What a fantastic weekend at the ballet!

 

I had a very exciting weekend! My Grandad surprised me with VIP tickets to Romeo and Juliet, starring Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova at the London Coliseum. The performance was amazing, it was the first time I had watched Osipova portray a gentler character role and her versatility as a performer is so inspiring. I was lucky enough to meet them both after the performance, as well as Wayne Sleep; it also gave me a chance to brush up on my Russian as well! I was also spoiled before the performance as my Grandad took me to the recently opened M&M World in Leicester Square. I arrived home extremely content with pictures documenting my time at the performance, a signed programme under my arm, a bottle of purple M&M’s and an M&M teddy bear in hand! Grandparents really do know how to rack up those brownie points!

I really got in tune with my child side this week as I queued up at midnight on Thursday for the release of the final Harry Potter film. I am a huge Ron Weasley fan and had been eagerly awaiting the release for months! I even found myself crying as the film ended; as I realised there would be no more films and no more Ronald Weasley! On a brighter note, I had a lovely evening with the Gypsy Booth girls and the film was excellent.

A couple of weeks ago Daniel Dolan came to London for a few days, which meant lots of catching up and exploring London! I hadn’t seen Daniel since I left the academy so there was a lot to chat about and lots to do. During his time down we even went to the cinema twice as both the Hangover part 2 and Transformers were too enticing to be passed by! Not to mention I got to go for a long awaited Thai meal in London; Thai is one of my favourite types of cuisine, but Dan is the only person I know who shares my love for it.

I was recently honoured by being asked to be the guest of honour at the Watford Grammar School for Girls presentation evening. It was lovely to be back on WGGS grounds and in the company of my former classmates! I had a good laugh getting ready with my friend Philippa and then going on to meet the other girls for pre-drinks before the evening began! At the evening, much to my horror, I had to stand in front of a room full of people and talk about my time at Bolshoi and highlights of my school days. I loved that I was able to give Mrs Hyde (the head teacher of the school) something back after everything she and the other teachers fed me during my time there.

As well as everything else, I have been spending a lot of time being a teenager! A group of us went out to celebrate my friend Connie’s 19th birthday last weekend. We went to a club and had a good old boogie! It is astonishing actually how badly a group of dancers can dance when on a club dance floor! We may come up trumps on stage, but we definitely do not have the cool factor when it comes to club dancing!

As you know, I have been teaching at Gypsy Booth and helping prepare some of the girls for their ballet exams; the exams went extremely well, with some very high pass marks! Congratulations girls and I look forward to seeing all of your faces at Summer School next week! I just hope the weather improves!

Here are a couple of belated pictures of mine and Hayley’s performance during the Repertoire Concert at Bolshoi.

It might be summer, but I’m keeping myself very busy!

Summer is here everybody! Maybe someone should inform Mother Nature though, because the rain this past week has been ridiculous; I have returned to my house looking like a drowned rat nearly every day this week.

A belated ‘Happy Father’s Day’ message to all the father figures who have stood by me and supported me through everything, particularly during the harder days out in Russia. I appreciate you all so much and thank you for all the kindness you have shown. And of course a massive ‘Happy Father’s Day’ to Daddy Carter! Who I was very pleased to be able to spend father’s day lunch with on Sunday.

Congratulations to all the girls in my class, who battled this year and finally completed their end of year exams! I gathered from all the screaming over Skype that you are all happy with the marks you achieved!!

Also Congratulations to my sister Sophie, who achieved the highest mark ever for a Medal LAMDA examination at the Gypsy Booth School. Sophie took her Silver Award LAMDA exam and was graded 90%, with the examiner asking if he could take the pieces away with him because he enjoyed them so much.  Sophie turned 17 on Monday!

I have been taking part in Jazz classes as well as ballet classes recently, in a bid to improve my stamina and fitness level. The day after my first Jazz lesson I couldn’t move! I was walking around like a stiff penguin! It is amazing the different muscles used in Jazz to Ballet and how unprepared my body was for the class after two years ballet training! It has been great fun though, as I get to dance with my friends Claire and Jacqui who I grew up in class with. Even my best friend Sonia and her mum came last week, which was extra special for me as I haven’t danced alongside Sonia in years, so it brought back a lot of fun memories.

On a Friday evening at the moment, I am teaching an allegro technique class for students going in for their Class 1 ballet exam; it is hard work because within this class I need to correct all technical flaws to ensure they achieve top grades in their upcoming exams. Thankfully, Tamara (Principal of Gypsy Booth) has the girls on a Thursday to make sure I am doing my job properly!

