Technical development

Ballet 12/09/18

In Ballet, we start on the barre, doing pliés, battement tendus, battement glissés and adage. In the enchainément, I did a one and a half pirouette. I was advised to spot the corner that I was landing. In order to have a stable landing, I have to make sure that my heel is on the floor when I land. I also have to make sure it’s a soft landing. I also did a fouetté sauté. I learnt that I should be facing the front at the highest point of my jump. To help have a more stable landing, I should end on a demi plié. When I do the balance, I have to pay extra attention to the timing of the music.

Singing 13/09/18
We did a few warm ups focusing on how your mouth moves when you sing all the different vowels. We also worked on our breathing and understanding the importance of it. Breathing helps project your voice and not breathing properly can make you sound flat.


Singing 17/09/18
We warmed up as usual focusing on our breathing and the different vowel sounds. This time we sung Natural Woman by Carol King. After we sung it all together and went through the each verse very slowly so we could understand the timing and the exact notes, we had to sing one line each. I am struggling on projecting my voice so I asked how I can improve on it. Projecting your voice is just something that comes with practise, so just like I have to raise the volume of my voice when talking to someone far away, I also have to project my voice, make it louder when I'm singing. Breathing techniques can also help with projecting your voice.

Acting 18/09/18
I was partnered with Tilia to create four movements that made a story. Our first move depicted a tower, our second move represented the princess (a damsel in distress), our third move resembled a dragon and our fourth move represented the prince riding on a horse coming to slay the dragon and save the princess. We were then teamed up with another group who had also created four movements - we had to merge our pieces together to create a story. We stuck with our princess story but also used the other groups moves to exaggerate it.

Jazz 20/09/18
We did our Jazz warm up which is very high energy as we are constantly jogging, doing jumping jacks or jumping while twisting the body for three minutes straight. As much as it's hard, we have really fun music in the background which makes this one of my favourite classes. We then do stretching and strengthening exercises (by doing the plank and push ups).

Ballet 26/09/18
When I extended my leg, Mandy told me to extend my toes instead of curling them. I also lost my balance a couple of times, so I have to make sure I'm always holding my core.

Jazz 27/09/18

As Shannon wasn't here today, Tracy, a dance-fitness instructor did Jazz with us. After a difficult warm up which tested your stamina and ability to follow instruction, we did some centre work which included pas de bourrées and pirouettes. We also did some corner work including kicks and turning sequences. 

Ballet 03/10/18
When my arm is in second position, I should be tensing my back muscles instead of my arm muscles.
When doing posé  turns, I should stay in demi pointé and I can step sideways or towards the front.
When lifting my leg towards the back, I should lean slightly forward but also take care not to hurt myself by not lifting my leg too high.
Here is a picture of me in an arabesque position:

Ballet 10/10/18
When we were doing frappés on the barre, I was told to hit the floor (with the ball of my foot) with more energy before it leaves the floor. Ballet move of the day was sissonne and before we started doing them on our own, we did an exercise where a partner is opposite you with their palms face up and your hands lying flat on their hands. This way you could put pressure on their hands when you jump to move higher and travel further. I was partnered with a second year who gave me some helpful advice on how to further travel. First, when I jump I should think to shoot out my legs with lots of power. Second, I should feel like a bullet train when I travel. Finally, she said the resistance I feel in my arms from pushing down on her hands should be there even when I'm doing the move on my own. It's also common to have a worse side - that was my left side.

Singing 11/10/18
We spent some time reviewing our performance in the class verbally. We were talking about how we found it difficult to project our voices and sing at all because most people had a sore throat. We also sung Stand by me, Somewhere from West Side Story (I knew the lyrics this time!) and Titanium.

Jazz and Musical Theatre 11/10/18

In todays Jazz class, we had much more stretching in our warm up than usual. Everyone liked this change - I have to admit I found the extra stretches very relaxing. We learnt a lyrical routine. Shannon told the class to exaggerate the movements and to throw ourselves when we do the kicks and to exaggerate every movement. She told us this is the type of dance that you can express any negative emotion and get it all out of your system - it's very important to use facial expressions when dancing. Here's the video of me dancing:

                             

We had a Q&A session with Shannon and I asked the first question: "When do I have to decide what I'm doing for my career?" Shannon explained that you never have to truly decide what you will do as she thought she wanted to be in a Musical Theatre show but after a year of being in a show, she decided it wasn't her thing. So at the moment she's doing hip hop jazz - an option she had never imagined doing. Other people asked many questions about the auditioning processes for Bird College (Shannon went there) and she told us that you should make sure you look your best, choosing leotard colours that suit your complexion, wearing just the right amount of makeup, choosing a hairstyle that suits you, etc. It is also important to be nice to everyone at the audition because employers only want to work with nice people and they may ask the pianist what they thought about you.
We were then put into groups of three and were given twenty minutes to devise a dance routine to a musical theatre song. I was grouped with Savannah and Ghazall and we chose the song "Heavy" from the musical Dreamgirls. Here's the video of our dance routine:

Ballet 31/10/18

During our barre work, when we were doing ronds de jambes, Mandy told all of us that we should make sure our hip was turned out whilst our foot was travelling to the back. I'm naturally not very flexible so even when I was trying my absolute best, my leg wasn't turned out. Mandy gave me a few tips - to push my hip forward and pull in my gluteus maximus. When we were doing battements frappés, Mandy said I should use all the strength in the ball of my foot rather than in my thighs and focus on the journey my foot takes before coming off the floor rather than focusing on pointing my foot as it would do so naturally.

