I feel like we didn't learn half as much as we did during the first semester. It feels like we spent two classes, which are two and a half hours each, on one lesson in the book. Last week for our review class our teacher let us out at least a half an hour early. Instead of letting us do the review packet on our own during class and going over it together, the professor just gave us the answers. She is letting us make a cheat sheet that is one page long though and we are allowed to use our dictionaries on the final.
My SAT class consumes a lot of my time because after each session, there is homework that needs to be done in the lesson book and online. Depending on the difficulty of the session, it could take me anywhere from one hour to three hours to complete all of the work assigned. Even though the class seems annoying and time consuming right now, I know that it will help me when I take the SATs in June.
I'm worried about the final for my Italian class because I feel like we didn't learn half as much as we did during the first semester. It feels like we spent two classes, which are two and a half hours each, on one lesson in the book. Last week for our review class our teacher let us out at least a half an hour early. Instead of letting us do the review packet on our own during class and going over it together, the professor just gave us the answers. She is letting us make a cheat sheet that is one page long though and we are allowed to use our dictionaries on the final.
My SAT class consumes a lot of my time because after each session, there is homework that needs to be done in the lesson book and online. Depending on the difficulty of the session, it could take me anywhere from one hour to three hours to complete all of the work assigned. Even though the class seems annoying and time consuming right now, I know that it will help me when I take the SATs in June.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thinking about food
Over the last few days, I've eaten Chinese food, Cold Stone Cupcakes, an Auntie Anne's pretzel and a smoothie, a sub from an Italian resturant, and 2 bologna sandwiches. Not exactly the healthiest food to eat but good for when I'm in a rush. I felt best energy wise after the sub and the Cold Stone Cupcakes. I felt worst energy wise after the Auntie Anne pretzel and the smoothie.
I felt good and full after eating the sub and Chinese food. After I ate the pretzel and the smoothie and the 2 bologna sandwiches, I still felt hungry. The Cold Stone Cupcakes and the pretzel made me feel bloated. I would have to say that I felt healthiest after eating the sub.
I felt good and full after eating the sub and Chinese food. After I ate the pretzel and the smoothie and the 2 bologna sandwiches, I still felt hungry. The Cold Stone Cupcakes and the pretzel made me feel bloated. I would have to say that I felt healthiest after eating the sub.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
My experience in Tommy's class so far
It has been a new experience so far having Tommy. It's a change from modern and ballet classes. I haven't taken a class like his in 3 years (since I left my studio). He's hard on us but it's helping us get better. When we started his classes, my abs,back,and arms were sore before the day even ended. Now, I hardly even feel it anymore, which I think is a good thing.
I'm picking up movement quicker now since we started his class. Instead of standing there watching him show the choreography, I follow along. I've learned that even if you come in with no energy to dance in the morning, you better get it. You can't work half way and expect to get better. You have to work full out all of the time, even when you're told to "mark" through an exercise or dance because you never know who's watching you. I found that when things were hard, I wasn't putting my all into it.
On Monday, we had to make a 32 count phrase with the gestures in the piece and I felt like I couldn't do it. When we had to go up one by one I had to improv it and when it was my turn, I just looked down at the floor and gave up in the middle. He told me that I was ashamed of every movement I was making. I was ashamed because I felt self-concious about what I was doing. When he gave us another 5 minutes to fix it up, I got over the self-conciousness, and started over. I wasn't ashamed of what I came up with in the end. Having Tommy has been an eye-opening experience for me and I will carry what I have learned and will learn in his class with me
I'm picking up movement quicker now since we started his class. Instead of standing there watching him show the choreography, I follow along. I've learned that even if you come in with no energy to dance in the morning, you better get it. You can't work half way and expect to get better. You have to work full out all of the time, even when you're told to "mark" through an exercise or dance because you never know who's watching you. I found that when things were hard, I wasn't putting my all into it.
