Sweet face!

Ok, so now you know the choreography; let's start focusing on your expression. You know, Les Sylphides is a very romantic ballet, like, very feminine and sweet. I need to see that sweetness on your faces. No, don't smile! That's too much. Just show tenderness with your eyes... everything is very romantic...

Oh, yeah, sure! I'm going to try and show tenderness and sweetness when I'm counting and when I know I have to chainé-né® to the LEFT after those two soutenus!!! Yeah! I'm going to try and make a pretty face which I don't really know how to make! As if I wasn't scared enough!

DARN!

Well, I guess that's ballet!

And we love it!

Nerea.

It wasn't embarrassing, but it does hurt!

Last minute of class. We were doing some temps levés en arabesque with a chassé and the floor was a little slippery, so I lost my balance and fell down with all the impulse on my knee. Yes, the very same knee that was already bruised. So I got up quickly, Mrs. M asked if I was alright, I said yes (my pride, you know) and continued dancing.

When class finished I looked in the mirror and I saw my torn tights and my blood and... let's just say that it wasn't very funny.

Yep, I fell down in class, I got a cut that hurts a lot and I ripped my tights.

So what? Professionals fall all the time. Even the amazing Sylvie Guillem! I've got over it! I'm already getting ready for a two-hour-long rehearsal tomorrow afternoon! Say what?

National Ballet of Canada - Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann

Let's dance!

Nerea.

Sylphides update

Last week was a pretty busy week.

I had four days of dancing, including two classical ballet lessons and two long rehearsals for Les Sylphides. Oh, and also a dress fitting. I can now tell you, nice reader, that the only thing about the performance which has to do with Les Syphides is the music.

The costumes are pretty, but they are blue and completely different from the ones worn by the sylphids in the ballet. And the choreography is also very, very different. It's neo-classical, kinda contemporary and we don't wear pointe shoes. But I like the whole thing, anyway!

On Saturday we finished learning the choreography. You know I've just been "promoted" from beginners level to intermediate, so I guess you also understand that I feel a little behind the rest of the class. It's more difficult for me to get to remember and perform all the steps and I'm feeling really challenged. But I'm determined to rehearse a lot and I'll do my best!

The performance will be in February 17th, and until then I'll have classes and rehearsals from Monday to Saturday; at least eight hours a week (well that's crazy, innit!). Oh, and my choreographer told me that whenever I have free time I can go to the studio to practice. Free time? Me? You know that now I'm in Salamanca just because of ballet, right? I have no uni classes! I'd be in the studio during the whole day if possible! So maybe I'll get to add some more private lessons with her so I can work on my déboulés and soutenus, which are giving me a lot of trouble... and unfortunately there are lots of them in the choreography!

That's all for now!

I leave you with a quote by my choreographer:

"Give a hundred per cent of your dancing during rehearsals so when I ask you for 120% during the performance you won't run out of stamina! Make the most of every rehearsal!"

Nerea.

P.S.: I had to buy a knee bandage because my right knee was giving me a little trouble due to my falling on it over and over again during the beginning of the choreography.

¡Talón!

Is there any word that your ballet teacher says a lot?

Mine, apart from "¡no!", likes to shout "¡TALÓN!" all the time. It literally means "heel!", but not literally, it means "push your heel forward so I can see your turnout, damn it!!!".

So basically, if we're doing a series of relevés, we hear something like this: "¡uno, talón, hop, talón, tres, talón, cuatro, talón, hop, talón, hop, talón, etc.!"

And the same happens when it comes to tendus and jetés: "¡y, fuera, talón, fuera, talón, fuera, fuera, fuera, talón!"

Kinda funny, guys!

This is not even possible!
Venus Villa's turnout

Remember your turnout!

Nerea.

New Year's Resolutions

Hi everybody!

How's this new year going? For me, quite well, even though I spent the first week really stressed due to bureaucracy. I hatehatehatehate it! But some hours ago I sent the last envelope to the correct address and now I'm happy to say I am free!! I am back in Salamanca and I'm allowed to do nothing but dance, read and write, because I already did my exams in December. Big YAY until February 13th!

So I have never, ever, written a list of new year's resolutions. We don't do that in Spain, nice reader. But some things just came across my mind and then I thought: "hey! I could do those during 2012! They are perfectly achievable in a year!". So this is my super short list:

• Learn Catalan. I know: nobody can learn a language in a year (unless you're the most intelligent person on Earth). But the thing is, I already know Catalan. I know I do! I can perfectly understand it, both reading and listening. But I never dare saying it's one of my working languages, because I always struggle when it comes to "producing" the language. Catalan is kind of similar to French and I can't help but mix them in my head. If I start speaking Catalan, I always end up saying things in French and so on. So yeah, by the end of this year I'll be speaking and writing Catalan fluently, you'll see!

• Become a translator and a teacher. Just six months to go and it'll be done. I just need to pass three more subjects and write a long Bachelor's Degree Thesis (on dance, nice reader! I got to mix translation and dance for the last essay of my degree!) and I'll become an official translator. Obviously, I still have lots of things to learn, but for now I'll be happy with my Degree thingy. The teacher will come later, because I'm probably going to work in France as a Spanish Language Assistant in October. Pretty nice, huh?

• Pirouette. I just need to be able to do some clean singles before I even think of doubles. I am getting better, yes. I can pirouette, but I just want to be comfortable and get to measure the amount of impulse that I need, both en pointe and in soft slippers. The round fouettés will come when I am fully aware where my weight is and where it should be.

• Always dance like nobody is watching. This may be cliché, but I have realised that I dance way better when I forget about everything and everybody. I must get to find this feeling every single time I practice.

• Work hard... in every aspect of my life.

Also, can I haz Lucía Lacarra's arabesque? Plz!? *_*
 Photo: Stanislav Belyaevsky

And that's pretty much all.
Be happy, y'all!