My Favorite Competition Piece Ever!!!!

So, I know it's a Friday, but whatever. I told you I would surprise you later this week, so I am.

Meet Talia, Chryssa, and Ariana. These girls are fantastic. I'm not sure how old they all are, but these girls appear to be at about the same technical level. Their turns are flawlessly controlled, and their musicality is perfectly precise, while still seeming inherent. Not to mention the choreography... Props to Nick Lazzarini for completely outdoing himself on this piece.

I think I love everything about this dance. The choreography (There's that word again.), the dancers, the music, the costumes, everything. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! If you want to see more of these dancers, just check out YouTube- it's packed with their accomplishments!
Hope everyone's having a great summer!
Savanna

Choreography for Beginners Part 1

      Hey guys! This weekend's (and next weekend's) post is a little different... It's not really about dancing, so much as choreographing.    
      This is actually something that (as a dancer) you'll run into a lot. most college and high school programs require some sort of choreography unit, whether you end up doing yours or someone else's. At my school, our dance program had a "What inspires you?" project, and we were required to write about the topic, choreograph a minimum 1:30 minute solo or duet, and perform it for the class.
   I was pretty intimidated when my teacher first gave us the assignment. I love to make up combinations with my friends and challenge myself with phrases that shouldn't really flow well together, but this was different. I was alone, and it was graded. I started by choosing my music. That wasn;t as hard as I thought it would be, I already had made a combo to "Listen" by Beyonce (from the movie Dreamgirls) so I just stuck with that one. Unfortunately, however....

Courtesy of Thanks-To-Dance Tumblr

     I got started. We had class-time to work on our pieces, and I chose to do mine as a solo, so I could practice at home, too. Honestly, the hardest part was not making the routine too difficult for me to do at the speed f the song. It isn't really fast, but packing too many movements could get complicated. I eventually completed the assignment, but one thing that I learned this year is that a piece is never really "done."
    I must have performed this thing 7-8 times this year, and every time I did it, something changed. There was a particularly challenging series of turns at the very end of the piece. The first time I did t, it went exactly as planned. The second time, I slipped and did a death-drop flat on my back in the middle of the stage. The third time, I couldn't hear the music over the applause (I know, right?) so I finished about 8 counts after the music ended and improv-ed the entire turn sequence. The very last time, the stage was too slippery for me to come out the way I wanted, so I planned on doing another kind-of knee-drop fall out of them. I started falling out of my turns before the phrase was over, so I jumped/fell too soon, had to roll out of it, and improv my walks off-stage.
     And those were just the mishaps that I remember.  :)  


There is more choreography chaos to come, meanwhile, enjoy this post, and I'll see if I can surprise you with a video later on this week. Don't forget to share and subscribe!
Savanna

YouTube?

Hey guys! Me again. I know I don't usually post during the week, but school's out, so... what the heck.
A few posts ago, I mentioned my going on YouTube to film tutorials and such. Well, a couple weeks ago, I uploaded a video for school (filmed on my ancient Handicam). The quality sucked. Majorly.
So anyways, that won't be happening anytime soon (I'm saving up for a new camera.), but I will be posting much more regularly, and I have some new and exciting things coming up for you guys, so stay tuned.
Happy Summer!
Savanna

Organization for Dancers

Hey guys! So I realize that it's been a really long time since I last updated this blog...  I learned a pretty hard lesson on time management and organization this month.  My spring show was coming up and I got hit with a boatload of rehearsals. School's almost out, so I had to study for my finals, not to mention the enormous amount of pressure that my parents and teachers (both at school and at dance) were putting on me to perform. Add my fear of disappointing any one of those people, and you've got one huge mess. Sound familiar?

I really should know by now, it's happened before. During Nutcracker season it's about 5 times worse!  So why wasn't I prepared?
I did some reading, and discovered that although I had been through this before and knew what I should do, my brain hadn't been following a routine of organization and time management, so it was a larger adjustment. As soon as I realized what the problem was, I started to take action (although I probably should have been doing homework). I created a folder/notebook system for school and a binder system for anything not-school-related (in other words, a dance binder).



For school I bought an accordion file from Target. In that, I keep extra papers and handouts from all of my classes, organized by subject (with an extra folder for loose-leaf paper). I have one composition notebook for each subject as well.

My notebooks and pencil case.

In my dance binder I have a lot more tabs. I have one for costumes, my future studio(My dream studio, that I will run when I'm 30.), my summer intensive, my blog stuff, extra paper, and a calendar.

Summer Intensive, Blog Stuff, Bunhead Heaven, Future Studio, Master Plan

Outside of both of these binders I have an agenda, where I right down performances, homework, extra rehearsals, things I need to get done, and my Discount Dance list.

In both of these binders I have various printable organizers that I've found on Pinterest and deemed useful.
You can find these below:

DIY Home Sweet Home

Pinch a Little Saves a Lot


Hope you enjoy, sorry for the delay, and see you next week!
Savanna

P.S.  Feel free to comment below and tell me what kind of posts you would like to see more of! Product reviews, performance reviews, D.I.Y.s, etc. I'd love to help!

Pointe Shoe Q&A Part 2

Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry about last weekend, my studio has been tacking on tons of extra rehearsals and performances, so I didn't have time to post. I am, however, in the process of scheduling posts for this summer so I don't have to worry about weekend busy-ness.

So back to the Pointe shoe-thing: I've been asking people at my studio what questions they would most like to have answered, since I didn't get very many responses here. :)  (Seriously guys, you can comment. I won't bite!) Anyways, I have some new questions, and some pretty good answers.*



*For those of you who (rightly) question my knowledge on this subject, I am not an expert. I have gotten loads of advice from teachers and my mom (who is a physical therapist), as well as professional shoe fitters and dance therapists.

