... Well I have been avoiding this post for about a week so I suppose it is time to break the news...
We are not going to be going to Shanghai anymore =-( The corporate sponsor had poor financial results this year and backed out of sponsoring us.... We are all very upset about the whole thing, considering all the excitement and work that already went into it.
It's the arts, what can you say?
...
Things go up and down, up and down.
...
Anyways I am pretty tired today. I got to dance only to find out that I had rehearsal until 8:00 p.m. I was quite upset that we were given so little notice. I had a great class from 9:15-10:45, practised on my own for an hour, then ate my lunch, stretched for an hour, had a terrible two hour ballet class followed by pointe, went out to get dinner, then had the rehearsal for our June show. Fun, fun, fun.
Goodnight!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Busy weekend!
Finally the first signs of Spring are truly starting to show. The cherry blossoms are blooming and the weather is mild enough to start wearing lighter jackets with brighter smiles. That said I have had quite the busy weekend!
On Friday I had morning class, which was nice although I was late. I arrived just as my teacher arrived at the school and apologized immediately. After class we were packed into a bus to go do a performance for an elementary school. The trip there should really only have taken half an hour but for some reason nobody paid much attention as to where the school was. Armed with the GPS our teacher (who also was the driver) decided that the talking lady was completely wrong and ignored her while we drove up and down the mountain. Sitting in the back I just let the chaos continue, no one was particularly worried so we enjoyed the beautiful views of Vancouver while we roamed around in circles.
45 minutes later we seemed to be no closer to finding the school so we made our first phone call asking for directions.
15 minutes later we realized that they had both a senior and junior school and we had received directions to the wrong campus.
30 minutes later after driving in a giant loop at least four times we finally got to the school with half an hour to unpack and get dressed/ re-warmup.
Then they realized that we had only brought half the tutus that were needed...
... It was turning out to be slightly disastrous. In the end we got by, using the swan tutus for the first piece as well as the Swan's variations. The dances all went quite seamlessly I think. The performance was well received and the elementary students were adorable.
After we packed up we headed back to the ballet school. Some girls had a runthrough for competition so I watched that for an hour and then we had rehearsal from 5:00 until 7:30. Then I went out for dinner with my parents... a very long day, but enjoyable too.
Yesterday was also a day packed with rehearsals... my feet died, they have been having an awful time lately. Then I went out for a birthday party at night.
Today I went downtown to the Art Gallery and had a nice day walking about. I have a constant cramp at the bottom of my foot from when we sat down for lunch... don't know how that happens. I have been massaging it and hopefully it will go away by tomorrow!
Any ways that is my news for now. I am feeling very relaxed after this busy, but very fun weekend. Tomorrow I am going to be at dance from 9:00-7:00 again. <3
p.s. I reading the book "The 100 Mile Diet" at the moment and would really recommend it!
45 minutes later we seemed to be no closer to finding the school so we made our first phone call asking for directions.
15 minutes later we realized that they had both a senior and junior school and we had received directions to the wrong campus.
30 minutes later after driving in a giant loop at least four times we finally got to the school with half an hour to unpack and get dressed/ re-warmup.
Then they realized that we had only brought half the tutus that were needed...
... It was turning out to be slightly disastrous. In the end we got by, using the swan tutus for the first piece as well as the Swan's variations. The dances all went quite seamlessly I think. The performance was well received and the elementary students were adorable.
After we packed up we headed back to the ballet school. Some girls had a runthrough for competition so I watched that for an hour and then we had rehearsal from 5:00 until 7:30. Then I went out for dinner with my parents... a very long day, but enjoyable too.
Yesterday was also a day packed with rehearsals... my feet died, they have been having an awful time lately. Then I went out for a birthday party at night.
Today I went downtown to the Art Gallery and had a nice day walking about. I have a constant cramp at the bottom of my foot from when we sat down for lunch... don't know how that happens. I have been massaging it and hopefully it will go away by tomorrow!
Any ways that is my news for now. I am feeling very relaxed after this busy, but very fun weekend. Tomorrow I am going to be at dance from 9:00-7:00 again. <3
p.s. I reading the book "The 100 Mile Diet" at the moment and would really recommend it!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Two Great Documentaries
While procrastinating other things yesterday I stumbled upon two new and really great ballet documentaries. Both are in French but they are so interesting!
