Another Thursday…

I accidently forgot to blog… oops.  Anyway, I’ll try to post the highlights of the day.  For some reason, this week isn’t very eventful.

I started bright and early with technique class.  In general it went well, but not too amazingly.  Our teacher doesn’t give many individual corrections, so I don’t have any news there.  He tends to put a lot of emphasis on arms in both barre and centre.

Next was Forsythe.  We worked on using our torsos to move the rest of our bodies.  After this, we worked on doing the same thing, but with our arms in a specific position in relation to one another although they could move in relation to the body.  This continued to almost a straight improvisation exercise.  I really like the music we use in the class.  It’s instrumental and modern… I’ll have to find it.

Our last class was batterie.  We worked on a bunch of different exercises that focused on a single step or technical aspect.  My tours are feeling much better.  Also, I’m working on double assambles, and they’re actually going really well, which I think is really unexpected.

Yup.  That’s pretty much the day.

Wednesday!

Today we began classes witha rousing hour of pilates.  I’m still not a fan.  It’s a good warm-up, though.

Next was technique.  It was very similar to class yesterday.  We did most of the same combinations, too.  It felt a bit better today since I knew the combinations and could focus on my technique and placement.  We do push-ups before class, and that’s always fun.

Variations was my third class.  We finished and practiced the jewel variation from yesterday.  I really like it and it’s definitely my favorite we’ve done so far.  Of course, it’s probably also the easiest, as the only hard part is a double sou de basque… and that’s pretty challenging.

Our last class was pas de deux.  We finished the pas we did yesterday.  It was almost the same as what I did earlier, but there was a shoulder sit near the end, which was different.  My partner and I are being really persistant and we’re working hard to perfect the entire pas.  It’s going really well and she’s being a trooper about the lifts and being patient.

After classes, a friend of mine had a mini-celebration for her birthday.  I ate a ton of cake.

I’m still here!

Today is another day that went well.

I didn’t have a great technique class, but it wasn’t my worse ever, either.  We ended up doing an adagio at barre and in centre, which was fine by me.  They’re always welcome.  I’ve found that even the adagios here are kind of atheletic and make me sore (which, by the way, is my current condition).  We also had a grande allegro that felt really good.  In general, class went okay, but still not great.

I had my Forsythe class next.  We just brushed up on the combination we learned last week and worked on making it better.  Our teacher now wants us to be both sharper and more fluid in our movements.  We are also now working on making our dancing more precise and clearer.  This is to be initiated with our hands.  It’s abstract, but after class she said my work in that class is getting better.

Our last class of the day was variations.  We learned another jewel variation from Sleeping Beauty.  It’s more fun than the previous one, and I like it.  A few of my friends watched class, and said mine looked good.

Just a few videos of my friends here. (I’m not in them.)

Monday!

Today started yet another week.  Yay.  I feel tan… and red.

Our first class of the day was ballet, as usual.  The barre was decent and centre felt pretty good.  Our teacher for this week isn’t big on individual corrections, so I had to make do with correcting myself, which worked in general.  I did get two ‘excellent’s at barre: both were for developes to the side, but in seperate combinations.  Go me.

After a lunch break, I had batterie.  The class was formated in such a way that each combination was more of an exercise that focused on one thing.  This technique felt oddly good, as I only needed to really concentrate on one step at a time.  A product of this was my very first clean double tour, which I was happy to finally have.  I just need to keep my arms closer in (I’ve been told that before…) and spot (and this, too).

This week, we have a break before partnering, too.  This meant we would leave at 6:00: way later than usual.  For our new pas, we’re doing the La Bayadere pas with Gamzatti.  Hey… I could have sworn I just did this!  At the point that we’re at (the step drags), most of the choreography is very similar to the choreography I did with Cathrine for our recital.  The only big difference is the beginning, which now features two different press lifts.  I feel really well prepared.  My partner and I are doing really well, I think.  Other than the lifts, which need more practice, the rest is going swell.  The partner says that the promenade at the beginning feels perfect.  Yay.

After classes, I lounged.  Exciting.