After some barre exercises, we are told to balance on a rise, but Mandy took it one step further challenging us to balance with one foot off the ground. I tried my best but lost my balance completely after about one second. She then gave us a target to be able to hold our foot off the ground (whilst on a rise) for five seconds. 

After barre work, my ankles and feet felt very over-used and it hurt to rise and sometimes even pointe so I was told to rest. However, I was also "teacher" and I assisted Mandy when she was correcting technique.

Jazz 01/11/18

We did our usual intense fun warm up. Since my ankle was hurting, I couldn't fully pointe my foot. We learnt a circular spring and swing amalgamation. We also learnt a Jazz routine to From Now On from The Greatest Showman (one of my favourite songs to a movie I love! I was so happy!) After we all learnt it (in an audition environment) we all performed it in threes. Shannon then chose three people to perform it for everyone else - Marshall and Faith (who are second years) - and me!

Ballet 07/11/18
We did quite a lot of barre exercises. I was told to use every muscle in my foot when doing battements tendus and leave my foot on the floor as much as possible before pointing it. Today, we learnt grand ronds de jambes and when my leg was travelling towards the back, I was told to turn it out and pointe my feet. I was genuinely trying my hardest to do so but when I looked in the mirror I could also see that my leg looked completely turned in and I told Mandy I couldn't do it but from now on, instead of saying "I can't" do something, I will just work on my flexibility at home and will continue to try my best in ballet classes. For centre work, the lines were changed. I was upgraded to the back line (who are given more challenging steps)! I really struggled and being next to the people in the back line really inspired me to work on my flexibility and my balance. We learnt second arabesque and being at the back line challenged me to lift my leg, here are the pictures:

Jazz 08/11/18
Today, Shannon wasn't here so we had Tracy as a substitute teacher. I really like her classes which are dance fitness because they work on developing my stamina and strengthening my core whilst being really fun! Tracy told us that it's really important to work on stamina as many people in Musical Theatre are very talented at dancing but don't have the stamina to get them through a show. We also learnt a routine to Beyonce's Run The World:

Ballet 14/11/18
After today's lesson, my back and legs were aching which shows that my muscles are strengthening. We focused on jetés and everyone learnt how to do jetés ordinaires. During our turnout exercises on the floor, I was told that instead of folding my legs, I need to pull it in which made a big difference - I suddenly felt my quadriceps and hip flexors work. During the barre exercises, I was focusing on using all my feet muscles on the floor - especially in battements frappés where I was told to put all my energy in hitting the floor with the ball of my foot and then lifting it as little as possible which requires a lot of strength and control. When we were working on retirés, I was told to peel my foot off the floor before sliding it into retiré just like we do in battements developpés. We continued working on our arabesques (where I had to lift my back leg). We started learning an adage where we had to pivot in second arabesque which I found extremely difficult as it was hard to balance. Also, to ensure my supporting leg is always turned out whilst pivoting, I have to move my hip before my foot. Then we had to do a pirouette and land in arabesque which I didn't manage to do in this lesson. The trick to landing it is digging your heel hard in the ground. We also learnt a short exercise and Mandy taught us that some steps are more important than others and changing the dynamic of an exercise makes a more entertaining performance. After the lesson, we did a really great stretch where we plié in second and then lean forward and place our hands behind our heels and almost sit/ lower your derriere. This stretched my inner thighs and it really helped my muscle tightness and fatigue. 

Ballet 21/11/18
We spent most of our time on the barre today and focused a lot on technique which got all my muscles aching. I find that when I'm putting my weight on one leg like in battements tendus or in ronds de jambes, the hip of my supporting leg really hurts. Before I could even tell Mandy, she noticed that I was sitting in my hip and told me to stand tall at all times which I'm finding extremely difficult but am now working on it. I also realised that in some barre exercises, I somehow am facing towards the barre so I asked Mandy and she said that my supporting leg is more turned out than my other leg and I should make sure that they are both turned out equally so I face the front. We also focused on balancing - it' very important to concentrate on something when balancing because it helps you to not fall over. Mandy told me to put my weight in the ball of my foot so I'm not just using my feet muscles to rise and that if I practise enough rising would come more naturally to me. We then went into the centre and practised the adage we learnt last week. Again, I really struggled with remembering all the corrections whilst dancing and wobbled to the point of almost falling over. However, as Mandy gave me tips on controlling my breath, I slightly improved the more we practised.

Ballet 28/11/18
We did a warm up on the barre and then allegro from the corner where we would do temps levés going backwards which tested our peripheral vision and spatial awareness. After our usual barre work, we focused on our adage. I felt like I had improved on the pivot in arabesque as I was very focused on balancing and turning out my leg from the hip before rotating from the ball of my foot. I also had improved on the pirouette into arabesque and had managed to do it once without wobbling too much! Afterwards, Marshall, Faith, Leah and I were practising doing posé turns in a square formation. I realise I need to practise on whipping my head around quickly enough because I became dizzy only after a couple turns. 

Ballet 05/12/18
After warming up in  the middle, we started barre work. I was told to make sure to use  my feet muscles and  to stand taller - these are the main things I have been focusing on in ballet lessons. We then went into our lines to practise the adage we've been doing for the past few weeks. I feel like I have improved on my balancing and am still working on my pirouette into arabesque. We also did a small exercise we learnt last week - glissade derriere, jete over, pas de bourre, changement. To add more "colour" to the exercise, we held a longer pause after the jete and did a quick pas de bourres before the changement. Then we (just the first years) had a talk with Mandy about what we felt needed the most improvement and what we wanted to work on - turns, ankle strength and balancing. We then spent the rest of the lesson focusing on pirouettes - our stance, spotting and using our back muscles in order to use our arms properly.

