fandomhigh | Ballet for Beginners; First Period [03/15].

There were some days when you just didn't want to ballet. Those were most days for Rosa, really, if she was honest, but she was feeling it especially that day. Almost to the point where she thought about phoning it in for another movie day, but...nahhh. It was, what, just a small slice of time that was at least better than dealing with the troopers that morning? And, if she was honest, sucking it up and doing class proper today would be a small price to pay now that they were on choreography, and that meant watching her students try to work their way awkwardly through it. Especially Fish Boy.

Sorry, kids. The schaudenfruede was strong with this one.

The music for the day went back to classic, too, especially since they would be working on was very particular. When in doubt, just do ~~Swan Lake~~ Goose Pond.

"We're going to learn a new variation today," Rosa informed them as they started to get settled for class and, hopefully, by now, already knew to get started on stretching, because, seriously, you guys. "That first one was just steps, for the most part. This one is a performance, in that you'll be representing the main character in a ballet story, so the steps are representive of that story and all that sort of thing. It's an iconic, quintessential role. Remember that movie we watched? Yeah, that was for this role, but, obviously, we're doing a beginner's variation. And it's going to focus a lot on arms. A lot of beginners don't pay enough attention to what their arms are doing, but the arms are a big part of the whole..." She waved a hand vaguely "...thing. So, in addition to the steps, I want you guys to pay really close attention to what your arms are doing.

"Let's get started."

[[and ocd ~~is incoming~~ has landed! Like a swan. OR GOOSE.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

ARM DAY.

Prince Sidon

Breq

Vette

If you don't know the drill by now, seriously, how has Rosa not just kicked you out of class by now? Warm up stretches on the floor (with particular attention to arms today) and then up to the barre for all those pliés and tendus that you should be able to do in your sleep by now.

And the stretching portion was paired up with another video. "This," Rosa explained, "is a professional performing the part. See her arms? How they move? Supposed to be like wings, because she's a bird. Don't worry, what we're doing is a much simplified version of this, but, hey, if you want to try to pull this off, knock yourself out."

Please don't actually try to do this. Rosa would appreciate the laugh, but not so much the probably trip down to the clinic.

The emphasis on arm work had Sidon feeling a bit more confident about this week's class, though he did rather wonder if his confidence would be misplaced. After all, his arms were incredibly long and graceful and strong, much more suited to this sort of thing than his legs, so if the focus was there, he might actually not feel too awkward with today's choreography.

If anything, he knew for certain that his trailing elbow fins looked spectacular whenever they did anything with arms, so there was always that.

There are a few new steps to learn before they get really into it: Rosa hadn't really covered attitudes yet, so she took a few moments to go over that so their techique could at least be informed. And pretty much assume they were all used to the fancy-ass French terms (and probably having no context for them, anyway, being from, you know, different planets and whatever) to not have derrière send them all snickering.

Then there was the sissonne, "scissors," a little side jump move, and she couldn't quite remember if they covered arabesque yet, but a small refresher wouldn't hurt.

And now to put it all together in a few sections of choreography that Rosa would go over a few times before unleashing the students to try it themselves and correcting as they go along.

She was not expecting anything close to perfection, but it would definitely be interesting to see how it did turn out.

And by the time they actually got the the choreography, Sidon almost felt as though he'd been misled, because this involved considerably more than just some fancy arm work! He was going to try, to be sure, and felt he did a particularly nice job on the bourees and turns, but anything involving a leg extension of any sort was going to immediately make him feel awkward, unbalance, and maybe just a little bit silly.

It was a good thing he already had prince ahead of him as a career path, because ballerina was certainly not going to be anywhere on the list of potential things to do with his life.

Okay, so, once that was enough being swans or geese for the day or whatever, it was time to cool down and stretch afterwards, with a small note from the teacher that, even though it might not have seemed like much, if they didn't feel it in their arms at least a little bit tomorrow, then that's a good indication they weren't doing it right.

Maybe she'll tell you about the time she beat up the girl who was competing with her over this part once. Which meant that Rosa didn't get the part, but, hey, neither did the other girl, so she considered that an overall win.

Me, every week, writing this class: UGH, I'm just not feeling it this morning, maybe I'll just wing it...

*ten minutes later, deep into YouTube, with a million tabs open*

HERE, HAVE ALL THE BALLET!! I THINK THIS NEED MORE BALLET?

Ballet for Beginners; First Period [03/15].

Sign In - Ballet, 03/15.

Re: Sign In - Ballet, 03/15.

Re: Sign In - Ballet, 03/15.

Re: Sign In - Ballet, 03/15.

Warm Up - Ballet, 03/15.

Re: Warm Up - Ballet, 03/15.

Choreography - Ballet, 03/15.

Re: Choreography - Ballet, 03/15.

Cool Down - Ballet, 03/15.

Talk to Rosa - Ballet, 03/15.

OOC - Ballet, 03/15.