Wednesday...

This is something the children learn, you should know better, the teacher said as we did temps leve passe in a circle.  She came around to me at barre and, placing a stick upon my back, said, don't stick out.  Finally I understand not to hold tension in the back.  We all try to muscle through things and sometimes it is just not necessary.  So my new habit will be to relax my back and not grip everything.  Just hold the muscles and allow the flexibility to happen in the back.  It will take time to understand this feeling, but it will make me a better dancer, I know.

Then today there was a small class and we did pique turns, waltz-in-lines with pas de bourre detourne to pirouettes.  We also did the tendu combination with arms, tendu croise, coupe, tendu epaule, then to back, coupe, efface...  We worked on inside pirouettes: lunge, releve attitude, faille, then turns...

I went to Pilates class at the gym after doing some shopping with Yasir.  He has a new collar and leash which are much stronger than his small collar, also more expensive!  But, this time is so special, his puppy time, like having a young child, it will not come back, this time to savor with your "baby." So now I am tired and puppy is sleeping and I am content that everything is the same and all is well.

In Pilates, the trick of coming up from the ground with a strong back is all in the stomach and abs; that is, you must engage the muscles around the lower back and breathe and come up with a straight back.  Since the teacher did all the exercises with us, I followed her movements to understand what I was supposed to do.   This I think is the best way to learn, to shadow someone more experienced.