Last Wednesday the local South Oxhey choir held a performance at Watford Palace Theatre! Jacqui’s mum was performing within the choir, so Jacqui and I went along to support the lovely Miss Fraser; who did superbly! It was great to be able to support the parents for once, after many years of their constant support at shows, fairs and other various dancing events!

I was lucky enough to nab my friend Kieran Theivam for coffee too! He is a journalist, who interviewed me two years ago when I was first accepted into the Academy. Ever since he has kept in contact and is always handing out excellent advice for me on my down days! Kieran has previously interviewed me for a blog piece on his website http://www.thekman.blog.co.uk; a really great read and thank you so much for your continuous interest in my progress!

Some good news, some bad news and answers to your questions

Good Afternoon Everyone!

First off, a huge pat on the back and a well deserved congratulations to my friend Julian Mackay, who performed in Bolshoi’s ‘Coppelia’ that was broadcast all over the world this week. Very impressed and very proud!

We are on half term at the moment down here in Sunny London, so I have a nice long week off from work to do some basic training of my own! Over the past week, there has been a massively visible improvement in the strength of my stomach, so much so that now the pain has nearly completely gone. Only a couple of weeks remaining on my medication and then it’s off to the Doctor’s surgery again to be reassessed, and hopefully, I will be able to return with some positive news. This week I am going to be continuing my Zumba classes and attempt a full ballet class, minus jumps!

Some of you may have read on my various forums, particularly on Facebook, that I had a very silly accident the other Saturday whilst teaching! During my Pre-School ballet class, whilst teaching the girls how to skip and run like fairy princesses, I managed to jam a key into my foot! I know what you are thinking, how on earth did I manage this?! To be honest, no one really knows the answer, but we have speculated and come to the conclusion that I must have flicked it into the air as I began to jump and upon my landing, it got caught under the arch of my foot and just pierced right through!

It wasn’t painful at all, it just looked horrific! My main concerns of course, was firstly if it was going to affect my dancing and secondly, who would continue teaching my girls! Fortunately, no long term damage was done, just a lot of bruising and it is still a little sore when a mass of pressure is placed onto the foot. I shot straight off to the Hospital, alongside my friend Connie Jackson, who is also an ex-student and teacher at Gypsy Booth, and we got the key removed within 45 minutes. Within the hour, I was back at the studio, teaching the final couple of classes for the day! The girls continued to giggle as I hopped around on one leg trying to demonstrate various exercises! The parents were so supportive and calming throughout the whole situation, so a massive thanks to you all, and a massive thank you to the Doctor who both removed the key, and photographed it all. The paramedics and doctors all laughed and joked about how strange the case was! I Quote: ‘It’s okay Miss Carter, you are going to be fine, we just need to unlock this situation and get you on your way!’ Clearly he thought he was doing a stand-up show!

The weather recently has been lovely! Excellent walking weather, so I have really being taking advantage of it, by going for walks around the park as of an evening, walking to work and even walking to Zumba.

As promised I said I would focus my blog around a few topics from my Formspring that has been of recent interest. The first is about my Gymnastics classes at the Academy.

Just to clarify, it is not really gymnastics as we know it! It should really be called a stretching and strengthening class, but that is far too wordy to place on a timetable! In the class we focus on turn out and increasing your flexibility when turned out rather than just pulling your leg to your head without concerning yourself about the correct placing.

Back strengthening is also a key focus within the class, this is important to ensure our extensions to the back are both able to be held and with a good height. The class is only 40 minutes in length and we do spend the majority of it on the floor, pushing our flexibility boundaries. It is excellent before ballet because it is essentially, just like how you would warm up for class, just more intense and with guidance from a teacher.

Finally, I would just like to address all the questions about weight and food consumption. I know this is easier said than done, but if you are continuously fretting over what you can and can’t eat, or attempting crazy diets that do not properly nourish your body, how do you expect to improve your dancing? You need the strength to perform. Yes, eat well, yes, eat little and often, but it is not the end of the world if you give into a chocolate bar from time to time! You are losing the weight to dance, but how do you think you are going to be able to dance without energy?

Something that works well for lots of people is to eat well during the week while you are training, and then on a Sunday have a naughty day, where you don’t limit yourselves and are allowed to give into your cravings! Remember that when you are dancing you are burning lots of calories so you, more so than others, can afford to indulge in a meal with more calories!

