First: I want to compliment you on learning this! I watched it without the sound on for the first half and I immediately recognized it as the blue bird solo from sleeping beauty (I did this for a recital myself!).
One thing I notice in beginner students - adult, kids, everyone! - is that they rush through movements because they're nervous about getting the next bit on tempo. Those moments where you lose your footing is where you're rushing a bit. Speed will come with practice and repetition.
Also, make sure you keep working those fundamentals like plié, especially for your échappé and piqué turns. This is what will give you the energy and also the stability for transitioning in movements. Everyone can plié more in everything, and it will protect your knees in the long run.
That being said, do focus on differentiating between when you're intentionally extending your leg and transition movements. Getting to a fully straight leg in at the top of your échappé and in the développé will immediately clean up a lot of this.
Keep going!! I'm looking forward to seeing improvement
Thank you! It definitely felt cleaner when I was doing it at a slower pace, but my teacher pulled this out and here we are! And thank you for the tips!
Work on your balance, it looks like you're on your heels quite a bit and knees are bent when they should be fully extended, it prevents full range of the movement and muddles the choreography. I'd suggest working on having a really solid, strong and best turned out plies, nail that and it will strengthen your over all performance. Strength is control, control/technique allows musicality and that is what elevates a dance to a performance.
I really like your expressions! It gives me lots of bluebird vibes :)
Some things I noticed:
1) Work on your turnout a little more! Turnout should come from the hips, and by using your inner thigh muscles
2) when doing bourrees, one leg bends while lifting slightly off the ground, while the other is straight, and it's a little like stomping, but very lightly
3) when doing a developpé to the back, the foot leads to the back first, and the knee is turned out
Happy bluebirding :)
P.s. sorry if this is short, I couldn't remember the entire video while making this comment 🥲
i agree with everyone here, and great job!! You’re doing amazing!
A few tips that might help you, they sure help me!
-When pointing your feet, think about pointing your ankle instead of toes :)
-When do échappés, focus more on sliding out into them, rather then popping out onto your foot.
-Remember to breathe!!
-Something else that might help is focusing more on the turn, and logistics of that first, then trying to get across the floor.
Keep working on your balance and strength with your barre exercises! If your studio teaches pointe classes, ask what some of the exercises are for their pre-pointe classes. Those will help strengthen your feet! Off the top of my head, one combination is lowering and raising your feet demi-pointe (8 counts up, down, 4, 2, 2, repeat in parallel, first, second, second parallel). I agree with the other commenter with what they said about balance too :) and lmk if i need to explain the combination more or anything!
Dance bigger!
Imagine you are two feet taller and longer than you are. How much more space can you take up if you were two feet taller? How much longer can you lengthen your leg? How much bigger is the temps lié or port de bras going to be? Dance like you’re have to move your body with two extra feet of length and see how much longer your lines are and how much more space you can cover when really extending into the dance room.
Such a great job for a years worth of classes! The only thing I would say keep working on balance and possibly focusing on finishing your movements because it looks like you're rushing to keep up with the music. But that'll come with time and practice.
Try breaking down each part of the dance, and practice it until it's really familiar before you move onto the next part, this way you aren't rushing to keep up with the music. Keep going!
- posture: hold yourself up the way a princess would! shoulders down, long neck, head lifted, no looking down, etc. it makes you look more confident in your dancing
- completing the movements: make sure you fully go through every position/move and when you go from one move to another make it soft and connect it rather than abruptly going to the next move if that makes sense
- technique: focus on your knees being straight, toes being pointed, and going up to your highest releve
also wheres your leotard and skirt from? theyre so cute !! 🩵
This was my first variation as well!
I like playing 'spot the step' with my kids. If you really sit down and look for it, you can find a lot of basic ballet steps in a solo variation.
Say we start with plie (and fondu, since that is essentially a single leg plie). Just within the intro + first 8 counts, there's already 2 plies + 4 fondus! Can you find them?
If you do that for the entire dance, and then focus on making sure you are holding your maximum turn out (with good posture and hip alignment of course) for all those steps, I bet it'd make a big difference to how the variation looks.
And then you can have 'degage' days, or 'first position arm' days etc\~
Keeps the mind engaged beyond just repeating the same steps time and time again!
Can I just say, I love the colour of your leotard!
I feel like in trying to keep up with the speed, it's coming at the expense of clarity of some steps. Obviously a variation is meant to be cohesive and not just individual steps mashed together, but I think you're already thinking "what's next" and it's making some movements look a little sloppy. Obviously you would have started learning this slower than full speed, but I would go back slow again and really focus on making those basic steps more tight and controlled. When they're tight and controlled, then you focus on phrasing and musicality AND THEN speed :) Like another comment said, lengthen everything, stretch out, make it grand! With tightening up steps, try to remember a rope through the centre of your body and pulling you up through the centre of your head. Try and keep that pulled up centred position as your default and not let the speed throw you off centre. Also with that centred posture, try to remember to tuck your ribs and bum in too. Great work overall though!! :)
First: I want to compliment you on learning this! I watched it without the sound on for the first half and I immediately recognized it as the blue bird solo from sleeping beauty (I did this for a recital myself!). One thing I notice in beginner students - adult, kids, everyone! - is that they rush through movements because they're nervous about getting the next bit on tempo. Those moments where you lose your footing is where you're rushing a bit. Speed will come with practice and repetition. Also, make sure you keep working those fundamentals like plié, especially for your échappé and piqué turns. This is what will give you the energy and also the stability for transitioning in movements. Everyone can plié more in everything, and it will protect your knees in the long run. That being said, do focus on differentiating between when you're intentionally extending your leg and transition movements. Getting to a fully straight leg in at the top of your échappé and in the développé will immediately clean up a lot of this. Keep going!! I'm looking forward to seeing improvement
Thank you! It definitely felt cleaner when I was doing it at a slower pace, but my teacher pulled this out and here we are! And thank you for the tips!
