False Alarm!

In my last post I said that this post would be my 100th...well its not. :P Blogger was being special. But the next post is so if you still have any ideas of what you want to see, tell me!!!

On another note I auditioned for the PNBS Summer Course today. I thought I did okay. I really think it could go either way. Now all I can do is cross my fingers and hope for the best. I should know the results within two weeks, but they said that they were getting them out often before the two weeks were up....so now all I can do is wait...and wait...

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PS: I have changed my background to get us all in the Don Quixote mood!!! Oh and (actually do this because its super cool!) when you go to google images and type in "svetlana zakharova roberto bolle" and scroll down to where it says page 3, look around and you should find a picture of my new pointe shoes!!! Ahhhh so cool!!!

The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet...Part 2

So today in ballet class a documentary called the Children of Theatre Street was mentioned, and I have found it on youtube! I watched it and I think it is very good and well worth watching. I have posted Part 1, and I'll leave it up to you guys to find the other parts in the recommended videos part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Riap5pepjs

Also (this has nothing to do with the Vaganova) I submitted to ballerinaproblems.tumblr.com and mine got posted! Here it is!

Lol that actually happened....AWKWARD!!!

Oh and finally my next post is my 100th post!!! YAY! It may take me a little longer to make it, seeing as I want to make it super cool because it's my 100th post. If you have an idea of something you want to see in the 100th post, comment below and tell me!

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The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet...Part 1

 
I found a video that showed clips of some of the 2006 graduates doing solos as well as little snippits of the ceremony! I thought it was interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03gkI-Gp3IU&feature=related

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PS: Only 3 more posts until I hit 100!!!

Le Corsaire

Being the ballet fanatic that I am, until recently, I had never seen a production of Le Corsaire. I found this one on youtube by the American Ballet Theatre, and I liked it a lot! The dancing is great and they give introductions to each act so you know whats going on. I have to say, it's got the most complicated plot line ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d6oG0AnPlQ&feature=related

Enjoy!

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Coppelia

So I was youtube surfing (again) and I found this full length performance by the Students of the Paris Opera Ballet of Coppelia!!! You should definately check it out! It's cut down from a professional version, but it's still good (well duh its the POB students)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZU9N1M78iQ&feature=related

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Things That Make Me Happy! :)

(In no particular order...)
1. The Black Swan Pas de Deux
2. All my friends at dance
3. MY NEW FREED POINTE SHOES WHICH GOT HERE JUST IN TIME (BLESS YOU FEDEX GUY)!

4. Svetlana Zakharova

5. Roberto Bolle's...everything *dreamy look in eyes*

5. Having a "flexible day"

6. Bleeding through your pointe shoes and knowing that you did a good job

7. The whole ballet Swan Lake

8. Getting $5 Tickets to the ballet through Teen Tix

9. Going backstage at performances

10. Getting Karel Cruz and Carla Korbes autographs in the same week

11. When a teacher says you did something good

12. Learning performance pieces

13. HAIRSPRAY

14. Doing double and triple pirouettes en pointe in class

15. Doing pas de deux's

16. The rush you get when you step on stage and everything else goes away

17. When the little girls says you're their inspiration

18. When all the hard work pays off

19. Trying on costumes

20. Backstage at shows

21. Getting compliments on practically anything

22. BAND-AIDS AND TOE TAPE

23. When Hilarion gets thrown off the cliff in Giselle *wicked smile*

24. Doing stage makeup

25. That one "I was perfect..." moment

26. My first pair of pointe shoes

27. Dramatic ballets

28. Going to a professional performance and seeing a piece that your class did

29. Giselle's first dance as a willi

30. The first pas de deux music from the Kingdom of the Shades in La Bayadere

31. When your friends finally see you dance and are so easily impressed

32. Pancake tutus

33. The pas de deux music from Act II of Giselle

34. Seeing a professional performance and going to the studio and working your butt off so that someday you can look like them

35. Doing something you didn't think you could do

36. Empty studios+pointe shoes=variation time!

37. New leotards

38. Walking around in the lobby after shows and having random people you've never even met tell you that you were amazing

39. Ouch pouches

40. That one awesome picture of you that gets on all the flyers

41. Getting the part

42. Acceptance letters

43. Watching Black Swan from backstage and hyperventilating

44. The crazy passion for what you do

45. Dance offs!

46. Galas :) Who else is excited?

47. "How can you do that?!" "I'm a dancer..."

48. discountdance.com

49. The entrance of the shades from La Bayadere

50. Knowing you did the best you could and beyond....and that it looked awesome

Yes, my pointe shoes arrived! I'm so relieved! Kudos to the FedEx guy. :) Now I have to wait until Tuesday to use them. :( I can't wait that long! So tell me guys...what makes you happy? :D

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The Snow Is Melting...