On Monday, we had to make a 32 count phrase with the gestures in the piece and I felt like I couldn't do it. When we had to go up one by one I had to improv it and when it was my turn, I just looked down at the floor and gave up in the middle. He told me that I was ashamed of every movement I was making. I was ashamed because I felt self-concious about what I was doing. When he gave us another 5 minutes to fix it up, I got over the self-conciousness, and started over. I wasn't ashamed of what I came up with in the end. Having Tommy has been an eye-opening experience for me and I will carry what I have learned and will learn in his class with me
Blog for March 15th (done on March 17,2010)
I feel that my technique has developed more this year. I've learned how to grande jete without develope.I've learned to let loose in my body. I accept corrections from my teachers better. Even today Ms. Mack pointed something out that no one has said to me during my 12 years of training. I put my weight towards my pinky toe on releve and that my knees can straighten more than I though they could. Other teachers just told me that I was jerking my supporting leg in my grande battemates, they didn't tell me why it was happening. I don't feel lifting in my hip as much as I used to.
I also feel more comfortable doing modern than I did at the beginning of this year. I learned to let loose a little and not be so stiff all of the time and it feels better when I dance. My contractions have gotten better and I try to work on my lower back flexibility during technique class when we do roll downs. When we do ab workouts in class, instead of jumping up, I pull myself up by grabbing on my legs to also work on my lower back.
When I'm at home, I work on strengthening my feet by doing the exercises Ms. Mack showed us. By the end of the year my goal is to be able to at least lift the three middle toes off the ground without any other toes coming up. I finally grasped that you don't crunch your toes to point your foot, you have to lengthen through the foot and ankle. My plan for the rest of the year is for my technique to keep growing.
I also feel more comfortable doing modern than I did at the beginning of this year. I learned to let loose a little and not be so stiff all of the time and it feels better when I dance. My contractions have gotten better and I try to work on my lower back flexibility during technique class when we do roll downs. When we do ab workouts in class, instead of jumping up, I pull myself up by grabbing on my legs to also work on my lower back.
When I'm at home, I work on strengthening my feet by doing the exercises Ms. Mack showed us. By the end of the year my goal is to be able to at least lift the three middle toes off the ground without any other toes coming up. I finally grasped that you don't crunch your toes to point your foot, you have to lengthen through the foot and ankle. My plan for the rest of the year is for my technique to keep growing.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Post Show Reflection
This past show was a brand new feeling for me. It felt a lot more professional, from the choreography to backstage behavior. Instead of there being many different pieces, not related to each other at all, there was one long piece. Like other times, there were no parents backstage during the show. Ms. Mack sewed our costumes herself instead of ordering them from a catalog.
One of the hardest things for me was the new style that was put on us. It had a more modern feel than I've ever performed before. Ms. Mack always told us up to the show that we danced "ugly" because of the habits we have. I had to forget a lot of the bad habits I picked up at my former studio, such as kicking into leaps, not brushing, and other bad habits. Hopefully I did a good job of fixing them for the show.
In the Friday show, I learned a very important lesson that I already knew...When you mess up, keep going. No one would know if you don't show it. I started running before everyone else and just stopped with a "holy crap what did I just do?" look on my face. Everybody told me that they didn't notice. Despite that though, I most definately learned my lesson cause I don't want to be embarrassed like that again.
When it came time for the show to end, I was sad to see it because we did all of that work just for 2 shows. I felt that all of the work did pay off though. Even though the rehearsals got a little intense sometimes, an improvement was seen in every dancer. I can't wait until the spring show!
One of the hardest things for me was the new style that was put on us. It had a more modern feel than I've ever performed before. Ms. Mack always told us up to the show that we danced "ugly" because of the habits we have. I had to forget a lot of the bad habits I picked up at my former studio, such as kicking into leaps, not brushing, and other bad habits. Hopefully I did a good job of fixing them for the show.
In the Friday show, I learned a very important lesson that I already knew...When you mess up, keep going. No one would know if you don't show it. I started running before everyone else and just stopped with a "holy crap what did I just do?" look on my face. Everybody told me that they didn't notice. Despite that though, I most definately learned my lesson cause I don't want to be embarrassed like that again.
When it came time for the show to end, I was sad to see it because we did all of that work just for 2 shows. I felt that all of the work did pay off though. Even though the rehearsals got a little intense sometimes, an improvement was seen in every dancer. I can't wait until the spring show!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