Ballet 12/12/18
After we did some barre work where I was focusing on pulling out of my hips and using my feet in battements tendus, battements glissés and in battements frappés, we practised our adage in the centre. Since the back line wasn't here today, I did the adage the other lines did which didn't include the pivot in arabesque. I focused on quickly transferring my weight from fourth position into arabesque without wobbling. I also focused more on the pirouette rather than the landing. I asked Mandy how to make my leg musles less prominent yet stay strong. She said I should do lots of stretching which  will gradually make my muscles more lean  and less bulky  and restrictive.

Ballet 09/01/19
We learnt some new turnout exercises which focused more on strengthening the hip flexors and inner thighs. We changed places on the barre which meant I could see myself from a different perspective in the mirror - it made me realise I should make improving my turnout one of my top priorities in ballet. Throughout the holidays, I was working on meeting my targets: using my core to pull out of my hips, focusing on using my feet in battements tendus, battements glissés and in battements frappés and having my weight slightly over the balls of my feet to make rising come more natural to me. I'm pleased to say I think I have improved and today Mandy didn't give me those corrections which makes it safe to assume I really have improved. Step of the day was pas de chat and everyone practised doing it - Mandy seemed content with my pas de chat. We also learnt about allegro - petit allegro is fast but has small movements and grand allegro is a little slower with bigger movements. 

Singing 10/01/19
We were introduced to the pentatonic scale and I learnt that those notes are what singers use when they riff. We then went through the stage version of the song Little Shop of Horrors. On the harmony "beware" I'm singing the tune which is a high note and I think after practising over the holidays, I have more breath control, can sustain the note more easily and I think my voice sounds less strained.

Jazz and Musical Theatre 10/01/19
In Jazz, we worked on arm co-ordination learning a sequence of arm movements and paralleling it with feet movements which we all found difficult. After we got it, we had to reverse the movements which I found hard to do. We did kicks in the centre, outward and inward pirouettes and hitch kicks from the corner with pas de bourrées turning.

We started off our Musical Theatre lesson writing and sharing our goals for 2019. One of my personal goals was to get to bed on time as I find I can concentrate better in lessons when I get more sleep. I aim to do that by making it a bigger priority and writing down what time I get to bed every day.
One of my goals performance-wise is to improve my flexibility by doing splits exercises and arch strengthening exercises nearly everyday to hopefully get my splits one day and to get a higher arch and a better pointe in my feet.
One of my fears was that I had made the wrong decision taking Musical Theatre as sometimes I feel not good enough and I do not want to dance some days because it is so difficult. I follow dancers on Instagram who really inspire me and they seem to want to dance 24/7 and I was wondering if that is what it takes to be successful. Shannon said absolutely not and that even she and those who work in the industry wake up some days and are not looking forward to working - that's just natural. The main thing is that we chose to do it because we love it and our passion will get us through those hard times.

We then started learning a routine to "When You're an Addams" from The Addams Family Musical. I am so happy as this is the first time we are doing a performance with the second years. They play the main characters: Dylan is Gomez, Savannah is Morticia, Marshall is Lurch and Faith is Wednesday. The first years are the ancestors so I had to really believe I was a zombie which was really exciting! Here is a video of what we have started: 

Singing 14/01/19
We went over the song Little Shop of Horrors from the musical, making sure we were all singing the right harmonies and shouting "look out!" at the right times. We also sung "Wouldn't it be Loverly" from My Fair Lady to increase our repertoires from musicals in the Golden Age. We were advised to practise this song so we could improve our cockney accents.

Ballet 16/01/19
We learnt all the different types of jeté: 

• en avant = forward, travels
• de coté = side, travels
• en arriere = backwards, travels
• devant = front, on the spot
• derrièr = behind, on the spot
• grand jeté = big leap
• petit jeté = without brushing foot on floor, from one foot to another
• en tournant = changing direction

We did the same three turnout exercises we did last week which help on turning out from your inner thighs using hip rotation and works the inner thigh muscles and your glutes which help hold a turnout. I've realised that good turnout doesn't just rely on flexibility but also on strength and this lesson I focused on holding my turnout and saw great improvement. I also focused on stretching my calves and quadraceps as much as I could during the lesson to prevent tightness, soreness and overall bulk as it can restrict my movement and feel heavy. On the barre, we did pliés, battements tendus, battements glissés, battements frappés, grands battements - where I need to work on getting my leg higher in derrièr, demi-grande ronds de jambes and ronds de jambes where at the end of the exercise we had to lift our leg and hold our balance which made me lose my turnout. I aim to improve my turnout flexibility and strength by doing the turnout exercises at home. In the centre we worked on our third arabesque and tried to rise without falling over. Marshall, Alex and I did sissones on the centre. I realised that you're supposed to lift your front leg as well as your back leg when you sissone which I have previously not done. We did an exercise containing changements, entrechats and petit assemblé. A really fun challenge was to jump as high as you could with the petit assemblé which proved very difficult - Mandy advised I relax my muscles when I land which helped. 

Singing 17/01/19
We learnt the song Skid Row from Little Shop of Horrors. I personally love this song and I feel like once everyone (including me) knows the song, we can sing it stronger to make it sound the way it did in the 1986 movie.

