The Wonders of Epson Salt

After a long day or a long week the best thing ever is to relax in a nice hot bubble bath! When I make my bubble baths I put lavender everything. Lavender Scented bubble bath and lavender epson salt. It is very relaxing especially if you have candles and can just soak for a while. The thing about epson salt is it not only makes your bath smell nice it is actually used for sore muscles and gives you a better nights sleep. After dancing  your little heart out all the time it is very important to give your self a relaxing break pretty often or your body will always be sore and tired. That will not help your dancing and ultimately make you feel like crap. So remember on your days off t treat your self! You deserve it! Here is what I like to do on my one day off.

I like to go out to brunch with my friends. We usually go to the Eating Establishment or No Worries. Both of these places are in Park City and are really good. Breakfast food is defiantly a happy food! I also like to get my nails done or occasionally get a massage. I just like spa like things. I don't really ever want to do something that exciting because I am so tired and after all it is the day of rest. I also do some homework, online shop  and watch Netflix. Netflix is possibly the love of my life (next to online shopping of corse.) I have seen Every romantic comedy n there not to mention binge watching Friends and Gossip Girl. My proudest achievements are watching 10 seasons of friends in 20 days and watching 125 episode of Gossip Girl in 21 days. :) But back to my day off it usually has a lot of lounging around and eating sometimes I never even get out of my PJs. (Which is just what the doctors ordered). And then to end the day I top it off with a nice bubble bath. I love to dance with all my heart but man do I love my days off too. What ever you do on your day off make sure your enjoying it you only get so many! Next time taking a bubble bath with magic epson salts I promise you will love it!

Photo by Me

My Weekly Schedule

As you have probably noticed if you keep up-to-date on my blog (Shoutout to my three great followers!!)  I dance a lot! At ballet west there are no breaks, because everyone wants to be a professional and only a few will make it. We train hard from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is the only day we get off and if we didn't live in Utah we probably would dance then too. There are the occasional auditions on Sundays though so there is that. I thought that it might be interesting to tell you what exactly my schedule is. So, here is an inside look on a level 8 at BWA (Ballet West Academy) is like. If there is anyone reading this feel free to comment what your schedule is like I would love to hear it!

* During the week I wake up at 6 am. :(  I get ready and take the bus to school and after rush strait down to Ballet.*

Our New Studio
by
Salt Lake City Rundown 

Mondays: On mondays we get out of school early so I have a breather from 1:45 all the way until 2:30 when it is time to head down. I live in Park City and dance in Salt Lake so it is a 30 minuet drive down the canyon every day. Dance starts at 3:15 and it is pointe class. Our Teacher is  Cati Snar. This class ends at 4:45 and our next class is Variations with Heather Frixell. Variations is also on pointe. For those of you who do not know Variations is where we learn solo's from actual ballets. Curently we are learning one from Swan Lake, in honor of Ballet West performance.

Tuesdays: On Tuesdays I go straight down and class starts at 3:15 again only this time it is on flat and with Miss Jan. ( I don't know her last name). That class ends at 5:00 and then we have modern class. Modern ends a 6:00.


Wednesday: On Wednesdays I head straight down again and we have flat again but with Heather Frixell. Then we have Character with Lisa Hoyt. Character is combined with the level 9's which is always very fun.

Thursday: On Thursdays I go down for class at 3:15 and it is with Miss Cati again and it is pointe again. After we have conditioning with miss Jan and the level 9's along with the 7's. FYI- Conditioning is not for your hair it is strengthening and flexibility class. It is actually pretty hard.  Conditioning ends at 6:00

FRIDAY: On Fridays I have only one class from 3:15 to 5:00 with Miss Jan or Mr. Jeff. This is a flat class.

Saturdays: On Saturdays we have a very long day with many classes. We start at 10:00am with technique combined with the 7's fought by Miss Cati. It is a flat class then we have a 15 minuet lunch break at 11:45. At 12:00 we start Rep. which is short for repertory. In this class we learn our dances for our shows. They are all on pointe.  Finally at 2:00 we start contemporary class. This is a new class at the academy when they got the new building they wanted to have more extension classes and this was one of them. Although they are called extension classes all of our classes are mediatory and the academy has a strict attendance policy. If you don't go often enough you could get kicked out of the show or the school.

Hope you enjoyed! :)

Nutcracker Show

I am exactly in the middle of Nutcracker Hell at the moment. I am in B cast and we have four shows in eight days. This basically means we don't see the sun for four days. You come in at 10 for call time and leave at 9:30 with one break at 5:30. If you have ever wondered what goes on in a dressing room the day of the show it goes a little something like this; put on your make up do your hair and put on your costume then you wait. While were all waiting for our time on stage we play cards, talk and put on more makeup. In the case of this year our dressing room is in the basement with no signal which means we can not use our phones at all except for music. Today was when the boredom kicked in and some of us, me included, tried to sleep on the rolled up rug in the corner. Once the ladies in waiting put their costumes on they can not sit down so we all put our costumes on 15 minuets before we go on. That how ever does not help when we are waiting for our second appearance. It depends which cast you are in how many shows you do and how long they are spread apart. A cast is the most spread out with some shows at a different theater. Needless to stay I am not in A cast.

