Dance It

Hi there!!

Today I wanted to share a little bit of why I dance, and why dance is so important in my life. I hope this helps find out how you can dance your heart out and let go and fly into the world of ballet.

Ballet is my outlet, it lets me forget about everything that is going wrong in my life and lets me fly, escape from reality and makes me feel on top of the world. So if you just let go and become a "pretty pretty princess" and have a moment as Ms. Julianna says, ballet is far from boring. Make movements more fluid, and let go. We are NOT barbie dolls so it's time we start adding fluidity and grace to dancing or else it isn't ballet. You might be wondering, how in the world do I add danceiness to my movement? Well, it's hard, but I would first start with knowing the combination. Although this is hard, pay attention to details. Start asking yourself the question, where can I add my own flare?

NYCB's dancers truly dancing it.
Photo Courtesy of: New York Times

If you have an arm that comes down when you plie, lift a bit before you lower. In a piece with strong accents make sure you hit them. Another idea is to keep moving. Ballet is not poses, and once again we are not barbie dolls. In plies make sure you never have a spot where you are 'stuck'. In Adagio challenge yourself to keep your arms moving the whole time. Not only will it make your movement look more professional, but it will make it look like you are a advanced student in ballet. It's all about the details. Now, after you have mastered the combo and added your own flare, let the music take you somewhere, and get involved. One of my favorite quotes is, "Dance is music made visible." - George Balanchine. 

My favorite quote
Photo courtesy to: Pinterest 

If dance is music made visible then dancing will take you to a different place, making you feel as light as air, or as strong as a solider, or as fearless as a bird. This will make ballet a whole different world you can escape from reality in, which is the reason I like it so much. It reminds me why I'm dancing in the first place. Long hard weeks of dance sometimes leaves us with no more emotional or physical energy. When you connect with truly dancing, it's freeing from that pain and something all the money in the world couldn't buy. When you truly experience this it's like a taste you can't forget, you keep trying to find it and when you do it's almost even better than the first time.  Another reason I love ballet is that you'll never stop improving because you'll never master anything in ballet. Even principal dancers say that's why they love ballet so much. Ballet is something beautiful that everyone will be in a different place with. Ballet is never the same for anyone. For me it's a way to get away from the world. Maybe for someone it's knowing that dance is a safe place for them. Find something you can connect with for dance and it will transform your dancing experience. 

Well, I hoped you liked that! It was basically a rant of why I love ballet, how you can love ballet and how everyone can connect with it. Once again thank you all for taking the time to read my blog and I hope you liked it!!

- Ali Grace

New Update on the Polls!

Hi there!

This is not a post, but a way you can vote on the polls! I will link the poll and you can click on it and vote! I hope this is helpful!

Which Series Next?

Nutcracker?

Which is your favorite post?

How much do you like this blog?

Moral of the story, Google has ruined your voting experience. But I see no reason why your clicking button experience should be compromised. So I made you polls!!!!!

Anyway before you vote you should know:

1. I love this site, because it has helped me revive my polls, but it is covered in ads. Pay attention to step 2 - 4

2. DO NOT CLICK ON THE BUTTONS THAT SAY DOWNLOAD, PLAY NOW, WATCH NOW, OR CLICK HERE!!!! They will download upsetting things onto your computer. (Actually I don't know because I've never clicked on them, but it's just not a good idea to click on them period.)

3. Click inside the circle of protection where you will be safe.

4. After you've click on an answer click on the bottom that says: Click here to vote! :)

5. Thank you for voting on my polls, have a wonderful day! A new post will be up on Saturday!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog,

- Ali Grace

How to Not be Bored in Ballet Part 3

Hey there!

So this post has two tips because they fit in with each other quite nicely, and are almost inter changeable. After this post, their will only be one more, and then onto another topic. These tips are best to help you not be bored in ballet. So......here they are!!!

3. Focus on something
 A lot of times you might have no 'focus' except for can we please just never do barre! during ballet. This will definitely make you bored so find something you can focus on. Find something a teacher called you out on a while ago or recently such as "Make sure you're keeping your turnout!" focus on that! It doesn't have to be something the teacher said just to you, it can be others to. If the teacher says, 'make sure not to drop your elbow' to the girl across the room, make sure you do it to. Even if she/he says it to no one in particular make sure you apply the correction. The majority of the time teachers have a 'focus' to the class. Last night in ballet, Brenda's class 'focus' was turn out. She had noticed it was something our whole studio struggled with. She gave us many great tips such as using your plie to strengthen your turnout. Although she did very simple and somewhat boring combos, it was so then we could focus on our turnout, and having a focus helped me not get bored.

4. Challenge your self
I always like to keep a goal in mind, it helps me focus and makes me feel really really good if I complete the goal. It can be something like can I improve my turnout, or have a strong accent where it needs to be in a combo. It can be as hard as getting both of your splits (THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN IN A DAY, but if you are really close then go for it), getting above 90º which I recently learned from this site that it means like a cross, (THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN IN A DAY IT TAKES STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY, but it's a good long term goal). It can be as simple as having fun or completely focusing on ballet.

