I recently uploaded a video about overcoming our fear to reach our goals, and it has gotten such a positive and overwhelming response. It inspired me to go even further to help everyone reach their goals in 2019!
My FREE GIFT to you for this year is this goals planner, which takes you through the entire year with a journal to help you set and achieve your goals!
Take the challenge to set aside any fears you may have that are keeping you from taking that next step! Although the planner is written specifically for ballet, my hope is that you will use it for ballet and beyond.
This planner is downloadable and printable, so that you can decide what you want to attain and work daily towards those goals.
Take those chances and let's help each other make this year amazing! Let's knock it out of the park!
Are you guys ready for a crazy combo?! My teacher, Alvin, is known for his complicated combinations, so I asked him to come up with a really crazy petit allegro combo (my weakness, haha) to share as a challenge with you all! We filmed it after class last week and I learned the combo right there on camera. Follow along as you watch me work through it - do I master it or is it a flop?! OOh, watch to find out :)
We have a new follow-along ballet barre video! This one takes about 30 minutes to do and is considered a "warm up barre" to prepare you before a performance. This is also nice to do at home when you need a workout, but don't have a whole lot of time to dedicate to class. Abby explains more about this type of barre:
"A warm up class is going to differ from a typical class in a few ways.
When trying to get ready for stage, you need to be extra efficient.
Every combination needs to do as much as it can to get every part of the
body moving. For me, a typical class will have a theme (maybe working
on retire position at barre, then carrying that into turns and pas de
chats in the center). In this type of class, I focus on certain muscle
groups throughout the whole class in the hopes of making my students
feel those muscles the next day (they love me for that, right?). I build
my warm up classes, however, to be athletic and to work as many muscles
groups as possible throughout the entire class. There is extra
stretching and extra balances."
I really love this barre for working at home because it allows me to concentrate on placement and muscle usage. It's also helpful to do every few weeks so I can gauge my progress with stability and balances. I can tell if I'm improving in weak areas when I come back to this and it's either easier or harder. I also love that I get in a good sweat in a short amount of time while not skipping anything important about barre.
The holidays are here! That probably means you are out of class for a while. Sometimes, though, it can also mean the one time we have extra time, we don't have classes!
If you are looking to work at home, here's a schedule of our videos you can use as a guide to keep some dancing going.
This is made to cover a two week span. Skip a day, move it around, do whatever works for you!
If you saw my Ballet Class When Traveling video you'll know that I started a new job at the beginning of this summer. I had to go out of town for two weeks to train and after getting home, my new schedule made it tough to make it to class on time. It had been about a month without class before I got back into the studio and, boy, did my body feel it. I consider myself an advanced adult ballet dancer and some of my classes are very fast paced and difficult. I love it, but coming back from some time off I felt like my body needed a minute to catch back up. I asked Abby about doing a super basic ballet barre to help get the muscles and placement going again and she filmed this fantastic ballet barre for everyone!
Abby and I are both very strong believers in going back to the basics at no matter what level you are. Everything you do in ballet builds off of the basics, which is a fantastic thing - no matter what happens, the basics are always there for you. So whether you are just starting ballet, starting back to ballet, coming back from time off or injury, or just want to slow things down, this video is here for you! Give it a "thumbs up" and leave a comment if you enjoy it! - Jana
Inspired by Jana's Ballet Class When Traveling video, we've added a "Find a Studio" page here on our blog to help adults find good studios to take class! This could be helpful if you're traveling and want to keep up with class, or if you're looking for a long-term home studio. We are asking for your help though! If you have a recommendation for a studio with great adult ballet classes, leave a comment on the Find a Studio page with the name of the studio, its location and website, and we'll include it on the page for everyone to see!
We hope this will be a helpful resource for the community! Thank you all!
A pirouette combination was by far the most requested center video after we shared the adagio combination video! Abby put together this fun combination that will help you work on control and placement. She included one of my favorite ways to prep for a pirouette, which is pique arabesque. If you have trouble keeping your shoulders square I find this preparation helpful for setting you up properly.
Another way to help you improve your pirouettes is to film yourself doing them...if you play it back slowly you can find exact moments where things start to go wrong or right. It can be really eye opening!
Let us know what else you'd like to see for center combinations, and any other video topics as well!
