Nutcracker Reflections

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The performance DVDs and photobooks from the Nutcracker performance I was part of in December recently arrived, and reminded to me to take a moment to pause and reflect on the show. The recording and photography are really nicely done and will be an excellent souvenir of the performances, which were a lot of fun!

I performed as the Marzipan/Mirliton soloist in the second act of the show, as well as part of the Snow corps. It was a lot of work to learn and perfect the choreography, but it was definitely worth it in the end. We originally only had one performance planned, but demand for tickets was so high that we actually added a second performance!

My only regret is not having had time to get the right assortment of pointe shoes and thus had to worry about whether they would last through both performances. Fortunately, with some shellac and jet glue, it worked out ^_^

As always, ballerinas are perfectionists, and looking my dancing in the video, I'm happy that my footwork and extensions through the legs has improved greatly, but going forward, I do want to focus more on extending that energy through my upper body and arms as well, because I think that was my weak point in both pieces.

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Ballet and Pointe Shoe Update

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It's been a little while since the last time I talked about ballet, and it's not because I've been doing it less. In fact, I've been very busy with dance, and even tried a few auditions in the spring. I got to perform in the Ruth Page spring show with the other girls in the Waltz of the Hours from Coppelia, which was both terrifying and wonderful! Terrifying because it's a lot more pressure and expectation than UBallet shows, but wonderful because I've always wanted to have a chance to perform with the girls there. I'm happy I got to do it once before I moved away.

After coming to Madison, I've been finding various studios and groups that I feel comfortable with. I even auditioned for a couple of Nutcracker productions, and eventually chose to do the Verona Youth Ballet production. I'll be dancing in their version of Snow (set to the Snow Pas de Deux music rather than the Snow Waltz due to their being so few people in it), as well as dancing the lead role in the Marzipan divertissement!

I don't tend to take many photos in the studio, but I did a couple of quick snaps before one of my Nutcracker auditions. My motto is "Less is more" for audition settings, and usually just aim to have simple but very neat dress, hair, and makeup. I do like to add a bit of sparkle to my bun though, just as an eyecatching focal point.

Going into the audition venue, I try to wear something to keep me warm during waiting periods and while I'm warming myself up. Whoever thought ballerinas were chic is probably somewhat mistaken...

I've also found my current holy grail pointe shoe since my last ballet musings post. I went in for a fitting at Allegro in Evanston, IL, and was fitted with Russian Pointe Almaz. I never realized until I did this fitting that my problem with pointe shoes wasn't necessarily that they were too wide or too untapered, but that the crown of the box was too high for my foot. While I do have a fairly tapered toe are, the crucial point is that I need a low crown for the shoe to actually fit along my foot so I don't keep sliding into the front of the box. I've been loving my Almaz since I switched to them back in February or March, and hoping my feet won't change too much anytime soon!

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Happy Halloween 2015!

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Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you all have lots of fun, lots of scares, and lots of delicious candy!

"Happy Halloween" 
Original music and lyrics: Junky (http://twitter.com/Junky_Box)
Original choreography: まなこ / Manako (http://www.nicovideo.jp/user/16546526)

~ COVER ~
Vocals and dancing: Kyttyee (http://www.youtube.com/KyttyeeChii)
Artwork/Animation: Kyttyee // Papillon de Nuit

~ OUTFIT ~
JSK: Angelic Pretty
Hat + "Belt": Handmade by me
Petticoat: Sock Dreams

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University Ballet of Chicago Presents: Raymonda

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For the first show of our 2015 - 2016 season, University Ballet of Chicago Presents Raymonda!

It is the height of the Fifth Crusade. War threatens to keep Crusader Knight Jean de Brienne and his beloved, Raymonda, apart. The arrival of an enigmatic foreigner jeopardizes Raymonda’s happiness--forever. Set to Alexander Glazunov’s brilliant score and adapted from Marius Petipa’s legendary choreography, witness the valiant triumph of devotion over deceit in the Holy War.

I myself danced two roles in this show: as an emissary featured in the Grand Pas Hongrois, and also as one of the maidens in the Valse Provençale. The Grand Pas is indeed one of my favorite ballet scenes, and the music is so very beautiful, so I was very exited to have the opportunity to perform it!

Much of the costuming was very frantic and last-minute, but we managed to pull it together in the end! Here is the outfit for the Valse maidens.