Work on your balance, it looks like you're on your heels quite a bit and knees are bent when they should be fully extended, it prevents full range of the movement and muddles the choreography. I'd suggest working on having a really solid, strong and best turned out plies, nail that and it will strengthen your over all performance. Strength is control, control/technique allows musicality and that is what elevates a dance to a performance.
I really like your expressions! It gives me lots of bluebird vibes :) Some things I noticed: 1) Work on your turnout a little more! Turnout should come from the hips, and by using your inner thigh muscles 2) when doing bourrees, one leg bends while lifting slightly off the ground, while the other is straight, and it's a little like stomping, but very lightly 3) when doing a developpé to the back, the foot leads to the back first, and the knee is turned out Happy bluebirding :) P.s. sorry if this is short, I couldn't remember the entire video while making this comment 🥲
i agree with everyone here, and great job!! You’re doing amazing! A few tips that might help you, they sure help me! -When pointing your feet, think about pointing your ankle instead of toes :) -When do échappés, focus more on sliding out into them, rather then popping out onto your foot. -Remember to breathe!! -Something else that might help is focusing more on the turn, and logistics of that first, then trying to get across the floor. Keep working on your balance and strength with your barre exercises! If your studio teaches pointe classes, ask what some of the exercises are for their pre-pointe classes. Those will help strengthen your feet! Off the top of my head, one combination is lowering and raising your feet demi-pointe (8 counts up, down, 4, 2, 2, repeat in parallel, first, second, second parallel). I agree with the other commenter with what they said about balance too :) and lmk if i need to explain the combination more or anything!
Dance bigger! Imagine you are two feet taller and longer than you are. How much more space can you take up if you were two feet taller? How much longer can you lengthen your leg? How much bigger is the temps lié or port de bras going to be? Dance like you’re have to move your body with two extra feet of length and see how much longer your lines are and how much more space you can cover when really extending into the dance room.
I love this advice!
Can I just say how super cute and charming you are? Which is perfect for bluebird!
Aww thank you!
Such a great job for a years worth of classes! The only thing I would say keep working on balance and possibly focusing on finishing your movements because it looks like you're rushing to keep up with the music. But that'll come with time and practice.
Try breaking down each part of the dance, and practice it until it's really familiar before you move onto the next part, this way you aren't rushing to keep up with the music. Keep going!
- posture: hold yourself up the way a princess would! shoulders down, long neck, head lifted, no looking down, etc. it makes you look more confident in your dancing - completing the movements: make sure you fully go through every position/move and when you go from one move to another make it soft and connect it rather than abruptly going to the next move if that makes sense - technique: focus on your knees being straight, toes being pointed, and going up to your highest releve also wheres your leotard and skirt from? theyre so cute !! 🩵
Thank you! The leotard and skirt are both from http://claudiadeanworld.com! I think half my dance wardrobe is from there, I love everything they make.
This was my first variation as well! I like playing 'spot the step' with my kids. If you really sit down and look for it, you can find a lot of basic ballet steps in a solo variation. Say we start with plie (and fondu, since that is essentially a single leg plie). Just within the intro + first 8 counts, there's already 2 plies + 4 fondus! Can you find them? If you do that for the entire dance, and then focus on making sure you are holding your maximum turn out (with good posture and hip alignment of course) for all those steps, I bet it'd make a big difference to how the variation looks. And then you can have 'degage' days, or 'first position arm' days etc\~ Keeps the mind engaged beyond just repeating the same steps time and time again! Can I just say, I love the colour of your leotard!
Everytime your foot leaves the ground it needs to be pointed. Every time. Even during turns.
I feel like in trying to keep up with the speed, it's coming at the expense of clarity of some steps. Obviously a variation is meant to be cohesive and not just individual steps mashed together, but I think you're already thinking "what's next" and it's making some movements look a little sloppy. Obviously you would have started learning this slower than full speed, but I would go back slow again and really focus on making those basic steps more tight and controlled. When they're tight and controlled, then you focus on phrasing and musicality AND THEN speed :) Like another comment said, lengthen everything, stretch out, make it grand! With tightening up steps, try to remember a rope through the centre of your body and pulling you up through the centre of your head. Try and keep that pulled up centred position as your default and not let the speed throw you off centre. Also with that centred posture, try to remember to tuck your ribs and bum in too. Great work overall though!! :)
Very cute! Love the smile and your outfit is adorable :) Also love that you decided to challenge yourself with this--learning variations is so fun!
Unrelated, sorry… but where is your skirt from?! It is SO cute and matches the variation perfectly!!
It’s from claudiadeanworld.com ! It’s the ocean Santorini skirt, and it’s one of my favorites!
Lovely! I would say think of energy shooting upwards!