I finally got to visit Abby for a week recently (here's the video where we announced her move in 2013) and besides getting strep throat two days before I flew out (!!) it was such an amazing time! Though I love how easy it is to stay in touch with friends and family through the internet, there is nothing like some good quality face-to-face time.
We fortunately had access to the studio where Abby is teaching so we filmed some highly requested videos for you all! The first video being the most in-demand, an Adult Ballet Barre workout! It's follow along style so you can do it at home or on your own studio time. We hope you all enjoy it and can add it into your Kathryn Morgan 12 Week Challenge if you are doing that!
Coming up soon are some pointe videos and a fun little Q&A. Thank you guys for your lovely comments and for watching our channel!
I filmed a fun little video the other week of my ballet class routine :) I wanted to keep this video light and fun, but I am curious about everyone's routines to fit ballet class into their schedules. As adults, a routine can be the only thing saving us from missing class! Does anyone have a crazy or unique routine?
Hello everyone! Abby here. We are working to bring you some new BBN videos and information, but I thought I would check in here on the blog.
Summer has been wonderful here! I've been busy teaching and dancing, and this is the first time in a long, long time that my summer has truly been saturated with ballet. I am loving it. The big news is that I will be going to another new teacher training in August, and I hope to be able to share some of that experience with you! So stay tuned!
How is your summer going? More or less dancing than you had hoped? How are your cross training goals going?
Confession? I have not kept up with pilates the way I had planned because we just moved across town, and the move took way more out of me than I expected. The good news is that since I have been able to continue going to class regularly, I still feel in pretty good shape and hope to get back on track with pilates. We only have three weeks until our season starts here, and one week of that I will be in training, so my new goal is to get 10 pilates workouts in between now and then (3 a week plus 1, hmmmm).
See? It's easy to fall off the wagon, but that doesn't mean we have to give up. We can always reassess our goals, and get back on our way to moving forward!
Sometimes it is easy to have a love/hate relationship with corrections. And, as an adult, it can be frustrating to be corrected about something that it might feel we have limited control over - i.e., turnout. Additionally, some teachers are naturally more crass than others. While teenagers are sometimes more willing to 'take it', we adults have been out in the workforce or keeping children in line all day, and have much less patience if our class time feels antagonistic.
But let's remember the bottom line: corrections are our friend. Corrections are what keep us moving forward and getting better. And, even if a teacher says something in a way we don't care for sometimes, they are giving us attention through that correction, which means they see that we have potential. As a student, they always say the time to worry is when a teacher doesn't address you at all.
You should always feel comfortable enough with your teacher to address certain issues (privately, after class). If you really feel like you are being pushed in a way that isn't beneficial, talk to your teacher and let them know how you feel. If you would like MORE corrections and feel like you aren't getting enough, again let them know. Most of the time your teacher will be willing to work with you, or maybe they could give you more insight into a correction (it's not just the amount of turnout, but how you are turning out).
The thing teachers love to see are the people that take corrections and utilize them. If you do this to the best of your ability, it is likely the teacher will want to work with you more and more simply because it makes their work fun too!
One thing we get a LOT of requests for here at Ballerinas By Night is help with class! People want to give themselves class at home, but need new ideas. Since I have just finished up performing in the Nutcracker recently, I also saw many people wishing they had more ideas for giving themselves a warm up class.
A warm up class is going to differ from a typical class in a few ways. When trying to get ready for stage, you need to be extra efficient. Every combination needs to do as much as it can to get every part of the body moving. For me, a typical class will have a theme (maybe working on retire position at barre, then carrying that into turns and pas de chats in the center). In this type of class, I focus on certain muscle groups throughout the whole class in the hopes of making my students feel those muscles the next day (they love me for that, right?). I build my warm up classes, however, to be athletic and to work as many muscles groups as possible throughout the entire class. There is extra stretching and extra balances.
This class is an adapted version of what I have been teaching recently, and can also be used as a home class/workout. Of course, you can and should adapt it to your own needs. I highly suggest using music, and we even gave you some music suggestions for classes at home (remember that?).
First, I want to talk about the order of ballet class. If you get some ballet music, you will automatically have an order to your class if you just follow along with the CD. But, different styles will do certain exercises at different times, so if you are used to something else, of course customize to your own needs.