Jazz 17/01/19
We started off with a student led warm up: Ghazall took over increasing the heart rate, Savannah did head and arm mobility, I did fitness/ strengthening and Leah did stretching. I started off with doing squats and holding them, then I did the plank whilst swivelling the hips to work on core strength and then I did some press ups into child pose. I was a little nervous to lead the warm up but I believe I did better than last time as I knew what I was going to do before I did it as opposed to last time where I wasn't sure what to do and felt very unconfident. Shannon said for next time, we should do what Leah did, giving feedback to individuals in the class which I will try to do for next time I lead a part of the warm up.

We did the same arm and leg co-ordination sequence we did last week, doing it slow and fast and on reverse arms. I have found it much more difficult than I expected using the wrong arms and legs, especially when doing it on the other side. We also did triple runs into single and double pirouettes which I aim to improve on. We then learnt a Jazz Funk routine to Fleur East - Favourite thing. I loved this routine and worked really hard to pick it up and I was then chosen by my classmates to perform it on my own which made me really happy and I performed it the best I could.

Musical Theatre 17/01/19
Shannon introduced a new way of learning movements and improving rhythm and musicality:

KEY: N = and, A= ah, E  = ee, all numbers are counts, brackets = echo, 
- and / = continuous movement 

N A 8 E N A 
1-2 3 E N 4 E N 5/6 N A 7
1 N 3 4   7 8
1 3 E N 4 E N 5/6 N A 7
N A 1 N A 3 N A 4 N A 5 N 7 8
Break it down Break it down now (down now)
7 N A 8 E N 1 N 2 N 3/4 5 7

Letters/ numbers are written only when there are movements meaning no letters/ numbers, like in the third line mean a pause in movement. I found this incredibly hard to understand and pick up but I managed to pick up the first and second line and similar to cycling, once you get it, you don't forget it.

We then recapped and added on to the Addams family routine:

Singing 21/01/19

We went over Skid Row and perfected the ending where everyone apart from Alex (Seymour) and Ella (Audrey) is singing these really high harmonies, the last of which I cannot reach at the moment.

Ballet 23/01/19

Today, each student had to write three corrections they have received on post-it notes to stick on the wall next to where we stand on the barre so that each time we turn to face the other side we would be reminded to concentrate on those corrections. I wrote down: "pull out from your hips", "hold your turnout" and "work through your foot". We started off with turnout exercises which Mandy pointed out really needed some work so I am starting to really concentrate on using my inner thigh and glutial muscles in ballet classes to strengthen them which will hopefully result in an improved turnout. I am also trying to do turnout exercises at home every other day so that I can get faster progress. 

Then we did barre exercises and I realised at times I was overwhelming myself with trying to think of too many corrections simultaneously which made me hold my breath. I knew the way to fix this was to focus on less corrections. In grands battements, when we went to second, instead of bringing our foot back in to third position like we usually do, we brought it into retiré which was really difficult as Mandy showed me how to do it properly and strongly whilst holding my turnout and my posture, my core muscles. We also focused on demi-grande ronds de jambes and for me holding my turnout is what I need to focus on as I carry my leg to second and I also need to drop my hip to keep my posture. Also, I was told to bring my leg forward to increase my turnout and work on carrying it to second with that proper turnout to work the correct muscles. 

In the middle, we went over third arabesque and the back line were given an adage similar to last term focusing on all arabesques we have learnt - during this exercise, I have focused entirely on using my core muscles because I have trouble balancing. We then combined the sissones we did last week with the sequence of movements we had previously learnt and ended off with some grand jetés which we performed to the rest of the class.

Singing 24/01/19

We went over all songs and I pointed out everyone was singing other people's lines so this was sorted out. We all sung our parts and we recapped our harmonies. The last note for Skid Row is a very high B flat which I wasn't able to sing in class but I think if I work on it, I will be able to reach it - I think this is mainly because I was scared I'd strain my voice so if I practise it at home where I can spend more time warming up my voice, I think I will be able to reach it.

Singing 28/01/19

We went through each song. After practising at home, I tried to reach the high B flat at the end of Skid Row but it's just a squeak at the moment. I have also paid more attention to my breathing because I forget to breath from my stomach and I sound a lot more pleasant when I focus on my breathing.

Acting 29/01/19

This was the first acting lesson we had had in two months and today we had a cover teacher, Monique. First, we went through the script in American accents, and then the three main characters were hot-seated. I, in the role of Mushnik was asked about my shop and my employees - Seymour and Audrey. I had to think quick so I just said whatever came to my head and it went really well - Monique praised us saying we were good especially for a group of students who hadn't had an acting lesson for a long time. We then staged the scenes and went through the choreography to Skid Row. Monique gave me feedback that I should really delve into my character, become Mushnik and not rush any lines (which I did because I have so many!) She said that would be easier to do if I revise my script.

Ballet 30/01/19

We did the same turnout exercises which I am still really struggling with but I am trying to do them at home as well to see if I can progress any quicker. On the barre, we focused on demi grande ronds de jambes - we were put into partners to check each others developé derrière and I was corrected to lead with my knee and to focus on turning out my leg as soon as I start taking it to the side. After doing so, I improved! I really worked hard to focus on all my previous corrections:

• pulling out of my hips
• holding my arms with my back (not arm) muscles
• holding my turnout with my glutes
• work through my foot

In the barre exercises, she told me to work through my foot (even though I was already trying to) but I think I could do this better if I wasn't focusing on so many other corrections although I would lose my posture if I didn't so I will just keep on trying.