For the Grand Pas, I spent the last couple of days before the show making the sparkle fabric overlays for the tutus, as well as the matching armbands and fan-shaped headpieces for all of the women.










I had fun dancing, the show came together just in time, and I had lots of friends and family come see me! Also, best partner ever ^_^

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Discovering Russian Pointe

Over the past spring and summer, I became increasingly dissatisfied with how my pointe shoes felt on my feet, and how that was impacting my pointework. The narrower size of Grishko 2007 felt better width-wise on my right foot, but was tighter-fitting overall than I preferred, and it still didn't feel very nice on my left foot. The narrower box actually accentuated the twisting problem I have with my left foot in any pointe shoe I've ever worn. The shank has a tendency to twist off to the side, resulting in a very unstable feeling whenever I go up on pointe. I stopped by Motion Unlimited and had myself re-fit for pointe shoes, and ended up getting Grishko 2007 in size 4XXX (so, up one size, but down a width). While that did feel a little better, it was still not really ideal.

In search of a better-fit pointe shoe, I decided to try Russian Pointes. Luckily, I decided just in time to get an in-store fitting just before their flagship store closed down. The lady who did my fitting was very nice, and did a very meticulous job. Unfortunately, my twisty left foot defied all of her fitting efforts, and she had to call in some additional consultation. I tried on every single model that they had, some in multiple sizes and widths. Finally, we did find one that felt good, and had the least twisting on my left foot: the Dolce! Unfortunately... that is the model they just discontinued... I bought the one pair in my size/width that they had left in the store for a huge discount, just to try it and see if I really wanted to keep using them.

After about a month of wearing those, doing more pointework than I had been before, since I was taking variations and partnering classes all of July, I decided that the Dolces were definitely the new preferred shoe. Miss M thought they definitely looked better on my foot, and that I looked more stable on pointe too. Cue scouring the internet for dance supply stores that still had stock for my size and width. All of the sites I found had them on clearance sale, which was good news. I snagged two more pairs, which hopefully will last me for a while yet. After that, I will have to resort to finding either a European, Japanese, or Russian shopping service to get my Dolces TT_TT

The first pair lasted me all of summer, and I started in on the second pair about two weeks ago. The pointework load is even higher now though, so I'm expecting the second pair to wear out faster. The first pair is actually still usable, so I've been rotating the two pairs in hopes of prolonging use of both of them. *crosses all fingers and toes*

Catching Up & Pointe Shoe Comparison

Long time no update!!  I've been quite busy with life in general, as well as with fun  things like Midwestria!  Hopefully I'll have the few photos I snapped from that edited and uploaded soon, but in the meantime, I will just say that I had a fantastic time and was extremely pleased at how friendly and laid-back the entire convention was.  I loved it, and I really hope I can make it again next year!

With the increasing amount of dancing I've been doing, my pointe shoes were well and dead.  In fact, Maan and I took about a week-long break from our privates because the new pointe shoes I had ordered just weren't arriving.  And then Chicago Dance Supply had their October Wednesdays sale and I thought hey, what better than 50% off pointe shoes??!!  As it turns out, they didn't actually have the exact specifications I had originally wanted, but I tried on a few slight variations in width/shank and now have three different versions of the Grishko 2007 pointe shoe to try out.

My original pair was a size 3 XXXX width with a medium shank.  Once broken in, these were far more comfortable and easier to dance in than the Bloch Serenades I had been wearing previously.  The only slightly complaint was that the box sometimes felt too wide, and my foot would slide forward if I was having a slightly skinnier-foot-day.  That's how I got my bruised toenail, which was a wonderful adventure.  I now use gel caps on my big toes, and have a permanently glued-in piece of gel padding above the big toe area of my left shoe to make it the same length as the second toe on that foot (my two feet are different shapes, yes...).  I tried sticking the Gaynor Minden box liner in there, but that made it too small, so I gave up on that and just padded my big toes.

The current new pair is still a size 3 XXXX width, but now with a soft shank. Obviously these are breaking in much faster than the previous pair, and I have a feeling I'll wear these out in half the time if not sooner.  Even on the second wearing, my feet already feel like they did in the previous pair after a few months... so...  I have the same complaint with these in that the first time my feet kept slipping forward the tiniest bit in the box, but the Gaynor Minden liners made them too too tight.  I'll be interested to see if the narrower pair I got for half-price fits any better (or if I can even get my foot in them at all if I'm having a fat-foot-day...).

