Ellie's Ballet IV Padlet by Ellie P LaVoe

Padlet post September 16th

elavoe — 2024-09-19 18:36:31 UTC

How did the reading about Barre Work and our explorations in class challenge and confirm previous thinking about these foundational exercises? What specifically did you focus on (what did you notice, feel, see), and what questions arose? What did you discover?

When reading "Bare Work", a specific section that stood out to me was battlement tendu's. While doing tendu's it's very important to keep your weight on the standing leg so that you can fully stretch through the working leg. Something that Karen repeatedly says to us during class every week is to never lose the connection between our toes and the floor. Hearing this repeatedly made me realize that sometimes my toes do lose contact and that I must maintain the connection. After reading this section, it confirmed to me the importance in fully stretching through my leg so that it can go to my feet and then to my toes. I have noticed recently it can be difficult to fully turn out my working leg to the side. Allowing my foot to receive energy from my entire leg will make it easier for my foot to turn out completely. I have also noticed that focusing on my pelvis during tendus and paying close attention to my weight shifting allows me to stay square. I do notice my leg becomes less turned out when my pelvis shifts because then my weight becomes imbalanced, so thinking about centering my pelvis will help maintain the overall balance. Looking back at this reading, and listening to Karen's advice will allow me to experience these changes and hopefully discover future improvements in the next couple of classes.

elavoe — 2024-09-29 19:20:39 UTC

Due Monday Sept 30 Padlet post: How did the reading about these later barre exercises and our explorations in class challenge and confirm previous thinking about these skills? What specifically did you focus on (what did you notice, feel, see), what questions arose? What did you discover?

The reading about the bare exercises confirmed the difficulties I have when executing certain movements. Specifically, practicing our balance and working through our muscles helped me gain more ability to weight shift and feel supported fully by my standing leg. I find it important at the bare to maintain my balance while also engaging my pelvis/core and turn out. My pelvis is not completely square, causing my hips to feel uneven when completing combinations. This then interferes with my développé making my overall weight feel off-centered. When moving through a combination sometimes its easy to lose the connection altogether. On Thursday I enjoyed working with my partner on balancing in center. Completing exercises that helped me notice my challenges. Hearing their opinions on how I was engaging my pelvis and standing leg helped me figure out where I was having trouble. If they gave me input saying that I was leaning towards one side instead of being balanced in the middle, I was then able to take their tips and use it. I continously took their advice and tried to get out of my head about it. I noticed improvement as we continued with class and I am now looking forward to using the tips Karen and my partner provided me this week in class.

Reflect on the video, film, master class and your work in ballet over the past 3 weeks. Please touch on all four of these items in your post. What connections are you making? What are you noticing and why is it important?

elavoe — 2024-10-27 20:43:26 UTC

Over the past 3 weeks in ballet I feel that we have learned a lot about exploring our artistry and technique. Recently, I've been thinking about how we all have our own unique experiences that may not necessarily the same as the person next to you. We all come to class with different goals and I find it inspiring to hear everyones hopes for what they want to improve on because it makes me more aware of what I could be thinking about. Karen is always helpful and notices when we may be feeling uncomfortable, and gives us tools for how to try to fix it. I find it difficult to stay squared when we are stretching at the bare, but I find it helpful and beneficial to think about the points Karen gives me and take it with me through every combo. To continue, experiencing the guest artist's class was very enjoyable. Usually before guest artist classes I get nervous because I don't fully know what to expect. However, I noticed that that only affected me before the class, and while I was there I was able to connect and allow myself to explore the piece they were teaching us. Each time I was able to become more confident, and just dance for myself without thinking of how I look from other peoples perspectives.

When I think about ballet the things that come to mind are all the beautiful memories that I've had with the art form that I've experienced majority of my life. Dance has always stood as an outlet for me where I can genuinely let go and connect to the music and lose focus on things that may be bothering me. Watching the video "Everybody Dance", was extremely impactful for me because dance can simply change anyones life. Seeing little kids with disabilities find joy in dance was so amazing to watch.. These kids in the video are so determined to progress and develop more ballet skills. It made me so happy that there were teachers with such patience who are dedicated to work with these children. I've always been interested in being an Occupational Therapist specifically working with children, this video exemplified what I could see myself doing in the future.

November 11th Padlet Post

elavoe — 2024-11-26 17:56:23 UTC

I am bringing barre lessons to the center exercises by trying to incorporate how I use the barre as a partner, rather than "leaning" into it. Doing this helps me stay supported and balanced at the barre, which later helps me in center. When Karen explained to us that the barre is our tool and partner, it lead me to think of imagining having that partner in center. Especially during adagio I find myself more wobbly and less grounded than other combinations. Simply pushing my standing leg into the ground and thinking of the barre creates a notion in my body that imagines the support being there. Maintaining the proper balance when being center is important and using the bare as a tool in the beginning of class fully helps me prepare when we move center.

December 1st Padlet post

elavoe — 2024-11-26 18:20:23 UTC

This semester I wanted to take Ballet IV so that I can focus attention on my pelvis, turnout, and confidence that will best help me improve in ballet and other dance forms. I've struggled with my pelvis, trying to maintain the the upright and straightness of it. I tend to push my butt out which causes a disruption to my entire lower body. Karen offered me tips that allowed me to try to fix these issues to help me feel more square, and less uneven. The other day in class is a perfect example of me still struggling with his. We were told to do our leg on the bare stretch, which is very enjoyable for me. However, I soon realized my hips were off balance with my left one seemingly looking higher than the right. Listening to Karen's guidance helped me notice more on my own when i may be doing something wrong with my pelvis/or turnout. To continue, I also tried to focus on my confidence this semester because I've realized that confidence is so important with dance and plays an important role in all of it. When going to our regular class every week. attending rehearsals for Reset and Studio Sessions something in me just decided to experiment and play with my movement. I think I lack confidence because I have a fear that I'm doing something wrong, or that I look "bad". After thinking about this I realized that these are just thoughts, and I can't let them stop me from letting myself experience dance fully. At some point during the semester I felt that I realized I should let the barriers down that stopped me from exploring more of my artisitc expression. My confidence slowly started to come out more as we worked on it more in class and in other dance settings. When relating this to Reset, I think about how I was casted as an understudy for Nicoles piece but then later was put in to perform. During tech when we weren't on stage we were able t watch the other pieces. I used this time to watch my peers and saw how they portrayed themselves and their character. I saw the love they had for dsnce in their faces, and knew that I wanted to attempt and experience that connection while dancing. I knew I didn't want to just do each movement, I wanted to tell the story and be able to connect through the entire piece. When it was my turn to go on I used what I had been working on and fully was able to believe in myself. Looking back I'm so happy to have learned many things in this course that I can use in our class, while also when I am in other settings.