Sunday Right and Wrong

Sunday Right and Wrong

Here is a scary thing to contemplate. According to this web site http://www.jenniferhawthorne.com/articles/change_your_thoughts.html, 80% of the thoughts we have every day are negative. Plus, about 98% of our thoughts are the same ones we had the day before. Now I’m all in favor of cultivating habits, but good ones, please!

We can change the way we think, but first we must recognize the negative thoughts. Often they’ll be framed by words like “never”, “should” – and the ever-popular dancer’s favorite – “can’t”.  Once we become aware of these sneaky robbers of motivation, then we can consciously go about replacing the negative thoughts with positive ones.

Like ballet training, it takes time and effort, but it is worth it!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Motivational Secret #150:

“Don’t focus on what could go wrong, focus on what will go right.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBz4_1a1W4g

Quote of the Day:

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” 

― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

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Saturday Statute Never

Saturday Statute Never

I’ve touched on this subject before – straight legs. Since I wasn’t blessed (or some would say cursed) with hyper-extended legs, I had to be vigilant about straightening my legs.

But, in the Big Beige Book of Ballet Statutes there is this one: “The leg is never as straight as you think it is.” This is especially true in arabesque, and even more true in grand battement derriere, (due to the force of the kick). No matter how straight you think the leg is, a photograph or a word from the teacher makes it clear. It’s never as straight as you think.

Therefore, it pays to be mindful of this and apply a bit of extra effort and stretch behind the knee whenever the leg is in the back.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Ballet Statute #144:

“The leg is never as straight as you think it is.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjSwMxnmLrM

Quote of the Day:

“Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.”
― Helen Keller

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Fun Friday Hyper-extension

Fun Friday Hyper-extension

Hyper-extended legs are beautiful and desired by most ballet dancers (I didn’t have them). But this blessing can be difficult to work with because there is always a tendency to rock back into the knees, putting stress on the joints.

To help with controlling hyper-extended legs, always be aware of having your weight placed over the balls of the feet. This keeps the legs visually straight (although they will feel bent) and prevents putting pressure into the knees. Today’s Link of the Day explains it well.

The working leg (the one in the air) isn’t the problem – that leg is allowed to use the hyperextension. It’s the weight-bearing leg that is the concern.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #21tt:

“To help with hyperextension have your weight over the balls of your feet.”

Link of the Day:

https://balletinform.com/misty-copeland/?fbclid=IwAR04oFtfC21VmNWL5nJSaJ8M5h9-0fHIt7kJ_tWKG1kD3d342o_HnVxtJn0

Quote of the Day:

“Stay positive. Sometimes you don't even realize you're blocking your own blessings by thinking negatively and holding on to the past. Learn to let go.”
― Germany Kent

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https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Throwback Thursday and Louise Brooks

Throwback Thursday and Louise Brooks

Her childhood nickname was Brooksie, and Mary Louise Brooks was born in Cherryvale, Kansas on November 14, 1906.

She began dancing with the Denishawn Dancers. Her time with them is described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Brooks “The company included founders Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, as well as a young Martha Graham. In her second season with the company, Brooks advanced to a starring role in one work opposite Shawn. A long-simmering personal conflict between Brooks and St. Denis boiled over one day, and St. Denis abruptly fired Brooks from the troupe in Spring 1924, telling her in front of the other members, "I am dismissing you from the company because you want life handed to you on a silver salver".^[5] The words left a strong impression on Brooks; when she drew up an outline for a planned autobiographical novel in 1949, "The Silver Salver" was the title she gave the tenth and final chapter.^[6] Brooks was 17 years old at the time of her dismissal.^[7]

Following her dismissal she joined the Ziegfeld Follies. But soon she moved into film, acting in A Girl in Every Port (1928), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and Miss Europe (1930). But despite her talent as an actress, she became best known for setting the fashion trend of bobbed hair.

She also lived in Europe and appeared in several German productions. However, she ended her career in 1938 after making only 25 movies. Instead, she shifted her focus to writing and authored a number of books. She also enjoyed painting.

Although married twice, she left no direct descendants. She died at age 78 of a heart attack on August 8, 1985 in Rochester, New York.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Dance History Secret #216:

“Louise Brooks was film actress and dancer during the 1920s.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6oTprKNeVU

Quote of the Day:

“In my dreams I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.”

