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

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