Ninth workshop and post-holiday routine

So it turns out I spent a little bit too much money during holidays (oops) and I now need to think of new ways to save money again. Therefore I plan to cook my own meals and cancel my gym membership. That would probably put my savings back on track!

However, meal prep is def more work than it seems - there are lots of planning and logistics going on! Like during nights when you plan to be productive with book reading/blog writing, you find out you run out of rice and have to make a trip to the supermarket. Or you realize you dont have time to go back home tomorrow to cook but you only have leftovers left for 2 more meals. And also after I finish making dinner, eat it, wash the dishes and do all the chores, I am so exhausted that I am no longer productive. Ughh!!

I find that it is mostly because I sit in my bed a lot of the time, and then the next thing I know is when I wake up in the morning… today I try to avoid my bed before bed time and sit in a chair. So far, it works and I am still writing this blog! Sometimes, all it takes is some determination and a change of environment.

So far for the weekly thoughts, now back to ballet!

On Monday, we did a lot of rond de jumbe, did some tendu, pique, and ended with an exercise of the second port de bras.

Rond de jumb, tendu and ribe cage

When doing the rond de jumb, and tendu, whenever you are pushing you leg to the side and shift your weight to only one leg, your alignment is at risk. The teacher said you should always actively think about lifting your rib cage up, which triggers you to lengthen your spine and activate your inner thigh muscle. It works!

Another imagery to think of when during rond de jumb is to think of your rib cage of being supported by two chopsticks at each side. When you move, you cannot bend or break the chopsticks.

Lastly, it is very important to elongate your leg as far as possible, especially when doing it from the front to back. It is very easy to not go the furthest and just trace your foot diagonally, forming a diamond shape.

Here is a good video on pique and jete

The second port de bras

We did the part where we start at the second position and raise to the fourth position. It is called the second port de bras in Russian ballet. The teacher reminded us that we are sometimes raise our arms to high while we are in the second position, that our arms are basically in front of our neck! While thinking of having relaxed shoulders, all the twists and turns of our arm muscles, we still need to think of having our arms in a declining angle, where a drop of water could roll down our arm! So many things to think about when dancing.

Viola! These are the takeaways for today’s class. This class is definitely getting harder… we are asked to memorize more moves in one setting and the moves are faster and more complicated. I am breaking out some sweats after class!