Monthly Archives: November 2014

Petite Allegro is Not My Jam

Posted in ballet by

There are many things in ballet class that I absoultely love.  I love jumps, and balances.  I love barrework (mostly!).  Unfortunately, the things I love tend to be the things I do well and I tend to dislike things that do not come as naturally to me.

Petite allegro falls in that category.

As many of my fellow ballet students know, petite translates to “small,” and allegro is translated as “quickly” and is generally referred to in ballet as motions in which one or both feet beat in the air off the floor.  Thus, petitie allegro is ballet code for “small, quick jumps.”  And I am NOT good at it.

Let’s call a spade a spade: I’m tall and busty, and nothing I do is small.  I can do quick (sometimes), but only if I’m very comfortable with the movement, or else “quick” just translates into awkward and sloppy.  Every class during petitie allegro I feel distinctly ungraceful.  Oh, and much too bouncy.

Lamenting my horrid soubre sous and changements, Gorgeous Ballet Girl (who is similarly tall, but infinitely more graceful and lovely) suggested to jump just a  little higher.  We have big feet, she said, and to get them pointed we need more air time.  BRILLIANT.  So I’ve been trying to jump just a  little higher (while still keeping it “small” and “quick” – kill me now).  It helps, but I’m still awkward as a baby giraffe standing up for the first time.

I’m TRYING to take small steps, I’m TRYING to move my feet quickly, I’m TRYING to be light and graceful.  But honestly, during petite allegro, I’m just thankful not to be falling over my huge clumsy feet flat onto my scrunched up frustrated face.

. . . Can we please do grand jetes now??

Other Forms of Insanity

Posted in other art forms, random randomness by

November is a crazy busy month – so why not make it more interesting by writing a novel in the midst of all the craziness?

National Novel Writing Month is here, and I am partaking.  Please excuse my blog absence as I frantically scribble 1700 words daily that (so far)make no sense at all.  =)

And if you are so inclined, please join me in this particular form of insanity!