Picture by Me

 If you don't know the story of the nutcracker here is a short summary. For a full summary click here. Clara receives a toy from her godfather and it is the nutcracker. This toy is magical and her brother breaks it. Then she goes through the magical journey through the lives of her toys. There are several trials and final they win and get through all of the different lands. The nutcracker is a very beautiful ballet and possible the most well known in the world. The best part to dance as a child dancer is young Clara which is typically given to a short girl ages 8-12 around 5 feet tall which is the same height as the solders.  I am a lady in waiting which does not do much. Actually we do absolutely nothing. We walk and twirl in a long pink dress with charter shoes on. If you don't know what charter shoes are they are dancing shoes with a small 1 inch heel. The nutcracker is fun for a lot of parts but this is not one of them. I should probably get some sleep because I have yet another show tomorrow morning.

Lots of rehearsals and Summer Programs Audition Preparation

Upcoming Utah Ballets:

Photo By University of UtahDepartment of Ballet

The University of Utah Department of Ballet 
The Utah Ballet will be performing November 13th -15th and November 20th -22nd. You can purchase your tickets through kingstix. The Utah Ballet's performances continue to impress me. I expected them to be good but last year I went to a couple performances with some girls from dance and we were very    surprised on how well the dancers are trained and how well the choreography was excited over all extremely well done.

 Daily Dance Days:

Along with nutcracker rehearsals we are already preparing for summer auditions which are in January. My teachers are telling us that it is right around the conner. This year I will be auditioning to several companies for a spot in their summer intensives. I will be auditioning for ABT American Ballet Theater, SAB School of American Ballet, NYC Ballet, The Royal Ballet

, Joffery School of Ballet and The School at Steps on Broadway. All of these are internationally recognized ballet companies and schools. All of them except for the Royal Ballet are in new york. The Royal Ballet is in London and is very hard to get into. Not only do they have summer programs but they have a boarding school that is year round. I would love to go there because I love London! We are working hard but got a break for UEA that was much needed. With Nutcracker rehearsals my weeks are reaching 28 hours and 45 minuets of Ballet! Saturdays alone are from 9AM to 6PM! I can say that I am very tired and sore to say the least. At least I love what I do.

Photo by Ballet West Blog

Reviews:
Dancewear Solutions
Dancewear Solutions is an online dance wear company that sells everything for every dancer. They have every thing from tights and leotards to tap shoes and costumes. I love this site and have probably spent way to much money on it..  Its not expensive at all in fact they have such good deals that I you could get 4 leotards for the price that you you could get one on a lot of other stores. If you are as obsessed with online shopping as I am you will really appreciate this site! Also there website has tons of selection. Sometimes I will find dance clothes that I really like but they are super expensive and almost always if I type it in to the search bar I can find it here for half the price. I go on this site all the time and defiantly would recommend it to friends. It is a great place to look for cute leotards for that one class a week where you get to wear your choice leotard. Ours is on Saturdays. They have tons of styles and colors to chose from. Dancewear Solutions get a great rating from me any day.

Stretch of the week: Frog

Photo by Different Steps to Ballet

The "Frog" has many names but what it is, is a stretch that helps loosen up your hips. This helps with turn out and basically every dance move you will ever do. All you do is lay down on your stomach and put you feet together and knees out, Try to get you feet and knees flat on the ground with out arching your back. This is a great stretch for all levels! After doing all of your other stretches your hips get tight and to make sure you have maximum range in your hips and to increase flexibility you need to loosen them up again. Plus it feels really good. At first most people can not get there feet any where near the floor but after doing it almost everyday it gets pretty easy and you end up like the girls in the picture. Depending on how flexible you are the can stretch a lot or a little. This is in almost every bar stretch at the end.

Long Days, Long Weeks and Long time Classic Shows

Upcoming Dance shows in Utah:

Thriller by Odyssey Dance Theatre September 1st to November 1st

Photo by Odyssey Dance 

Every year Odyssey put on thriller it is a halloween show filled with comedic and horror dances. They go all out on costumes and props. They tour around Utah and most people have seen it but it is always a good show and I don't mind seeing it more than once. From the 10th of october on they will be at Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake.Tickets start at $25 and go up from there. I went to one a couple years back and had a lot of fun! Aways exciting and engaging. Even though it is not a ballet I still enjoyed it just as much. 

Weekly schedule:

This week I decided to tell you my weekly schedule. I dance for Ballet West Academy. I am level 8. I dance 6 days a week. Every day but Sunday because yes, we do live in Utah. It gets hard at time to get everything done and be able to socialize as well, but I make it work and wouldn't have it another way. ON monday and Fridays we have technique for 1:45 and then Pointe for 1 hour this starts at 6:30 and ends around 9:15. On tuesdays and wednesdays we have a 2 hour technique class then variations that is a total of 3 hours ending at 9:30 On Thursdays it starts at 4:30 with conditioning then a 2 hour technique class and Pointe. That is a total of 4:30 minutes ending at 9. Finally or longest day is Saturday. We start at 8:30 and end at 6:30  . The classes are Technique, Pointe, Repertory, Modern  and then rehearsal. It all adds up quickly! I love dance but even I know that is a lot. 

Photo by Life of a Dancer 

Stretch of the week: 

Bar Stretch! Bar stretch varies from studio to studio and even from teacher to teacher but a I will tell you a basic stretches done in bar stretches. At my studio we have to remember anywhere from two to four different bar stretches. The first thing I think that is important is putting your leg on the bar in second or to the side. You put it on the bar and stand as close to the bar as you can so that you're also stretching your turn out and rotation. Then you can reach towards your leg and away several times. You then also do this to the front turn slightly angled towards the bar and make sure you are staining straight up the repeat the reaching from before. Finally you do this to the back it is the same as the front but with your leg behind you. When you reach toward your leg twist you spine for an extra stretch. This is good for warming up all you muscles! Make sure to be warm when stretching always stay safe and have fun stretching!