Hornpipes -- Irish dance
GENERALLY, I'm not a fan of hornpipes, they're just so shuffly... And while they SOUND amazing, there's just not much flash to them.
Suffice it to say, I was NOT looking forward to hornpipes in my all levels adult Irish step dancing class tonight. But, I decided to make the most of it and to really focus on technique in it -- and I made it a lot of fun.
Proof that it's not about WHAT you're dancing but how you approach it for the amount of joy you get from it.
Here's what I wrote in my other stream of consciousness blog regarding class tonight:
"I made hornpipes fun by REALLY hitting the double treble and giving myself lots of air in it!!! :D
(The double treble is my favorite step in hornpipes. And when you really hit the down before the treble-cut-treble-back you can 1) Get the timing PERFECT 2) Get enough time to hold and pose perfect position in the air with lovely arches and 3) feel like you're floating.)
I also focused on getting my feet 1) crisper sounding on the trebles (I have ballerina silent feet from too many years working on rolling through the ball of the foot not making a sound; I wince at myself when my feet make noise when I'm walking, seriously) and 2) quicker (I can only have noisy feet in horn pipes or treble dances if I think of the tip downs and trebles as frappés, aka the only move in ballet you should hear the feet, but working up the speed on a beautifully positioned frappé with extension is significantly harder than if you just do a tap style tip down. They're really crisp and pretty when you od them as frappés and the technique is wonderful, but harder to do fast -- you really have to be loose in the ankle.)
So, it was good for me for technique. Plus, I love love love the feel of the double treble if you fully commit to get the air to float down. I want to get a big fluffy romantic tutu (those are the knee length ones that aren't so stiff) to catch the air so you REALLY get the feeling of floating weightless in the air!!!
Mmmm, and there's just something about the FEEL of that airborne floaty double treble gets me and makes all the rest of the shuffly-shuffles worth it!! :D (You can't float so much at faster tempos, the music won't let you, but it's delovely when you can!!)"
A little too technical for people who aren't dancers, not quie technical enough for dancers.
It reminded me of when I started this blog so long ago. And I've decided I want to come back to it, more often.
I want to post videos, technique, the joys of dancing and even some of the accessories and things associated with dance. In short, I want a place I can geek out about the excitement and joy I feel about dancing to try to communicate it with other.
So, I've decided to revive this blog and come back to sharing the things I love about dancing, all the different varieties I enjoy. And who knows, maybe I can get some free workshops or gear or lessons out of it in exchange for writing about them!! (Given how expensive a hobby dance IS, free things are ALWAYS wonderful!!)
I my also consider having guest spots on it of other people who are dancers AND writers. I haven't decided yet. But I think I want to make it structured. Dance is the only thing I use to know one day from another, so it should be a little bit disciplined when I write about it.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Update
I recently fractured my ulna. Hairline fracture, as minor as possible... But it still means I won't be able to practice enough to be in my Luigi jazz performances. it'll be a confidence issue. I will be healed enough to be in the workshops in Chicago. Just not the performances... *sigh*
This also means no videos of my routines just yet -- I want that healed up first. But both my belly dancing routines right now are quite good!!! :D
This also means no videos of my routines just yet -- I want that healed up first. But both my belly dancing routines right now are quite good!!! :D
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thinking and decision making...
I ended up dealing with really awful shin splints/stress fractures in both tibia bones this week due to Irish dance on bad floors...
But it's making me question entirely if i wish to continue with the Irish dance. I thoroughly enjoy it but....it's hard on my legs by the nature of the type of dance it is... and as I already have thinner than normal meniscus cartilage, the repetitive pounding is going to ruin my joints and the bones themselves. I'm almost positive about this. It could potentially ruin me for ballet and limit my time as a dancer. As fun as it is, I'm not convinced it's worth it. I wish to keep dancing til I'm gray haired. And not by premature aging by the time I'm 28.