We worked on arabesques in the middle and recapped en face, en croisé and une effacé. We practised pirouettes en dedans, landing in fourth position ready to do another pirouette on the other leg. We then went around in a circle practising sliding into fourth position on both sides using the correct arms in third position.

We learnt a new move called petit pas de basque which is springing on to two legs into a turn and Mandy said I did good. We then did grand jetés and flick jetés from the corner.

I think Mandy has been very positive and encouraging this lesson which made me suspicious at first but I like this positivity because it makes me feel more motivated. At the end of the lesson she said everybody did well!

Singing 31/01/19

We went over Skid Row and I gave many suggestions as I have been practising this song every day and personally, I thought my classmates were capable of making this song of a higher standard by adding in the backing vocals I heard from this track.

Jazz 31/01/19
We did a very tough warm up today - a hardcore fitness regime, we did much more stretching as well. We did:

• pas de bourreés
• balancing on one leg with fondus
• open pas de bourreés with single and double pirouettes - Shannon told me to try a triple pirouette - I nearly did one on my right leg but I actually managed one on my left leg!
• front, side and back kicks which I have definitely improved on in terms of height
• swish leaps and flick leaps - I was given feedback to jump upwards instead of over-the-hill
• We were introduced to a new step - turning leap with back leg in attitude  - that needs a lot more practise

Musical Theatre 31/01/19

We were thinking about costumes for the Addam's Family routine - either black, white or grey old-looking clothes with Jazz shoes. Today, we learnt the ending and finished learning the routine!

Singing 04/02/19

Today, we went through the end part of Skid Row and neatened it up, making sure everyone knew their part. We then staged it and sung it and each song whilst dancing/ in position.

Acting 05/02/19
We started off the class by reading through the first scene. We then staged it and performed it many times until it was neater. The main feedback I received was to be more angry, grumpy and to become my character. I found this difficult but once I started yelling instead of speaking loudly, I was told that it was much better. We did go through the rest of the script and Monique told us that next week, we will not be allowed to use our scripts. Each character was hot-seated and I really tried to be grumpy and a bit rude as that is Mushnik.

Ballet 06/02/19

Today on the barre, I concentrated on holding my turnout and could really feel my inner thigh and glute muscles working which hopefully means I'm progressing. We were told to use our head as well as arms on the pliés, following our hand. I feel like I'm improving on focusing on my core as well as my turnout and working through my foot. However, I forget to breath when focusing so much!

In the middle, we practised our pirouettes en dedans, where we did single and double pirouettes except I didn't manage to do double pirouettes today even though I have done them before perhaps because I didn't whip my head around quick enough. Before we did so, we did an exercise where we had to balance on relevé whilst somebody held your waist to support you.

We also started learning the Ball scene from Romeo and Juliet where I am one of the girls. The steps are very simple but that means there is no excuse for them not to be perfect!

Singing 07/02/19

We sung Anything Goes in the right key today which made it much easier to sing. We did this to include older songs in our repertoire. We also sung Somewhere Over the Rainbow and I tried to breath from my stomach which really helped me sustain the higher notes. We then went over all the Little Shop of Horrors songs. For the line "everybody better beware" in the song Little Shop of Horrors, I think I sung the high note better than I ever have because I took a deep breath into my stomach before  the line. I'm also really trying to get into character when I'm singing - for example, in Skid Row, for the line "sweep that floor, kid. Oh!" I tried to be the grumpy angry Mushnik. We also recapped all my suggestions for Skid Row with the background vocals and riffs. 

Jazz 07/02/19

Today's warm up focused on strengthening and flexibility which I found very challenging. We did swings forwards and side-wards which tested my balancing and I had to focus on my breathing so I didn't get light-headed. I think I have improved on holding my core which has helped me with balancing. On the barre, we shouldered the leg, holding our instep or our calf if we couldn't reach it and a correction I received when shouldering my leg to the side was to drop my hip. I find that my right leg is much more flexible than my left leg, especially since I pulled my left hamstring in December.

Travelling:

• Pas de bourreés straight and turning.
• Circular springs with sideways step bolchange
• Triple runs with arms thrown in retiré
• Step kicks with hitchkick with pas de bourreés turning - I received feedback that I should lengthen my legs 
• triple runs with single and double pirouettes - I was told to use less force in my double pirouettes which I then did and it helped me land my turns

Musical Theatre 07/02/19

We went over the Addams Family routine and then started learning a routine to I Hope I Get It from A Chorus Line:

Singing 11/02/19

Today, we sung  the  songs whilst we danced it out which I found really difficult because I forget to breath when I don't put all my attention on singing. Charlie told us we should fill the space with  our voices and we need to project. I especially need to project my voice since I am positioned at the back of the stage (upstage). Now I'm going to focus more on my singing and learn when to breath in  the songs  by heart so it becomes more second nature.

Acting 12/02/19

This was the first time we went through the whole of the Little Shop of Horrors production, including the transitions from the songs to the acting scenes. We managed to go through the entire performance twice. We also didn't use our scripts today and that meant it was easier for me to use my body language and not be held back from holding my script like last week. After we went through it once, Monique told us that we needed to up our energy because it was boring to watch - she told us she was only being critical because she wanted to put the best of us on stage which helped me accept her critiques. I thought that maybe for me, that meant I had to up my confidence and project my expressions, body language and voice to the audience even more. We then performed it again and I tried to make my movements bigger. I also concentrated more on projecting my voice as I think that needs more work than my movement. After we performed for the second time, Monique said the higher energy level made the performance more entertaining and that we need to continue to work on it. She told me I need to be more grumpy and act more like a mean boss as that is how Seymour refers to Mushnik in the play and I wasn't portraying that. However, I was really trying my best to be grumpy so I will practise at home, performing in front of my family members, who are willing to help me.