I hope this helps, will blog again soon!

A trip down memory lane…

This week I spent a lot of time on Formspring answering numerous questions about Dance and my views on different aspects of a dancer’s lifestyle. Many of you also prompted me that my next blog was long overdue! So here it is!

The reason it has taken me so long to get round to writing this blog, is because I had a giant writers block! As you know, I am in England at the moment on leave and because I can’t fill you in on the exciting anecdotes from Russia, I didn’t want to bore you all with my current tedious day to day life!

While I am in England, I would love for you to contact me through comments on the blog, twitter, my Formspring or my new website, to tell me what topics you would like me to cover in the blog! I am happy to write about anything that would benefit or interest you, from how I tie my Pointe shoes to my favourite dancers and choreographers. This way you will find out what you want to know, and I won’t bore you with my blogs!

Having had a lot of spare time on my hands, I have started to create my own website; http://www.wix.com/dancernat/natcarts
On the site you can gander through photographs and videos of my life inside and outside of dance.

Since my last blog, not a lot has changed; I have continued my driving lessons! They are going well, but I am still absolutely terrified behind a wheel. In my next lesson we are going to begin learning the reverse manoeuvres so I advise everyone in the Watford area to clear the roads! I passed my theory test last week with full marks which greatly lifted my mood because I had been using my free time to revise hard for it. I am a huge geek when it comes down to revising for tests!

I have been spending a lot of my evenings at the Gypsy Booth dance school; I have been covering some of their Pointe, Ballet, Character and Singing classes while on of their teachers is on leave. It’s been great having a job because not only does it give me a break from sitting on my bottom, but it also allows me studio access to begin low intensity exercise! My stomach has rapidly improved in the past couple of weeks, and even though it is still painful, I am managing to do small amounts of exercise now, where as before I could hardly bare 5 minutes! On Saturday I took my first barre since I took my injury leave, and even though I wasn’t at my best, being back in class and feeling the music again was amazing. It really did prove to me that dancing is one of the only things that fulfills me.

As well as this, in order to build up strength, I have started Zumba! I recommend it to everyone, it could quite possibly be the most fun form of exercise I have ever tried; rally a group of friends and drag them all along because it’s excellent and I have never sweat so much in my life! Unfortunately I still can’t complete a full class but I cannot wait until I can!

Other than this, my life has been very boring, lots of lying down and resting while the tablets kick in. I am very excited for my period of medication to end so I can get back into my training and actually go out and have some fun with my friends! The positive of my injury however, is that I have seen a lot of my family, and last week we rattled through lots of old photographs which brought back lots of fun memories!

I apologise that this hasn’t been one of the most exciting reads! But hopefully with your help the next one will be!

A response to Helena’s comment on my blog entry ‘Time to be Positive!’

Firstly, a massive thank you for being such a dedicated reader! At times I wonder if what I am writing will gather any interest at all or just send readers to sleep! I hope you don’t mind but I am using your response as part of a separate blog; your questions are really great and I want to answer them fully for you and hopefully it will answer any questions other readers may also have. So here we go:

Hello again!
I hope you will be dancing again soon! I’m sure you will make a speedy recovery! I have been following your blog since day 1! It is so inspiring!
Just wondering whether I can ask you a couple of more questions about your life at the Bolshoi?
How often do you have food breaks? We have breakfast at 8am and Dinner at 6.30pm, lunch is then served throughout a four hour period and you go down when you are free.
Do you eat three meals a day, or more? 3 meals a day are provided but of course you can snack whenever you want with products you have purchased.
Can you purchase food at the academy? We have a ‘tuck’ shop selling tea, coffee, juice and chocolate.
Or do you have to leave the building to buy groceries? Yes, for meats, fruit and vegetables we have to walk to the local supermarket.
How many hours of Russian Language homework do you do every day? (Not including the 1.5 hour class?) Normally around an hour, but then you are speaking Russian all day, which in itself is an ongoing lesson.
How do you feel your Russian is coming along? It’s slowly getting there now that I have found the confidence to speak in public, my grammar still needs more revision though!
Do you feel you can communicate with the Russian girls without difficulty? Yes, they are very patient and tolerant when I struggle to find the correct vocabulary which helps.
At what time do you finish ballet every day? I have ballet from 12.50pm until 2.30pm.
Are there empty studios for you to practice in when you want to? You need a signed permission sheet from the Director in order to use studios.
And do you ever spend time in the studios by yourself? Rarely, in the dorms we have spaces with mirrors where we can practice and stretch.
Do you guys have a uniform leotard, or can you wear what you like? Is it the same for exams? We can wear what we like in class but during exams our teacher decides on a leotard for the entire class and we go out and buy it together.
And finally (gosh, alot of questions!) How many people in your class? 10 girls.
Do you feel that each student recieves lots of individual attention, or are there some students who recieve more? There is favouritism everywhere, but I haven’t noticed it greatly in my class. Our teacher is honestly amazing and the improvement she has made to our class as a whole, as well as individuals, is amazing.

