Ballet Class…À la Seconde…

So Monday night was my second ballet class…and it was…

less like…

but felt more like…

The second class was just wonderful!  My body is remembering more and breaking from it’s shell of ballet dormancy.  I arrived early again to spend about 15 minutes in the back studio warming up and I definitely could tell it made a difference for me.  It was really cold that night and I knew I had to get my ankles and back good and warm for class.  I even sported leg warmers to the studio to keep the ankles warm on the way.  I very, very 1986. LOL

Pretty much, only I had navy blue sweatpants and grey legwarmers!

In class, I felt my turnout working better and standing straighter and working to keep square.  My turns had more ease but I was still dropping my shoulder.  I was remembering the combinations better, but I still need to be bookended by other two dancers in my class to keep me on track at times!

Center was the most fun for me even though I worked my tail off at the barre.  We had a lovely stretch and then got to combinations.  The first one was a brain twister but loved its’ slow and measured movements.  Then she moved us to the side and we went down the room in something more fast paced…piqué turn, piqué turn, balancé, balancé, piqué turn, piqué turn, sauté, balancé, sauté, balancé, pas de chat, step, sous sous and then we would do this gorgeous walk in a half circle and be ready to go on the other side.  OK, do you know how long it has been that I have wanted to report on my combinations from ballet class like everyone else? Ha!  Now I have.  It was a simple combination but I just loved the flowing movement and I felt like flying.  I was a complete dork and imagined I was dancing on the Bolshoi stage and just let go.  It was freedom.

After class it was so nice to chat with the other ladies in the class and they really inspire me.  The younger girl works her tail off in college, holds down a job, and she manages to fit in ballet class.  She is a really pretty dancer.  The other lady I can tell really enjoys ballet and tries so hard and she has some very pretty extensions.  They invited me to sign the birthday card for our teacher which she had this past Friday.  I thought that was so nice.  I really like our little group.

Now I have to wait until next Monday for another class…WAH!  I can tell I am going to have to find a way to work in a second class during the week…I am really getting back the ballet bug!

I wasn’t as sore the next day as I was last week, so that means I am either recovering better or need to work harder. 🙂  I vote both.

OK well, I am now back to counting down until my next class on Monday…who woulda thunk that Mondays are now my favorite day and can’t wait for it to get here!

Ballet Boo-Yah!

So, the universe is telling me ballet classes are in my near future…

1. There was gorgeous ballet dancing at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics with not just one but two superstars of Russian ballet, who I adore, Svetlana Zahkaraova and Diana Vishneva.

2. Also, I found these pretty legwarmers at my local Dollar General for $2.50…yeah baby….Ballet Boo-Yah!  They even have nice turn out…

Ballet Boo-Yah!

 

So, all this MUST mean the universe is funneling me towards starting ballet classes, right?  Right.

New Ballet Goodies!!!

Got me some new ballet goodies! Oh yeah!

See, I didn’t mean to get them but the dance store was right next door to a business my hubby had me drop off some paperwork.  All the way there I was like “Don’t need to go in there.  Don’t need to go in there.  Don’t need to go in there.  Don’t need to go in there.  Ok maybe I could just loooook.”

Lookie, lookie what I gottie!!!

I walked in really just wanting some new leg warmers that were not so long. I am short and my thigh length leg warmers are more like waist length on me.  The sales girl was so cute when I asked for the stirrup style and she said, “The kind that you want to go over your pointe shoes, right?”  Oh how I wish it was to go over pointe shoes!  I bought a pair that is 27″ and when stretched out comes just above the knee on me .

Then I thought I would check into some new flats.  Ya know, just peruse the selection.

I wanted new flats because when wearing my old ones the foot pad always hit the ball of my left foot in a bad spot, especially in relevé. I needed something that had a wider pad and I found Bloch’s “Pro Elastic” with a very wide foot pad. It even feels a little bit cushy. It’s not the prettiest shoe but it feels good on my foot and no more pain. The elastics were even sewn on too!  Talk about ballet swag and they came home in the bag!

Review of Xtend Barre: Lean and Chiseled

First off, I was so excited to start my new “dancery” workout video I had to start wearing some dance gear!  I broke out some of my ballet items I had bought a few years ago when I took some classes.

How about them leg warmers and ballet shoes for ya?  I loved every second that I wore them!

Ok, so back to the subject matter at hand…

I thought Xtend Barre: Lean and Chiseled was AWESOME.  It felt like it was a ballet dancer’s workout video. My Jillian Michaels video’s do not shine a light to this one.  It truly gave me a fantastic workout and it kept ballet and dance elements throughout the whole workout. The movements were not your typical workout moves,which was very refreshing.  By the end of it, I was very glad I decided to start  getting some conditioning because I learned that I am severely out of shape. At several points, I had to modify the exercises by stopping or just doing some demi-plies or tendu’s to give myself a breather. I got a very thorough workout without any high impact movements. I need to be able to strengthen my ankles and feet for ballet class and this workout will certainly be helping.

Ok, so I admit it, I was sweating by the end of the upper body workout..shhh….  So, I really did get what I was asking for in this workout!

Here is a breakdown of the whole thing…

The workout is a total of 55 minutes long.  You can do the whole workout from beginning to end or you can choose which segments you want to do that day.  I like that a lot.  At this point, I need to break it up until I have gotten in better shape and can do it all from start to finish at once. Below is the order of the workout:

1. Warm-Up (Great!)
2. Upper Body (Seriously, this will make you sweat)
3. Barre ( Very good, almost felt like a ballet class)
4. Core (Not your average crunches)
5. Cool-down (Just ok)

Since I need to break these up due to my fitness level, I will do Barre/Core on one day and Upper Body/Core on another day.  Of course, I’ll do the warm up each day as well.

The only cons I have for this workout is the music is a little cheesy rumba-zumba like.  It truly would be better with some classical music but that is just my preference.  I didn’t really like the cool down either.  It was too fast paced.  I did some of their stretches and I ended up doing my own slow stretches for about 20 minutes to work in time on increasing my flexibility.  They do some stretching at certain points during the barre section of the workout, which I liked.  Trust me, you will need them at those points!

In conclusion, if you are looking for a good workout to compliment your dance class or want just a ballet-esque workout Xtend Barre: Lean and Chiseled is a good one to do!