February & March Corrections

Thursday, March 30, 2017

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Alright, life got the best of me, and my window of time to get February Corrections filmed went by like *that*. Life has been crazy as we discussed a couple weeks ago, so I'm combining two month's worth in this second installment of monthly(-ish) corrections :)

G L I S S A D E  A S S E M B L E

Instead of thinking about the glissade being "up", think about it moving sideways and bring the second foot in quicker. Then when you get to the assemblé, it can be the "up" movement (don't travel the assemblé). So: sideways, then up.

D E V E L O P P E  E C A R T E

In an adagio combo we did plié fifth into développé écarté in relevé, which is such a pretty & fun step to do! It naturally makes you want to feel super tall from the second you bring your leg up, but our tip was to think about growing taller at the top of the position before you come down. You want to think tall from the beginning, but that last bit of "growth" if done at the end can elongate the line and help you hold the position longer! Two thumbs up for that :)

G R A N D E  S I S S O N N E  O U V E R T E

This is the big sissonne where you land on one leg and the other stays raised - we usually do it in arabesque. I was making this sissonne pretty much stay in place, but was told to really move forward with the movement, as it's mean to be a big jump! I still have some work to do to really use my plié beforehand, but it's a much more fun step when you make it travel!

A R M S  I N  F I F T H

My arms in general have been droopy lately, but it was pointed out when doing grand battements at the barre one day that my hand of the arm in fifth was kind of breaking at the wrist making the line look broken instead of rounded. To fix it, I need to keep the hand facing in a bit more and of course think about my elbow staying "lifted" so it doesn't droop back. Another correction regarding the arm in fifth was during tombé pas de bourrée - if bringing the downstage arm to fifth in the tombé, make sure it stays over your head instead of pulling behind as it kind of feels natural to do.

T O M B E  C O U P E  J E T E

This is a similar correction from January, where this jump prep needs to really stay low to the ground with a forward movement to create momentum. Think about the tombé stepping way out - probably to the point where it feels like overkill at first - because if you keep it underneath you it's going to be much harder to get the front leg to start the jeté and the rest of your body to get height in the jump.

C O U P E  A S S E M B L E

In petite allegro a lot of times we'll do a coupé front or back before an assemblé. I was not really bringing the coupé foot fully back into fifth and on the ground before brushing into the assemblé. So make sure your working foot is fully articulating back into fifth so you can fully push the ground away going into the assemblé.

E C H A P P E  P A S  D E  B O U R R E E

Going into a pas de bourrée from an échappé, I was turning the échappé into a tombé, essentially. Make sure the échappé is seen with the landing in plié second with the weight even between your feet before starting the pas de bourrée. Otherwise if you favor the leg in the direction of the pas de bourrée, it can look like a sloppy tombé/fourth position type of thing!

F O U E T T E  T U R N S

I was convinced I was never going to figure these out!! My progress has been SO minimal and I've just felt like there's something I'm missing to make these easier than I'm doing them. I was told to keep my weight on my supporting leg side because I was leaning too much toward the working leg. Then after watching video of me working on them, it was discovered I also wasn't whipping my leg back in second enough. And the coordination of my arms and the working leg staying together is another component I am struggling to master! I'm determined to get this!!


Here is the video version of the corrections that might be a bit more helpful! Let me know if you relate to any of these corrections or if there are any questions about any of them! - Jana

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Foam Rolling For The Win!

Sunday, March 26, 2017

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I can no longer function as an adult ballet dancer without my foam roller!

I've had my foam roller for years, but really didn't understand how beneficial it could be until I started getting massages a few months ago. Finding out just how tight the state of my muscles had become was kind of devastating, but having discussions about the steps to take to release them back to normal gave me hope, and a mission, to get them there. Foam rolling has always been painful for me, and I wasn't sure if that pain was good or bad, so I avoided it. Now I know the difference between good and bad pain so I can work on my own in addition to my massage appointments.



I roll out after every class now because it eliminates feeling stiff the next day! I'm currently focusing on my calves (my massage therapist says they "are a mess!"), my hips, my quads, and my back. I also take time to stretch since we don't normally focus on long stretches in class. My flexibility is the lowest it has ever been in my life, so I'm trying to stay hopeful that if I can keep up with consistently stretching and rolling out that I can get back to where I "expect" and want myself to be. I have always loved stretching, so this is new territory for me to be in so much pain doing it!

