Returning to Relevé

As you all can probably tell, I'm obsessed with custom leotards. I love the idea of having something unique. However, because (as I've mentioned before) I am a curvier dancer, it can still be hard to find something that fits perfectly. I decided that instead of continuing to try the more expensive and popular brands (Eleve, Yumiko), I would try a smaller shop and see if I could get something that fit me a little more exactly. I had great luck when I found Barreto Dancewear . The owner, Elizabeth, is a dancer with Idaho Ballet. Her designs are clean and flattering, and the majority are available in solid (but colorful) fabrics and mesh, though she does have a couple designs that have fun patterened fabric choices as well. There are a LOT of colors available (both in nylon/spandex and mesh), so your color combinations are pretty endless. Evora in Jade nylon/spandex.   I decided to try two leotards with short sleeves: the Marie and the Evora .  Before I ordered, though,...

My apologies for the radio silence for the past few weeks! I haven't had too much to report because we've been in the "calm before the storm," period of the fall session, gearing up towards preparing for our Christmas show. We just had auditions, and rehearsals will be starting soon.  Here comes the crazy! (In case you're curious, I didn't [have to] audition; they just throw me in the corps, which basically dances the entire show. It's exhausting but fun!) I started up back on pointe again last week (I've been easing up to it so I don't irritate my foot), and did about half a class (both because of caution and comfort). I'm going to have to build up my pain tolerance again, it seems. My poor, neglected RPs. I have been up to some other shenanigans, though. One of my co-worker buddies has been taking aerial silks for several months now, and has been trying to convince me to try it out. A couple of weeks ago, I went with he...

Jazz is a new dancing adventure for me, but because of my ballet technique I feel like I handle it pretty well. There are occasional steps that trip me up (i.e. turning with my passé parallel, or axle jumps), but overall I feel like I make it through class with pretty minor embarassment. It helps that the jazz teacher is super encouraging. He has complimented my technique before, telling me how clean and smooth my movements are. Sometimes I feel like this isn't always a good thing, depending on the music we're dancing to, but he seems to disagree. After class the other evening, he came up to me and told me that I make him laugh, but in the best way--"The music is going 'boom tiss boom tiss' and there's Miss Jackie, all elegant and graceful. You're like a nightingale." When I mentioned that I thought it wasn't a good thing for that particular music, he said, "No, it's great. Everything is so smooth and clean." I wasn't entirely...

I think most dancers favor one side or the other when turning, and a lot of us seem to favor turning to the right (clockwise), including myself. It doesn't matter what leg I'm actually turning on, but if I'm going clockwise, I can turn pretty darn well. I've even managed some consistent triple pirouettes and consecutive fouettés in that direction. I was having some major problems with the left (counter-clockwise). Doubles were sloppy at best, and there was no way I could manage a triple. We won't even talk about my fouettés on that side (ugh). I was getting frustrated, and the mental roadblock wasn't helping. So I started going through my mental list of what I was doing on the right that I wasn't doing on the left. First major difference? For some crazy reason, my foot moving up into passe was taking its sweet time. Adjustment #1: Hit passe more quickly. When I do right turns, I mentally visualize my opposite side coming around to help me turn (i.e....

Everyone!  The lovely capri tights are indeed from Target! They are $6 nowadays (which...hmph), though at my local store they had a few in the clearance bin in fun colors (which I may have purchased. Because aqua capri tights are totally dress-code). The tights are usually in a bunch of bins on an end cap in the hosiery section. Beyond capri tights, they also have footless, and regular footed tights in a variety of fun colors (be careful when you're picking out tights, they often get mixed in the bins). I got the M/L size, and it fit me wonderfully (as I mentioned earlier). As I've also mentioned, I'm curvy in the hips/bum, and these weren't too snug anywhere. Yay! This is the waistband. Yay, no elastic! The leg opening has similar construction. I wear them just under my knees, but they would stretch down to mid-calf. The leg opening isn't too snug either, so if you have muscular calves (which I bet you do if you're a dancer), you won't feel li...

I was digging around in my tights bin the other day, and happened upon a pair of black capri tights. I decided to give them a whirl at some point (since I'm experimenting with my class look), and stuffed them into my dance bag. Today was the day, and THEY ARE AWESOME! They're super soft and stretchy, aren't too snug (but not too loose either), and don't have an evil elastic waist (its the tight material folded over in a 1.5" band), so I don't get the dreaded "sausage" look! LOVE. The bads news? They have no tag. I have no idea from whence they came (or what size they are). I did some pondering, and I suspect they might be from Target (the cheapy $5 ones), because I'd gone on a mini-spree there last year and got some colored versions to make dance shirts out of. If they are, I'll be sure to let you guys know, because $5 awesome tights are awesome.

As I've mentioned before, my current ballet studio has a set dress code for its students. Each level has a specific style/color of leotard that they're required to wear for class, and there is a no skirts, shorts, or pants rule (though they're okay for jazz).  There are only two exceptions: Adult students (18+) can wear whatever they want (and men/boys obviously have different rules). It's that time-o-the-month. I attend class with the intermediate/advanced teenagers (aka: Grade V, even though we don't follow a syllabus), and that class also has a set leotard (a black Capeizo BraTek).  However, because I'm over 18, I can (and do) wear crazy leotards, shorts, skirts, and leggings. My bin of (crazy) leotards. The girls are mostly in the 12-16 age range, so they're at that point where they're getting uncomfortable with their changing bodies and want to hide them. This results in semi-sneaky attempts to wear shorts in ballet. Each time the ward...