Jilted, Dead and Haunting - It's Showtime!

We started our spring show rehearsals last Friday - and not a day too soon, might I add. The performance is in five weeks, which unfortunately does not equal five weeks worth of rehersals. But then we would be dancing in some Fancy Company, and not in our dance school's spring recital. To be fair, more time was planned. We were supposed to start as early as February/March, but then there were circumstances which could not be helped. Still, better late than never. In addition to our regular classes (which are reserved for technique practice), we get to rehearse the choreography every Saturday for two hours, right until the final weekend of May when it's showtime. Am I excited? You bet!

This spring recital marks a sweet premiere for me. It's my first time in pointe shoes, on stage. After practicing pointe technique for approximately a year and half, I finally get to take my babies to the ball! The party lasts only for two and a half minutes (not men), but.. it's Giselle! The first ballet I ever saw performed live! I was twelve years old and thought it the most beautiful thing ever. And now I get to be one of the wilis [insert sigh of happiness]. Pointe-wise it's not a difficult piece, there are some bourrées couru/suivi, a few pas de bourrées and a nice set of piqués with battements double. I kind of wish there could have been a little more pointe technique, but I know what feels "easy" in class turns into a challenge on stage. What am I saying? It's Giselle, for crying out loud! Sigh..

There are many versions, and subtle differences especially in the port de bras - but this version below comes pretty close to ours. There are only eight of us, which lessens the corps de ballet effect somewhat, but it's a nice group to dance with. Our bit starts at 0:12 and ends at 2:50.



Oh, I should mention that this is not the only piece in which I get to perform.. But I tell you more about that in my next post! :)

Behind the Scenes at FNB: Company Class

It was early, and I was getting somewhat nervous.. I had told the receptionist of my appointment with the Press Manager and that she would come and pick me up. There was still time to sit on the nice couch in the elegantly restrained foyer of the National Opera building and watch personnel coming in, mostly dancers. It was already a quarter before 10 A.M., morning class time. You cannot mistake ballet dancers for any other professions, not on the street, not among a big crowd. But here it was far too easy and I didn't want to stare. I was trying to be cool, you know (to cover up a sudden onset of shyness). Even when the famous, popular and stylish Minna Tervamäki, soon to be retired étoile, walked in. I'm lucky I'll get to see her farewell performance on the 31th of March - she is dancing the role of the bayadére Nikiya. Should have asked for her autograph! Next time, enough with the being-cool cover-up. ;)

Costumes for the upcoming La Bayadère.

Ten minutes before ten Heidi Almi, the very friendly Press Manager of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, walked in and gave me a warm welcome. She then escorted me trough a security-gate, down a long marble-paved corridor, small stairs up, where we took the elevator down into the basement. The Opera building has four dance studios, but the ballet may also use the smaller stage of Alminsali and two rehearsal spaces of the opera. The big basement studio has only been in use for about a year. It used to be a storage space for the stage sets, hence the the two-story-high ceiling. You could easily build a cheering-pyramid in that studio!

Alas, no cheerleaders but a room filled with about thirty ballerinas, clad in as many different warm-up clothes, some still drinking their morning coffee. No men, as this was pointe class. I took a furtive look around, and noticed a few curious glances into my direction. I felt oddly out of place in my jeans, as I have never been in class where I did not dance myself! I really wanted to be in sweats instead, and join everyone on the floor to do some stretches! It was weird, to say the least. But at the same time fascinating.

Ms. Almi asked me if I had met the teacher before, and since I did not, she introduced me to Barbora Kohoutková (click here for her bio) - guest principal dancer and pointe-teacher for the day. I'm a big fan of Kohoutková, she is one of those rare dancers who makes brilliant technique look both effortless, elegant and soulful. So you can imagine that I was a little star-struck.. Thankfully, I managed to utter something about how happy I was that I got to observe her class. Ms. Almi then introduced me to the dancers, saying how she had given notice of my visit earlier and that I was the one who writes several ballet-blogs. I just said hi and gave a big wave. Sudden onset of the shy, again! But, class was about to start anyway. The dancers limbering up for the first exercise, and the the charming pianist, Dmitri Pavlov, ready to play some inspirational music. And me sitting in the corner, all eyes and ears, notebook in hand!

To be continued..


This "Behind the Scenes at Finnish National Ballet" -serial would not have been possible without the interest and help of quite a few awesome people! Thanks go to the lovely Mira Ollila (soloist at FNB), the friendly Press Office, the Artistic Director Kenneth Greve (for giving permission to observe company class), and finally to all the dancers who were happy enough to answer my many questions!

Sneaky Does It

Teachers can be sneaky. Like when they don´t tell you that you´re about to practice a very famous variation, because they know that it would freak you out and have you jeté into hiding before the pointe shoe drops. My teacher is like that. She knows me so well, it´s embarrassing.

The funny thing is that I should have recognized the music right away. I have watched that variation on youtube so many times that Auber´s music is permanently burned on my brain. But I´ve never ever considered trying or learning any of those steps. Dreamed, yes. But which ballet enthusiast/dancer/wannabe-ballerina would not dream of dancing like the sublime Platel?

Piqué passé retiré - pas de chat - pas de bourré dessus - relevé attitude (we did a simple sous-sous instead) - back leg coud de pied - front leg coud de pied with corresponding port de bras - plié into passé retiré - pas de bourré en tournant with legs into high retirés - repeat.. I was concentrating so hard on the steps that I did not realize we were doing the beginning of the female solo of Grand Pas Classique! Way to sneak that in, Signora..