The first one is about Aurelie Dupont, star of the Paris Opera Ballet. The filmmaker followed her life for a period of 3 years to make this short film. It shows the less glamorous side of the ballet as well as a beautiful staging of Raymonda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efyRjY33Low
The second is about Polina Semionova star of the Staatsballet Berlin. It is more uplifting and the dancing is really, really beautiful to watch! She makes EVERYTHING look so easy and enjoyable! She dances Sylvia in this short film and there is also an interview with Malakov and footage of Nureyev in the Sleeping beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qWsTGOyQCE&feature=related
I hope you enjoy them <3
The first one is about Aurelie Dupont, star of the Paris Opera Ballet. The filmmaker followed her life for a period of 3 years to make this short film. It shows the less glamorous side of the ballet as well as a beautiful staging of Raymonda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efyRjY33Low
The second is about Polina Semionova star of the Staatsballet Berlin. It is more uplifting and the dancing is really, really beautiful to watch! She makes EVERYTHING look so easy and enjoyable! She dances Sylvia in this short film and there is also an interview with Malakov and footage of Nureyev in the Sleeping beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qWsTGOyQCE&feature=related
I hope you enjoy them <3
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Update
I have been sick for the past week with a stomach problem. It's extremely frustrating but it has given me some time to rest which is good in it's own way I suppose.
During this time off I've realised how lucky I am in all sorts of different ways. I am so lucky to be doing what I love.
When you are dancing we just concentrate on the negatives.
"I have to improve this, I have to get my leg this much higher, I have to turnout more, I have to lose weight".
So often we lose sight of the positives and how lucky we truly are. Alright our profession is one of the hardest on your body and on your soul, but we are lucky that we are able to experience it. That we can get the training and the opportunities that so many others could only dream of.
I had a great time performing at the Olympic venues. How many people are able to say that they danced on all those stages? Perhaps the conditions were not very nice for dancing, slippery floors, outdoor performances e.t.c. But I danced there... and that feeling is pretty nice!
When I living my life I get so caught up in the things I have to do that my life just seems like a complete and utter failure. All I focus on is what I have to do next, and after that, and then... I don't get a lot of time to enjoy the positive sides of things. I have to dance, do all my exercises, work and make money to dance, worry about money, worry about what I am going to do next year, do my online course, do errands, get everywhere on time, walk in the pouring rain all the time... it takes a lot out of you. Life suddenly seems like this massive to do list with no end. Even the planned relaxation time seems like a task... must scrapbook... must make earrings... and then it just becomes an added stress.
Anyways after this week of staying at home I am appreciating my life a little more, which in my opinion is a good thing!
Frances Chung and Gennadi Nedvigin in Balanchine's "Divertimento No.15.
During this time off I've realised how lucky I am in all sorts of different ways. I am so lucky to be doing what I love.
When you are dancing we just concentrate on the negatives.
"I have to improve this, I have to get my leg this much higher, I have to turnout more, I have to lose weight".
So often we lose sight of the positives and how lucky we truly are. Alright our profession is one of the hardest on your body and on your soul, but we are lucky that we are able to experience it. That we can get the training and the opportunities that so many others could only dream of.
I had a great time performing at the Olympic venues. How many people are able to say that they danced on all those stages? Perhaps the conditions were not very nice for dancing, slippery floors, outdoor performances e.t.c. But I danced there... and that feeling is pretty nice!
When I living my life I get so caught up in the things I have to do that my life just seems like a complete and utter failure. All I focus on is what I have to do next, and after that, and then... I don't get a lot of time to enjoy the positive sides of things. I have to dance, do all my exercises, work and make money to dance, worry about money, worry about what I am going to do next year, do my online course, do errands, get everywhere on time, walk in the pouring rain all the time... it takes a lot out of you. Life suddenly seems like this massive to do list with no end. Even the planned relaxation time seems like a task... must scrapbook... must make earrings... and then it just becomes an added stress.
Anyways after this week of staying at home I am appreciating my life a little more, which in my opinion is a good thing!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Exhausted
Today I danced from 9:30-5:30 without a proper break.
9:30 Ballet technique class
11:00 Rehearsal for Fan Dance
12:00 Rehearsal for a different Chinese dance
12:30 Rehersal for Rise (Toru Shimazaki)
1:30 Contemporary Class
3:00 Don Quixchotte Rehearsal- filled in as a substitute for a part that I have never done
4:30 New Piece Rehearsal
5:30 Go home
6:30 Eat dinner
7:00 Work tutoring
I am exhausted!
Tomorrow we are performing! I am quite excited for it. It should be fun!!! I just need to sleep a little haha.
