Ballerina

Hulu: A Day In The Life Of Misty Copeland

2011-09-16T20:33:00.003-04:00

Hulu: A Day In The Life Of Misty Copeland

Misty Copeland, solo ist with American Ballet Theatre, is such an inspiration!

(She also looks like a model)

Back to work!

2011-08-27T19:34:00.003-04:00

[You Know You're a Dancer When...]

I am back at school now.

I moved into my apartment and I have already been taking many dance classes to get back in shape.

The excessively sore muscles are mostly my fault as I signed up to take so many classes this week and ended up with 3 barres in a row on Thursday. But I already feel myself getting stronger and as I don't have any academic classes until the middle of next week it's the perfect time to push myself technique wise.

I am excited to be a company member this year. Finally being paid to dance? Yes please!

Spending the rest of the evening relaxing. I adore having my desk by an open window. The weather is lovely right now.

Tomorrow I get a day off from dancing and since the gym hours are weird right now I won't be tempted to go beat my body up more. Maybe I will spend some time on yoga or other stretches in my room.

Visiting with friends tomorrow as well.

Pretty content with things at the moment. I hope it lasts.

Sometimes I want to run away and join the circus...

2011-08-08T00:04:00.005-04:00

[We Heart It]

If I weren't so in love with ballet, I would want to be a contortionist or dancer with Cirque du Soleil.

Sometimes I want to join Cirque anyway.

Maybe I'll audition for them just to see what happens?

Arabesque

2011-08-06T20:27:00.002-04:00

[We Heart It]

Came across this lovely photo today while browsing We Heart It.

Summer

2011-07-07T18:09:00.004-04:00

[You Know You're A Dancer When...]

I'll be leaving for my summer intensive day after tomorrow.

I am getting excited to fill my days with nothing but dance! I had such a great time last year.

Now I just need to pack a few cute sun dresses, lots of leotards and tights, and some other summer intensive necessities and I'll be all set.

2011-07-06T21:28:00.001-04:00

[We Heart It]

You Know You're A Dancer When...

2011-07-03T22:30:00.002-04:00

One of my new favorite blogs is You Know You're A Dancer When...

Adorable little phrases that every dancer can connect with. The one above is very true for me and is one of my favorites.

Gorgeous skirt

2011-06-29T19:42:00.002-04:00

[We Heart It]

I love this skirt!

Wishing our school dress code allowed for pretty skirts in class.

Also, I wish I could get my hair to do that!

Pointe shoe heels designed by Louboutin!

2011-06-28T17:56:00.002-04:00

Heels only a ballerina would be comfortable in!

Check out this article "Louboutins Made For A Black Swan!"

These shoes are being auctioned to raise money for the English National Ballet!

Gorgeous!

Natalia Osipova

2011-06-24T15:45:00.001-04:00

Video of a young Natalia Osipova.

Svetlana Zakharova

2011-06-21T00:23:00.003-04:00

[The Ballerina Gallery]

Zakharova is so inspiring!

More images can be found at the link above.

Dance & design: Two of my favorite things

2011-06-11T22:47:00.003-04:00

I came across this article while reading the Telegraph's fashion section.

I am quite in love with these costumes!

Make sure you take a look at the article to see the fabulous sketches.

Reach for the sky...

2011-06-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

(We Heart It)

This picture makes me want to dance outside! Too bad it's really warm out lately.

But I am enjoying summer so far. I love being home for an extended period of time. I love not having homework. I love being able to read something that isn't a textbook. I love teaching ballet to sweet students (and variations!).

Trying to keep myself in shape before the summer intensive though. That's the hard part!

Keep on dancing!

Blake McGrath

2011-05-24T17:31:00.003-04:00

I have been watching old videos of So You Think You Can Dance Canada where Blake McGrath is a choreographer and judge. He was also a contestant on the first season of the American SYTYCD. Fabulous dancer and performer, yes?

Vaganova

2011-03-23T17:36:00.001-04:00

I often wish I were a student at the Vaganova school. These little dancers are so beautiful at such a young age...

Back to school

2011-03-07T20:44:00.002-05:00

(We Heart It)

Back at school!

I had a rather light day back (compared to what I will have in the future...). I was done after my three classes. Rehearsals begin tomorrow for two separate shows. Busy busy!

Vaganova Ballet

2011-03-03T23:09:00.002-05:00

(Stanislav Belyaevsky Photography)

I love Russian ballet... Oh, and Stanislav Belyaevsky's photographs. Go look, you'll love them too!

I'm still here!

