I am confused

I guess one of the most exciting parts of ballet is that you can go to any place in the world, take a class and be able to understand the teacher, even if you hardly speak their language.

The thing is, I do speak French, so I thought ballet classes would be quite easy to follow... especially since almost the whole terminology is always in French (even in Spain). But NO, nice reader! Things are not that simple. And you know why? Well, because in France a tendu is not the same thing as my Spanish teachers used to say! Here, a tendu is called a dégagé. And things would be fine if that was the only difference. But NO, because the word tendu also exists. A tendu in France is the fact of not pliéing when doing a movement. For example, you're in first position and you want to go on pointe: without bending your knees, you just go to demi-pointe and then to pointe. That would be a relevé en tendu. And I have to say I actually find it very practical: very precise!

Then there are many other things that have changed. For instance, I have never heard my teacher use the word passé. Never ever. She says something that sounds like jarret or jarré or something like that. If you're French I'd be thankful if you could help me with this one!

Also... it seems that our arms are never in fifth position. They are in couronne, which is a rather cool word. Oh, and jetés are no longer just jetés: they are now battement jetés. And grand battements are usually just battements. And pas de chats have now became sauts de chat! And I've heard my teacher say pique (/pik/), instead of piqué (/pik-ay/), but I'm still not sure if she says so just to fit words better with the music.

And then there are lots of new words. For example, a déroulé is this thing we do to practise with our pointe shoes and break them in. Starting in first position, plié, demi-pointe, pointe, tendu (like, straightening our legs) and then demi-pointe and heel to the ground in tendu.

Still, even if I am a little bit confused, I am loving every single second of class and I feel I am learning so much. I am really happy to have found this school and these amazing teachers. They are an absolute joy to take class with!

Also, one month left to see this live! - Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin in Marguerite and Armand.

Until next time, keep dancing!

Nerea.

Making the right decisions

So I am still recovering from the shock I went through the other day at the Royal Opera House in London… It was amazing; one of the best experiences of my life. I guess I don’t need to tell you that the whole company was absolutely wonderful and flawless. They performed The Sleeping Beauty just like only the Royal Ballet does. It was perfect and… I love them all. Word.

But I am here to talk about decisions. I realised I never really wrote here what I decided about my Translation and Ballet studies. Well then, I am glad to say that I made the right decisions, and this is making me so happy.

You know, last year I loved interpreting, because I found it so dynamic and new, but actually in my inside I always knew I wasn’t made for that. Maybe that is why I couldn’t sleep well the nights before going into a booth. So this year I chose Translation. And I am so happy I made that decision, nice reader. I love the subjects I am taking and find them really motivating and inspiring. I am truly enjoying my time looking for solutions on the Internet, in books and dictionaries. I am really loving this freedom I have to play with words. I am having fun and I can totally see myself doing this for the rest of my life, because I am in love with it. And when you’re enjoying so much an activity, you find it wonderful when you see that your hard work is rewarding. When you receive an e-mail from your favourite teacher, who tells you she hasn’t changed anything on your translation because you write so well. These things, nice reader! These things are motivating and inspiring. These little things make you want to push yourself further; they make you want to achieve perfection, as unreachable as it is! They make you feel happy and love what you do!

And as regards ballet, I told you a few weeks ago that I needed to make a choice between staying with the beginners and going to an intermediate class and pointe. I did make the choice. And it was the right one. I am going to class with the intermediate students. I am not a good dancer: ballet is hard, very hard. But I am dancing. I am really dancing little combinations and I am learning so much. Things are going pretty fast for me: you have to realise that now I am taking class with girls who have been en pointe for many, many years. I am actually asked to dance like them in the centre, even though I have only had four or five pointe classes… so it means that I might have skipped a few years on my ballet training because my beginner teacher believed in me. And my current teacher is so lovely. She is such a beautiful dancer, nice reader. I am glad she accepted to teach me. She believes in me; she thinks I can dance like the others and I feel honoured and grateful, even though sometimes I am simply unable to do what she asks me. But I am trying. I am doing my best. If I fall today, I will stand tomorrow. I am determined to become the best ballet dancer I can. And now I have to encourage you to DANCE, because it is simply a pure wonder, nice reader. Nothing feels like that.

Keep translating and dancing!

Nerea.

Big Ballet Dilemma

I have been faced with this dilemma for more than two weeks, I still don’t know what to do and I have to find a solution like NOW. I know that the decision should be mine, but I’m in desperate need of advice.

As you know, I’m studying in Salamanca. This is my last year of university, and therefore it is also my last year of ballet in this studio with this Amazingly Awesome Ballet Teacher. I had a ballet class for beginners today. I felt so much ahead the rest of the class. I’m not swaggering; it is a fact. We did a new barre and I could remember all the steps and I performed them pretty well. I didn’t get any corrections from the teacher. Only things like “very well, Nerea! You’re doing fine!”

