Archive for October, 2008

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Boy Teacher vs. Lady Cheerleader

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , on October 31, 2008 by Karmela

For the first time a week ago, I attended a class taught by a male instructor. I’m brain dead today so I’ll just call him “Boy Teacher,” as in male teacher AND teacher of boys, which he both is. Creative, I know. Anyway, I really liked him a lot. Totally defied the stereotype of the fey/wimpy male ballet dancer. This guy is masculine, strong and totally normal, yet a funny and fantastic teacher.

And DIFFICULT as all hell. His class last week was an hour and fifteen minute awkward and comedic blur for me. His barre exercises were complicated as shit, and we did something called a “Waltz Turn” which I reduced to a big hot tranny mess.

But this week, I’m happy to report that I did MUCH better. It helped a lot that he simplified the barre exercises and that I practiced that damned waltz turn over and over and over again this entire week. Still can’t do it well on the left side, but I was able to do the right one pretty damned well, so yay for me!

Boy Teacher did an interesting thing during barre today. He floated his palm a centimeter from the top of my head and told me to lengthen my spine and touch his hand. Then when I did, he told me to keep my posture that way the entire class. Whew! That was hard! But the curious thing about that is that in Lady Cheerleader’s class, she tells me to do the opposite. Not that I should slouch, but that I look stiff in the upper body and I should relax my posture because I tend to lean back a little.

Not sure what to do about the two differing teaching methods. One says elongate spine, the other says relax the upper body and concentrate all tension in the legs and butt. Is it possible to do both? Or should I lengthen in BT’s class and relax in LC’s class? Confusing!

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Les Misbarack

Posted in Life on October 30, 2008 by Karmela

Taking a break from blogging about dancing to bring you this work of sheer genius:

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Is it better to be best or worst?

Posted in Music, The Dancing Life with tags , , , , on October 29, 2008 by Karmela

I attend two ballet classes where—and I’m being completely objective here—I’m pretty much the best dancer in class. I love it. I love the rush it gives me when I nail the (very simple) combinations, the confidence I feel when I can execute a move while my fellow students struggle. Don’t get me wrong—I am not taking any pleasure out of my fellow students’ discomforts. Just quietly celebrating my own triumphs.

Still, sometimes I get impatient with the class’s slow pace and wish that I were in a higher level class.

Until I actually go to a higher-level class.

Last Friday, I attended a class that was one rung higher in levels than my regular class. And boy, did I quickly go from best to worst. I couldn’t remember the (somewhat complex) barre combos, and couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to do the turning sway balance (what’s the correct term for this?) even though the teacher had broken it down for me.

Despite my confusion and lack of grace, I really liked the class. It challenged me, made me think more about what I was doing. Plus seeing all the great dancers in class who were way better than me gave me something to shoot for. But I didn’t really hit my stride. By the time class was over I felt like I barely danced but merely copied the teacher.

So is it better to be worst or best? How about somewhere in the middle?

ASIDE: Found a couple of amazing ballet class music CDs:

These two CDs are filled with non-cheesy, totally emotional music that is great to listen to just by themselves. If anyone out there doesn’t know what to get me for Christmas…ahem…

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Hip Hop vs. Ballet

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , on October 28, 2008 by Karmela

Ms. Represent (who got engaged this past Saturday! Congrats!) nailed down the formations last night for our opening number, which involved pairing us up. Because the routine involves sliding between someone’s legs, she had to partner us according to height. To do this she made everyone stand in a row, shortest to tallest, and naturally I was first in line yet again just like in elementary school (and high school and college and during the fire drills at work, etc., etc). But wouldn’t you know it, the next two shortest ladies in the line were also Filipinas! Represent indeed!

I was paired up with Nicole, a young girl who couldn’t have been more than sixteen. Her mom is an excellent ballet dancer whom I’ve taken class with on occasion. Nicole herself is an aspiring dancer and she recently completed her RAD exams and was cast as the Snow Queen in our studio’s Nut production. So she’s good. Really good. In ballet, that is.