The comparison sequence for now has me concluding that if I really need to break in some shoes pronto, soft shanks are fine, but I do still prefer the feel of a medium shank.  Another possibility is that I could use a soft shank on my left foot and a medium shank on my right foot, as they have differing extremes in tendencies to go not-far-enough or too-far over the box.

Lilac Fairy and Italian Fouette Reprise

Now that I've started doing the Cardio Hiphop and Zumba classes where there's some arm-work with free weights, more of my private sessions are being devoted to pointework rather than being split between Pilates reformer work and pointe exercises.

This means more time for practicing doing things en pointe, and also more time to be learning variations! This past week was the Lilac Fairy Variation from Sleeping Beauty, in which I attempted a reprise of the Italian fouette.

I love this variation because while it's not super complex, it's actually more difficult to pull off looking floaty and calm than one might think. Or maybe I've just been really off balance lately (also true). In any case, it was delightful to learn, even if executed messily.

My favorite rendition of it is probably that by Marianela Nunez (who just overall is such a beautiful dancer):


Instead of her crazy fouette sequence at the end, I tried to do Italian fouettes, although that didn't work out so well by the end of the session when I was too tired. Will definitely keep practicing this one though ^_^

Perhaps next I should learn the Bluebird Variation. Apparently the boys have learned the male part of that, so it could be fun to actually do a little bit of partnering (and it's simple).

Also... NEED NEW POINTE SHOES. Soft shoes too, but those are somewhat less urgent.

Duck Lake, Because I'm No Swan

Progress with ballet has been steady albeit slow. I think I've crossed the last of the sharp increase period and now am back in slow grinding mode. But I shall press on, and there are definitely concrete improvements (particularly in my pointework).

In fact, I finally managed to do a double pirouette en pointe in my private lesson this week! My teacher has been nudging me to attempt them for the past few lessons now, but I've always either chickened out or just outright failed when I tried. However, on Tuesday I actually did a really nice double! Not even a fake one, it was complete with suspension at the end, and to think it was actually kind of by accident, and on my left side too. Apparently I am a leftie for turns this week!

What's funny is that my turns in soft shoes have been completely disasterific. If I can just figure out what exactly it is that I'm doing so very different when I turn in pointe shoes, maybe my turns will all improve overall. I think being terrified and thus extra careful/concentrated has something to do with it, but I can't identify the physical ramifications of this mindset.

In any case, I've learned three more variations over the past few weeks. About a month ago, I learned the second odalisque solo from Le Corsaire. We did it in one lesson, and that was it, since it's short and fairly simple. It's so cute! (Scroll to 3:57)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h-qxOMkYCI&w=420]

Then, about three weeks ago, we started the first solo variation of the pas de trois from Swan Lake Act I. It took I think 3 lessons to finish learning it. I love it because it's a lot of fun to do ^_^ Made me realize I have rather low stamina for these sorts of things though, haha! (Scroll to 2:24)



And during my last lesson, I learned Odette's variation from Swan Lake Act II. It's not a complicated variation, and slow enough for my brain to process in realtime, but it's deceptively easy-looking. I actually find it quite difficult, and I certainly can't do it well. My arms flail all over the place and I have the worst sense of balance for those rond de jambes at the beginning T_T But I'm really pleased to be learning it, since it's one of my favorite variations ^_^ (Scroll to 2:53)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOwGEj0yoIo&w=420]

Onwards and upwards! Hopefully we will work at least a little bit more on the Odette variation. My teacher also mentioned that we might revisit Giselle's Act I variation, which I learned the steps to during class (in soft shoes), but never actually attempted in pointe shoes. And here's to trying to do more double pirouettes and hopefully not breaking anything ^_^;;

Italian Fouettes... Conquered!

My pointe shoes are getting beat up... but I'm now beating up Italian fouettes!

By which I mean, two weeks later, I can pretty much do them! Last week my teacher and I worked on doing them at the barre and subsequently discovered that I'm actually a leftie for these. That's in one way unexpected because I'm a rightie for pretty much all types of turning actvities, as far as I knew (pirouettes, piques, chaines, etc...). However, I do have a weird thing where I'm a rightie for some things and a leftie for others (my left leg is stronger and more flexible, noticeably). So I guess this is my weird ambidextrous-ity bleeding through into ballet! :-P I made some weak attempts at doing them at the end of the variation, but I couldn't do them at the tempo of the music, and was super wobbly without a barre.

