Restarting my absolute beginner ballet workshop...
Today is my first day at my ballet workshop at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. This is my third time taking this class, but I am still doing the center barre (the most basic one), just to give myself a stronger foundation. I took this workshop for the first time in the summer and fall, but I I skipped a lot of classes during the time because of work/events, and I am still uncomfortable with a lot of the moves at the center barre.
Anyways, third time is the charm…hopefully I can come to every single class this time and actually learn the positions accurately! With this goal in mind, I decide to take some notes on what I learned during class and revise at home… so here it is:
Today we learned posture, tendu, passé, port de bras.
Posture:
When standing, make sure the ear is aligned with shoulder, ribs and hip. Knees and second toe should be aligned. This doesn’t mean we are forming a double chin… we need to lift our head up like a J…as if we’re a puppet with a string on our head connected to the ceiling. Shoulders should be down as well, and belly button needs to compress towards the spine.
tendu: First, toes need to be straight and press against the floor just like you are wearing the highest heels, and then flex the toes to lift them up. Toes are never curled on the floor, they are always straight.
Good videos to watch:
Passé
Key to this is to have your heel forward when doing this, which should feel unnatural, and then lift the toes up to the knees. Hips should stay the same and not lifted. The hip movement in this case should be similar to what it feels like when you are marching. Lastly, the legs should have a turnout, as if you are trying to twist each leg in a clockwise manner.
Port de bras
Again, alignment and posture is the biggest thing.
When doing first position, feel as if you are using your arms to embrace a very round disk, while also keeping your shoulder back and make sure alignments are all correct.
Et voila! That’s it for today. Feels like I am still learning new things, even though this is already the 3rd time I come to the workshop. The other girls from our last workshop have already progressed to the side barre for more advanced moves. While I do wish to try the side barre and join the squad, I know I am not there yet, so I tell myself that a little patience is important and can be rewarding sometimes. Don’t try to compare yourself with others, everyone has their own journey in terms of ballet!
A girl in our workshop recommended this book. Want to buy!
Anyways, after the ballet class I went to visit restaurants I plan to go to for my birthday: The Waverly Inn, The Musket Room and the Nomad. The Waverly Inn was lovely, but it doesn’t seem special enough for a birthday - more like a place for an intimate girls night. The Musket Room was not as good as I expected, the decor wasn’t chic and it was kind of well-lit. The waiter was also not as hospitable as other places. Then I went to Nomad - and was instantly sold! It was chic, upscale, intimate, cozy…..all at once. Feels like the home of a New York old money. The reception was very engaging and even showed me the private event room - when there was actually a large party having dinner! Last time I was here, it was just after I graduated from college, my banker friends brought me there, and I eavesdropped two middle-aged men talking million dollar deals…. oh well. It would be great to be back after two full years! So much has happened, I no longer want to do IB, yet I’m still as eager to break into the world of high finance as I’ve always been. I have gotten a slight peek into the world from my job doing investor relations advisory, but I do hope to actually learn how to analyze financial statements, instead of looking at how capital flows in the market for my clients, who are investor relations officers. One young girl can dream!