Well, it seems that I have a pretty much pretty and amazingly cool life. What is the problem, then? The Problem is this:

Class finished and Amazingly Awesome Ballet Teacher told me that she didn’t know why I still was in that class with the beginners. She had spoken with intermediate ballet teacher (with whom I have had an intermediate class and two hours of pointe. That equals three hours), and this second person had told her that I could totally get enrolled in intermediate class. She said I was doing well; I just needed to have a little more agility at the centre.

So I told Amazingly Awesome Ballet Teacher that I didn’t feel really confident in intermediate level. She answered that she was sure I was ready and intermediate ballet teacher thought the very same. I hesitated for a second and Amazingly Awesome Ballet Teacher shouted: “come on!!! It’s always me! I always have to push you guys to do new things! Come on, Nerea! Go to intermediate level!!! You can do it!!! I know you can!!”

So, these are my options:

• Stay in ballet class with the beginners, with Amazingly Awesome Ballet Teacher, 2 hours a week + 1 hour of flamenco, also with Amazingly Awesome and Adorable Ballet Teacher.

• Go to intermediate level with Not-So-Awesome-Ballet-Teacher. This means 2 hours a week + 1 hour of pointe shoes with her… And not flamenco at all, because, you know, my budget has its limits.

The first option means that I will focus on the basics again; on very easy things that I can already do, which can be nice… or not so nice, and of course, staying with lovely teacher. Second option means, of course, something like: “bye, bye, Amazingly Awesome and Adorable Ballet Teacher, forever and ever, and hello, stressful ballet classes in which I learn so much and I can actually dance like a ballerina, but where I don't really know if I'm performing correctly!”

There are other options, but certainly less advisable, like giving up flamenco, staying with the beginners in ballet class and going to intermediate pointe class. Or going to intermediate ballet classes, giving up pointe and going to flamenco with Amazingly Awesome Ballet Teacher.

Should I repeat that Amazingly Awesome Ballet Teacher absolutely wants me to go to intermediate level, because she thinks I have some kind of potential?

My head is a total mess. Any experienced advice?

Oh, and if I choose option 2, I will dance like Tamara in a few years. Yeah, sure... ;)
Look at that super AWESOME winged foot!!!

Nerea.

Twitter talks pointe class

Going to ballet class. Excited. Je vous vois dans trois heures, tweeps!

This is how I said goodbye on Twitter last Thursday. Three hours went by, I got home, and this is what I wrote:

Back from ballet class... with GREAT NEWS. OH-MY-GAWD, OH-MY-GAWD, OH-MY-GAWD, YOU GUYS.

My teacher has invited me to JOIN TOMORROW'S BALLERINA CLASS, aka POINTE CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

POINTE, POINTE, POINTE, POINTE. I'M GOING TO A POINTE CLASS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!

I haven't been to a pointe class since I was 13. So I've just (re)joined the club of people who like to mangle their feet on purpose!!!

Please note my mental breakdown. It might be serious. Later that day I also had my sentimental moment:

I just wanted to say that... I love you all, ballet tweeps. I'm so happy to be a part of this community where we can share our impressions.

And then, another mental breakdown. This one is a little milder, as I was starting to assimilate the news:

Sorry if I'm a little annoying, but I can't help jumping and shouting in joy! I AM EN POINTE, YOU GUYS.

It seems that when your ballet teacher invites you to try pointe class, you feel everything. Fear, of course, is the order of the day:

But I'm a little worried, because pointe class won't be with my regular teacher. The other one seems a little harsh (?).

Oh my God. I am going to suck so much this afternoon at pointe class.

Then, I got ready (see feet here) and went to pointe class.

And this is the result of it:

Advanced pointe class is serious business, guys. It felt good, but I was doing pointe with 15-17-year-old girls far more talented than me, who could do piqués en tournant without problems. But the good news are that my feet weren't hurting at all!!!

I will go to the academy on Monday again. I will talk to my pointe teacher and to my regular teacher and we'll see what they think about me.

Oh my, I'm dehydrated!!!

I guess my teacher was right (they know us better than we think). I was prepared. I didn’t break my ankles in pointe class.

The problem was the technical level. They should give a pointe class for beginners, because I simply couldn’t follow the steps. Seriously, how the hell do they want me to do a hundred piqué turns EN POINTE in my first class in 8 years? I can't even do them properly in slippers!

Definitely, I could totally go to that pointe class during barre and port de bras. But the diagonals were too much. TOO. MUCH.