At least it is at my house. :( However dance is still cancelled. Just so you know.

Last night I went out and walked around at like midnight taking pictures of the snow and ice. I got some pretty cool ones which I will share with you guys in this post...RIGHT NOW!

A lot of them are of the trees in my neighborhood which had ice encasing the branches and looked super pretty when it was illuminated by the street lights. Also there was this one huge icicle on this one street light which looked super cool. :)

I also have a few videos for you guys, one is people talking about Shen Yun, which as most of you know is coming to McCaw Hall and I think we should all go to it. The other is just a cool video of Lauren Cuthbertson, dancer for the Royal Opera House, in a Swan Lake costume.

Shen Yun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyhM6Yd9rkk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lauren Cuthbertson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPVebHX5y7k&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy! :)

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PS: If you click on the pictures, they get larger. :)

Things That Make Me Sad

(In no particular order...)
1. Loosing toenails
2. Having too many bobby pins
3. The 8 year olds in Russia who get to do the Black Swan Pas de Deux (see attached video at bottom of post)
4. Missing dance because of weather conditions
5. BLISTERS!!!
6. The 7 year olds in Russia who's fouettes are better than mine (see attached video)
7. Ordering pointe shoes online because the only dance store in the city doesn't have them and then a huge snowstorm hits the city and you're scared that they wont be there in time for your PNB audition (.......AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!)
8. The look on the pedicurists face
9. When Odette and Sigfreid die in Swan Lake
10. Crying during the pas de deux in the Kingdom of the Shades with Nikiya and Solar
11. The Victoria's Secret models who think that they have good ballet arms *facepalm*
12. No one understanding the strong attachment to your first pair of pointe shoes
13. Your friends thinking you're crazy for skipping hanging out with them and going to ballet class instead
14. When your brand new tights get holes in them
15. Your parents not understanding your need for new pointe shoes every 4-5 weeks
16. Going to Contemporary Class and making everything too balletic
17. Not getting the part
18. Rejection letters
20. Doing your best turn when no ones watching
21. Not having a life
22. Thinking you did a really good job on the performance, watching it on tape, realizing how bad it looked
23. Walking like a duck with your feet turned out
24. The chugs in Giselle which messed up my knee
25. Cold dance studios
26. When a show ends and you realize that that was the last time you would do that piece
27. People who think that they're really good at ballet....but really aren't
28. When your parents tell you to go get a life because you spend too much time doing/watching/thinking about ballet
29. Realizing your toenails are too long at the beginning of pointe class
30. Never living up to your own expectations

Sorry this is kinda a downer post. :P To make up for it, I'll do a Things That Make Me Happy post soon (there's a lot more things that make me happy than sad...so be ready for the super long post)! Here are the video links I promised.

7 Year Olds 32 Fouettes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=0dE5AQ_KsmM

The 8 Year Old Black Swan Pas de Deux: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NtmN4SW8M4&feature=related

So tell me guys...what makes you sad? :P

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Natalia Osipova Esmeralda Variation

Before I say anything else, I would like to announce that obviously dance is cancelled again tonight. I'm really missing it and I bet you guys are too. :(

Now that that's out of the way, I would like to post a video of Natalia Osipova when she was 17 performing the variation from La Esmeralda. It's pretty intense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV0jT1Do6NQ&feature=related

After watching that I think I'll just go put on my pointe shoes and practice until my feet fall off. :)

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Dance Cancellation Again

This is fairly obvious, but dance is cancelled again today (Jan. 18). Enjoy the amazing amounts of snow!

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My Latest Variation Obsession

For some reason I have recently become obsessed with this Kitri variation from Don Quixote (cant wait to see it when it comes to PNB). Here is a particularly explosive version by none other than Svetlana Zakharova.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59bVZvjt1NU&feature=related

I love her costume (its not the one pictured above...I couldn't find a pic of the one in the video)...and of course her dancing is fantastic!

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PS: Check out this awesome pic of her I found!

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT POST!

I have just checked our schools website, and it says that there are no classes today (Jan. 17)! I will keep you guys updated if there are any more closures!

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OHMYGOSHITACTUALLYSNOWED!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I CANT BELIEVE THAT IT ACTUALLY SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE TO GO MAKE SNOW ANGELS, BUILD A SNOWMAN (OR SNOW-WOMAN I DON'T CARE I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!), AND PEG MY BROTHER IN THE HEAD WITH A SNOW BALL!!!

ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS!!!

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SNOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AWWW CUTE KITTEN!!! Yeah. I just ate a candy bar. So I'm a little hyper (a warning to all)...but IT COULD SNOW SOON!!! I'll post the link to an article I read about it. Omg I'm SOOOOO EXCITED!!! I LOVE SNOW! LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW!!!