Time to be Positive!

I have been put on a two month stretch of medicine in order to heal the Peptic Ulcer in my stomach; recovery is much sweeter now that I have the comfort of my family and friends around me!

Before I left Russia it was decided that I would not need to return to take the end of year exams, and my end of year mark would be a combination of my grades achieved in my previous exams and my class work. I did however, have to sit four Russian Exams before returning home. The first exam was to assess my abilities in Russian Language; I achieved 94% in this exam. My grammar let me down, I am still trying to find a way to enable me to remember the various grammar endings. The other three exams were in Musical Literature, I had to recite my knowledge of Bach, Mozart and Chopin – all in Russian! I was so nervous for these exams, I spent a whole week reciting them out loud in my room, poor Hayley had to sit and listen to my Russian mumbling nearly every night before she went to sleep! The exams went extremely well though! I received a 5 out of 5 in all three exams which set me in a positive mindset to return home in; it also meant that I would have fewer academic exams to complete in the next academic year allowing me more time to focus on my dancing and revising for the future History of Russia and Theatre Exams.

I think for me, a far greater success than achieving good exam grades was my packing ability! I definitely appreciate my mum and the many years she packed my cases for me before holiday trips. Daniel and Hayley had a good laugh at me lying across my suitcases while wrestling with the zips that would not close!! Fortunately BA let me get away with the over-sized baggage charge; I nearly had a mini heart attack when my larger bag weighed in at 35 kilos!

The hardest part about leaving Russia was saying goodbye to my Ballet teacher, even though I was returning in September, it was extremely emotional! Our Ballet teacher is a huge mother figure to us all, and she cares so much, she gets extremely upset when she can see we are upset or injured and at the same time we bounce our positive energy off one another too! I bought her a bouquet of roses and some chocolates to say thank you for being so supportive and considerate through the whole year. She also is eagerly anticipating my return in September to start the yelling and knocking me into shape once more; sounds crazy but I also can’t wait for a good thrashing in class!

Since being back I have tried to contact people as much as possible, particularly Hayley and Daniel. It’s really strange to not be around Hayley every minute sharing all of my thoughts! I can also understand how frustrating it is for our parents to try and get in contact with us because attempting to contact Dan and Hayley has been a nightmare! I will be returning to Russia to sit in and support my class through their Ballet exam from the 1st until the 6th of June and I am so excited to get back out there and see everyone and wish everyone the best for their end of year exams! I’m also looking forward to taking out some tasty Cadbury treats for them all and some Uncle Ben’s Risotto for my British buddies!

My first week back on English soil has been extremely hectic! I started the week feeling extremely rotten, and so was constantly hopping in and out of bed to lie down and relax every few hours. Mid-week my body turned blue! My inner body temperature had become extremely cold as my body used its energy to heal my stomach, however, it’s great that the medicine is working and my stomach is healing! At the end of the week I was feeling a lot stronger and managed to go and watch the Gypsy Booth School annual show. It was a tear jerker as I watched the students on stage and wished I could be up there joining them! They did very well though and I was extremely proud of them all. Thank you to the Senior Girls for my lovely card too and to the Juniors for my flowers! I am very much looking forward to dancing alongside you all while I regain my fitness for Russia. Whilst I am thanking people, another heart felt thank you to all the support shown on both the blog and my formspring account, it has been really lovely to read especially when I am having down moments! My ever wonderful English doctor has confirmed that my Peptic Ulcer should be gone in just over 6 weeks, giving me the whole Summer to prepare for the next school year!

A few weeks ago, friend and local journalist Kieran Theivam dedicated one of his blogs to the Bolshoi! He was lovely enough to interview me for it; you can read it here.

FINALLY, A WARNING TO YOU ALL! I have started driving lessons to occupy some of my time while at home; so beware when you are driving along, as I might be the learner in front causing mayhem and traffic jams on your morning school and work run. Apologies in advance!