9:30 Ballet technique class
11:00 Rehearsal for Fan Dance
12:00 Rehearsal for a different Chinese dance
12:30 Rehersal for Rise (Toru Shimazaki)
1:30 Contemporary Class
3:00 Don Quixchotte Rehearsal- filled in as a substitute for a part that I have never done
4:30 New Piece Rehearsal
5:30 Go home
6:30 Eat dinner
7:00 Work tutoring
I am exhausted!
Tomorrow we are performing! I am quite excited for it. It should be fun!!! I just need to sleep a little haha.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
First Company Audition!!!
Yesterday I had my very first company audition in my life.
I was completely undecided on whether to go or not as I am planning to do another year of training. I was sure I wouldn't make the cut and didn't want to embarrass myself/ my school and I was so nervous.
Fortunately a lot of the girls from my school were going so I tagged along, dreading every moment of the upcoming audition.
The audition was for a smallish touring company and we weren't expected more than 20 people to be there, everyone expected it to be a fairly intimate audition. However when we got to the audition site there were about 50 people warming up. There were girls and guys from all over the country who had travelled from as far as Alberta to get here. There were so many nationalities present, Brazilians, Russians, Japanese, Americans. I was really surprised!
Seen as it was such a big audition the artistic director said that they would be making cuts fairly quickly and he apologized to anyone who had travelled from afar in advance.
I was almost relieved at the thought that I would be cut after plies because my turnout isn't the best and neither is my weight at the moment (but I am seeing progress in that area). Barre was quite long tedious, I was so nervous that my face went really red and I could feel the tension in my neck and arms. We were so packed on the barres that it was almost impossible to move let alone dance! After barre they decided to make a cut and about 15 people were cut. They called out the numbers of the people they asked to leave and I was worried because they didn't call my number. I was thinking," they asked me to stay? something must be wrong!". I decided that the reason was probably because they couldn't see my number properly as it wasn't pinned to my leotard very well and was a bit floppy. I couldn't decide on whether or not I should put another safety pin in to prop the number up better. If I did the chances were that I would get cut quicker making the process last less time.
Centre started before I could stick another pin in. I really enjoyed the exercises, even though I messed up quite a bit... Everyone seemed to, we were all so nervous that no one was really concentrating on the combinations very well. We did adage. During adage I was thinking, "O.k. I'm going to be cut after this, it will be over soon, thank goodness.". They made a cut after adage and they still didn't call my number..."Oh my god, they still haven't cut me, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?". I was frantically trying to prop up my number so that they could see it better. 28, 28, 28.
After I had managed to get through adage I relaxed a little bit. "Turns and jumps next, I can manage that". They are my favourite part of class so I started having a bit more fun and my smile started being less forced. "Just show you enjoy dancing".
They cut people after turns. I think... not entirely sure because everything just kind of became a blur. They still hadn't called my number. Wow.
Jumps were not really what I'm used to. I made mistakes because I had never done some of the combinations before. I stopped being nervous about it though. My brain started thinking about the most random things. During petit allegro I realized that I hadn't eaten much before to audition and was feeling kind of weak. Note to self-eat more carbs before the next audition. I didn't expect to do more than tendus so I hadn't thought I would need much energy. Grande Allegro was fun, and then suddenly the class part was over.
They said that they would ask some people to stay to do pointe work and learn some of the repertoire, that some people would be asked to leave and that some people would not make the cut but would be asked to stay behind for a talk.
They called out the numbers to leave, they didn't call my number. And then they asked five of us to stay behind while about 8 girls and 3 boys were asked to stay to do pointework.
I was one of the 5 girls asked to stay for the talk. Quite excitedly, they told us that they were interested in us, but they thought that we would need some more training. They invited us to go to their summer intensive that will be very small only about 10 people are going to be admitted to the program and they would like to stay in contact with us.
I was ectastic, my first audition went really well. The audition that I had been dreading so much, that I didn't even want to go to because I was so afraid of getting cut.
They were really nice about everything and I feel so much better about myself than I have felt in a long, long time.
I need to remember that it was a small company that the audition was for, and that big auditions would be very different but still it is a nice feeling to have for the moment. <3
I was completely undecided on whether to go or not as I am planning to do another year of training. I was sure I wouldn't make the cut and didn't want to embarrass myself/ my school and I was so nervous.
Fortunately a lot of the girls from my school were going so I tagged along, dreading every moment of the upcoming audition.
The audition was for a smallish touring company and we weren't expected more than 20 people to be there, everyone expected it to be a fairly intimate audition. However when we got to the audition site there were about 50 people warming up. There were girls and guys from all over the country who had travelled from as far as Alberta to get here. There were so many nationalities present, Brazilians, Russians, Japanese, Americans. I was really surprised!