- Louise Brooks

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Wacky Wednesday Up Not Back

Wacky Wednesday Up Not Back

Keeping the knees straight is always a goal in ballet. If one isn’t in plié, or going to and from a plié, the knees are straight. Exceptions are positions like attitude, etc.

The secret to straight knees is to pull them up, not push them back. Ouch! We are not flamingos! The human patella (knee cap) is designed to work up and down  – watch it move and you’ll see what I mean.

To straighten your knees, always think of pulling them upward using the thighs, elongating the leg(s) as you do so, for that all-important two-way energy.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #1xxx:

“Straighten the knees by pulling up not pushing back.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxRRtv6CGKQ

Quote of the Day:

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.”

- William Blake

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Terminology Tuesday Lyre

Terminology Tuesday Lyre

Last week I talked about bras en couronne which means arms in the shape of a crown. Today’s it is bras en lyre [brah zahn leer] which, not surprisingly, means arms in the shape of a lyre.

What’s a lyre? It’s a small, stringed musical instrument that looks like a U-shaped harp. It is most commonly associated with ancient Greece. See Link of the Day at 3:07.

In bras en lyre the arms are overhead in fifth en haut but the hands overlap, one above the other.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #6nnn:

“Bras en lyre means arms in the shape of a lyre.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evq0PrN3Jm0

Quote of the Day:

“Then Nature shaped a poet's heart a lyre From out whose chords the lightest breeze that blows Drew trembling music.”

- Emma Lazarus

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Mad Monday Knee Lights

Mad Monday Knee Lights

It’s time once again to talk turn-out. It’s the thing that makes other things happen in ballet, and the thing that dancers seem to talk about quite frequently.

Turn-out is essential and it’s the way it is used that makes it so effective. It doesn’t matter how much turn-out you have (except for aesthetics), but it does matter how you use it. Using it properly gives a larger range of movement and much greater stability. Try stepping onto a piqué relevé without turning out your supporting leg and you’ll quickly see what I mean.

That being said, one image that is fun to use is this: imagine a laser light on each knee and always have it pointed in the correct direction. If the legs are rotating correctly in the hip socket, the knee lights will radiate outward to infinity. Never to the ceiling or the floor to infinity!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #3x:

“Imagine a laser light on each knee.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9bcsTqs3S4

Quote of the Day:

“Do what you want that works.”
― Toba Beta

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Sunday You Made It

Sunday You Made It

Keep this to read at the end of a hard day.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Motivational Secret #149:

“You made it.”

Links of the Day:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/five-things-make-you-much-happier-dr-travis-bradberry/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFPTe9vOIkc

Quote of the Day:

“Out of clutter, find simplicity.”
― Albert Einstein

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Superstitious Saturday Pennies

Superstitious Saturday Pennies

I knew several dancers who kept a lucky penny. Some of them actually sewed it into a costume for good luck. But most simply had it in their possession – usually kept on their dressing table or in their dance bag backstage.

But how did pennies get such a lucky reputation? It may have come from a time when metal was scarce and so finding a penny was believed to be a divine gift that would protect the finder from bad luck.

Some say the good luck only works if the penny is given to someone else, and in Ireland they advise spitting on the penny and tossing it into the bushes. From there, fairies or leprechauns will take it as payment for providing good luck.

If you find a penny that has your year of birth on it, that’s an especially lucky one!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Superstition #143:

“Many dancers have a lucky penny.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FRnaMEOrHg

Quote of the Day:

“Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”

- Benjamin Franklin

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Fun Friday Work and Support

Fun Friday Work and Support

When performing an adagio combination with lots of lovely développés, there is always the tendency to concentrate on the working leg. Getting it more turned out, getting it higher, etc…

Pity the poor supporting leg. It doesn’t get any of the attention. It’s just there, doing a lot of the work, holding you up and operating (hopefully) as resistance to the movements of the working leg. Yet we seldom focus on it. Sigh.

Try this: from now on, during any adagio combination, concentrate on the supporting leg. Your développés will happen without all your focus being on them. And you may be surprised to find out how much this helps maintain stability and improve the whole operation.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #11o:

“Think as much about the supporting leg as the working leg in adagio.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03Y2nxIV_7g

Quote of the Day:

“We know that attention acts as a lightning rod. Merely by concentrating on something one causes endless analogies to collect around it, even penetrate the boundaries of the subject itself...”
― Julio Cortázar, Around the Day in Eighty Worlds

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:

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