Fun practice session

Image: George_Ou

Today the studio was almost empty for a little bit of time so I practiced pirouettes - promptly got a pretty ok double but only on the right side. It's so true - the more you're on autopilot, meaning the less you think about it, the better they'll turn out. All I kept focusing on was "up".

Then I tried chaînés - they're getting better but not there yet. And jumps. Right side is okay, can't get the left to work. But jumps are the most fun.

I'm happy with my dance too - I remembered all the steps of both routines, minus some details. The devil's always in the details...

Another thing I found out today - the doggy exercise (see previous post) didn't hurt so much when I tried it again. Either I got something wrong or the muscles' initial shock wasn't there. As in "You're going to use us? You're kidding, right, after all these years?" Heh heh.

Frustration

Image: Karen Blumberg

Sometimes, dancing feels like this.

Then I feel like this:

Image: Roy Costello

But why give up?

Alvin Ailey Barbie

Image: Meg Sense

OMG, there's an Alvin Ailey Barbie, I want it!

I wonder if she's more movable than a regular Barbie so that one can re-enact dance poses? That would be really cool.

Just checked Amazon. She was released to celebrate the 5oth anniversary of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2008. Now she's a collector's item and retails for around $140, holy sh*t!

I really love the Amazon entry though because they have more about the Alvin Ailey Company and customers share their stories - like one aunt who gave the doll to her niece who now takes her along to dance class. Cute story and what an inspiration for the girl!

The Barbie wears "a flowing white and lace recreation" of the costumes worn by the dancers in "Wade in the Water", one of Ailey's masterpieces, "Revelations". Talk about attention to detail! Here's the video:

What cracks me up is the manufacturer's recommended age for the Barbie, 6-15 years. It's more like 2-10 and then 20-? years.