I'm currently setting my upcoming dance schedule and I think I'm happy with the result. It will have me dancing ballet in a classroom setting at least 3 times per week. Not counting if I decide to do any of the adult drop ins available, which I'm hesitant about...I haven't tried Kanopy yet. But I wasn't impressed with Madison Ballet. Perhaps as a supplement for my own sanity....There's not much correction though. I was dancing poorly trying to do pirouettes on demi-pointe with a broken big toe (about 2 weeks healed) and she told me I had looked fine. And the entire time I was self-correcting stupid mistakes caused by the pain in the toe. :/
For now I'm dancing belly dance 1-2 times per week. Which feels sufficient. I adore Ayperi. She's jsut so adorable. Today we worked on the stretches to help you gain the flexibility to do the splits. I haven't been able to do the splits in years....It is not something I worked at.
I plan to continue with the Luigi jazz. It's challenging and I love it.
It's going to be hard for me to give up the Irish dance though.... I absolutely adore the teacher of it in addition to the dance form itself. And I'm good at it... But, I'm very afraid of the damage it'll do in the long run.
It's almost entirely jumps and hops on demi-pointe while keeping your legs mostly straight (keeping the thighs together at all times) so you don't even have the cushion of the plié for the jumps... And it emphasizes being turned out as far as possible, not being turned out properly...
I fear for my bones and joints if I continue too long with it....
But it's making me question entirely if i wish to continue with the Irish dance. I thoroughly enjoy it but....it's hard on my legs by the nature of the type of dance it is... and as I already have thinner than normal meniscus cartilage, the repetitive pounding is going to ruin my joints and the bones themselves. I'm almost positive about this. It could potentially ruin me for ballet and limit my time as a dancer. As fun as it is, I'm not convinced it's worth it. I wish to keep dancing til I'm gray haired. And not by premature aging by the time I'm 28.
I'm currently setting my upcoming dance schedule and I think I'm happy with the result. It will have me dancing ballet in a classroom setting at least 3 times per week. Not counting if I decide to do any of the adult drop ins available, which I'm hesitant about...I haven't tried Kanopy yet. But I wasn't impressed with Madison Ballet. Perhaps as a supplement for my own sanity....There's not much correction though. I was dancing poorly trying to do pirouettes on demi-pointe with a broken big toe (about 2 weeks healed) and she told me I had looked fine. And the entire time I was self-correcting stupid mistakes caused by the pain in the toe. :/
For now I'm dancing belly dance 1-2 times per week. Which feels sufficient. I adore Ayperi. She's jsut so adorable. Today we worked on the stretches to help you gain the flexibility to do the splits. I haven't been able to do the splits in years....It is not something I worked at.
I plan to continue with the Luigi jazz. It's challenging and I love it.
It's going to be hard for me to give up the Irish dance though.... I absolutely adore the teacher of it in addition to the dance form itself. And I'm good at it... But, I'm very afraid of the damage it'll do in the long run.
It's almost entirely jumps and hops on demi-pointe while keeping your legs mostly straight (keeping the thighs together at all times) so you don't even have the cushion of the plié for the jumps... And it emphasizes being turned out as far as possible, not being turned out properly...
I fear for my bones and joints if I continue too long with it....
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Entrée
Tonight, I am on a dancer high. I finally nailed my Luigi jazz choreography we've been working on for three weeks now. It's wicked fast so the slightest mistake will mess you up for the rest of the piece. And it just wasn't clicking, not even at a slower tempo to learn the steps. Tonight it clicked.
And Dianné even ratcheted up the tempo by .1 on us while we were working through it. The goal is to have it up to actual speed by mid-April since there's a high likelihood we'll be using it for our recital piece (May 30 in Madison) AND out exhibition piece at the Luigi jazz conference (June 13-14 in Chicago). I'm crazy excited for both of them. As an adult dancer, I dance every day and in multiple forms but it is rare for others to get to see my work unless they attend classes with me or happen to be around when I'm practicing. And as any dancer, musician or gymnast will tell you, a practice session is NOT the same as a performance. It's far more repetitive and persnickety. In practice if you mess up, you redo it. Ad nauseum. Until you've done it right enough times you're satisfied. In class, you get critiques to improve your minor faults and improve your technique. In a performance, if you mess up, you cover it up and move on. There is no do-over in a perdormance.