Acting 26/02/19

I did some research on how to get into character for Mushnik and I learnt that you should create a back story for your character, so my back story for Mushnik: his family owned the flower shop and he worked there from very young until he inherited it when they passed away. He had a tough childhood, being bullied throughout his school life for being short, overweight and for being Jewish. He then built this grumpy, angry exterior to feel more powerful so that no one can hurt him or belittle him. 

This really helped and my teacher told me I had really improved. As a class, we made our movements bigger and had high energy which Monique told us to keep up.

 

Ballet 27/02/19

Today's class was led by Marshall. First, we did the turnout exercises we did during the beginning of the year. On the barre, we did pliés, battement tendus, battement glissés, battemement frappés, grands battements, ronds de jambes. In the centre, we did an adagio which included first, second and third arabesque, lifting our leg at the back where I struggled to balance so I need to work on strengthening my core.

We did pirouettes en dedans and en dehors. I received a correction to lift my leg into a higher retiré. We did petit allegro, doing sautés, echappé sautés and changement. In allegro, we practised glissades and jetés. We then did grand jetés where we had temps levés in first arabesque. The class was told that our elevation was good and when we did this exercise for the second time we were told to look at the audience and to remember to use our arms. We finished with a reverance.

Jazz 28/02/19

Today we did our usual warm up, kicks in the centre and five sequences which included:

• pas de bourreés
• pirouettes
• kicks
• back bends
• leaps
• floorwork
• changes of direction
• changes of speed

Musical Theatre 29/02/19

We went through the Addams family routine a few times singing over an instrumental instead of the recording which was challenging but I feel like I have improved on projecting my voice.

We then added onto the Chorus line routine with Leah and I given twelve counts each to choreograph. We had one minute to create it and then we had little time to teach it to the rest of the class so naturally, the new choreography was not easy to remember but the class did well to learn it so quickly.

Jazz 07/03/19
We did a full warm up and then learnt a Contemporary Jazz routine to Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish. This song has been very popular in the dance world and I have recently watched many dances to it which really inspired me to find my inner psycopath/ dark side and use facial expressions I have never used before. As you will see in this video, I am looking directly at the camera in the beginning with a dark, almost creepy facial expression because I think it looks good when other dancers do it and grabs your attention. Shannon told me to perform it on my own in front of the class which I was glad to do and has boosted my confidence:

We also learnt a vogue routine to Sushi by MERK and Kremont which was really fun because I had to look like I was a snobby, thinks I'm better than everyone else type of character.

Musical Theatre 07/03/19
The first years performed the Little Shop of Horrors production to the second years and Shannon. We received feedback that a lot of the acting is at the back of the stage and that should be brought forward if possible - Shelley said we will work on it. I was told my acting was good which meant so much to me because I was very unsure about my acting skills so I worked very hard on it. 
We then watched the second years perform and gave them feedback. Faith and Marshall did a contemporary dance routine to a very moving song - I thought it was well choreographed but it just needed refining which they already knew since they only just started rehearsing it.
Dylan and Savannah performed a Musical Theatre song - Take me or Leave me from Rent the Musical which started with them in the audience - it was very creative and put a smile to my face - all it needed was a bit of refining but I thought they did very well.
Then, we went over the Addams Family routine a few times to rehearse it for the performance and Shannon said she thinks it will look great on stage.

Singing 11/03/19
We all agreed we knew the Little Shop of Horrors songs well enough to start with practising "When You're an Addams". We first sung it around the piano and some people were singing a lower octave than everybody else. I decided to sing the higher octave because it is easier for me to project my voice. Charlie let us decide which octave we wanted to sing. Then we performed the routine whilst singing in front of the mirrors. Charlie pointed out that we all had a tendency to look at ourselves in the mirrors so we performed it away from the mirrors to prepare for performing it in the theatre. The main thing we all need to focus on is projecting our voices.

Ballet 13/03/19
Mandy started with a boxing style warm up in the centre which included punching and kicking the air. We then did what would usually be barre work in the centre - pliés, battement tendus, battement glissés, ronds de jambes and battement frappés. I found whenever I did a dégage derrière, I lost my balance because I didn't transfer my weight properly, so this is something I need to focus on when doing barre work in the centre. We then did corner work, doing posé turns and temps levés in arabesque and in retiré and then did the same whilst turning.

Acting 19/03/19
We warmed up with a game using the tongue twister "unique New York" which I was able to say clearly all the way through (this shows my diction is good)! We then did the "shopping basket game" alphabet version where we all had to remember what the last person said until we came up to the letter 'z' and that person had to say the 26 items we all said with the order of the alphabet helping us.
We then had to create a character and walk around the room as it. My character was an old man in his early 60s, a very upper class, thinks everyone else is inferior to him type of guy - I walked with a straight posture and a stern expression. We were then told we were stuck in an elevator with a few of the other characters. When one of the other characters said we should all sit on the floor and do an exercise to stop breathing I rudely said no to show my character's snobbiness.
We then ended with an 'alphabet conversation' where we were partnered and had to start our sentences with the next letter in the alphabet. The previous pairs had a habit of only saying one word and Monique showed us we could expand our sentences which is what I did when partnered with Bethany - we made the audience laugh and we almost reached the end of the alphabet!