Oh, and by the way... I think my ballet teacher just promoted me to intermediate class. Maybe I did something well today, after all? =)

Nope, I hadn’t done anything well THAT day. This is what hapenned yesterday when I went to talk to her:

My ballet teacher had spoken about me with the intermediate teacher before the academic year started.

She told her I was strong, had a good posture, a very fast evolution and could perfectly fit into the intermediate class (and pointe shoes).

She said that last year she could tell I had danced for many years before. In her (translated) own words: “I just had to polish you up a little bit, but now you’re ready”.

So she has definitely invited me to try intermediate level. She said I could be a little lost at the beginning, but she believed I was prepared.

SO I AM HAPPY.

And also sad, because that means that I am probably going to class with another teacher. And I like Mrs. C so much, you guys. Because she’s lovely.

My super old pointe shoes, which look less crappy with their new ribbons!

Nerea.

The Day when it happened

Today I went to my second ballet class of the year.

The first one, on Tuesday, was fine, but there were some new people, so it was slow. I have no problem with that, as we’re starting again after three months and I believe it’s better not to start with a full variation at the centre.

But I am here to write about today, which is going to be known as “The Day” from now on. Because, nice reader, “The Day” was good, so good. Barre was very simple; I did the exercises without much trouble, except for a: Nerea, try not to move your body so much when rond-de-jambe-ing with your left foot. Because, you know, Left Side is evil. It’s the Dark Side of ballet. I am such a disaster with my left part of the body, seriously.

Also, I could finally keep my balance for many seconds while doing a passé relevé, which is a huge achievement for me, due to my weird hips and knees.

Later we started with the diagonals, which consisted in walking. Yep, it was simply walking as ballerinas in first position. Mrs. C asked me not to be “so correct”. She said that my walking was technically perfect, but I should be more relaxed. I can’t help being tense; I haven’t danced in three months!

So when ballet class finished, a friend of mine asked the teacher about the possibility of attending pointe class this year. It was a private talk, actually, but when I finished putting my flamenco clothes on (because “The Day” wasn’t over yet), I joined the conversation. I said I was also interested in that, but Mrs. C thought it was maybe too early because we had been doing ballet for less than twelve months. She said that we shouldn’t join “Pointe Class” anyway, mostly because it’s for advanced people. There’s no pointe class for beginners right now. Nice reader, that is a shame, you know. She also said that she would try to arrange a thing on the timetable to make us come half an hour before our normal class to be able to do some barre work en pointe. BUT, that would be next year. NEXT YEAR, or as soon as in March, April or so. That is a total disaster. A total and absolute disaster, because next year I will be a graduate and I will not be in Salamanca for ballet class after June. But that was her last word.

Then, flamenco class with my flamenco classmates started. We’re currently dancing some beautiful alegrías, but I’m not comfortable. I’m, you know, used to delicate movements and tense body; I’m more classical! And that doesn’t have anything to do with the fiery steps of alegrías. So we’re doing a nice step in which you have to move your right foot forward and with it… you also have to move your right hip. Well, I can’t do that. I keep doing a tendu. And that’s not it. And of course, Mrs. C has realised, because she ALWAYS realises. She said she had the same problem when she started with flamenco after so many years of ballet. Ha! I’m not the only one! She suggested me to relax my body and to forget about ballet (which is not easy at all). So I guess I can say that the bad news are that I am not good enough at dancing flamenco because I am too ballet-y. Oh wait… are those bad news? I don’t really know.

Class finished and I got dressed normally to go back home. I was kind of sad. Or disappointed, or something. Mrs. C was at the reception when I was about to leave. I was determined to let her know that I had some pointe shoes at home which I wanted her to see if we were ever going to do some barre work, even if it was in April. I think I sounded a little desperate, actually, haha. No, but seriously, I told her that if she was going to teach us half an hour or so in April, I wanted to show her my old and crappy pointe shoes in case she didn’t like them and wanted me to buy some new ones. Because they are really crappy, guys. Really, really crappy…

And this is where magic begins!

The conversation was something like:

Mrs. C: Oh, but you already did pointe?

Me: Yes! I did a year and a half of pointe, a long, long time ago!

Mrs. C: I knew it! You have very strong legs and feet. You can do it! I just don’t want the rest of your classmates to injure themselves because of my decision. But you can do it!

Me: B-b-but…

Mrs. C: You can go to pointe class tomorrow. Speak with the teacher, she’s there.

Me: But… it’s an advanced level!

Mrs. C: You can do it. Go, have a look and try it. Hey, Mrs. M! Nerea took pointe class a long time ago!

Mrs. M: Ok, she can come then!

Me: B-but my pointe shoes are old… and… crappy!

Mrs. M: No problem, just bring them! I will see you tomorrow, Nerea!