2011-02-27T16:05:00.005-05:00

(We Heart It)

Hello! I'm still here. I've just been rather busy lately.

I'm home on spring break right now. Lets see what next term is like!

(Also, check out my new blog pages. Click the links just under the banner.)

Firebird

2010-11-20T22:56:00.001-05:00

[Image from here]

New Term

2010-09-05T21:44:00.002-04:00

(We Heart It)

About to begin the second week of fall term. I am greatly enjoying myself already.

My workload will probably overwhelm me later on, but I am really excited about all my opportunities this year.

My blog is carbon neutral

2010-08-27T11:52:00.003-04:00

Make your blog carbon neutral by visiting this website! If you submit your blog, they will plant a tree. Trees planted will help cut down on the carbon dioxide that is emitted from blogs. My sister already has her own tree, so it works!

Also, it's free! So don't hesitate to make your blog carbon neutral!

Video: Vaganova Ballet Academy Partnering Class

2010-08-12T20:57:00.003-04:00

Gorgeous pas de deux. I love Russian ballet technique.

Unfortunately the video doesn't embed properly. View it on YouTube here.

2010-06-22T11:27:00.003-04:00

(We Heart It)

2010-04-14T19:20:00.001-04:00

(Image from Ballet Zaida)

Christian Siriano's 2010 Spring Runway Show

2010-04-06T15:27:00.002-04:00

I saw part of this on TV. I love the color palette, especially the first soft colors. The dresses are so pretty.

Feels Like Spring!

2010-03-11T14:34:00.001-05:00

(Photo from We Heart It)

The weather is amazing today! I can't wait for the last of the snow to melt...

Video: Amazing Russian Training

2010-02-28T21:16:00.003-05:00

These dancers are amazing!

My favorite is the guy on the far right at the beginning.

Watch for his gorgeous double attidude turn that is held nearly two full seconds longer than the others.

Amazing Solo

2010-01-27T18:16:00.001-05:00

I am a big fan of Alex Wong. He has such amazing control to his dancing.

Tutu!

2010-01-22T23:31:00.002-05:00

(We Heart It)

A Little Inspiration...

2010-01-19T16:43:00.002-05:00

(We Heart It)

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T14:05:00.002-05:00

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hope everyone's Nutcracker ballets went well. Mine did!

[Click for photo]

Working through tough weeks

2009-09-25T15:33:00.005-04:00

(Photo by fd's, click here.)

I have just made it through another one of those rough weeks: The kind where you feel like your dancing is going nowhere no matter how hard you work. It is difficult not to get depressed. Actually, I was becoming a little depressed. However, I worked through it, made it to the weekend, got some rest, and starting last Monday everything got better! I think last week I was trying to break through some mental barriers in my dancing. Well, I made it though a few of those barriers and I feel that my dancing is greatly improved.

I am learning that no matter how horrible I might feel during my "off" weeks, I will always come out stronger so long as I keep pushing through.

If it came easy, this wouldn't be worth it.

Auditions

2009-09-12T17:03:00.003-04:00

Image from Yumiko Dancewear. Check out this amazing dancewear store!

This morning I had my second audition this month. I was thinking about how strange auditions are. We get so nervous! But if we just relax and have fun we always do so much better, and we enjoy the audition.

So from now on I'm going to relax at auditions (or at least try), smile at everyone (especially the directors!), and have fun!

Back to school!

2009-08-27T17:53:00.003-04:00

I am moved back to school! My actual classes do not begin until next week, but I am here for the dance classes that have begun. I am exhausted from all the classes I took today (combined with the sore muscles from yesterday), but I am happy to be dancing!

Talia Fowler on US SYTYCD Finale

2009-08-09T20:13:00.003-04:00

Talia Fowler is the winner of SYTYCD Australia.

She's a ballet dancer, so of course I have to share this solo.

It was choreographed by Sonya Tayeh.

I like it, but it's too bad she didn't dance ballet!

An Acrobatic Swan Lake

2009-07-28T20:52:00.004-04:00

This video is amazing!

My favorite part is when she stands en pointe on his head!

Looks like I need to keep working on my leg extensions to be able to look like that!

I think it is great inspiration though.

By- the-way, I had a great ballet class today.

The studio did not have mirrors yet, but that is often a good thing when one has a bad habit of staring at oneself in the mirror!

Yumiko World Dancewear

2009-07-21T19:04:00.002-04:00

I was recently introduced to Yumiko World dancewear.

