Category Archives: variations
Ballet Intensive, Day 4: In Which I Forget To Eat
(And then can’t stay asleep, either.)
Yesterday, I ate an early lunch, dithered around for a while (in the process remembering why I don’t bother with shopping malls even as places to take a walk when it’s abominably humid out), then transferred myself over to the hotel (which, alas, does not have a pool after all).
I then arranged my stuff, watched some videos of Albrecht’s variation, wrote a post about it and forgot to post it (hence the after-class posting), collected my dance junk, and finally rolled downtown just in time to be an hour early for class.
You’ll notice that I don’t mention food any time after lunch. You can guess why.
As such, technique class was … um. Interesting.
Things started out well, but by the time we got around to turns, I was feeling bonky. Not, mind you, bonk*ers* — I’m pretty sure that’s a normal state of affairs for me.
Rather, I was having issues with turns because my legs just didn’t want to passé — not at all a normal state of affairs; normally snapping right up to passé is one of the things I actually do well (my challenge in turns is a tendency to throw my head back).
Basically, my legs just didn’t want to go — and there was something remarkably familiar about the sensation.
That’s when it hit me: I was bonking like a Cat 5 climbing Alp D’Huez. Basically, I was out of gas. (In other news, balancés while bonking are hilarious, as is pas de bourée — “drunk step,” indeed.)
Between technique and variations I ate a granola bar with enough free sugar to get things ticking over again. Unfortunately, it was one of the caffeinated ones that Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time (what could possibly go wrong?). As such, I’ve been sleeping in dribs and drabs, alternately dreaming that I’m not asleep (which is incredibly annoying) and dreaming about Albrecht’s variation, whereupon I wake myself up trying to jump.
In my sleep.
Whilst lying face down.
You guys, that is no kind of way to cabriole (especially not avant).
Anyway, Variations involved a whole lot of marking coupled to a few impressive cabrioles. In sum, after running the duo three times, I blew my booster rockets on the first phrase of Albrecht’s variation.
Not my best day, though Mr. J remarked that I have the musicality down, and that first cabriole-assemblé-Sissone might actually have been worth it, because it was sufficiently high and light that it rather startled me.
The rest, however, was a bunch of flaily marking, though at least I was marking the right things at the right times.
Fortunately, I don’t have to go anywhere today until 11:30, when I’m wandering back to Louisville to collect Denis, so I can basically continue to attempt cabrioles in my sleep until 11 if push comes to shove.
Tonight will be our final full evening, and C and I promised that we would finally show the ladies our variations, so it should be fun. We’ll either knock their socks off or kill ourselves trying (or both — after all, dying at the end whilst surrounded by ghostly ladies is totally valid, and they are doing “Kingdom of the Shades,” which is at least kinda-sorta ghostly, though I think the Shades probably have a better deal than the Wilis).
Still going to try to hit at least one double cabriole, preferably in the second cabriole-assemblé-Sissone in that first phrase, because I think that makes more sense. The Wilis are like, “Dance!” and you’re like, “But it’s the middle of the night and I don’t see any champagne!” and then they’re like, “NO, SRSLY, DANCE!!!” And you’re like, “Dear G-d, my legs, what are they doing?”
Sorry, Albrecht — apparently, guilty get have way too much rhythm (but you’re still never gonna dance again, not if Mertha has her way).
Ballet Intensive, Day 3
Last night, conditioning class was tough —Ms. A2 opened with a gentle warm-up that lulled us all into complacency, then whipped out the most-demanding Pilates workout I’ve done to date.
I spent the brief break before technique class pacing the studio to keep my muscles warm; between that and the flexibility work we did in conditioning, I had increasingly awesome turnout throughout barre and good extensions. I’ve been remembering to stretch my piriformis, which has been helping with my splits.
Double turns were reliably on tap for turns and terre-a-terre (a lovely waltzy thing with sweeping ronds) and I had good entrechats during petit allegro, although I had to battle muscle memory to keep from doing a similar combination we do frequently at home.
I might overturn my ruling about triple turns tonight, because I’d like to tune them up for variations, if I can.
After the second break, we ran Albrecht a bunch of times, then revisited our duo, then returned to Albrecht. We’re now really polishing both. I substituted contretemps where I’d just been stepping over myself in one passage and added double turns where they fit, though if we perform the duo, I probably won’t do them unless C does. We are, after all, supposed to be mirroring of one-another, not show-boating!
Albrecht-wise, since I now have the opening pose-step-chassée-cabriole-assemblée-Sissone sequence down, I’ll see tonight if I can work double cabs in. I’m still not 100% sure I can even do them reliably, but it would be awesome to be able to pull them out on Saturday.
I should also figure out how I want to finish Albrecht’s variation — there are some options. Right now I’m doing a turn from fourth to second to the knee (which I think I should finish effacé but with my shoulders opened back to stage left, since that would leave me facing our imaginary Giselle, for whom I’m theoretically doing this entire dance?).
I plan to watch some versions of the variation on YouTube and collect some ideas.
Mr. J got my arms sorted on a part of Albrecht’s variation about which I’d somehow confused myself and improved my tour-to-the-knee (a definite in the duo and an option for Albrecht), which I’d been doing awkwardly — tour, land on two feet, rond de jambe to knee. He demonstrated it and I realized that it’s cleaner if you pick up the leg that will be in back before you land the tour.
I also want to see if I can swing a double tour before I go home — I had a respectable 1.5 last night, which is progress, although not incredibly useful.
Ballet Intensive Day 2: Albrechts, Pluriel
Yesterday, after a conditioning class in which I one again reflected on my gratitude for the grueling classes I take at Suspend and a technique class in which I had less-than-great balances but oh-my-G-d extensions and a fantastic time in terre-a-terre and grand allegro, our men’s class of two nailed down the rest of our first variation.
Mr. J then asked if we’d like to learn something else, and C requested something slower with beats — and so we found ourselves learning Albrecht’s variation (a little simplified, but not terribly so) from Gisele.
I had to mark my way through for the most part, as my right leg was feeling a little strain-y and I didn’t want to risk aggravating it, but I think I’m going to enjoy it immensely. Anything that opens with a lyrical croisée presentation and leaps immediately into cabriole avant is essentially right up my alley.
Also means we get to do a zillion tours en l’air, which I almost never get to do at home since we only very rarely do men’s technique.
So I’m quite excited about that, and it looks like we might perform Albrecht’s variation individually instead of the first one together.
Other exciting developments are taking place at home in my absence, which is lovely, though evidently my cat is extremely confused about my absence and keeps sort of despairingly loafing about, waiting for me to return. Poor kitty!
Anyway, I think I’ll come home from this week a better and more polished dancer than I arrived, which is the whole point.
Tonight I’ll probably keep my leg wrapped just in case, though I’ll see how it feels.
danseur ignoble 