Wacky Wednesday Space

Wacky Wednesday Space

Today I’m starting another chapter involving Classroom Secrets. These are the often unsaid rules that are (hopefully) understood and assimilated by dancers as they go through their training – but often are not. Sigh.

The first rule is to always leave enough space around yourself during class. You should have enough space to the front, side and back so that you could do a grand battement in any direction and not kick anything or anybody. In a crowded classroom, this can be challenging, but it is important for obvious reasons.

This requires constant awareness. Awareness is an essential skill for dancers and this awareness is used not only in the classroom, but also onstage. It helps a dancer make quick adjustments if necessary – to stay out of the way of falling objects (gasp!), or simply make accommodations if a dancer nearby is out of place.

Always keep the space!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Classroom Secret #28a:

“Always leave enough space around you during class.”

Link of the Day:

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

Quote of the Day:

I'm choosing happiness over suffering, I know I am. I'm making space for the unknown future to fill up my life with yet-to-come surprises.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

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 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:

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Technical Tuesday Hair

Technical Tuesday Hair

The next time you put your hair in a bun, here are some interesting facts to consider. The average lifespan of a human hair is 3-7 years, so those hairs have been in a bun many, many times before.

Hair is made up of keratin, a substance also found on the outer layer of our skin and our nails. The outermost layer of hair is called the cuticle, and under a microscope you can see that this layer is made up of tiny overlapping scales-like segments. For all you science nerds, the composition of hair is: 50 percent carbon, 21 percent oxygen, 17 percent nitrogen, 6 percent hydrogen, and 5 percent sulphur.

If you want to grow your hair really long, it will take about seven years for it to reach your waist. Hair grows fastest in warm weather, and hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body except for bone marrow.

The most common hair color is black, and the least common is red.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Anatomical Secret #26mm:

“The average lifespan of a human hair is 3-7 years.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqz4Zpvq-Yk

Quote of the Day:

“People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there.”
― Dolly Parton

                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://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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Marvelous Monday Hands on Hips

Marvelous Monday Hands on Hips

Yes, here I go again with another thought about two-way energy. This energy is so important there can never be enough ways to think about it.

Here is a simple idea: Put your hands on your hips. That’s right. Any time you are having difficulty with a step – any step or turn – try doing it with your hands on your hips. Feel like your hands are pressing gently downward. This will provide the toward-the-floor energy sensation that may have been lacking.

Usually, dancers are pulling up too much, without a corresponding energy going down, and placing the hands on the hips makes the “down energy” easier to feel.

Try it!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #22ww:

“ Hands on hips helps dancers feel downward energy.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiQDaEOFRLY&t=55s

Quote of the Day:

“Gravity is not a trivial monster.”
― Frank Cottrell Boyce, Cosmic

                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://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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Sunday Wonderful

Sunday Wonderful

Looking into the face of a child during the holidays is an uplifting experience. For them something wonderful is about to happen and everything around them proclaims this fact. You may remember what it felt like when you were a little child and the holidays were the “best time of the year”.

It’s largely because children truly believe something wonderful and exciting is going to happen – and soon. What if we all lived with that philosophy? It would keep us focused on positive possibilities instead of nasty negativisms. Sounds good to me.

And when wonderful things have happened in your life, how often did they come unexpectedly? Usually, I’d guess.

So start each day with the thought that something wonderful might happen – you never know! It could turn out to be one of the best days of your life.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Motivational Secret #195:

“Always believe something wonderful is about to happen.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oysOfNFK0oI

Quote of the Day:

“The key to a wonderful life is to never stop wandering into wonder.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

                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://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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Saturday Statute Break A Leg

Saturday Statute Break A Leg

Most people are familiar with the phrase “break a leg”, used to wish actors (a known superstitious group), good luck before a performance. The origin of this phrase is debated and fascinating to read about http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/11/origin-of-the-phrase-break-a-leg/, but it is a phrase that dancers do not use. We have an entirely different way to wish each other well. It is the word “merde”. The translation in English is that of a four-letter word that means human or animal waste.

How did “merde” come to be the accepted word for dancers? Supposedly, back in the day, when horse-drawn carriages carried the elite to the theatre, the horses would, naturally, leave their “calling cards” on the street. The more merde in the street, the more people in the audience.

Now you know!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Ballet Statute #103:

“Unlike actors, dancers never say “break a leg” before a performance.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEi2Bof88fw

Quote of the Day:

“There are some things, after all, that Sally Owens knows for certain: Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.”
― Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic

                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://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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Fun Friday Frame by Frame Fouettés

Fun Friday Frame by Frame Fouettés

Today’s link describes a different way to think about fouettés. If you are working on improving yours (and who isn’t?), try this new way of thinking.

Imagine “stirring” the port de bras as a way of feeling the centripetal and centrifugal forces (see previous blog on this), and also imagine “sitting” back and forward (toward the back corner of the room) on each turn. This prevents moving gradually forward and/or side with each turn. In effect, it helps keep you in the same place. Today’s video explains this in detail. There are many fouetté videos on Youtube that you can watch frame by frame and see the breakdown.

Remember: The problem with fouettés isn’t creating the force, but controlling it.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #14kk.:

“Stirring the pot helps with fouettés.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZJNQaBAb0Q&t=404s

Quote of the Day:

Everything turns, rotates, spins, circles, loops, pulsates, resonates, and repeats.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

                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://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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Throwback Thursday and Jean Spangler

Throwback Thursday and Jean Spangler

Born in Seattle Washington on September 2, 1923, Jean Elizabeth Spangler was an American dancer and model who also appeared in film and television. Some of those films include: Miracle of the Bells (1948), When My baby Smiles at Me (1948), Chicken Every Sunday (1949), and others.  Spangler disappeared on October 7, 1949 and the case remains unsolved today.

She married Dexter Benner in 1942. They had a daughter but divorced in 1948 and became involved in a long custody battle, with Spangler eventually receiving custody in 1948. When Spangler disappeared she and her daughter (age 5) were living with her mother and sister-in-law in Los Angeles.

Spangler left home about 5:00 pm on October 7, 1949 saying she was going to going to work on a night shoot for a film. She was never seen again. Two days later her purse, with its straps broken, was found near Griffith Park. Inside was a note: “Can't wait any longer, Going to see Dr. Scott. It will work best this way while mother is away,". Investigation produced no results.

For several years, the Los Angeles Police Department continued to search and circulated Spangler’s picture. Despite many possible sightings over the years, Spangler has never been found and the case has never been closed.

The television program Mysteries and Scandals did an episode on Jean Spangler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IREdeDeIT7o.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Dance History Factoid #191:

“The disappearance of  Jean Spangler remains unsolved.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1z-8RP7VHc

Quote of the Day:

“When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.”
― Charles Baxter, Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction

                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://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

Or "Like" me on my Facebook Author Page:

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

Or visit my Pinterest page:

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