Now I need to master the arabics for my belly dance piece. That was just introduced to me tonight. It's a bit of layered choreography I've not done before. It has 4 layers to it, each of which is difficult enough on its own. You can think of belly dancing as being the dance of veils. You texture each movement in dynamic patterns, often in syncopated or unrelated time. So for example, your feet can be doing one step, your hips a second, your torso a third and your arms/hands a fourth. Confused yet? Now, imagine that your feet are doing a 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2 flat foot, toe, flat foot, toe keeping time stacatto. Now your torso is doing an upward undulation. (chest up, rolling around and down through your spine back into a neutral place, see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC1XlhRwhsU&feature=channel ; the first way she teaches it. Only again my choreography is wicked fast) The chest lift is on the flat foot count, and the undulation is done by the second count on your toe. This is done 4 times. During those 8 counts, the arms are moving fluidly and treating the movement as one unit across the entire 8 counts. After that, the entire thing is repeated BUT the steps (still going flat, toe, flat toe, flat toe) are now used in a sideways traveling step to the right, not just stationary. And the arms have a completely different new movemnt, running at yet another time signature than the feet and the chest. Belly dancing is really defined by the independence of the movement. Then a sideways step to the left with yet another set of arms. Then a 4 count in the center undulating with the Egyptian steps. Confused yet? Once I get it down, I'll post a video.
Well, now I've talked about two COMPLETELY different forms of dance. So, perhaps a bit more about my dance schedule right now?...
I am currently actively dancing: 2 different schools of ballet (classical Cecchetti is preferred but it's only available once a week), Luigi style jazz, 2 different styles of belly dancing, Irish social dance, Irish solo performance (think Riverdance) and Bollywood dance. These are the forms that I am currently working hard at on a daily basis, attending classes in each of tehm at least once a week. I want to get back into Brazilian dancing, but I won't be able to until the schedule of my belly dancing shifts in a few weeks. This doesn't count randomly dancing my movements, going out dancing with friends (salsa, techno, hip hop or swing -- but I can only swing dance when I have a good partner leading me) or just having a dance party to whatever music I have on. Don't worry if you can't keep track of it -- my own mother can't. She yelled at me recently because I was dancing on TV and I didn't tell her so she could watch it. Oops?...
This blog is really about my dance journey and wherever it takes me. It's about discussing my choreography, points of technique and my personal interaction with dance, in whatever form that's taking. I also plan to include video links on here to a youtube account, both showing when and where I'm having problems, demonstrating the technique or just deomnstrating a particular move or choregraphy I'm really enjoying. I may even break it down to "teach" it.
I guess you could say I'm trying to keep my other blog from getting TOO over-run by the dance facet of me.
And of course, I suppose I should explain the address/title. Saubresaut is French for "sudden leap" -- it is a ballet term. Think of it like an excited child jumping up and down, but more elegant. The title is from wisdom printed on a Yogi Tea ginkgo tea bag. A tea and a bit of wisdom I am very fond of it. Semi-related, Vivian, my ballet instructor, always tells us "fill the Universe" during port de bras -- to continue the extension of the movement and the emoting of the music beyond our fingertips and outwards and onwards across the universe.
I'm so excited to have the Luigi jazz choreography down!!!!!! I'm a giddy happy little girl about it right now, running over it again and again just because I can!!!!!!