In hip hop, she’s having a bit of a difficult time. Her movement is light and fluid and high, but hip hop demands that a dancer be grounded, slouched and sharp. We have one move where we jerk our elbows back, and she can’t seem to get the hang of really popping her arms with more intensity. After class we were talking about hip hop and she freely admitted that it wasn’t her comfort zone and the only dance where she feels a bit fish-out-of-water. I told her I felt the same thing about ballet although I think I can fake it half the time.

When I teach hip hop, I can always tell which of my students are the ballerinas. They’re the ones with the perfect posture, feet turned out ever so slightly, and who can’t seem to twitch and jerk their bodies when I ask them to, but they’re also the ones who can master the choreography after only two go-rounds.

I have complete and total respect for the demands of both disciplines and I love that I’m doing both ends of the dance spectrum. In ballet, even though I don’t do much “dancing,” I do love learning the technique. In hip hop, there’s way more dancing, not as much technique. So I get the best of both worlds.

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Choreo Frustrations

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags on October 27, 2008 by Karmela

Cross posted on www.dance.net…

I’m no newbie when it comes to dance classes and mastering choreography. Matter of fact, many of you know I’m a long-time hip hop dancer, choreographer and teacher. As a hip hop dancer, whenever I take/teach choreo, things are broken down phrase-by-phrase, then repeated over and over and over again until we are actually *dancing* instead of just copying the teacher.

Why can’t learning ballet choreo be more like this???

I’m referring specifically to when the class moves away from the barre and onto center work. First, the teacher rattles off a combo, then we mark it once, then we’re expected to execute flawlessly, then we stop dancing the combo after we’ve done it twice. I’m usually the one scratching my head going, say wha?!

It’s all I can do to remember the steps. I usually have to resort to staring at either the teacher or my fellow classmates to get the steps right, and by the time I finally *get* the routine, we’re already moving on to yet another just-as-complicated combo. Whenever we get to this part of class I never feel like I’m actually *dancing* but merely copying my instructor or fellow students, like I’m a prisoner of trying to remember the dance, concentrating so hard on where to put my arms and legs without grace or joy in the movement. More robot, less dancer.

Why is ballet class like this? Why can’t we learn just one or two combos during center work, break each one down carefully, then dance it over and over and over again until we stop thinking about it and develop muscle memory and just DANCE the freakin routine?

If the answer to this question is, “That’s the way it’s always been done so get over it,” not good enough. There’s gotta be a better way to learn routines, especially for adult re-learners like me whose brain cells got killed off during pregnancy. Anyone?

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Kathy Mata

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , , on October 17, 2008 by Karmela

Greetings from the City By the Bay! After a four year absence, I’m back! I hadn’t been looking forward to going, especially since it was going to be for a superlong seven-day trip, but now that I’m here, I’m happy to have gone. I’d forgotten how awesome and bangin San Francisco is. How could I forget the great views everywhere you turn, the non-grouchy people walking the streets (very unlike NYC), the smoke-free air (from cigarettes and cars) and the coolness of a city that has banned bottled water (because plastic take a million years to decompose)?

Another cool thing about SF is the presence of Kathy Mata and her classes at the San Francisco Dance Center. Last night, I bucked up my courage and went to a “beginner” class. The word “beginner” is in quotes because, by god this was anything BUT a beginner class. At least four of the sixteen students were en pointe, and from the first note of our live accompanist (which was way cool, btw — this was my first class with a live pianist), I could tell these students were anything but beginners. There were three guys in my class and one of them was actually en pointe! I couldn’t stop sneaking him a glance. He was amazing — graceful and strong and got the combinations instantly. Love San Francisco.

To start off, Kathy (who is a lovely and graceful woman) rattled off rather complex and decidedly non-beginner combinations with the speed of lightning. Then after breaking it down for us once, we began while she went around the room issuing corrections. I had trouble remembering half the combinations and had to resort to looking at my neighbors for guidance. Kathy zeroed in on me quite a number of times which, to someone with thinner skin might have sent them running out the studio, but that I’d rather appreciated. Evidently I was tapping out my tendus and she asked me what my teacher has taught me about frappes (my mind blanked out on this) because I was doing it all wrong. Evidently, in both, your toes aren’t supposed to leave the floor.