My preferred order is:
Plies
Tendus from 1st
Tendus from 5th (If I am in a time crunch, I only do one tendu combination, but I prefer two.)
Degages from 1st
Degages from 5th (Same holds true for degage - can be combined into one combination.)
Rond de jambe a terre
Frappe
Fondu (Again, I prefer to have one frappe and one fondu combination, but they can combined or switched out if you are short on time.)
Adagio/stretch (I prefer to have a short adagio that continues into stretching, but this is another one of those that could be split up into two completely different parts, or adagio at barre could be skipped completely. If I know I am going to do an involved adagio in the center, I don't always do one at barre. Either way, I suggest stretching before grand battement.)
Grand battement
Note: there are several other barre exercises that could be included, such as rond de jambe en l'air and petite battement, among others. I'm not going to address those in this blog post, but just know that this list is not 100% comprehensive.
Another note for the following: There are many different ways to write down and explain the steps for a combination, and many times the same step has several different terms that can be used to say the same thing. It doesn't mean that someone is wrong because they do or say something differently (this is so important). I find writing down steps like this extremely time consuming and frustrating, so I'm not going for perfection in how this is written out. Feel free to comment with any questions or if you need clarifications, however! I'm also not putting in counts for everything because in most cases it should be self-explanatory or open to interpretation. :-)
BARRE Plies
Two demis, one grand. Forward bend, releve. Change position. Repeat in 2nd and 5th (no fourth). After 5th, tendu back to first, turn in and take 8 counts to stretch foward. Bend the knees, walk out and back, or whatever else you need. Roll up, reverse the arm stretching back. Plie, releve and balance.
Tendus from 5th (or could be done from 1st and repeated from 5th)
Tendu, plie, tendu, close. Front, pass back, pass front, close. Side close back, side close front (2 counts each), 4 tendus in 1 count closing 1st, 1st, 1st, 5th back. Repeat from the back. Balance sous-sus.
Degage from 5th (again, could be adapted to go from 1st as well)
Degage, plie, degage, plie. Out, pique, pique (SHARP), close 5th. Repeat side and inside leg front. Plie passe in four counts, two times. Stay in the last passe and balance retire.
Rond de jambe
4, two counts each. 4, one count each. 1 en lair in four counts. En dehors, en dedans. Circular bend, and reverse it. Take time here for whatever you need - lunge, etc. Take a balance. If you are still working on a good retire position, this is the time to face the barre and to check yourself. Only balance if you can maintain placement, otherwise just work on training the proper position with hands still on the barre. If you are more advanced, take an arabesque or attitude balance.
Frappe
4 in two counts each - front, side, back. Two double frappe side in two counts each, four counts of petite battement. Repeat from the back. Optional: repeat on releve.
Fondu
2 fondus in two counts each, 1 fondu releve, hold count 7, sous-sus count 8. En croix. Foot in hand stretch four counts front, carry side, let go and hold. Repeat. Hand in knee for attitude to the back, stretch as you need. Balance in arabesque, brush through to close fifth front.
Stretch
Grand battement
3 grand battement (2 counts each), plie stretch. Front, back, side. Six attitude swings starting from the back, ending to close front. Or, you could do seven, close back, and repeat from the back.
CENTER
Adagio
Rond de jambe front and carry back, on the fondu front and carry back, degage en lair (brush front to ninety degrees) on 5, 6, 7, close 8. Developpe side in four counts, fouette to third arabesque, hold, pas de bourree. Grand plie (four counts), carry the arms to fifth en haut and open, counts 5-8. Tombe pas de bourree (1-2), passe (3-4), passe (5-6), sous-sus 7, plie 8, prepare for left side.
Pirouette (this is a good combination for home use because it doesn't take up much room!)
Step up to sous-sus (1), plie (2), push to retire balance (3), plie (4), sous-sus (5), plie (6), pirouette (7), end with the leg extended a la seconde on the fondu (8), soutenu (1-2), tendu side (3), carry to tendu back (4), outside pirouette (5-6), finish (7), tendu back to fifth on 8 so you can go left.
First jumps
8 jumps in first, 4 jumps in second, 4 changement. Repeat left.
Basic petite allegro
Glissade jete, glissade jete, glissade assemble, glissade assemble. Three pas de chats, pas de bourree, three entrechat quatre, hold on 8.