Ballet 20/03/19
Today, during barre work I realised that if I tendus derrière without twisting my hips, it cannot physically go directly back because I have poor turnout so I asked Mandy and learnt that I should always make sure my hips don't twist even if that means I cannot tendus back because that is good technique and as my turnout improves, I will be able to get my leg further back. We did pirouettes en dedans and en dehors with the leg in retirés landing in the back - I improved during the lesson as I focused more on spotting, weight transfer and breathing.

Singing 21/03/19
We sung Opening Up from Waitress the Musical and went over a few of the harmonies and the song sounded very good. It includes call and response and all the lines are split up which makes it entertaining to watch.

Musical Theatre 21/03/19
Today, we will learn Dylan and Savannah's choreography to "Ex-Wives" from Six the Musical and a routine choreographed by Faith and Marshall. First, we had to audition for what part we were going to have in it. I worked really hard on my audition song - I Didn't Plan It from Waitress the Musical, working on my breathing, reaching and sustaining notes. I chose to audition first and looking back at the following videos (the only way I could upload it was splitting it into four videos), I am proud of it:

Then four people were chosen to sing the monologues - Dylan assured us we would all get a part. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the four people (but writing this, I am very happy with the parts that I did end up getting). Here is the video of what we learnt after about an hour:

We then learnt Faith and Marshall's lyrical routine, here's the video:

Ballet 27/03/19
We did our usual turnout exercises where I really focused on turning out from my hip and holding it with my glutes - Mandy even said my turnout had improved! I found it easier to work through my foot today perhaps because now I am more used to it. Facing the barre, we did battement glissés: we were put in pairs so that one person 1 pushes down on person 2's foot whilst they are doing a glissés to help them know what it feels like to work that muscle and then to use it in this exercise. We did a simple enchainment in the centre which was made much more difficult as we had to do it really slowly (it included a developé) which tested my balance - however I focused on engaging my core muscles and surprised myself - Mandy even told me to lift my leg higher because I was already balancing well! We did the same pirouette exercise as last week, however my turns weren't good today (or as good as last week) which was ashame because Shelley came to watch. Hopefully, over the weekend, I can work on these so that next week, I will do better.

Singing 28/03/19
First, we went over Opening Up from Waitress the Musical. We went over the harmonies and sung it to the backing track. The reason we went over it is because we plan to perform it next Wednesday. We then spent the rest of the lesson going over "Time Warp".

Jazz 28/03/19
We did our usual warm up. I found that today, I could keep up with the increasing heart-rate part much better than the last couple weeks, I managed to do all the intense core strengthening exercises but not the arm strengthening exercises - I don't know why, every week changes in how much I can do.  We did high kicks in the centre, for the first time in Jazz class we did back kicks (the ones where you touch the floor). I think the height of my kicks has improved over time. We also did leaps from the corner - since receiving the correction from Shannon to not do "over-the-top" leaps and just leap upwards, my elevation has increased. We then did pas de bourreés into single and double pirouettes where I struggled with the double which is frustrating when I know I can do them, even easily on good days. I think what happened was I wasn't concentrating on balancing and weight transfer on to the ball of my foot.

We then learnt a routine to Whitney Houston's song - Million Dollar Bill. This song was really groovy so when Shannon said we had to improvise for four counts of eight before we start, I wasn't too lost for dance movements to do since it was just one of those great songs to dance to. I could still feel my lunch in my tummy, so I felt a little sick (note to self for next time - eat only half of lunch before Jazz) which meant I wouldn't let myself go full out whilst I was learning it). This was a very technically difficult, high energy routine which tested my abilites but it was great fun.

Musical Theatre 28/03/19
We finished the performance of "Ex-Wives" choreographed by Dylan and Savannah. Shannon also added and helped with the choreography. Before we learnt the rest of it, we had to create our own character since there are only six characters and eight students. The three characteristics I gave my own character were snobby, materialistic and self-obsessed. I tried to portray this in my facial expressions and in the way I moved. Looking back at the following video, I can see that I need to make everything I do bigger and more exaggerated:

Ballet 03/04/19

Today, I struggled with the turnout exercises because it was made harder in terms of holding your core which shows me I need to strengthen those muscles. Whenever we had to balance on one leg during barre exercises, I couldn't hold my turnout and when Mandy pointed it out to me, I saw in the mirror that it looked turned in so I stopped balancing and Mandy told me I shouldn't have given up so next time something like this happens I will take her advice.

Last week, I focused on my breathing and found the lesson less challenging. I should have done the same this week but found it more difficult to focus just on my breathing and I found the lesson almost too challenging, so next lesson, I will try to make my breathing the number one thing to concentrate on.

We worked on the piece for Faith's group and I was told to keep my arms at eye level when doing sissones.

We had the option to practise fouettés whilst Marshall and Faith practised their fouettés. It was inspiring watching them do many technically good fouettés. I found it very hard to balance and could barely manage to do one fouetté with my leg at a very low height until Mandy told me to spot. After that correction, I managed to do about five! Mandy said it will take a lot of practise to get to where Marshall and Faith are at and gave me a target of managing eight fouettés on my good leg (my left leg) and four on the bad leg.

We were given sheets that tested our knowledge on classwork and ballet terminology:

Jazz 04/04/19

The warm up was student-led this lesson. Nehemie led the first part which was jogging, I led the head and arm mobility, Ghazall led strengthening and Leah led flexibility. I decided I would just let everyone follow what I was doing than say too much and it seemed to go well.