Then during the allegro, that’s when things kinda fell apart for me. I was able to do the first two combinations but I was at a total loss for the last two ones. It was way too complicated and she didn’t really break it down slow enough for me to get it. Plus she gave us turns I’d never done before (pencil turns! fouttes!). So I sat the last two combos out. Then we jumped, and class was over. This was even more difficult than Lady Cheerleader’s Beginner/Intermediate class, but I absolutely loved it. No one looked at me like I was a poser, no one snickered when Kathy corrected me, and everyone was extremely friendly and inviting. Plus everyone looked so hip and edgy. No one wore the traditional black-and-pink outfit and there were plenty of layers.

Did I have a bad time? Absolutely not! It was awesome! It was intimidating, yes, but it was still spectacular to be surrounded by all these adult dancers. Some of them looked almost as good as the pros, while some looked like they were there for recreation only. Some of them were actual members of Kathy’s adult dance company whose existence pleased me immensely! I felt a twinge of longing and envy that San Francisco has a teacher and choreographer who not only specialized in teaching adult students, but who formed an actual company that gives her students an outlet for performances! Check out one of their recitals:

Wish we had something like this in my area. Maybe I can broach the subject with one of my teachers. It’s so inspiring and invigorating. I’ll be back for another class on Tuesday night, this one called her “Advanced Beginner” class. I’m sure there will be plenty of advanced about it and not much beginner. But I’m still raring to go. They have a performance on Nov. 2 and I wish I could go. Kathy’s classes will now be a staple for me every time I visit San Fran. Wish there were more people like her.

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Beginner Ballet Frustrations

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , on October 15, 2008 by Karmela

I’m leaving for the City By the Bay tomorrow at the crack of early and staying there for seven whole days. Seven! The bad news is that I’ll miss two ballet classes, hip hop class, a cycle class and a yoga class. But the good news? I get to take classes at the esteemed San Francisco Dance Center which is a mere 0.6 miles away from my hotel! Woohoo! I’ve mapped out the classes I want to take, mostly either Beginner Ballet or Advanced Beginner Ballet. I’m a little apprehensive, but I’m also looking forward to it. What to wear, what to wear…

Last night was Beginner Ballet with Lady Cheerleader. While I’m happy to report that I’m finally getting my groove in her class, I felt bad for a lady who hasn’t attended for the last three weeks. We did pirouettes en dehor last night, which evidently they had never done before. Unfortunately, L.C. didn’t bother breaking it down, which meant that only two people in class could do it — me and this guy John. Everyone else struggled, especially the lady who missed the last three classes. At the end of the hour she stormed out of there, her face a dark cloud, and I don’t know if she’ll ever be back again. Poor thing. I wish L.C. had taken the time to break the pirouette down for everyone. It *is* after all a beginner class. She probably felt the same way I felt during L.C.’s Beginner/Intermediate class — total frustration to the point of almost-tears. I wanted to hug her and help her with her technique, but at the end of class she looked totally ballet’ed-out. She probably would have ripped my head off if I’d offered to help.

As for me, I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable in class. We did a nice combo last night — sway balance to the right and left, glissade to fourth to arabesque, sous-sous to pas de bourée, then finish with a pirouette en dehors, then do it all again on the left side. Scary but exhilarating. I was dancing!

Next time I blog will be to report on my (mis)adventures at the San Francisco Dance Center. I might even take some photos! Wish me luck!

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Hip Hop Hoopla

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , , on October 14, 2008 by Karmela

So. Hip Hop class last night. Ms. Represent unveiled the first part of our main recital routine and predictably, it’s pretty damned hawt. And wouldn’t you know it, yours truly is smack dab in the middle of the formation. Woohoo! The ham in me loves this of course, but the haven’t-performed-in-a-long-time performer in me is terrified. Well, maybe not terrified, but certainly nervous enough to practice, practice, practice so I don’t make a fool outta myself. Do you all know a move called the “Harlem Shake?” I didn’t either. It basically involves shaking your shoulder so fast until you practically dislocate it.

Love, love, love large-group synchronized formation dancing. Love dancing it, love watching it. It’s what makes hip hop so kickin. BUT, on the flipside, everyone has to be synchronized. As in every pop, every lock, and every level has to be TOGETHER. If everyone’s arm is 90 degrees and you have one person at 85, it looks sloppy.

