Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday Workout

Between the gym, ballet school and my puppy, I have had a super day.  There is nothing like coming home to an appreciative dog.  I must say that my Yasir, my puppy, was quite bold today, mingling with the dogs in the park and neighborhood, and bouncing around my apartment.  He still cries when I leave him but I think he understands that I can't be pampering him all day and so he waits for me now a little better; also, Tiger, my kitten, is keeping him in line and has fun eyeing his funny puppy ways.

After taking Yasir out in the morning, I went swimming and churned through the water quite energetically. I hastily took the bus home to see if Yasir was quiet and all was well; in fact, when I came home, he acknowledged me and promptly went to sleep.  I decided to take him to the park briefly, although it was very muddy.  He made friends with a black pug dog named Shadow and generally had fun seeing the other dogs.

Then I walked to the ballet school nearby.  I am so lucky to live close to a place where I can take class regularly, especially now that I have a puppy.  I really worry about him when I leave home because there are some neighbors who will complain about how big he will become or if he makes a peep, but I turn these conversations around to asking them what kind of pet they have or how much noise some people make on weekends, etc...ha, ha!

The class was an adult intermediate class where most of the students didn't pay attention to form or learning the combinations.  It makes me wonder about the quality of physical instruction, where anybody can take a class, or anybody can go to the gym, and not really pay attention.  These things are considered a privilege and yet no one wants to improve and sometimes if someone is better than the next, they resent it.  I would think that it should be the opposite, that excellence should be respected, at least that's how I feel.

Class:
1. Plies with port de bras.
2. Tendus en croix with port de bras.
3. Degages: degage front, envelope, 2x degage; repeat en croix.
4. Ronde jambes with fondus and attitude extensions, balance in attitude.
5. Adagio: demi plie, port de bras to side, down, back, tendu efface, elonge arm to reverence, arabesque promenade to other side.
6. Frappes 3x flex, point en croix.
7. Beats and fondus with ronde jambes en l'air.
8. Grand battements front, back, side, side.
Center:
1. Tendu croise, tendu efface, temps lie, tendu side with other leg, chasse pirouettes.
2. Balance, balance, pique arabesque, balance back, repeat 2x, arabesque contretemps 2x, chasse pirouettes en dedans.
3. Step ecarte with elonge arms, coupe developpe ecarte, balance en tournant, step attitude promenade, extend arabesque.
4. Jumps: 1st 5th 1st 5th, second 2x, glissade jete, glissade jete, ballonne, ballonne, coupe assemble, changement.
5. En diagonal glissade jete glissade jete, step jete, step jete.

This last combination had a different glissade in that it was one-beat, so that the legs came together quickly and more strongly because the teacher said sometimes dancers fudge their jumps and are off-balance and don't really land in 5th, so this exercise would curb that.  Also, since I had trouble with the jetes, I noticed how much easier they were if you moved forward with each one and not jump behind yourself.

Afterward I stretched and stretched in the dressing room, for almost an hour.  I stretched in straddle, placing my head on the floor; sideways, lying on the carpeted floor, and just standing and hanging my arms down until all the knots were out of my muscles.  Then I went home and took Yasir out once again, around the block, carrying him home when I had to walk against the cold wind. Now he is sleeping...

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