These leotards are amazing! Although I do not own any of their garments I know people who do. Everyone I know who has a Yumiko leotard is completely satisfied with it. Besides the amazing quality and fit of this dancewear, what makes Yumiko special is the freedom to customize the colors, and even choose from different fabrics. I recommend looking at their website because even if you don't buy anything. The photography of their dancewear is really neat (for example, check out the picture at left).

So You Think You Can Dance: Kupono & Kayla

2009-07-19T17:56:00.004-04:00

This is my favorite season of SYTYCD so far.

Everyone is so talented and the choreography is amazing.

I have always liked Mia Michaels and Wade Robson choreography, but recently I have become a fan of Sonya Tayeh.

This video is her "Vampire" dance for Kayla and Kupono.

So You Think You Can Dance

2009-07-18T18:05:00.002-04:00

I was blown away by Wade Robson's latest dance for So You Think You Can Dance. I love the fact that he incorporated Melissa's pointe shoes into the choreography!

This is one of my favorites this season.

Merde Girl

2009-07-14T17:44:00.002-04:00

Merde Girl is a dancewear magazine with adorable photos and some good articles. I recommend watching the photo slideshow on their homepage as well as downloading the current issue of the magazine.

Blog: The Cherry Blossom Girl

2009-07-12T22:11:00.003-04:00

Introducing an amazing fashion blog:

The Cherry Blossom Girl

This blog is one of my favorites. It is full of lovely photos!

Originally in French, the blog posts now have English translations.

Classical Ballet on So You Think You Can Dance

2009-07-09T19:51:00.011-04:00

My sister and I were so excited to see that classical ballet has finally been added to the TV show So You Think You Can Dance!

The ballerina Melissa and her partner Ade performed Romeo and Juliet beautifully.

Even though Ade is not a ballet dancer I thought he did a good job partnering Melissa.

Something that made me even more excited was the fact that this performance received enough votes to keep the dancers in the competition.

Finally, classical ballet is being introduced to millions of people!

Nina Ananiashvili

2009-07-07T18:22:00.005-04:00

Nina Ananiashvili, a very beautiful ballerina, recently danced her farewell performance with ABT. You can read about it in the New York Times Article Swan Song.

Watch a clip of her dancing a Don Quixote variation here.

Personally I cannot imagine a "last performance". Hopefully that day is very far off for me still.

Inspiration from a photo

2009-06-26T14:44:00.007-04:00

Photos can be so inspiring...

The way I dance naturally looks like I should have been born at least 100 years ago. I dance very softly, and in many ways I am not a very strong dancer. My latest goal is to transition from a good Romantic ballet dancer to a more versatile dancer. The image that some of my teachers put in my head recently was Balanchine. I need to attain the power to be able to dance Balanchine ballets. Something like Agon is totally different from Giselle, but in order to be a good dancer in today's world I will have to be comfortable in both types of ballets. And then, of course, there are also the even more modern works that are appearing all over (but I won't let myself worry about that quite yet). Anyway, because I am a very visual learner I get a lot of inspiration from videos and photos. The photo of Wendy Whelan above is to show myself what I am working toward. Look at those muscles!

Drawing Cinderella

2009-06-07T22:18:00.006-04:00

I started drawing this picture in the middle of the night a few days ago. I was inspired after reading the story of Cinderella written in an old Kirov Ballet program (it also had lovely old photographs). I finished drawing her yesterday. It felt wonderful to be drawing again. I had not had the time to draw anything while I was at school.

Blog: Zen Habits

2009-06-04T16:35:00.005-04:00

Image by Bahman Farzad.

View it in full size here.

I have discovered a blog called Zen Habits. It has some great ideas. I have started checking it every day now! Visit it here.

Ballerinas In The Wings

2009-06-02T15:33:00.002-04:00

I found this beautiful photo while exploring Webshots today.

View it in full size here.

Our Giselle

2009-05-29T11:50:00.005-04:00

A photo of one of our precious cats. This is Giselle. Named after the ballet Giselle. Photo taken by myself during one of her photoshoots. She enjoys posing so it is easy to get nice pictures of her.

Cirque du Soleil: Contortionists

2009-05-24T15:34:00.004-04:00

My sister and I have been very inspired by Cirque du Soleil recently. This video in particular! All dancers love being flexible.I have been stretching a lot lately and I have been setting goals for myself for this summer. Lets see if I make it!

So Busy!!!

2009-04-20T21:26:00.005-04:00

Full size image here.

I'm writing a quick note to say I have not forgotten my blog. I'm just very, very, very busy with school lately!

I will be back to updating regularly in a few weeks.