When I realize there is going to be turns in a combination, I typically have an excited or neutral reaction. I've really been working on not having negative emotions associated with turns, and now that I'm getting better at them it's easier to have a positive reaction to more opportunities to practice turning. I will say I do tend to react more positively to outside turns than I do inside turns just because I feel like I have more control over them, but I'm trying to work on having control over my inside turns as well as my outside ones. In the prep I try to think about where my weight is and where I'm going to spot because sometimes I have trouble seeing my eyes in the mirror (I should probably get my eyes checked). During the turn I try to think about not having my muscles be like locked up and tense because I'm more likely to fall. I think I could improve on my outlook on inside turns and just go in with a "whatever happens, happens" type mindset. Just like shaking myself off if I think I did a bad turn and thinking about what I could improve to make the turn better for my positive growth mindset. The ab/core workouts from the video inspired me, just because they're useful I think for every aspect of dance, but now I have more motivation to actually do them in order to help my turns!

I noticed in Kyle's piece that the dancers made a lot of eye contact and were hyping each other up throughout the piece. They had so much energy and they were using their energy to bring up the collective energy to make the piece more engaging for the audience. I really appreciated the fun atmosphere they brought to the stage and to each other. I want to bring that energy and focus to class to improve my mindset when it comes to turning.

In our session I discovered how much work/improvement can be done by changing the little things. Normally when I think of strengthening I think of long, big, complex exercises to strengthen the muscles. What we focused on were small changes in my head, neck, pelvis, and arms to help my stability and posture. The head and neck exercises in particular are important to me because they will help stabilize my neck so that there is less of a chance that I will have dizziness issues. The changes in my head positioning are so subtle but I already have started to feel a difference, my plan is to remind myself in class to check the alignment of my head for the rest of the semester. The same goes for the other small changes Karen suggested to me to help my body. Overall I found the session to be very productive and informative and I cannot wait to start making these changes in class to improve my safety and technique

 Dynamic alignment refers to the body’s parts relating to one another in a balanced way when the body is in motion. Good alignment is inherently balanced. Eric Franklin makes an important point about muscular tension as it relates to stability. In general, “stability is not achieved through restricting movement but by efficient balance of forces.” So, more muscle tension does not equal better balance… it’s important to stay relaxed, both physically and mentally.

DUE April 7^th Reflect on the development of your proprioceptive and dynamic alignment skills with regard to your work in class.

I think that in class my dynamic alignment skills have improved, but definitely have a long way to go. Since learning about using my pelvis correctly to balance, I've been able to sense and feel whats right and whats wrong in my balances. And I've also started to sense what helps maintain my balance, but there is still need for improvement. I think I've gotten better at sensing and controlling my lower half, but once I get above my waist I do not have a good inherent sense of what will help me balance. I tip around a lot, I let my psoas go, which is why I tip back and front because I'm not holding my core correctly. I think there's a mental block holding me back as well, I'm trying to work through that. Because I tend to look down and overthink my balancing a lot, which makes me panic, which makes me let go of my psoas, and then I fall out. So I think what might help is trusting myself and knowing I can save myself even if I tip over, because panicking will not help! I also need to think about this at the beginning of class when we shut our eyes because I also overthink that. Hoping to improve on this throughout the last few classes!

Over this past semester I think I've really learned a lot about the alignment and placement of my hips, which has helped my balance and my focus overall in balances and turns during combinations. At first I was really confused by the corrections I was given, they felt unnatural and incorrect on my body, having my hips more forward, especially in positions like arabesques and attitudes. But after consistently fixing it in class, or at least thinking about it while dancing, I really felt an improvement and steadiness in my balances and turns that I did not have before! I'm very proud of myself, and obviously I plan on continuing to work on the alignment of my hips and trusting myself while I dance! Thank you for an amazing semester, I can't wait to come back and hopefully take another ballet class with you.