Joffrey Audition

I auditioned for another Summer Intensive! :) This one as I am sure you can tell by the title was Joffery School of Ballet. I went to this audition last Sunday with one of my good dance friends Hazel.  The class was really fun and the teacher was great. It was held like many auditions at the University of Utah State campus. I didn't do my very best but I still feel good about the audition. In the hallway everyone was warming up and there was this sense of competition. It is like an unspoken thing when you go to a ballet audition you are always trying to inure out who is more flexible and all of that. It is actually kind of interesting to people watch when dancers get ready for an audition. Some girls arrive hours early. Each person has their own routine. My pre audition routine goes a little something like this..

  First I wake up
  Then I shower and make the best ballet bun ever.
  After putting on my leotard and tights I eat breakfast (usually I have a smoothie)
  Then I head down with plenty of time.
  Once I arrive I check in and get my number
  I pin it on and look around this is what it looks like

Photo by Me

As you can see there are a lot of moms.
  Then I start to warm up my body by doing light stretches and pliés using the wall as my bar
  After I am pretty warm I stretch out completely (this is where I win the little competition I was talking about)
  Then I like to keep warm until we are ready to line up and go inside.


The audition was an a sand half class it was separated into three parts 45 minuets bar 30 minuets center and 15 minuets pointe. I do not really like when auditions are like this because I like a full length class and bar on pointe. However the audition was pretty easy going since there were no staff or anyone watching you but the teacher. This year was the first year I was put in the older age group mine was from ages 15 to 25 but, there were no 25 year olds in the audition and most of the people seemed about 17. Over all this was a very fun audition and I would love to attend Joffery in the summer.

Uniforms

At Ballet West Academy we have a extremely strict dress code. Each level is assigned a color. That is the color of your leotard and skirt and everyone has the exact same skirt and leotard in that level. Everyone in the entire academy has the exact same tights and depending on which section of the school you are in, (Upper school, or Lower school) you have the same shoes. The only thing that can differ from person to person is pointe she's. That is because point shoes have t be chosen by foot shape and size for the best look, and the all are basically the same looking when everyone has them on. There are many rules. One of the rules is no colored nail polish. I accidentally break this rule a lot. We also can not wear flowers or bows in our hair. The reason for that is to look more professional. The other thing that is not allowed is large r hanging jewelry the only type we can wear is stud earrings.On Saturdays we get to wear what ever color and style leotard we want but everything else must stay the same. I usually wear this one. Back to the leotards when we got a new studio they also decided to do a lot of this differently like the levels names and what the wear. For the most part the uniforms stayed the same except they now has BW embroidered on the hip. My uniform is maroon/ burgundy.

Here is a picture

Photo by Me
*Sorry for all the wrinkles*

The rest of the uniforms go like this:
1- Light Yellow Tank, No Tights,  No Skirt
2- Light Pink Cap Sleeve, Tights, No Skirt
3- Light Blue Cap Sleeve,  Tights and Light Blue Skirt
4- Lavender Camisole, Tights and Lavender Skirt
5- Royal Blue Camisole, Tights and Royal Blue Wrap Skirt
6- Navy Blue Camisole, Tights and Navy Blue Wrap Skirt
7- Dark Purple Camisole, Tights and Dark Purple Wrap Skirt
8- Burgundy Tank, Tights and Burgundy Wrap Skirt
9- Black Tank, Tights and Black Wrap Skirt
Trainees- White Tank, Tights and White Wrap Skirt

The uniforms actually took an extremely long time to be made so for the first seven weeks we got to wear what ever leotard and skirt we wanted.

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! :)

Summer Intensive Auditions

Summer auditions have finally come this weekend there were many auditions around the US. Along with many of my class mates I auditioned for SAB (The School of American Ballet). The audition was stressful as always but fun. If you have never auditioned for a summer intensive they are almost always the same. This is how a basic audition goes. First you get up and get ready making sure you look perfect. Once you have your hair done absolutely perfect, you've found the perfect leo and you have cute warm ups to sike out the competition on you're ready to leave. I like to eat a really small healthy breakfast like and apple. You leave over budgeting about 45  minuets. Then you get there and you see everyone. The feeling you get is a strange mix of desperation, cockiness and a hint of fear. Then, You go get your number and pin it the front of your leo like 15 times until its perfect.  It is always really crowded but somehow cold. Its almost silent and there is this weird who is the most flexible contest going on while every one is stretching. (Although no one every says anything about it, you just know.) Finally when your group is called in you all get up and stand up as straight as possible to walk in, because first impressions are everything! Then it really gets intimidating. You all stand at the bar while three to five judges stare you down watching your every move. Once you finish the bar sometimes they let you grab a drink or they just move straight to center. It depends on the level you are if they ask you to put on your pointe shoes or not. Some auditions the entire class is on pointe.