Seen as it was such a big audition the artistic director said that they would be making cuts fairly quickly and he apologized to anyone who had travelled from afar in advance.
I was almost relieved at the thought that I would be cut after plies because my turnout isn't the best and neither is my weight at the moment (but I am seeing progress in that area). Barre was quite long tedious, I was so nervous that my face went really red and I could feel the tension in my neck and arms. We were so packed on the barres that it was almost impossible to move let alone dance! After barre they decided to make a cut and about 15 people were cut. They called out the numbers of the people they asked to leave and I was worried because they didn't call my number. I was thinking," they asked me to stay? something must be wrong!". I decided that the reason was probably because they couldn't see my number properly as it wasn't pinned to my leotard very well and was a bit floppy. I couldn't decide on whether or not I should put another safety pin in to prop the number up better. If I did the chances were that I would get cut quicker making the process last less time.
Centre started before I could stick another pin in. I really enjoyed the exercises, even though I messed up quite a bit... Everyone seemed to, we were all so nervous that no one was really concentrating on the combinations very well. We did adage. During adage I was thinking, "O.k. I'm going to be cut after this, it will be over soon, thank goodness.". They made a cut after adage and they still didn't call my number..."Oh my god, they still haven't cut me, WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?". I was frantically trying to prop up my number so that they could see it better. 28, 28, 28.
After I had managed to get through adage I relaxed a little bit. "Turns and jumps next, I can manage that". They are my favourite part of class so I started having a bit more fun and my smile started being less forced. "Just show you enjoy dancing".
They cut people after turns. I think... not entirely sure because everything just kind of became a blur. They still hadn't called my number. Wow.
Jumps were not really what I'm used to. I made mistakes because I had never done some of the combinations before. I stopped being nervous about it though. My brain started thinking about the most random things. During petit allegro I realized that I hadn't eaten much before to audition and was feeling kind of weak. Note to self-eat more carbs before the next audition. I didn't expect to do more than tendus so I hadn't thought I would need much energy. Grande Allegro was fun, and then suddenly the class part was over.
They said that they would ask some people to stay to do pointe work and learn some of the repertoire, that some people would be asked to leave and that some people would not make the cut but would be asked to stay behind for a talk.
They called out the numbers to leave, they didn't call my number. And then they asked five of us to stay behind while about 8 girls and 3 boys were asked to stay to do pointework.
I was one of the 5 girls asked to stay for the talk. Quite excitedly, they told us that they were interested in us, but they thought that we would need some more training. They invited us to go to their summer intensive that will be very small only about 10 people are going to be admitted to the program and they would like to stay in contact with us.
I was ectastic, my first audition went really well. The audition that I had been dreading so much, that I didn't even want to go to because I was so afraid of getting cut.
They were really nice about everything and I feel so much better about myself than I have felt in a long, long time.
I need to remember that it was a small company that the audition was for, and that big auditions would be very different but still it is a nice feeling to have for the moment. <3
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Today
Today I went to a dietician because I've been told that I need to lose some weight. Not that I'm fat but ballet dancers have to look like ballet dancers and I have been having enormous troubles trying to lose weight. In fact since I've been trying to lose more weight I've gained 5 pounds out of thin air. Feeling really frustrated that my efforts were getting me nowhere I called up the dietician.
She took one look at my diet and said that the reason that I was getting really bad sugar cravings is because I had pretty much no protein or fat in my diet and only getting about 600 cal. per day so my body is in starvation mode and holding onto whatever fat it can get. So I need to eat more protein and fat and take supplements to help replenish all the minerals that I am losing during exercise.
Interesting. It seems completely backwards that to lose weight I need to eat more fat and protein but we will see...
I am just about to go watch Alina Cojocaru with the Royal Ballet in Giselle!!! It's being broadcast on TV and Giselle is one of her signature roles! I am so excited to see it =) <3
She took one look at my diet and said that the reason that I was getting really bad sugar cravings is because I had pretty much no protein or fat in my diet and only getting about 600 cal. per day so my body is in starvation mode and holding onto whatever fat it can get. So I need to eat more protein and fat and take supplements to help replenish all the minerals that I am losing during exercise.
Interesting. It seems completely backwards that to lose weight I need to eat more fat and protein but we will see...
I am just about to go watch Alina Cojocaru with the Royal Ballet in Giselle!!! It's being broadcast on TV and Giselle is one of her signature roles! I am so excited to see it =) <3
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