And Dianné even ratcheted up the tempo by .1 on us while we were working through it. The goal is to have it up to actual speed by mid-April since there's a high likelihood we'll be using it for our recital piece (May 30 in Madison) AND out exhibition piece at the Luigi jazz conference (June 13-14 in Chicago). I'm crazy excited for both of them. As an adult dancer, I dance every day and in multiple forms but it is rare for others to get to see my work unless they attend classes with me or happen to be around when I'm practicing. And as any dancer, musician or gymnast will tell you, a practice session is NOT the same as a performance. It's far more repetitive and persnickety. In practice if you mess up, you redo it. Ad nauseum. Until you've done it right enough times you're satisfied. In class, you get critiques to improve your minor faults and improve your technique. In a performance, if you mess up, you cover it up and move on. There is no do-over in a perdormance.
Now I need to master the arabics for my belly dance piece. That was just introduced to me tonight. It's a bit of layered choreography I've not done before. It has 4 layers to it, each of which is difficult enough on its own. You can think of belly dancing as being the dance of veils. You texture each movement in dynamic patterns, often in syncopated or unrelated time. So for example, your feet can be doing one step, your hips a second, your torso a third and your arms/hands a fourth. Confused yet? Now, imagine that your feet are doing a 1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2 flat foot, toe, flat foot, toe keeping time stacatto. Now your torso is doing an upward undulation. (chest up, rolling around and down through your spine back into a neutral place, see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC1XlhRwhsU&feature=channel ; the first way she teaches it. Only again my choreography is wicked fast) The chest lift is on the flat foot count, and the undulation is done by the second count on your toe. This is done 4 times. During those 8 counts, the arms are moving fluidly and treating the movement as one unit across the entire 8 counts. After that, the entire thing is repeated BUT the steps (still going flat, toe, flat toe, flat toe) are now used in a sideways traveling step to the right, not just stationary. And the arms have a completely different new movemnt, running at yet another time signature than the feet and the chest. Belly dancing is really defined by the independence of the movement. Then a sideways step to the left with yet another set of arms. Then a 4 count in the center undulating with the Egyptian steps. Confused yet? Once I get it down, I'll post a video.
Well, now I've talked about two COMPLETELY different forms of dance. So, perhaps a bit more about my dance schedule right now?...
I am currently actively dancing: 2 different schools of ballet (classical Cecchetti is preferred but it's only available once a week), Luigi style jazz, 2 different styles of belly dancing, Irish social dance, Irish solo performance (think Riverdance) and Bollywood dance. These are the forms that I am currently working hard at on a daily basis, attending classes in each of tehm at least once a week. I want to get back into Brazilian dancing, but I won't be able to until the schedule of my belly dancing shifts in a few weeks. This doesn't count randomly dancing my movements, going out dancing with friends (salsa, techno, hip hop or swing -- but I can only swing dance when I have a good partner leading me) or just having a dance party to whatever music I have on. Don't worry if you can't keep track of it -- my own mother can't. She yelled at me recently because I was dancing on TV and I didn't tell her so she could watch it. Oops?...
This blog is really about my dance journey and wherever it takes me. It's about discussing my choreography, points of technique and my personal interaction with dance, in whatever form that's taking. I also plan to include video links on here to a youtube account, both showing when and where I'm having problems, demonstrating the technique or just deomnstrating a particular move or choregraphy I'm really enjoying. I may even break it down to "teach" it.
I guess you could say I'm trying to keep my other blog from getting TOO over-run by the dance facet of me.
And of course, I suppose I should explain the address/title. Saubresaut is French for "sudden leap" -- it is a ballet term. Think of it like an excited child jumping up and down, but more elegant. The title is from wisdom printed on a Yogi Tea ginkgo tea bag. A tea and a bit of wisdom I am very fond of it. Semi-related, Vivian, my ballet instructor, always tells us "fill the Universe" during port de bras -- to continue the extension of the movement and the emoting of the music beyond our fingertips and outwards and onwards across the universe.
I'm so excited to have the Luigi jazz choreography down!!!!!! I'm a giddy happy little girl about it right now, running over it again and again just because I can!!!!!!
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