4th adult ballet class (beginner workshop 3) + a blockchain conference and FIRE...

in

Some key takeaways:

Releve:

When you releve, it is very easy to tilt your pelvis forward. Therefore, you need to think that there is a string connecting your tailbone to the floor and is actively pulling you into the ground, while you releve.

Passé and pirouette:

When you passé, you need to lift your foot as high as possible so it is at the same level at your knee. Meanwhile, you need to reach for largest height you can achieve, so that you won’t hurt the balls of your foot when you releve.

Pirouette:

After a pirouette, you usually close your elevated leg to the back of your foot. This way, you can change to tendu with your other foot.

Et voila!

I recently discovered the instagram of the amazing Mattia Santini (mattypepeb). His changement movements are so elegant!

P.S. what’s going on with my life…

A blockchain conference:

I recently attended a blockchain conference yesterday. It was organized by one of my coworkers, so I got in for free. Really amazing to hear about all the use cases with the blockchain technology. Blockchain is basically a way to store data in the computer using chains, so it makes it very hard for someone to hack into the system, because changing only one part of the chain would destroy the entire process and automatically unable the transaction. Thus, you are always 100% sure that the money you send will definitely be delivered to the other party. As the money is digitized, you no longer need to save your money in the bank - you can just save it in a block within a computer, and really own your money without worrying the bank being bankrupt. However, the challenge is that without a custodian, you are responsible for storing your own key to the account, and if you lose it, you lose the money as there is no other way to retrieve your password. Current legislation is working on solving this issue, although the current blockchain technology is already used in the government systems internally in China. Also, tracking the transaction flow is another challenge, as the money can be used to fund illegal activities using bitcoins. Very powerful stuff!

On FIRE…

I recently discovered this youtube channel called “Our Rich Journey“. Its about how a couple with 2 kids managed to save 2M dollars and retire early at 39 while being white collar federal workers. It is so far the best channel I’ve ever seen on this matter, and I learned a lot about how to manage my budget, how to invest and creative ways to save money. I can’t believe they managed to save 70% of their income!

In terms of investing, you should focus more on investing ETFs, as the stock market usually gives you an annual return of 7-9%, while actively-managed mutual funds cant always beat the market. If you invest in individual stocks, you should pick the ones with the highest dividends and low P/B ratio, and reinvest the dividend into index funds.

Tenth workshop and loving yourself

in

There has been a very big news recently from my home country China that a young girl in the country’s best university committed suicide because of her abusive boyfriend, who is her schoolmate. The boy lamented the fact that she is no longer a virgin, and therefore asked her to get pregnant with his child and then abort it, as both a punishment and a demonstration of her love. It really made my heart sank, as I am sure many many girls have felt the same way and was there for her. As a girl growing up, especially raised by traditional Asian parents who are usually very strict and critical, it is easy to have doubt in yourself and not believe you deserve the best. Growing up in such an environment, girls always have a tendency to please other people and over compromise themselves to fulfill other people’s requests, and would be afraid that rejecting such requests would mean they would lose love and respect from others. It is this kind of thinking that negatively affects girls’ approach towards dating, as their willingness to over compromise prevented them from leaving their abusive boyfriends.

Being single and actively dating, I also sometimes find myself in the trap of being afraid of saying no, and would always terribly regret me not being sincere and genuine to myself and do what I actually want to do - especially after I said yes to a second date with a person I have no chemistry with, or go home with someone when I am not ready. I do tend to find myself being stronger as years go by, and would always remind myself to always reject whatever I do not like to do- something that seems easy to many people but hard for me sometimes. I did had a few moments of feeling free and independent, once after I had a very frank conversation with my ex and broke up with him, and I consequently had the best year of my life so far just by dating myself, exploring New York, visiting museums, going to shows, etc. Most recently, I also said no to a museum date in MoMa and had a great time going with my friend instead. Loving yourself - seems easy but is sometimes very hard. It means stop needing love from the outside and give love to yourself from within. It means it is ok that to not get love from everybody in the society, because at the end of the day, you will always be there for your own support. It means defending yourself in front of something you do not want for yourself, and care less about what other people think.

Anyways, a very heavy topic for an otherwise thrilling class of dancing!

Today we did many difficult dance moves, including coupé, grand battement, fondu, soussus.

Read More

Eighth workshop and holiday rituals

in

So… its officially holiday season! What have you all been busy with?

I had a relaxing four day weekend cooking at home… making chicken soup, meatballs, steamed pork ribs, wonton, and matcha swiss rolls! Going back to cooking is surprisingly satisfying, since everything you cook is exactly what you want to eat, and you just get very happy after a big meal you made yourself. It’s a very different feeling from having to go with whatever is on the menu at a restaurant or whatever is available at the Citarella hot bar (which is what I’ve been eating for many months). Cooking makes you feel like you are actually taking care of yourself!

Unfortunately, cooking had never been my priority over the past few months, as I was always so crazed about getting so many things done - learn new things, go to dance classes, go to the gym, go to museums, meet friends, read books…that I rarely have time to slow down and actually relax. I kind of overburdened myself a little bit, trying to accomplish everything. The holiday season is a good time to slow down, and have the peace of mind to enjoy not doing anything. You know, living in a fast-paced and career-oriented city such as New York can make you lose sight of such a little but important thing , which is that sometimes, doing nothing is ok!

Today is also our seventh workshop ( I didnt get to post about our sixth workshop and class was canceled on Monday due to a snow storm). So I will write everything I learned in the two workshops in below. After a week and a half’s break from ballet, it is definitely awesome to be back to class, listening to live piano while stretching on the floor and also learn to connect with your body and emotions through moving and dancing (:

Read More