Fourth workshop and a celebration
I was again late for 10 minutes for my third workshop, because I was busy chatting with my co-worker about the business problems our firm is facing. We as an analyst class at our company (investor relations advisory business within a data analytics firm) are having lunch with the management team of our department tomorrow, and we charted many bullet points on things to improve within the organization from an analyst’s perspective. I prepared a big speech tomorrow with 6 gigantic bullet points, but I was kind of uneasy how it is gonna be received by the management team, because they are all constructive criticisms. Our group is experiencing some pretty high turnovers and is facing some growing pains, which made our working experience somewhat unpleasant, but I do hope to be a part of the effort to solve these problems and make our workplace better. Anyhow, so therefore I was late for my ballet class, and the pianist - a slim retired man dressed in business casual - gave me his usual stare while I sneaked into the classroom… making me feel a little guilty and hope I wont be late next time.
Today, we reviewed many of the moves from last class, but mostly talked more about posture, weight placement, plié, tendu a la second, releve in second and port de bras.
Posture
So I learned the weight placement in ballet should be the ball of your feet! Meaning you should shift your weight to the front and stand on the ball of your feet.
Meanwhile, you need to think of your rib cage as a bowl, or a pitcher pouring milk to the floor, because you need to engage your abdominal muscle to actively close your rib cage to your spine.
Some great articles
ballet basic postures - on neutral pelvic placement (the line connecting your tailbone and your pubic bone should be parallel to the floor)
Plié
turnout needs to be maintained, and you need to think of pushing your knees to surpass your toes, instead of bringing them down to your toe. Do your plié while thinking of elongating your neck and being aligned.
tendu in first position
you need to think of the movement as a circle, which engages the feet and the head, instead of just flat out sliding on the floor. You need to think of the floor as if it is made by clay, actually pressing into the floor to leave some fictional “trace“, and then raise your foot and withdraw. Meanwhile, turnout needs to be remained, you lead with your heels but come back with your pinky toe.
Releve a la second / first position
The heels need to touch each other when you first releve, and then they separate as you rise.
You also need to think there is a magnet between your inner thighs, as you need to squeeze your inner thighs together, which will drive you to do more turnout.
Port de bras - second position
When doing a port de bras, you need to imagine a drop of water can slide from your shoulder to your hand. so your shoulder should be back but elbow needs to be elevated
in second position, imagine you are occupying a square. Move your hands to the upper corners of the square, and don’t go further
voila!
On Saturday I celebrated my birthday with another friend whose birthday was the same week as mine. We gathered friends at Nomad, went to fig 19 for our after party, then went to Maru in ktown and finished with Korean bbq. Such a wonderful birthday! It was small and intimate, just the right amount of people - people that are very close friends, that knows all the intricate details of my life. Some I havent seen for a while, and I caught up with them, sharing the most hilarious and ridiculous stories, and had a great laugh. I am happy I have my friends in New York. The gifts are amazing too - I love each one of them!!! Such is inviting your best friends to your birthday party.
Making birthday wishes
Kbbq is so good!! This is a meal I would rememver