Not my happiest blog I’m afraid, although there is a silver lining…

As I recently informed you all, I have been having some serious trouble with my stomach, where the pain had reached a limit that it was in fact preventing me from working to my full potential during class. It was recently diagnosed that I had been suffering from a stomach ulcer and it is believed that the ulcer was caused due to the intensity of the Ibuprofen tablets used last year to reduce the pain I was feeling in my hip. Ibuprofen is obviously a very strong anti-inflammatory and unfortunately my stomach wasn’t quite prepared for its strength and it ended up doing my body more damage than good!

My wonderful friend Athanasios jumped to my rescue and put me in contact with his family doctor who treated his mother’s stomach ulcer a few years ago. The doctor has prescribed me a two month course of tablets, which have an extremely high success rate so I should be back to my strong dancing self in no time! Unfortunately it is advised that I rest as much as possible whilst taking the tablets, and if I do feel strong enough to dance, it should be at a low intensity (a floor barre is highly recommended) until I can get my physical fitness back up.

The international department were informed of my situation this week when I went to ask how this would effect my position at the school for the following year. Rest assured, they insisted that due to my top grades last year, and strong performance up until this point, they have no problem with putting me straight through to next year’s course; I was over the moon because this means I can stay in a class with my amazing ballet teacher and the girls I have grown so close to!

All my teachers have collectively decided that it is for the best I rest at home, they do not want me to be sitting in the dorms in case I contract any serious side effects from the medication, and they have full confidence that when I return in September, I will be able to jump straight back into class and regain my previous strength and ability.

Another positive point about recovering at home, is that I have the facilities of a Gym, dance studio and park, where I can gradually build my strength and technique up again; it is unfortunate that when you are ill in Russia you must either watch class or rest in bed, and then straight away jump back into a high intensity class again, leaving no time to gradually gain the strength lost.

This week, before returning home, I am cramming in all of my musical literature exams, to ensure I have completed my academic studies at the school before I head home. The Russian department at the school have also been kind enough to agree to fax over any further Russian work, so that my language skills are not lost.

On a brighter note, the past couple of weeks have allowed me to watch a lot of classes and take in the teaching methods used at the school; this has proved a great help as I have always loved teaching and hope to pursue a career in it later in life!

I am extremely touched that the school have shown their confidence in my abilities by allowing me an automatic pass to next year without the need to take exams, to repeat a year or lose my place within the school. The support my teachers have shown me throughout the past month has been amazing and I am actually very sad to leave! Ideally I wanted to stay until the end of the year, but I was told I was being silly and for once needed to think of what is best for my health.

I’m sorry if I’m portraying myself as a weak person, but any dancer will tell you, that there is nothing worse than pushing yourself through an injury. It will only reduce your chances of permanent recovery and it will certainly not enhance your dancing ability. I will keep you posted on my progress and hopefully I can learn from this and help others that are trying to regain their fitness whilst recovering from injury.

A fantastic time in England but now a worrying stomach injury

Wow, it seems as though it has been forever since I last checked in! Internet is definitely not wanting to work in my favour at the moment, and it’s unreliability is becoming increasingly tedious.

As you all know, I scheduled a short break back to England after my first performance with the Bolshoi Academy; it was great to get home in such high spirits and with so many photographs and videos to share with my family and friends. Whilst at home I was treated to a delicious Chinese dinner, where my sister insisted on demonstrating to me the many ways of using chopsticks (none of which were the traditional technique!), I was taken to my Grandad’s new flat, taken to work with my step dad to prove I am also to lift boxes as well as my legs! My daddy and I caught up over coffees and my mummy and I spent quality time together at the hairdressers and around the town! I also couldn’t resist dropping by to Gypsy Booth to watch the show preparations and take part in a Ballet Barre! It was emotional watching the show dances because at this time of year I always miss being apart of the preparation because it was such a large part of my life for so many years! And of course, I spent a lot of time catching up with Jacqui, Claire, Tamara and Rachael – of whose company and conversation I miss so much whilst in Russia. Another massive bonus is that whenever I catch up with them, it feels like time has just stood still, and nothing between us has changed so I never feel out of place! The only negative about going home for such a short period is that I can never fit in everyone; but the summer is fast approaching so I don’t have too long to wait to be reunited with everyone again for even more fun!