My attempt to get an attitude arabesque, it was my challenge

I hoped this helped you with how not to be bored in ballet, I really hope that this makes ballet exciting to you even on the dull days! I'm so happy that you have taken the time to read my post!

- Ali Grace

Okay so these posts was meant to be up a week ago, but I got really really distracted, and ended up with an hour of dance footage so if you would to interested in that, here is a little bit:

Anyway posts will hopefully be up every weekend preferably by midday Saturday, but no promises.

If you like the leotard I was wearing it comes from here, and the tights and shoes come from here. 

If you like any of the songs I got them from this playlist. 

How to Not be Bored in Ballet Part 2

Hi there!

This is is the second tip in the How to Not be Bored in Ballet series, and it is my favorite. I love prepping and feeling ready before events, even if it's ballet. Although this step is optional I would strongly recommend it.

2. Prep before
This step is optional and kinda goes with step one, but It's still really great to do. It's split into two parts, if you have time or if you don't have time.
a. Have time
So if you have a lot of time after you have gotten dressed and done your hair, depending on the time of your dance I would suggest making a smoothie. It's a great way to make sure you're not hungry and you'll be powered up for later in class. I love smoothies. I think I have one at least once a day. So, if you want to make it really easy to make one, just buy some Jamba Juice smoothie mix, and make it at home! I think they taste delicious and the only thing you need to add to it is water/orange juice/apple juice (one of the three not all three unless your feeling adventurous) I normally use orange juice and my favorite mix is Caribbean Passion. Another thing I would suggest to do it to get a water bottle and fill it up with ice. You can add other things, but I only really like water. A health nutritionist came and talked with our dance group over the summer, and said that if you are dancing for longer than an hour or and hour 1/2 at a time with no brakes, it might be a good idea to try power aid in the second hour. I have never tried this but I might. So for the final thing is that you should try to 'wake up' all your muscles before dance so then they are able to move, like your own warm up before class. I like _____ video, I've used it several time is it's amazing, once you've got it down you can do it in seven minutes or so. If you would like to hear more about my warm up routine, please vote for it on the side.
b. Don't have time
Alright, you can vary this depending on how much time you have, but the first thing I would do is to ask someone to make you a smoothie, I really like smoothies and I love having them before dance. Instead of warming up grab sweats and put them on, if you can wear them into dance that's great because you'll warm up your body more. I would suggest taking off the sweats after tandus. This is my favorite trick, If you don't have enough time to fill up a water bottle, bring an empty one and fill it up at the studio before class.

JAMBA JUICE SMOOTHIE!!!!!!!!!!!  The smoothie in the picture is Caribbean Passion from Jamba Juice

So that was the tip, I hope you liked it! My favorite tip ever is in here which is bring a water bottle to class and filling it up at the studio. I hope you found this entertaining, and thank you soooooooo much for reading my blog!

- Ali Grace

What's in my Dance Bag? Part 3: What Dancers Normally Have in Their Bags

Hey There!

So now it's the moment you've all been waiting for, the end of the series of What's in my Dance Bag. For the finale post I've decided to do what dancers normally have in their dance dance and a summery of thing you need in your dance bag. 

This is a really big group of things for warming up and stretching. This includes, my yoga mat, my sweats, a bag for my sweats, amazing socks, and my phone, my Thera Band (not pictured). My yoga mat is essential to stretching/warming up, because I have a very bony back. This helps to protect my back, but also gets me in the mood/motivates me to actually warm up and stretch. Sweats are really great for stretching because they keep your body heat in so then your muscles warm. They are also really comfy so you can focus on being comfortable and try to forget the pain you are in. My amazing socks are great because they feel like clouds and warm my feet up. It's also important to let your feet breathe (A.K.A. not wearing socks) because if your feet go from socks in boots to fuzzy socks to cramped pointe shoes, you can get athletes foot and in grown toenails really easily. I need my phone just in case my mom forgets to pick me up, class runs late etc. but it also is great if you listen to music on it. Music is what motivates me.  "Dance is music made visible." George Balanchine. We need to warm up to music of we are to make it visible. My Thera band, shown in three pictures below this one picture, is great because it builds strength in your feet. There are so many exercises that you can to with it. They are relatively cheep and you can get them from Walmart.

And like any dancer I have trash in my bag. Band-Aid trash, more band-aids and of course more bobby pins. I also have a spare Advil. Here's a tip, if you don't have IcyHot, brake the Advil and use the liquid stuff inside of it. Make sure it doesn't get on your tights. Wash your hands afterwards. 

I also have my dance shoes in my bag. It's a good idea to always have them in your dance bag, but if you don't have enough room put them somewhere you can easily access and find them. I suggest getting Bloch flat shoes, because they stretch with your feet and will last you along time, It's also a fantastic idea to label them right and left and put your name on them. I love my no lace Capezio tap shoes. You don't have to tie laces if you get these. It's amazing and less time consuming. I also have my Capezio Foot-Undies. These are great for turning, and for Jazz but they are easily destroyed...