However, this week we tried them in the center again (to some different, more slower music), and I can do them! In fact I might actually have found them easier if they were just a bit faster, since a lot of the wobbling and hopping around might've been avoided if I didn't have to pause between everything. So yay to Italian fouettes, I'm getting closer to back to "normal" again (by which I mean, pre-hiatus). Still no double pirouettes en pointe... but maybe next week I'll be brave enough to try. We did some attitude turns this week, and after some preliminary trepidation and falling out of them, I could actually do them fairly consistently.

I think I have some sort of mental block in terms of turns and pirouettes on the left side, so I need to work on that, and then everything will probably magically fall into place once I'm not terrified of that side :-P I've found I have a tendency to not get quite all the way up on my standing leg when doing pirouettes, which then causes me to obviously buckle halfway through, think I'm going to break my ankle, and then fall off balance feeling terrified. Vicious cycle, eh?

Oh, and hops... those have always been, and still are terrifying. Part of it is a strength thing - I'm fine on hops with both feet, but my ankles still feel really weak when they have to support me individually. Part of it is coordinating my feet so that they do in fact actually ginch when they are the supporting leg... otherwise it's super-weird and awkward and ankle-twist-ey if I don't hold back my arch the right amount at the right time.

So basically, Italian fouettes re-conquered!! Next in line are double pirouettes, and one-foot hops!

Italian Fouettes Are Evil

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="(Photo courtesy of grishko.com)"][/caption]



I've had maybe 9 or 10 pointe lessons so far now, and I'm really pleased with how well they're going. Considering I went from super-wobbly barely able to hold first position releve for more than 16 counts in my first lesson to actually attempting Italian fouettes in my lesson yesterday, I must say I'm pretty chuffed :-P Of course it helps a lot that my shoes are now actually broken in, and I've figured out the optimal configuration of padding for this new style of shoe.

With that, I'd like to just say that I'm quite enjoying these shoes (Grishko 2007). I don't think the Bloch Serenades I had before were bad, but the shoes I have now feel quite different, in a very good way. I haven't actually danced that much in them, and they've formed to my feet much better, and also, I can actually roll through demi-pointe in these (I remember having so much trouble with the Serenades). I don't know that I would characterize it as "floating weightlessly across the floor" or whatever words my teacher used to ask me how they felt, but they certainly make doing lots of things way easier!

Like... pirouettes!! I'll just say I really suck at all things that involve rotation around a stable axis. I much prefer jumping and leaping, because I just really feel like I'm terrible at turns of all types. Even before I went on my hiatus, I could do lots of things, but I just always sucked at turns, pirouettes and chaines, specifically. I still suck at chaines, but I CAN DO A PIROUETTE NOW!! My teacher even hinted that I should start trying for doubles yesterday... I'm not sure I'd go *that* far in my celebration, because I can't consistently do them even in soft shoes, but hey, I guess it's a good sign? Actually though, once I got my shoe padding right, I often feel like I'm actually more stable with my turns en pointe than in flat shoes... but then again, I've yet to actually attempt a double en pointe, so who knows. So yay progress! Still terrible at hops though, that's going to take awhile to rebuild, I think. 32 changements en pointe I can do with some fatigue at the end, but I can't even do little fake-hops on one foot really. I can "do" them, but every other one my ankle does something weird and I have to stop so I don't break something XD

The last 2 lessons, we've spent some time on a variation. It's the "Variation de la Reine des Dryades" from Don Quixote. It get used as the female variation of Le Corsaire pas de deux sometimes, as exemplified by Margot Fonteyn.