Musical Theatre 04/04/19

We rehearsed "Ex-Wives" and then performed in front of Shelley, Charlie, Mandy and a few students. During rehearsals, we refined it and Shannon said we had to keep a high energy throughout the five-minute routine, especially in the improvised parts. I found the parts we had to improvise very difficult because I felt a little embarrassed with the movements I was doing. However, I know that strong and wrong is the way to go because confidence goes a long way so I tried to improvise with as much confidence as I could.

We performed it twice - we received feedback after the first time performing it and then performed it a second time taking on their corrections. They said that our singing sometimes faded away and that we need to make sure we are singing loud throughout and to just keep up the energy. I find it incredibly difficult to sing and dance at the same time but I really tried to concentrate on both.

Ballet 24/04/19

At the barre, we started with lunges which we have never done before. In battements tendus, we were told to push the top of our foot as much as we could which was difficult and is something I must remember to work on every time I point my foot. We were given a challenge to do battement frappés on demi-pointe which felt strange because I usually hit the floor with the ball of my foot before pointing it to give me force which at demi-pointe I cannot get because my foot doesn't catch the floor so I need more strength in my feet and ankles. I was told to stop in the middle of ronds de jambes en dehors because I wasn't holding my turnout when I went through first. When I focused on using all my strength to hold my turnout, I could do it. However, when doing the exercise at the fast speed it always is, it's very difficult to maintain my turnout. For the last one/ two weeks, I have been doing splits exercises everyday which has increased my flexibility. This helped when doing grands battements because my leg was higher than ever before and Mandy noticed and said it was "good"!

In the centre, we did pirouettes en dehors in fourth and fifth position. I used too much power and landed facing the side so when using less power, I landed smoothly - facing the front. Mandy gave us a tip - to breath as we land because that can help us balance. We also practised pirouettes en dedans and Mandy told us pirouettes are always part of an enchainment so we did a sequence of movements that ended with a pirouette en dehors. I realised the more I did the pirouettes the more I improved on them in class. We also did glissades devon, derrière, over and under and pas de chats across the floor. We learnt that pas de chats are not about jumping as high as possible but rather about picking your legs up (even though there are pas de chats that are focused on elevation).

Ballet 01/05/19

We started facing the barre and walked through our feet, then picked up our feet and then it turned into high knees punching the air and towards the sky. We then continued moving in a circle, changing directions (by this point, I was completely out of breath and had to stop). We then crouched on the ground and jumped upwards a few times.

We did turnout exercises starting with holding the legs 90 degrees above whilst lying on the floor, doing different combinations of turning out, bending knees, stretching and turning in. We then did another turnout exercise where we lie on our side with our knees bent and opening and closing our top leg. The last turnout exercise still required us to lie on our side but both of our legs are straight with top one turned out. We then lift it up and down - I felt the effects of this last exercise the most. A minute after I got up, I started feeling dizzy so I sat down with my head between my knees which made me feel better. I think this happened because I got up too quickly so next time I will get up very slowly to ensure this doesn't happen again.

On the barre, I focused mainly on my breathing and having good posture and alignment because I think they affect everything else. I remembered my corrections from last week - pushing my ankle upwards in battement tendus in particular and maintaining my turnout in ronds de jambes. 

As we were learning about the different types of stretching in Healthy Performer, we incorporated a couple of the stretching techniques in class today. First, in grands battements, we were told to hold our leg in second - AI stretching which was incredibly difficult so I held my leg at a lower height. Then, in partners we were carefully instructed on how to do PNF stretching. One person would lie on the floor and lift their leg as high as possible. The other person would act as resistance as the person lying on the floor tries to push their leg down. After six seconds, the leg is pushed towards the person on the floor as a stretch. The same thing is repeated and the leg should be able to go further. This is the most effective and long-lasting stretch.

Mandy chose me to do the sissone and assemblé exercise on my own which pushed me to do my best - so I jumped as high as possible, concentrating on making sure my arms were in the right position and on pointing my feet as much as possible. I was told to travel on my assemblé which I managed to do more easily than anticipated. 

Over the weekend, I will practise my pirouettes en dedans and en dehors because in class I still struggled landing despite remembering all my corrections which means the only way to improve them is practising at home.

Ballet 08/05/19

We started off by walking through our feet, exactly the same as last week. This time, after springing with high knees, we ran into the middle, galloped in a circle and did a series of other exercises to increase heart rate. We also did the same turnout exercises we did last week with an addition to make it more difficult.

My ronds de jambes on the barre was better as I I think I have improved on maintaining turnout. We then did a flexibility and hypermobility test and here are the results:

We spent the second half of the lesson rehearsing for the Rocky Horror show as we have very little time to the production.

Ballet 15/05/19

We started with pliés at the barre including a new move where we bend our supporting leg over a leg tendu devant - Mandy told me that there should be no weight on the pointed foot. I need to keep on working on pushing my ankle upwards because Mandy keeps pointing it out to me. 

In the centre, I was put in the front line which put pressure on me to work extra hard - I also could see myself very clearly in the mirror so I wanted to do well for my own sake. We did an exercise including three chasses where I focused on correct weight transfer. It included a pirouette en dehors that we had to land in fourth position which I managed to do well today, but I did better on my left leg.

We spent the rest of the lesson rehearsing for our Rocky Horror show production which is showcasing next week!