Sunday Joy

Sunday Joy

Isn’t joy wonderful? That feeling of overwhelming happiness that seems to come out of nowhere? Wouldn’t it be great if we could call it up anytime, whenever we feel the need? Well, maybe we can get close to that.

Joy is a result of accepting the present moment. This means not crowding it out with worrying about what happened yesterday, or what might happen tomorrow. Just accept what is happening right now. Oh, I know – it’s not easy. But you have probably experienced this feeling before, when you were so absorbed in something you were doing that you became “lost in the moment”.

When this happens, when we are gloriously “lost”, time seems to stand still, and a feeling of joy results. Also, when we accept and embrace the present moment, we begin to notice things that escaped us before. All the little beautiful things that slipped right by us.

This week try to capture joy by living in the present without worry or fear - leftover or projected. Just now.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Motivational Secret #58:

“Joy results from accepting the present moment.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy5A8dVYU3k

Quote of the Day:

“‎You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.”
― Jan Glidewell

            Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

My latest books are two 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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

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Saturday Place

Saturday Place

As a child I remember my mother telling me “a place for everything and everything in its place”. This was her way of instructing me about the value of neatness and organization – two very useful habits for a ballet dancer.

Everything in ballet has its place, and when the technique is clean and solid, everything is in its place. There is no sloppiness, or random placement of legs, arms, feet, etc. Everything has a designated, specific place. This idea can be rather daunting for a beginner.

But it works well. It creates clean, beautiful lines, and lovely, flowing movement. No deviation, no out-of-focus moments. A place for everything and everything in its place.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Statute #108:

“In ballet, there is a place for everything.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.facebook.com/ruth.petrinovic/posts/10212178094709492

Quote of the Day:

“See if you can approach your own practice with a healthy combination of mindfulness, playfulness, precision, and curiosity”
― Cyndi Lee

            Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

My latest books are two 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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

Or "Like" me on my Facebook Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Violet-Rightmire-256648280108/timeline/

Or visit my Pinterest page:

https://www.pinterest.com/debtutu/

Fun Friday Everything Reaches

Fun Friday Everything Reaches

I’ve often discussed two-way energy and how there is always an equal and opposite pull. But it goes beyond that.

Everything reaches. It’s not just two ways – it’s all ways. In any position, in any movement, there are multiple directions of energy. It just helps to pinpoint two – to begin with – to establish the equal and opposite idea.

But today, think about how many different directions there are: up, down, left, right – and places in between. Send energy (always equal and opposite) in all of these and see what happens.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #22kk:

“Everything reaches out.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaeIHAlgRY4

Quote of the Day:

“The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it”
― D.L. Moody

            Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

My latest books are two 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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

Or "Like" me on my Facebook Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Violet-Rightmire-256648280108/timeline/

Or visit my Pinterest page:

https://www.pinterest.com/debtutu/

Throwback Thursday and Mathilde Kschessinska

Throwback Thursday and Mathilde Kschessinska

Mathilda-Maria Feliksovna Kshesinskaya was born in Russia on August 19, 1872. She studied dance under Johnasson and Cecchetti at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, graduating in 1890. She then joined the Maryinsky Ballet and achieved the title of prima ballerina assoluta. This title was awarded to only one other Russian dancer, Pierina Legnani. 

Kschessinska is credited by some as the first dancer to achieve mastery of 32 fouettés. Interestingly, this feat is also attributed to Pierina Legnani.

Kschessinska danced all the major classical ballet roles and performed in Swan Lake in London for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, partnered by Nijinsky. She was a friend (some say mistress) to Nicolas II (who was executed in 1918) and to his cousin the grand duke André. She married André in 1921.

In 1920 she left Russia and moved to Paris. She remained here, teaching many students who went on to dance professionally, such as Tatiana Riabouchinska and Margot Fonteyn. She wrote her autobiography, published in 1960; Dancing in Petersburg: The Memoirs of Kschessinska).

She died in Paris on December 7, 1971.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #:

“Mathilde Kschessinska is said to have been the first Russian dancer to master 32 fouettés.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2lL0H9DaqE

Quote of the Day:

“Most of life’s big steps require a certain muddling through, a trusting that no one really knows the magical formula for the big firsts in life.”

- Cram, Cusi

                Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

Or "Like" me on my Facebook Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/Violet-Rightmire-256648280108/timeline/

Or visit my Pinterest page:

https://www.pinterest.com/debtutu/