Q) I'm over-weight. Can I still go on Pointe?
A) If you are strong enough and are getting the right training, there is nothing to stop you.

Q) What can i do to help strengthen my feet to get me ready for Pointe shoes?
A) Lots of things. You can make sure that you're at the right studio, so that they are teaching you how to strengthen your feet. You can buy a theraband, and try out some of them great exercises that Robbie Downy demonstrates here. And you can remember that strengthening you core is just as important as strengthening you feet. if you can't balance, it won't matter if your feet are strong enough or not. Pilates is an excellent way to do that without as much risk of injury, and it's relatively inexpensive.

Q) How do you sew Pointe shoes?
A) There are several different way s to do this, but Pointe Til You Drop has a very basic method that is fairly easy to master here.

Q) What are the parts of the Pointe shoe called? I always get confused.
A) I'm not sure where these are originally from, but I found these excellent pictures floating around on Pinterest and had to share them with you.

That's about all of the answers that I have so far, and that's about all of the questions as well. If you guys want to see anything new, different, unusual, etc, please let me know and I'll be sure to talk about it.



Talk to you all next week!
Savanna

Pointe Shoe FAQs and National Dance Week

Happy National Dane Week! It's actually National Dance Day, as well, I believe, although I didn't really plan for my post  to be on the same day. How are you all celebrating? My studio has a choreography competition, performance, and dance movie night, as well as  picture and essay contests going on for a while now. Where I come from, we just call it National Dance Month.
Dance has become sort of the infatuation of my generation. Whether it's break-dancing and "America's Best Dance Crew", "So You Think You Can Dance" (which has taken the commercial dance world by storm) or "Dancing with the Stars", people usually thinks it's pretty cool. Take Gangnam Style for instance. Sure it's an interesting song, but it would not have gotten nearly as much attention as it did, if not for the crazy dance moves featured in the official music video.
But one style of dance in particular that I feel has gotten more attention in the last century than almost any other time period in history, is ballet.

The picture speaks the truth, just ask Aria Alekzander. "It is really cool that we get to be part of something, manifested by man, that's like magic, like fairytale stuff." One of the things that adds to that ethereal aesthetic is the Pointe shoe.
 People are always asking me about my Pointe shoes.  I get younger girls at the studio who want to try them on, parents who want to know how expensive they are, and friends at school who are just amazed that it's possible for a human being to stand on their "tippy-toes." I though I would take some time to answer a few of your Pointe shoe questions. If you see anything that I forgot to mention, please leave me a comment, and I would be happy to address it.
So let's get started.

Q) How old do you have to be to go en Pointe?
A) This is not really something that has a definite answer. 11 seems to be a pretty common age, but it honestly depends on several things. How long you've been training, how strong you are, whether or no you have a medical condition that could prevent you from moving safely or correctly, even your height can be a factor. If you're unsure about your ability to safely and correctly execute steps en Pointe, talk to your dance instructor, or doctor. They will be able to give you much more personalized information.

Q) Does it hurt?
A) Sometimes. Blisters, corns, bunions, bruised toenails, and tendonitis can cause some pretty rough rehearsals. Luckily, most of these can be prevented by simply finding the right shoe and fit for your feet. This can be tricky, so ask your studio if they know of a reputable dancewear store that can help you.

Q) Is Pointe expensive?
A) Yes. My mom hates it. Every few weeks, we're back in the dance store to buy more shoes or tights, and it runs up quite the bill. Each pair of shoes is handmade, and you definitely pay for quality. I wear Suffolks, which tend to be on the more expensive side. They're also pretty soft, so they break-in and die faster. Most shoes are somewhere between $75-125.

Q) How long do Pointe shoes last? How do you know when they're dead?
A) This depends a lot on the strength of the shoe, the strength of your foot, and the number of hours you spend in your shoes. Most shoes will last for about 9-12 hours. Depending on how much you dance, this can be anywhere from 5 days to a month or more. When a shoe is dead, the shank will usually snap, making it harden to stay over the box, and then the box will go. Again, this depends a lot on what type of foot you have and how strong it is.Most of the time, though, you will be able to feel the floor through the platform of your shoe, which is extremely uncomfortable, and usually a sign that it's time to get new shoes.

I am completely out of time to write anything else today, but I will have more on Pointe shoes next weekend. If you have any questions that I haven't answered yet, please leave a comment and I will be happy to answer them next week!
Savana

Blog changes and upcoming posts

Hi there! It's me again.

By now you've probably noticed that my blog's title has changed. My friend and realized that our old title was also the title of a book, which could pose some problems later on, so we changed it. Our web address is the same, so all of our links should still work. If you're having any difficulties please let me know, and I will see what I can do. 

This has been a crazy weekend for me, so I don't really have a big post for today. My studio is gearing up for our spring performances and they've tacked on a ton of extra rehearsals, leaving me even less time to work on this blog.     :(

Fortunately though, one of my good friends recommended that I use the chaos of performance season to start a series of tips and tutorials on my blog. We've already come up with posts on stretching, dance hair and makeup tutorials, parent tips, stage presence advice, competition tips, and costume ideas.

Since I really don't have any pictures or substantial advice this week, I'll share a video with you. If you have never seen Brianna Haire dance, you need to check this out. This is a solo from a few years ago, so she's a bit older now, but even at this age the stage presence and performance quality is amazing. There won't be a test, but I highly recommend that you take notes.

Talk to you next week!

Savanna