All that to say, if you find yourself feeling stiff the day after class, try rolling out your muscles after class to see if that makes a difference for you! (And if you're not sure how to, here's a good starting point).


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6 Easy Snack Ideas for Dancers

Sunday, March 19, 2017

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This weekend I sat down with our friend, Kristin, for some snack talk! ;) You might recognize Kristin from a couple vlog videos of mine. Not only is she a great dancer, she's also a registered dietician. Since a lot of talk in our community lately has been about balancing work and family and ballet class, I thought it would be helpful to share some quick, easy, & healthy snack options for our crazy on-the-go schedules! We filmed a video with more details of each snack if you fancy getting your info that way :)


1.  Z U C C H I N I  C H O C O L A T E  C H I P  M U F F I N S
These muffins are an easy snack that will stay good through the week! Try making them in normal muffin/cupcake size and also in bite size! Kristin found & modified this recipe, using sour cream instead of greek yogurt, and adding 4 tablespoons of ground flax seen in place of flour for extra Omega-3s.

2.  G R A N O L A  B A R S
There are tons of granola bar options out there, so Kristin suggests finding a couple that you like the most and have them on hand. The ones we picked are: fig bars, granola cookie/cracker with peanut butter, cheese & crackers (cream cheese w/ chive pictured), & a trail mix bar.


3.  P E A N U T  B U T T E R ,  N U T E L L A ,  &  B A N A N A  W R A P
This is a slightly "heavier" well-balanced snack with protein, fat and carbs. Cut a large tortilla in half, spread nutella & peanut butter on it, top with slices of banana, and roll it up!

4.   C H O C O L A T E  M I L K  W I T H  F R U I T
Horizon makes an 8oz. pouch of chocolate milk making it really easy to get a serving of dairy, protein, and carbs. Enjoy it with a piece of fruit for an even more well-balanced snack. (tip: Kristin loves to drink a glass of chocolate milk as a recovery snack after class!)

5.   T U N A ,  C R A C K E R S ,  &  C H E E S E
Another good protein snack is to top crackers with tuna and/or cheese. You can switch this up by using saltine crackers, multi-grain crackers, different varieties of cheeses etc. This also works well with deli meat in place of tuna.

6.   T R A I L  M I X
Probably the easiest of all the snacks - a custom trail mix. We've made ours with an assortment of nuts (pecans, peanuts, pecans, pepitas), pistachios, cranberries & dried blueberries, dried banana, and dry dates. Mix all of these in a jar of choice to keep sealed at home or at work.

If you have any other great snack options you'd like to share, leave them in the comments below! Watch the video version of this post right here:






I hope everyone is having a happy and healthy year so far, as we inch our way into Spring!

Jana

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Struggles of the Adult Ballet Life

Thursday, March 2, 2017

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As some of you know from my Instagram post last week, I recently had a meltdown trying to balance too many things going on in my life right now! I'm wearing a lot of hats as it is, but this past month or so was particularly crazy. My breaking point was when I found myself crying over absolutely everything and over absolutely nothing!

The cherry on top is: I'm a perfectionist. So when it comes to creating content for Ballerinas By Night, I tend to put things off until I feel like it's the most perfect little package it could be. I don't advise being this way! Haha :) Somehow my brain managed to clear enough space to give me a breakthrough thought after my meltdown that made me realize: I don't act like a perfectionist in ballet class. In fact, it's the one place in my life where I crave the process of going for it and perfecting after. So I thought, why in the world am I not talking about this with our Ballerinas By Night community??! I know we are all balancing so many things and then on top of that all we want is at least one night a week to feel like a ballerina. And sometimes that feels like an impossible task.

So in complete contrast to my perfectionist ways, I set down my darn camera and just chatted about this. It was completely unplanned, and I brought up some of your thoughts from the comments on Instagram.

I hope this can spark a discussion and encourage each other to support everyone in their dance journey - we are all on different paths and each path is worth celebrating, so let's all take a breath, and appreciate where we are instead of where we want to be! My casual, chatty video is below :)

All the love,

Jana


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