And I stand there, open-mouthed. I take a deep breath and utter a shy “see you tomorrow, then!”

I leave, and while "The Day" comes to an end, I take my mobile phone and call my family with tears in my eyes.

Nerea.

I am going to be a translator

I guess I had to write this blog post, because I have officially decided it. Well… kind of. Yes, I am going to become a translator specialised in localization. And a good one, I hope.

As you know, I started this blog because I thought I wanted to become an interpreter, and the fact is that I still want to (why do I have to choose? WHY?), but I have several reasons to decide that I prefer studying translation:

1. Although I liked very much my Interpreting lessons last year, the truth is that I am not used to that kind of stress and it made me feel bad before, during and after class. I only found it rewarding when I did it well, and that didn’t happen usually.
2. They always say that Interpreting can be taught, and I absolutely agree with that, but it is also true that there are some “gifted” students that can do so much better than "normal" people. Sometimes I felt I was the worst student in class, even though I know this isn’t true. Yeah, I am too pessimistic and it doesn’t help.
3. I love reading. I love languages. I love reading and translating documents. When I find an interesting topic, I love translating it (well, it is true that instruction booklets are not usually fun, but still). And I find it rewarding; I am actually good at it, and I feel I never stop learning things.
4. I have discovered the amazing world of localization. I already knew it existed, but I hadn’t thought of it as a possibility. But the fact is that I have always loved anything related to technologies (I did my first webpage at the age of 8, when some people didn’t even know that the Internet existed) and I would love being able to translate software or even videogames. So cool! 

So next year I am going to enrol on translation lessons, but that doesn’t mean that I am not going to learn how to interpret!

I guess that one of the things that made me feel stressed last year was the final exam. Because I was thinking of the exam during the whole year and since I didn’t see a big improvement on my interpreting skills, I couldn’t help but think I wasn’t good enough to pass. And since this year I just have half the usual number of credits (I did too many during the past three years), I am going to attend Interpreting lessons along with would-be interpreters, but I will not do the final exam.

Because… in spite of the things that I said before, I LOVE interpreting so much. It makes you feel stressed, but free. You can play with words; with your language. You can learn things about everything. You can meet people from everywhere. You have the satisfaction of being the only person that can help some people who, without you, couldn’t even say “hello” to each other, perhaps. You have the satisfaction of hearing: “yes sir, I have understood you”.

So I guess I have to change the title of this post:

I am going to be a translator… and an interpreter!

P.S.: … And of course, the best ballet dancer I can! (Is this the year? Will I be on pointe again? We’ll see!)

Interpreting en Pointe

Eh… what?

Yes, “Interpreting en Pointe”. Why not? Oh wait. You are asking me what all this is about. Ok, fine, let me explain it from the beginning.

So… you know, I am studying Translation and Interpreting and I am in the middle of my training to become a conference interpreter… or something like that. Why do I say it this way? Well, simply because I have not decided yet if I will become an interpreter or a translator… or both. I will have to make that decision in September. The fact is that I truly WANT to become an interpreter, but I am WAY better at translating documents. This means that during summer I will have to follow a very strict schedule to make my foreign languages (French and English) a lot stronger. I have thought that a blog written in both these languages would really help me; or at least, my writing skills and vocabulary will improve considerably. In addition to this, I will have to spend some hours a week practising with real speeches in both languages, so that I will not feel lost when the next academic year begins.

But wait, what does the “en pointe” thing mean? It is French for “on the tip of the toes”, and yes, I am talking about ballet shoes. But what has ballet to do with all that? Well, they say that interpreters always have an unusual hobby that helps them relax and forget about their job. Some of them sing operas, some others play piano or different kinds of flutes, and I even met one that went scuba diving. Some of them say that these hobbies even help them feel more comfortable while interpreting. Why? Well, let’s see this from the musical point of view: people who study music are able to multitask, their heads are better organised, and many of them are more used to listening to foreign languages, aren’t they?

So for me, this random hobby is ballet: my passion and my love. Because I am in LOVE with ballet and I cannot help feeling free and amazingly happy when I dance. Because it helps me forget everything and get rid of the stress that the interpreting booths cause. Because it is wonderful. And because at some point I have found myself interpreting with my headphones on and my ballet slippers on my feet at the very same time.

On Tuesday 31^st May (today, or yesterday, because it’s 3:50) I did my simultaneous interpreting exam. I will receive the results on the 2^nd June. These are probably among the most important results of my life, because depending on my mark, I will decide whether or not to become an interpreter and whether or not to make this summer adventure. I hope the results are satisfactory and if so, I will see you here, talking about headphones, booths, speeches, tutus and ballet shoes... and Tamara Rojo.

[…]

Yes, I love her.

And you should too.

Nerea