Ballet Reflection #12

The most recent intermediate class I went to was noticeably easier than the first time. I have been practicing at home, actually, and noticed that I am much more flexible than I used to be: I use my oven as a ballet bar for balance and do things like degegees ("to disengage", in which you essentially have to kick in a way that look like your leg is independent of your body -- my teacher can reach her leg over her head). Doing this at home, I noticed that I am now able to get my leg at about shoulder level while doing side-degegees, so I think that was helpful for this week. We worked on splits again, but in a new way. First, we practiced them against the wall, using the barre to keep us close. The idea is that you should be able to get your legs parallel to the wall, completely flat against it. I am not quite there, but neither of the other girls, and I noticed that practicing at home has definitely helped my flexibility. Again, we did a number of waltz steps and turns, and we practiced one that I did not know before but picked up on well. I do not recall the name, but it involves a shastee, a kick, leap, and landing in arabesque, all while constantly changing arm positions. I didn't do the arms right at first, but once I had corrected that I noticed that it was much easier to keep my balance and land properly. The right arm movements are really a huge part of what propels you, so i need to practice that a lot. I found it much easier to keep up with the beginning plie-barre stretches this week, although I still find double frappes difficult. However, I've realized that it isn't so much the physical coordination that is the problem as remembering where you are supposed to put your foot, because it changes every time you do them and you move at a rapid speed. I think that I need to practice some of the movements because I am not quite fast enough yet to do the moves in a way that isn't sloppy. However, overall I saw improvement this class, and I was not nearly as exhausted this time although I was still pretty worn out at the end. I never felt exhausted to the point of sickness at all this class, which I take as proof of improvement and greater physical fitness. I am going to continue practicing at home.