So this is all the things I suggest you should have in your dance bag. Ballet shoes of course, food, a phone, IcyHot, a bag for sweats, this is really helpful trust me, and a book of Bible verses.
Here are some pictures to explain what I meant above:

Foot stretching with Thera-Band

Rolling out my feet with a tennis ball

Pointe shoes with socks

I hoped you thought this was funny or inspiring or thought provoking or entertaining. This was so fun and I hope to post again soon!

Thank you so much for reading my blog!!!

- Ali Grace

What's in my Dance Bag? Part 2: Things I Need

Hey there!

This is the second in the series of What's in my Dance Bag, the things I need in my dance bag. If you are wondering, yes they are being split into different posts because one post was too long. If you would like all the What's in my Dance Bag posts, go to the bottom of this post and click the label that says What's in my Dance Bag. Now here is your post: 

These are the things I need in my bag. They are, IcyHot, Ice Breakers Coolmint, a tennis ball and a bouncy ball. IcyHot, or in other words magic, is like instant pain remover. This works great for cramps, sore muscles, or feet that hurt. I use this before and after practice. It helps me forget that I am in pain and just focus on dancing. I have to say this is my favorite thing in my dance bag, which is a big deal because that means I like it more than my pointe shoes. Ice Breakers, are lifesavers. A lot of times I end up eating before I go to dance and my breath smells pretty bad. So I just eat one and then I'm good. They also just taste really good. You might be wondering, why do I need a tennis ball? To roll out my feet. Rolling out my feet loosens up the muscles in my feet and makes it easer to articulate my feet. It's amazing. The bouncy ball is used for the same reason, but it focuses on more specific places. It was given to me by Gold Medalist Nikki Stone. She came in to tell us about recovery and how she kept trying even when she blew out her back. It was really inspiring. At the end of the presentation she gave us the bouncy balls and said they should be a reminder that when we hit rock bottom, we can bounce right back up.

Of course I have bobby pins, hair ties and a head band. KEEP HAIR TIES IN YOUR BAG. It's a really good idea, you'll never know when you, or someone else will need one. I suggest keeping bobby pins in an empty box, empty mint container, or a thing that you are supposed to keep chapstick in. I love this head band, it's thin but keeps my hair back. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO BOBBY PIN YOUR HEADBAND ON! If not It will fly off your head when you're doing turns and it will hit someone in the face. Too many experiences with that....

I also keep candy in my bag, not a good idea, but if you really are craving chocolate, then it's okay. I would recommend keeping a healthy snack such as granola, snap peas or nuts in your bag. I also have another pair of socks. These are for tap shoes they are really nice and make it so then you don't get blisters. Do you see the spot on the back of it, that's blood.

Your welcome :)

Thank you so much for reading my blog, I hope you found this entertaining, or you learned something new. This series will be going on for a little while by the end I expect about 3 or 4 posts. Thanks so much for tuning in.

- Ali Grace

What's in my Dance Bag? Part 1: Pointe Shoes

Hey There!

First of all thank you soooooooooooo much for anwsering the poll on the side of my blog! This helps me so much because then I know what you want to hear. This post was so much fun! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. So, without further to do.... here is what's in my dance bag! All pictures were taken by me. 

This is my dance bag:

Just kidding, this is my dance bag:

Let's get a good look at it:

Ya, it's kinda messy, but I try. You'd be surprised how many things can fit in it, and these are things I use every day for dance. I hope this gets you inspired for things you can put in your dance bag!
Here are my pointe shoes:

I love my pointe shoes, they are my second pair. My first were Russian Pointe. I love Bloch, I feel like they look the prettiest on my feet. I am over my box on both of my feet, and I am getting pretty good at a single turn en pointe! I also got my first blister on this pair of shoes. It wasn't because of the shoes though, it was because I wore my friend's mother's Ugg boots without socks. If you want to hear more about this blister, my pointe shoes or my first pair of pointe shoes, please vote for it on the side.

This is all the things I need for pointe, my toe pads, tape, band-aids, waxy thread and socks, and the bag for my pointe shoes. My toe pads are Ouch Pouches by Capezio. They are my first and only pair of toe pads, and I like them, they make pointe a little easier. My favorite thing in this group would probubly be my tape. I don't know the brand, but I call it magic tape. It helps support my feet, and keeps my band-aids on. Last year when I had hurt my arch, I wrapped this around it and my arch felt way better. I adore my band-aids. They are just typical Western Family band-aids. I have been using them with my blister and the majority of the time they make sure the blood doesn't get everywhere. Now, the waxy thread/floss. DO NOT I BEG OF YOU USE WAXY THREAD TO SEW YOUR POINTE SHOES! My friend, Mikelle would know this. We used it to sew our pointe shoes and it just doesn't work. The wax gets everywhere. Just use the normal kind. I love my socks because, If you want to walk around the house or carpet with your pointe shoes and you don't want the bottom to get frayed, just put the socks on and then they are protected!