[youtube dLItQ3vFUZk nolink]

I can actually do it, kind of! My balance is terrible, so I need to work on that so I'm not like stumbling all over the place, but we got through most of the variation and I can actually do everything so far!! And then we reached the part where I have to do like 10 Italian fouettes... Nooooooope... I've had some time to actually process what the physics and the sequence of motions should be, so I have a better idea of what I *should* be doing for them, but that doesn't mean I can actually execute it. I spent some time dancing in my socks in my living room after class yesterday, and yes, I've figured out what I need to do, but I can't really do it very well even not en pointe. So that's the last barrier before I'll have successfully learned the variation. Let's hope I don't break my ankle trying to get it!! XD

Back En Pointe (^~^)/

Excuse the emoticon in the title, but I'm just so happy to be back en pointe again after my hiatus... (^~^)/

Right now, it's just once-a-week private lessons, and the promise of a pointe class in the future. Even if not, I'll just continue with the private lessons - I'm more than fine with sacrificing other parts of my budget for this XD Back en pointe!! Yay!! Now time to work on rebuilding the strength... muscle memory is still there, but I just physically can't do certain things anymore >_<

Things also feel a bit different because of my new shoes. This is my first time wearing Grishkos. My very first pair was some sort of Capezio that I decided I really didn't like much, and I wore Bloch Sonatas for basically the entire time I've been dancing en pointe. And now these... they feel somewhat different - I think better, but I'll leave that verdict until I've worn these a bit more. I generally dislike ankle elastics on my pointe shoes (another thing I discovered early on), but I don't know if it's that these shoes are just the tiniest too big or what, but I may have to resort to them because the heels keep slipping on demi-pointe, no matter how much I tighten the drawstring. All those complaints aside, they photograph beautifully...? XD

Also, just YAY BACK EN POINTE!!

And that, my friends, seems to be the theme of this week...

Getting Back Into Ballet...

In the almost 10 years since I stopped the intense ballet training I had as a child, I've been drifting lacksadaisically in and out of ballet classes.  For awhile, I found a nice friendly  studio in Boston, and even got back into pointe classes, but the 40-hour roundtrip to and from the studio was just too much for my lazy busy undergrad self to handle.  I tried attending classes at the Joffrey for a short time after moving to Chicago, but again, the travel time was more than I really wanted to spend, especially because I was living in a less savoury area at the time.

However, after watching the first season of Dance Moms followed by random related videos including ones of the cutest little Russian ballerina dancing the Swan Lake variations (all of them... yes... 8 years old and dancing Swan Lake... I can't even...), I've determined that I do want to get back into ballet, and back en pointe eventually.

Even better, I found a little pilates/fitness/dance studio that's all of a 5-minute walk from my current apartment!  One Hundred is the name of the place.  Their website and advertisement board claims they offer adult pointe classes, although I have yet to find them on the schedule.  I think once I feel like I've gotten back in the groove and regained a reasonable amount of strength and balance, I'll just ask directly about them.  The classes here are relaxed, and though labeled "beginner" they actually have a wide range of adult dancers, ranging from beginners to professionals (some of the other studio instructors do the classes too).  They only have ballet class in the middle of the day on weekdays, but it just so happens that this quarter, they fall on my non-campus days, so I think I'm going to try to go twice a week for the rest of the quarter. In any case... COME ON MUSCLES!! REMEMBER WHAT YOU USED TO BE ABLE TO DO!!

Maybe I can keep myself motivated with the goal of cosplaying Princess Tutu and entering a dance number in the ACEN 2013 masquerade ^_^  Ballerina-Kyttyee Go!

Next Dance to Learn... AKB48's Kaze wa Fuiteiru

Usually I only post about actually finished dances, but this time, I can't contain my excitement about AKB48's newest single (the PV of which I just saw). "Kaze wa Fuiteiru" Not only is the song exactly to my taste (angsty, but still with a hint of gentle), but the dance just looks like so much fun!!!



That screen cap I think captures exactly how I feel about this song/dance. It's got attitude (tons of it), but it's also flowing and breezy. I looooove this sort of combination.

So, this is officially the next dance I'm learning!! Starting now! o(^o^)o

Monster - 嵐 (Arashi)

Guess whaaat??!! That's right, another Arashi dance cover ^o^ I started learning the dance to "Monster" fairly soon after I learned "Lotus" but it took a bit longer to really polish up since the footwork is a little more complicated and I didn't have as good a set of reference videos (all the live performances have mostly been taken off Youtube already). Also... I had to learn how to do it in 2-inch heels.

Yes... 2-inch heels... Because this was also a project in sewing for me. I decided to create a Lolita version of Oh-chan's outfit. I chose Oh-chan rather than Nino because his outfit was the most distinctive without looking tacky or hard to construct, given fabrics available to me and my own sewing skills. The outfit will get its own post as soon as I have time to touch up the photos XD

So yeah, anyways, here it is! A dance + dub + cosplay of Arashi's "Monster"!