Photo by Ballet Strength

 After center is over you clap and line up to thank the teacher then you go home and wait. Waiting is the worst for a couple of day then you forget about the whole thing or go to another audition. Usually you do not her back until April or May to see if you got in. All this waiting then you have about two weeks to decide which one you will attend. This particular audition was weird because it was in one of our own studios that the school rented while the Capital theater was under construction.  It was held there because when schools hold auditions for summer programs the tour the country and have to use what ever venue is best suited in that city. It was held at the Marriott Centre for Dance at the University of Utah.  Auditions are really intimidating but the are also really exciting. I personally do better at auditions because I try much harder. Although you probably won't get into every single school you ever audition to it is still great practice and a good experience to audition as much as possible, also aren't auditions and performances what you trained for?

All things pointe shoes

Once you reach the intermediate levels of ballet you go on pointe. To anyone who is not a dancer yes, this means you dance on your tip toes. Once you get your first pair of pointe shoes there are a lot of things to know for the many that come. 

First, Pointe shoes are expensive! The average pair of pointe shoes cost around $90+. Then you have to buy all the necessary supplies like ribbon, elastics, rosin, toe pads and etc.. 

Photo by Meres Flares

Second, not only are the expensive but if you stick with it you will use A LOT of pairs. Most beginning pointe dancers only go through one or two pairs their first year. This rapidly increases on a personal level after that. The better a dancer you get the more pointe shoes you will go through in any given amount of time but it also depend on how strong your feet are because then you are putting less strain on the shoes. I have gone through 13 pair in my 2 and a half years on pointe. 

Photo by Wikimedia

Next, Sewing!! :)Just kidding sewing pointe shoe is horrible! At the academy you have to sew your own pointe shoes. They are so specific abut how you sew them that they give you a course when you first go on pointe. Here are some quick step to sewing them properly; start by marking where you want the ribbons to go and which foot is which. Then sew the elastics. I use one elastic place pretty far back near the heel.Click here for a stitching pattern to follow.  Then move to the ribbons, repeat the same sewing pattern that was used on the elastics.  Finally you burn the end of the ribbons to prevent fraying.

There are many necessary supplies when it comes to pointe shoes. You need to get elastics and ribbons, how ever usually they come with the pointe shoes. You also need a stitch kit; stitch kits have the proper thread and a needle made for sewing pointe shoes. You can get this at any dance wear store. Probably the most helpful supplies are spacers and toe pads! These will save you from bleeding and prevent bunions. You also need rosin to help them not slip while you are dancing.

WARNING:The pain of pointe shoes is not exaggerated! Pointe doesn't hurt that much at first but after your amount of pointe classes increases so does the pain. After a long saturday rehearsal you can almost not feel your feet anymore, and that comes as a relief. The pain of pointe shoes is really painful especially if your toe nails are too long or too short. The worst is without toe pads though. Once I forgot my toe pads in the wash and I had to go without any thing except a cheap paper towel. It was probably one of the most painful two and a half hours in my life! For the last 30 minuets I was dying and definitely looked horrible. After class I took my pointe shoes off to find blood and blister and purple toes. After that experience I always triple check to make sure I have my toe pads. It took me three weeks to fully recover and do pointe without wanting to cry. It really is true what they say about ballet causing blood sweat and tears!

So all though Pointe causes pain and costs a fortune thats what defines a dancer. Getting your pointe your first pair of pointe shoes is so exciting and it gives you a great sense of accomplishment! Pointe shoes are worth the suffrage they cause and there defiantly is a lot of suffering going on.

Nutcracker recovery

After a long 4 days with 8 shows I am as tried as can be but the next morning at 8 Am I got on a plane and went to Minnesota. It has been 6 days since nutcracker and I am still recovering. I have been sleeping until 1 pm then at 3 I take a nap and then go to bed at 11. I guess you can say my sleeping squeal is pretty messed up. It has been pretty rough since I am not home and I can't recover how I normally would, so I thought I would share some ways I relax after performance weeks. Oh, and by the way I hope your holidays were wonderful and not full of to much nutcracker music. I got a turn board! The best way to recover is pretty different than you would think. First you should get a normal amount of sleep. (not what I did...) Then have one day to relax. I like to take a bubble bath and try to get all my make up off but chances are the eyelash glue will be stuck for months.Washing your face and hair a lot is good because they will probably be pretty ruined from all the harsh make up and hairspray. I also love watching gossip girl and drinking lemon tea.(This is pretty much what I look like.)

Photo by Sunny-Rainy-Day

You should also eat healthy because it will help you not feel like crap.  Then a pretty important step is that after your one day you should exercise. Not super hard core, and doing something other than dancing really helps to not make your muscles sore. Some fun things you can do are hiking or even just walking around. It is better to do something outside because chances are if your show schedules are like mine you will have not seen the sun for 4 days. After this you can pretty much return to your daily routine with out feeling very tired but as I learned this break if you just sleep and never do anything it makes it so much worse. Happy recovering everyone!

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.