A couple pictures from the day…

A) Kathryn, Colby, and Katie

B) Megan, Jamie, and Jordan

WaterWorld

Today was the day of going to WaterWorld!  I had a quick breakfast and we left at about 10… which felt really early.

After getting over the initial excitement of being at a waterpark and it being sunny out, my group headed for the lazy river.  The one here doesn’t have random shots of water hitting its participants (which I have dubbed ‘adventure rivers’) unlike the ones at home, which was nice.  The park had a myriad of water slides and rides including a wave pool, which is something I haven’t been in since being in Milwaukee two years ago.  We had a buffet-style lunch provided at about noon.  After lunch, I, among others, decided to devote time to attempting to get tan.  I haven’t been tan since I was in middle school, so I was excited.  I laid out (with a bit of sun screen… but I guess it wasn’t very powerful) and relaxed for the last half of our excursion.  During this time, I perfected the art of tanning one’s back while stretching one’s turnout (or just laying there for me).

Once I arrived back at the dorms, I realized that I was approximately the same color as a lobster.  I also have some pretty terrible tan lines.  Somehow, my arms actually tanned already, so they at least aren’t pale.  My group had a ‘contest’ and I won in redness.  It doesn’t hurt… yet.

For the rest of the evening/night, we lounged, watched DVDs, and played Super Smash Bros. Brawl on a friend’s Wii.  (Sarah K, you’re still my favorite Peach/Samus.)

I love the weekend.

Saturday!  That means only one ballet class, and then the weekend.  We had the same teacher as we did for last week for technique.  I felt much more prepared, as I knew the combinations would be harder to catch and I knew the class was so aerobic.  I was given the correction to not tense my fingers as much.  On another random note, I actually stood at a center barre for once, usually I stand at the barre on the wall in approximately the same position that I do at home when someone else stands on my side (I’m in the back).  Yay for spontaneity!

After class, I sped home after grabbing a poster and a free copy of Dance Magazine.  I’m going to decorate my room with pictures from it, since I already have the copy from my subscription.  (By the way, the care package I recently received was missing my black Express zip-up, B.L.T.s and AKSs, and data CDs…)

Then came my action-packed (not really) afternoon of sight-seeing.  I went with my friend Alex to the Golden Gate Bridge!  I know what you’re thinking: Sean… a tourist?  And yes, I was being tourist-y.  We walked the entire span of the bridge and back.  It took forever, though I didn’t get the side cramp that I usually do when I walk for longer than five minutes.  After the Bridge, we were planning on going to the zoo.

Before leaving the dorms, I had planned out the entire day and figured out which bus to take.  This all went splendidly and I was so proud of myself until we were on our way to the zoo.  We got on the right bus, but somehow we missed our stop.  Since neither of us knew the area, we thought that maybe the stop was really, really far away, so we went on.  After we were well into the residential part of San Francisco, we decided we weren’t where we were supposed to be, and jumped on the bus going the other way.  The zoo closed too early for us to go, so those plans didn’t work out too well.

Alex and I decided to go see a movie and went to a movie theater that I thought everyone else at the dorms went to, since it was the only one that I knew where it was.  Somehow, this theater only played art films and was playing a French thriller with subitles… needless to say, we weren’t in the mood for that much work.  We ended up not going to Japantown to pick up a DVD I had special ordered, but headed over to Best Buy and bought ‘National Treasure 2′ (aren’t we cool…), and watched it instead of going to a theater.  Then I came home.

Exciting… yes?

A) I’m assuming it’s an old military base… it’s under the bridge.

B) Alcatraz!

C) The view of the city from the bridge

D) Alex and me (by the way, new shirt)

E) Obligatory bridge shot

F) My route today

End of the week… almost.

Today was yet another decent day in San Francisco.  My first class was ballet at 9:00.  It was a good culmination of the week’s classes and incorporated a lot of the combinations we had done throughout the week.  I still need to keep my upper body even more forward than it has been, as I got a correction on it.  I was told that my petit allegro combination was getting better.  I think that I need to work more on multiple pirrouettes, double tours (possibly with a leg in posse), double assamble,  and such steps, since we always have combinations absolutely loaded with them.