Had you shown me that variation a year ago, I would have deemed it mission impossible. And to be completely honest and get-real realistic, 90 percent of it still is (and at least 65% will always remain that). The attitude turns, the hops on pointe - please educate me as how to desribe them in correct ballet-French - the fouetté pirouettes, and the list goes on and on.. All we did was the first 8 counts repeated twice. You can now go and watch the video, fast forward to 06:25 and stop before Platel does her piqué attitude turns. Remember to replace the attitude relevé with a sous-sous.



I know, for you been-there-done-thats out there, baby steps. For me, a huge deal. I´m so not going to be blasé about it. You may have to trick me into variations, at least until I learn how not to freak out at the sight of Solo Dancing. But darlings, I have to admit it - I loved every classique step!

A Day Off is a Good Day to Pointe

Ballet isn´t easy on the adult dancer´s body. 

My muscles are still sore from Wednesday´s class, and not sleeping enough hasn´t helped at all. That´s why I plan to do some recuperating stretching today, even before I leave for class, combined with a moderate ab-workout to warm up (not my favorite way to spend time - but need those core muscles!). I like to stretch for at least a full hour, focusing on whatever muscle groups feel the tightest. Since I´m on my feet all day, calves tend to be really tired and cramp easily when we´re doing lots of relevés. I gotta be careful, because two years ago I injured my left calf muscle in the middle of an easy temps levé jump. It was the end of class, I was all warmed up and yet I felt the dreaded kick in the back of my leg. That muscle strain kept me away from dancing for a whole month. So guys, always pay attention to your aches and pains! And take the time to recover between classes. But let´s get back to the good stuff:

It´s Friday again, one of my favorite days of the week. And to sweeten the deal even further, it´s my day off. I can sleep in, there´s no rushing to and from work, just some minor errands to run and a bit of housework (not too much). All this goodness equals more time to prep and enjoy this evening´s double bill of ballet and pointe! I´m going to be early to warm up and ready my legs, ankles and feet. Just a little bit of pilates for those all-important 26 bones, 33 joints, 100 muscles, ligaments and tendons! By the way, Ballet Scoop has some great tips on how to  "supercharge your pointework". Considering that we are doing 90 minutes worth of high-intensity ballet followed by 60 minutes of pointe class, I need all the prep I can manage. Pointe shoes aren´t exactly Birkenstocks!

Which reminds me, I have been asked to submit my pointes (Capezio, Aerial) to inspection before tonight´s class. Our Fabulous French Ballet Teacher isn´t too happy about my inability to rise properly over the box. She suspects the fault lies with my too hard shoes. I fear the culprit are my feet. Update will follow..

Friday Evening - Happy Hour at the Barre

Friday evening, and nothing feels better than finishing the working week at the barre! First up, 90 minutes of advanced ballet with our new ballet teacher, The French Ballerina. At times I get a little distracted, because of her insanely high extensions and wonderfully expressive port de bras. It's a great class. She is a lovely person and a terrific teacher, giving everyone lots of personal attention and positive feedback. The barre is fast-paced, with quick degagées, developpées and enveloppées, and lots of balances. In the center we do a beautiful adagio, which has me both terrified and excited. Terrified, because there's a real chance of looking totally silly, and excited because I feel like I could express something with my dancing! And I even managed to pull off a couple of triple pirouettes! The class ends late, with no time for reverance, but there's big applause and I quickly rush to change into my pointe shoes.

I had given up on the idea of doing pointe. Too old, too late, too hard. However, after some 16 years of practicing ballet in soft shoes, I started to feel that not learning pointe would be something I was going to regret. So, when our teacher Gabriella Serra told us that she would start teaching pointe classes this August, beginners included, I jumped at the chance! Not too late after all! Pointe class turned out to be much more challenging and difficult than I anticipated, but fast-forward ten weeks and ten classes, and I'm still excited about every new exercise. Then, just as I'm getting the feel of pointe shoes (and first blisters), Ms Serra goes on maternity leave. Happy news, but I wonder what will happen to our adult beginners pointe class... Enter our new teacher, Marie-Pierre Greve, aka The French Ballerina. 

We are all a bit dumbfounded to have such an elegant principal dancer teach our adult class. Ms. Greve retired from the Danish Royal Ballet just two years ago, at the age of 38, and it shows. One of my friends tells me that she would buy a ticket just to watch her port de bras. I've had many good teachers over the years, but taking class with Ms. Greve does feel a bit like winning the ballet lottery!

There I am, standing at the barre, on pointe, in a really scary wide second position. Ms. Greve is sitting at my feet. She takes hold of my left foot, molding the arch and telling me to point more, and I do my best to comply. “There, you see, you can do it!” she exclaims, looking quite delighted at the result, until she sees my other foot all un-pointed and starting to turn in. At that point(e), I feel the need to apologize but instead I merely nod when she tells me that there is plenty of work to do, that I have to get stronger and that there would be no pointe for me (sorry, pun intended) if I could not get properly over my box at all times. I keep nodding my head, as my power of speech is frequently lost in ballet class. But I know what I want: to learn how to dance on pointe!

Class is more difficult now, with quick echappées and single leg passée retirés in center. I feel my legs no longer belonging to me, and have the hardest time getting up and staying there. But Madame is très sweet, encouraging and correcting everyone. She even takes hold of my hands to help me with a challenging balance, and I try my hardest to get it right. At the end of class, my feet are smokin' hot and I'm feeling slightly disoriented. It's like I had one drink too many, in a foreign bar where I don't quite understand the language. Then, I catch my reflection in the mirror, red cheeks, glowing skin and grinning from one ear to the other. It's been another happy hour at the barre!

Pointe in my kitchen. November 2010.