Snow Article: http://www.weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/USWA0395?phenomena=TSL&significance=S&areaid=WAZ508&office=KSEW&etn=0000

Also here's the forecast. If you hit the arrows on the sides of the little weather forecast thing, you can see more days. :DDD

Weather Forecast: http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/seattle-wa/98104/daily-weather-forecast/351409

Okay, now this is a little off topic but I just found this video of bunion taping...if you have bunions check this out this video is super good!!! (PS: I might of already posted this but in case I didn't...here it is!)

Bunion Taping: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lgR-EENXRM&feature=related

Have fun praying for snow while taping your over sized bunions. :) Haha that was cheesy....

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Sorry I Haven't Posted in a While!!!

First off, sorry for not posting, I am very busy with life and such...

Now to the fun part! A looong time ago I made a post about Mitch (that's not his real name...but I think most of you guys can guess who I mean). I am going to make yet another one...just because he's special haha. So a week ago, he came in late and started doing plies when our teacher went over to him and told him to get out of class because he didn't know the dress code.
..................................................HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! That was basically my reaction.
Then today in class, I knew he would come in late again, stand at "the late barre" and disrupt plies (like he always does...I swear he's never once been on time). So I though I would have a little fun and stand at the late barre, that way when he came in he would have to awkwardly walk across the studio...teehee. I did and it was funny...really funny. Teehee....

...And that's my 2nd Mitch post! :P

So I wasn't going to post a video today, but I just went onto my youtube literally in the middle of writing this post and I found this video from SYTYCD. I would just like to say I have never seen an audience give this kind of reaction to a ballet performance...eeep. Well at least she did a fairly good job!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqTyUpqhris&feature=g-vrec&context=G26968cdRVAAAAAAAAAA

I would also like to say that my youtube videos all together have 366 views! :) And the pointe shoe one has 195!!! GASP! Thanks guys!!!

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Blisters: The Bane of a Dancers Existence

Definition of Blister: a thin vesicle on the skin, containing watery matter or serum, from a burn or other injury.

I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the blister, seeing as I haven't dedicated a post to them yet. Above is the dictionary definition of a blister (I'm into definitions right now lol). I have rewrote it into what I think is a more appropriate definition.

My Definition of Blister: an annoying, water-filled, bubble forming upon the skin of athletes, mainly dancers. They are quite painful, and particularly annoying when one is trying to pirouettes en pointe. The nasty little things always have a habit of cropping up at the worst possible moment, specifically on the first week back, or right before a large show. For years dancers have tried every kind of band-aid/blister block/ toe tape known to mankind to ease the pain of them, but alas, these dressings have an annoying pattern of falling off right in the middle of pieces. Blisters are in fact, the bane of the dancers existence.

I think my definition is more accurate. :)

Everyone gets blisters. It's an inevitable part of being a dancer. Being one myself I have gotten quite a few blisters in my time. I've gotten them all over my toes, on the sides of  my feet (where the box/vamp on Freeds goes), a few in between my toes (those might of just been infected cuts :P), basically everywhere. I thought I had gotten blisters every place on my foot...I was wrong. I now have a massive blister on MY ARCH!!! WHO GETS A BLISTER ON THEIR ARCH?! It's so weird... I also got a few on the bottom of my heels. Yeah...I'm special like that. :P

So what's the weirdest place you've gotten a blister? Haha...you don't have to answer that...plus I may not want to know. :P See you guys in class!!!

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Tomorrow Arrived! Yay!

I was very happy to see all of you guys today at class! I cannot wait for tomorrow (again)! It's my favorite day of the week. :D

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Tomorrow!

I'm so excited to see everyone tomorrow!!! I cant wait!!!!!!!! In the mean time, I found a video of Baryshnikov dancing to Frank Sinatra. I love this piece! It was choreographed by Twyla Tharp for those that like to know these things... :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7jj8McPlVY&feature=related

I love how he's chewing gum during the piece. :D See you guys tomorrow!!!

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Another Fouette Video!!!

These might just be the coolest fouettes I've ever seen. The dancer is Lali Kandelaki performing Kitri in Don Quixote. She dances (or danced) for the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre which is a very old ballet company and has a long history. For those of you who want to check it out, I will post the link at the bottom.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTCbFWmJnCE&feature=autoplay&list=UUH5TIwbl_zBsDIDCB9P7VeA&lf=plcp&playnext=1

History: http://www.opera.ge/eng/opera-history.php?page=museum

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Happy New Year!!!

I hope you all had a happy and safe new year!!! Let's make this the best one yet!!!

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