In my Forsythe technique class, we worked on the solo/combination that we worked on on Wednesday.  We were split up into four groups of five and our teacher used steps and phrases from the combination and used them to chorograph on us.  Each person in the group of five did a completely different thing, and each group had one person ’studying’ a seperate person that was being choreographed on.  It was very interesting seeing the choreographing process first hand, and there was lots of trial and error.  The just-for-fun piece is a lot of fun and looks neat, though.

After going to a nearby cafe for lunch, I just had batterie to finish out the day.  We worked on the most recent variation from Sleeping Beauty, Bluebird, and the Diamond variation from the first week.  In general they went pretty well.

After classes finished, I went with friends to the restaurant I went to last weekend.  I had an italian-style crepe and an apple pie dessert crepe.  San Francisco has a ton of crepe places… it’s such a tasty medium for food.

A) Nathaniel, Colby, and Kathryn

B) Left side, top to bottom: Katie, Megan, Erin, Jordan.  Right side, top to bottom: Nathaniel, Colby, Kathryn, Henry, Jamie.

C) My apple pie crepe

Thursday!

Today was another four-class day!  Pilates was not-so-great again.  Our class seems to focus on the aerobic parts of pilates a ton.  It’s basically non-stop work from start to finish.  It’s good for me though.

Technique class went well.  We had Mr. Lyons again.  I got a compliment on my new-and-improved upper-body placement, and that made me feel better about myself.  We had quite a few combinations that included tendues and bautments, so I had lots of time to work on the different technique he wants.  I got a ‘big’ correction from him after adagio in centre.  I need to cross my legs more to make my postions clearer.  Evidentially since my legs are slightly bowed, some positions end up looking less pure than they should and my feet look sickled easier.  I worked on those corrections in the back while other groups danced. I was in the first few groups for most of the class again.

The third class of the day was batterie.  It was instead switched to variations, and we worked on the mazurka variation from yesterday.  It’s still not the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it is rather demanding.  Mine is getting better, I think.

Pas de deux was our last class of the day.  We worked on the Bluebird coda, and that’s it.  Sami and I did pretty well on it.  We were one of the few groups that did all of the choreography.  The only bad thing about Pas class is that we always work in groups of three couples.  This makes for lots of confusion when ‘performing’ the pas or coda, as there are so many obstacles in the way.  After we finish Bluebird up, we have another pas to learn.  I think that it’s character, but I’m not so sure.

After classes finally finished, I went out with a friend for crepes and dessert near the studios.

I got a care package from my family with more chocolate chip, fudge-dipped granola bars than you can shake a stick at.  I also got a letter from my favorite Elizabeth.

There was a birthday back at the dorms, so I ended up having three pieces of cake total… yay for chocolate!

More classes

I was actually really sore all day.  My right thiegh hurts to walk on and my right shoulder hurts to move.  Yay.  Theoretically, that means I’m getting stronger.

First class of the day was technique, as usual.  The class was similar to the others that we’ve had this week.  I got a few compliments on my upper body placement during barre, which was rather nice.  I also need to strech my supporting leg more. Center included a variety of exercies, all of which I was in the first group for (even during small groups of four), which I thought was pretty exciting.  We did a lot of petit allegro work.

In Forsythe, we actually did choreography.  We did a solo from one of William Forsythe’s ballets.  It was so much fun, as it was a nice long break from pure classical technique.  I’m not sure what piece the solo was from, but like much of his choreography, it had a lot of contrast between movements and took a ton of energy to actually dance.  It was a great class in general.

I tried watching the company between classes, but they were learning choreography, so it was extremely boring… and I left.

In batterie, we learned the coda for our Bluebird variation.  After doing it in small groups we began working on what I think is the mazurka in Sleeping Beauty’s second act, but I’m not sure.  It’s supposedly a level 8 combination, but it isn’t that hard.  We will finish it tomorrow.

After our classes, we went back to the dorms, and that evening we had another ‘meet the artist’ seminars.  This time it was San Francisco Ballet principal Tina LeBlanc.  She has been dancing with the company as a principal for the last sixteen years.  She brought a ton of videos to show us and it looks like she’s partial to Balanchine choreography.

I’m now half-way through the program.