Which is why Ms. Represent drilled us repeatedly on just the first 16-counts of our dance. And I mean again, and again, and again until we can all dance it in our sleep. Then after the first combo, bam! V-shape formation and moi is at the very tip. I cannot, CANNOT look all weird and stiff and crappy like I did last night. I was kidding around that I needed a shot of tequila. Ms. Represent made me do deep-breathing exercises right before we opened with the damned Harlem Shake. I think part of the reason I looked so stiff was because I was so self-conscious. I’d never done that move before and I was, erm, not with it. Practice!

Then when we did a modified chicken, I felt that damned twinge on my right knee again. I had to ice it when I got home. Ice is now officially my new best friend. Ice after ballet to the hip (damned fifth position), ice after hip hop to the knee. And kickboxing.

Recital’s on Feb. 1 and we gotta lotta lotta work to do! Plus the damned song keeps playing in my head.

Take me on a trip I’d love to go some daaaaaay…

BALLET ASIDE: When I was waiting for hip hop class to start, my ballet teacher was in one of the studios teaching an advanced class. My ear perked up because she was using some really unusual music. Reminded me a lot of a jazz pianist playing in some smoky bar, very Billy Joelesque. So I ducked in there and asked her what CD she was using, and she said it was this (scroll down to Original Compositions for Ballet Class, Vol. 3 by Roberto Pace. Been looking all over the Internet for a clip but can’t find one yet. I’ll post it here if I ever find one.

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Private Lessons?

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , on October 13, 2008 by Karmela

The other night, I was intrigued when a fellow adult student was talking about her private lessons with Lady Cheerleader. At 45 years old and slightly overweight, she credits these lessons with finally giving her the push to go on pointe. While we were all patting her on the back and giving her the ol’ attagirl, I wondered to myself what exactly goes on in a private lesson.

Theoretically I know that all private lessons, be they in piano or gymnastics or math, are customized to the student’s needs. That’s the whole point, right? The lessons go at the student’s pace and the teacher’s attention is 100% focused on you. But in ballet, what else goes on? Is there barre work too? Adagio? Allegro? Might there be a little bit more talking or explaining? Maybe a handout or two?

See, I have no idea. Not that I’m considering private lessons at this point. I’m still an uberbeginner and still kind of muddling my way through. Maybe in a year, or maybe when I’m getting ready to attend Sunking, I’ll consider it. At $60 a pop, it’s definitely on the pricey side and this isn’t exactly an economy conducive to splurging. But I’m pleased to know that if ever I need that extra help or push, and if/when I do get that bit of disposable income, Lady Cheerleader’s services are available for me.

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Intermediate Class

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , on October 10, 2008 by Karmela

My lower body has been in a constant state of achiness this past week but I don’t know if it’s from hip hop or kickboxing or ballet or what. Somewhere somehow, something kicked my ass and I don’t even know who. All I know is I’ve never been this sore for so long in my life. Not even when I go to my group fitness conventions and I take one GF class after another back-to-back all day long.

Speaking of getting an ass-kicking, I went to my very first beginner/intermediate combo class last night. Different studio but the same teacher (Lady Cheerleader from Beginner Class on Tuesday nights). Why did I go? Because I’m going to miss class tonight and I had to get my fix.

For the first time in a loooooong time, I felt completely inadequate and clumsy in a dance class. Surprised the hell out of me, let me tell you. My arms were doing something weird and I couldn’t think about turnout and posture and anything else because I was too busy thinking about the combinations. It’s been a long time since I wasn’t the teacher or the best dancer in class and I was definitely humbled by the experience. Fortunately, Lady Cheerleader was very encouraging and didn’t embarrass me as much as I thought I deserved to be. :-0 But even though it totally kicked my ass, I’m determined to come back next week and the week after that and the week after that until I’m able to keep up with the rest of the students. When I teach kickboxing and I see new faces, I always make a point to say hi to them at the end of class and impart a bit of wisdom, which goes a little something like this: “Know how to make it a little easier? Keep going to class!” Who knew my little words of advice would come to bite me?

Am I scared shitless? Well, not shitless, but scared enough. I need to practice. And review. What’s the difference again between a sissonne fermeé and an assemblé?

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