As much as I love being back, my spirits have been very low over the recent weeks; I cannot tell you why sad moments are triggered, but sometimes it just hits you when you wake up, that you are three thousand miles from everyone you love. To top my bad mood off, my stomach has been playing up a lot recently, causing me great pain in class so my performance levels haven’t been as high either. Safe to say, I believe we have found a solution to settle my stomach so I can go fighting back into classes this week! The combination of missing home and my poorly stomach has made me very difficult to laugh with recently, and my entire family can vouch for the fact that I can be extremely stubborn when in a mood! So, a giant public apology for all of those who have to live with me!

In times of injury, my teachers really come into their own in terms of parenting and caring. All of my teachers have been trying to find solutions to help settle my stomach in classes, particularly my ballet teacher, of whom completely understands when I am in pain and when it is better for me to rest rather than work through it all. She is a massive mother figure for me while I am here; she pulls me aside when I am sad, takes me to the doctor when I am in pain and even calls up to the dorms to ensure that I have gone down to eat my meals! Unfortunately, due to the fragile condition of my stomach, everyone believes it is best for me not to partake in the Duet exams this year, but over summer my mum and myself intend to find a duet course to ensure I am not behind for the start of Second Course; this will not effect my place at the school though.

Last weekend was Daniel and Niklas’s 18th and 20th birthday and in order to celebrate, a group of us booked a table at the Sky Lounge last night and enjoyed an evening of fun and delicious food! There were many highlights to the evening, from when Alex insisted on ordering just mash potato with a giant dollop of tomato ketchup, to our own personalized rendition of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ on the taxi journey home! The evening was a great opportunity for the girls to get their heels and curlers out and for the boys to pull out their blazers! Whenever I go out with the international group, it always amazes me the number of languages and nationalities that are gathered around one table!

The most nerve wracking part of the past week was definitely when Revich told us that our Ballet Exam was to be either the second or third of June. Of course we all know that the exams are vast approaching but knowing exactly when the torture will commence really makes your insides churn!

The younger classes are on a week’s holiday this week, which is opening various time slots for Revich to squeeze in extra studio for our class in order to set out Exam Class. So I am sure by the end of the week I shall be crawling up the stairs and into bed! When she gets going, its very difficult to slow her down! At the start of the week, she was jump crazy and by the end of class, only 5 girls were still standing and as soon as she left the room, they all collapsed to the floor and gasped for air!

Absolutely loving answering everyone’s questions on my Formspring so please keep them coming!

What an exciting week I’ve had!

It’s been one whirlwind week at the Academy! Emotions have plummeted and soured, but to finish a week of hard rehearsals and auditions with a show on the Bolshoi Stage was such a buzz. Hayley and I were kitted out in two beautiful blue tutus and crowns to match, before taking to the stage to perform our Variation.

Yes, our variation may not have gone as well as it has done in rehearsals, but that’s life! It was our first experience not only performing on a raked stage, but performing alongside our peers from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.

Unlike the Auditions, I wasn’t nervous because I had already danced in front of everyone I was anxious dancing in front of; I enjoyed every moment on the stage, it reminded me why I am studying ballet in Russia and it definitely induced further determination to continue working hard to achieve my goals. I made mistakes as you can see if you watch the videos, but that gives me something to work on! I need to keep my calm under pressure!

Here are the links to our Final Performance of the Grand Pas Duet; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Hto4OSV9E

And my Contemporary Repertoire rehearsal; http://www.youtube.com/user/danieldolandance#p/a/u/0/hzaU1mm1GbM

If you click onto the user ‘danieldolandance‘ you will also find some great videos of Daniel’s classes’ performance pieces.

I was pulled aside by my teacher and the international department who assured me that they loved the contemporary number. They insisted that I cannot forget the piece because it suits me so well and I capture the emotion needed to perform it, and after a change around of the choreography and corps dancers, I will be given the chance to perform it in the future; so this week really has been full of great experiences and news!

The show lasted four hours! But it was great to see how everyone is improving and some of the acts really are phenomenal; it gives you a motivational boost to see the third course doing so brilliantly, knowing one day, with hard work, you could be equally as talented.

We have received a long weekend due to Women’s Day, which is a national holiday in Russia, and I am lucky enough to be able to go home and spend some quality time with my family and closest friends! Not to mention making time to fit in a well needed hair cut!

UPDATE! We’ve got blue tutus!

Happy news for myself and Hayley! Even though our class as a whole were not up to par, our variation was selected from the group performance for Friday’s Performance! We just had our blue tutus fitted and are now rehearsing vigorously before the show!