Ok, I bit the bullet and bought my 2 class pass for the Brighton Tap Festival taking place 30th Aug – 1st Sept. I’m going on the Thursday 1st Sept so I can have a longer weekend from work. I’m going to do 2 beginners classes in the afternoon.
Can’t wait!
Just had to share this photo of the day that was shared on Facebook by Dance Spirit Magazine. I have a long way to go!
This week I have been doing daily ten minute Aerobics from YouTube to try and get some cardio into my routine. It seems I have hurt my right shoulder so I had to skip last night’s Floor Barre class. Actually I wonder if Floor Barre caused it!
Next week is the start of The Place’s Summer School. I’m not taking part, but it is something I would be interested in next year, particularly if they do Contemporary Jazz again. £65 for the week is pretty good I think.
This year’s line up has Hofesh Schechter (week 1), Avant Garde Dance (week 2) and Rambert (week 3), with contemporary, ballet and Jazz classes. A great opportunity to learn from the professionals!
Speaking of which. I’m looking again at the Brighton Tap Festival and am thinking about getting a 2 class pass for £45. It will be a good excuse for a day off work!
Oh, and I think my Jason Samuels Smith tap shoes arrived!
I always seem to burn myself out, so today I made the decision to focus on one thing this Autumn and stick with Rhythm Tap classes. I am working in Human Resources in London 4 days a week (1.4 hr commute door-to-door), I run my own small craft business from home, which I concentrate on on Fridays (sometimes this leeches into Saturday or Sunday), I have recently started doing some HR qualifications, self-study, which I have 18 months to complete, and then I am trying to fit in 2 dance classes a week!
I went to Rhythm Tap on this sweltering Wednesday evening and I enjoyed it so much! As I said I would, I spoke to my teacher afterwards about my dilemma of level 2 being too late for getting home at a decent hour mid-week, and asked if it was worth continuing with the daytime level 1 class for practice, to which she replied ‘definitely’ and that with that one being a much smaller class, she can adapt to my ability and give me more challenging things to do (which she does)!
I also went to the second of 5 Floor Barre summer classes last night at City Lit and I found it pretty tough going, as though I’d never done any exercise or dance in my life; as though I was completely core-less! A girl behind me summed it up perfectly “It’s too much after a day at work. I’m so shattered”.LOL. Then I remembered how shattered I was last term doing Wednesday night and Thursday lunchtime classes, so that kind of sealed it for me. I feel kind of sad not to be returning to the Barre in September, but it gives me a chance to perhaps do my Ballet DVDs (not the same, I know) and have recovery time in-between.
Another thing, I recently subscribed to Pointe Magazine and then this week the distributor contacted me to say the magazine has ceased print! Boo! I think they will continue digitally, but I don’t have an iPad. So, I got £30 back in my bank account! At least I can continue to read all their articles online, as well as Dance and Dance Spirit.
Anyway, the positive of these two refunds is that I have the money to purchase those AMAZING Jason Samuels Smith White Tap Shoes that I have been drooling over for months! I actually tried them on in the Bloch Covent Garden shop while I was waiting to go to my Floor Barre class, and oh wow they are so comfy! (I also saw Interior Design LEGEND Kelly Hoppen walking by with her team!) Anyway…the shoes were a perfect fit, so I ordered them this afternoon!
There is a heatwave in the UK at the moment, and this is when I had my one-off summer Rhythm Tap class at Morley College!
Anyway, we were in a random upstairs classroom with a lovely view of Lambeth because the basement dance studios are out of action after some flooding a few weeks ago.
It was great to have those Bloch tap shoes back on, and I must admit it did feel alien at first, but I soon got into it.
We did some rhythm exercises, shuffles, tap step heels, paddles, pick ups and then we learnt a short routine, which included cramp rolls. Love it!
NB I was dripping with sweat all the way through, but thank goodness for air con and a sweat towel 🙂
Seeing as I missed Floor Barre on Thursday due to illness, I decided to use Sunday morning to try out one of my new Ballet workout DVDs from the gals at Sleek Technique, Sleek Barre Technique. (Although you can see that there are 3 DVDs in the box set, I am reviewing Barre today. More to follow!)
The workout is split into sections, with an introduction and tutorial at the beginning to cover the main feet and arm positions, ballet terminology and tips, such as lifting out of your waist. After this comes a warm up of squatting and fairly quick arm swinging to get those muscles ready for the next bit.
The main workouts are Barre 1, 2 and 3, which are 20 minutes each and each have some floor work before launching into the familiar exercises we do at the barre, such as plie, tendu, pique, fondu, grand battement, arabesque, retire, attitude. I used a chair in the living room rather than my barre and I really enjoyed the practice of these exercises, especially on Barre 2, but I did find them quite fast, particularly the transitions between them.
If you are a complete beginner to ballet, I think it is best to watch the sequences through first to get an idea of what you will be doing and to gauge the speed of it. As someone who has been doing ballet classes for about 2 years on and off and having danced other styles a lot longer than that, I struggled to keep up or perform the correct technique before they had moved on to the next thing. As a dancer, I don’t want to get into bad or sloppy habits or injure myself, so that’s probably why.
The demonstration of the movements is good, the filming is good (no legs cut off at vital moments!) and I love the warehouse setting and their Bloch leotards. Barre Technique is excellent for toning, strengthening, lengthening muscles, building a strong core, posture and speed. I looked up some reviews on Amazon and lots of non dancers seemed to say it was a great workout and easy to follow, but the dancers like myself had the same issue of compromised technique!
Verdict: a good fitness supplement to regular ballet class attendance. Practice makes perfect!
Except the day before my first Floor Barre class I have come down with a sore throat and fever…sigh.
Okay, I finally made a decision about what to do in September! I will be returning to Ballet at the Barre on Wednesdays Sept-Dec after I emailed my teacher to ask if he would recommend it for my improvers level, seeing as I can’t do the Ballet Improvers class. He said definitely and he is aiming to direct absolute beginner students to a beginner’s ballet class as Barre won’t be for absolute beginners. So, that means the improvers can progress! I really wanted to do some centre and travelling but he did actually encourage me away from the barre for some exercises, which is a start! (Now I have an excuse to buy that Lulli ballet skirt!)
There’s the new Street Jazz course on a Friday evening in September also, which would give the opportunity for travelling, turns and jumps, but I have to think about the cost of 2 courses, plus I work at home on my own business on Fridays so that would be quite an extra effort to head into London for an hour’s class.
But, I said I was keen to return to Rhythm Tap in September but my teacher suggested going to Improvers (like deja vu!) which is also on Wednesday evenings, and Lambeth North tube station is closing for lift replacements next week until FEBRUARY! This is the station practically opposite Morley College and will make getting home afterwards a real hassle. Faffing about at Waterloo station? No thanks! Anyway, as I’m booked onto ballet I’m going to speak to my tap teacher when I do her summer class on the 20th, explain my situation and ask if it’s worth continuing lunchtime tap on a Thursday just to keep up my practice. Besides, I still find level 1 challenging! My plan is to do hopefully level 2 next year…
Today I’m considering whether to attend the Brighton Tap Festival in August to learn from the amazing Maud Arnold!