Summer Session 2011, June 20 – July 29

Session 1

June 20 (Monday) – Day 1

Today was my first day of ballet summer camp.  There are 11 boys and girls.  4 of the girls go to SFBS.  I know 3 of them.  Also 1 boy from SFBS is in the summer camp.  I remember his face from the occasional co-ed ballet classes at SFBS.  Most of the day was ballet,  but there was 1 hour of jazz after lunch break then another hour of ballet.  Also the teacher said I could go en pointe.  Yes! An older student said I should go to Dancer’s Emporium for my first pointe shoes.  Dad thinks it’s okay but wants to make sure and talk to my teacher about it.

After camp was finished,  I went with Dad to his work and hung out there until it was time to go home.

Overall,  my first day of camp felt good,  because I was back in ballet.

June 21 (Tuesday) – Day 2

Today was my second day of camp.  We had different teachers today than yesterday and a modern dance class instead of jazz.  This time we did harder stuff than yesterday.  For example, we started practicing tour jetés.  And pirouettes from 4th position.  In modern dance,  we learned how to fall and recover from a fall in a fun way.  After camp was over, I was really tired but I felt good about ballet

The best part of my day was after ballet when Dad and I went to a nearby dance wear store (SF Dancewear) to get my first pointe shoes.  I was (and am) so excited about it.  They are Grishkos Model 2007 (Size 7 SS) from Russia.  I am really happy about getting pointe shoes.

To summarize, my second day of ballet was challenging yet exciting, and I can’t wait to go back tomorrow.

 

June 22 (Wednesday) – Day 3

Today was the third day of camp.  We had the same teachers as Monday.  An hour before class started, I took the adult stretching class at 8:30.  It was really short.

Just before lunch, I got to try out my pointe shoes and take pointe class with them.  The teacher helped me sew ribbons and elastic on to them.  It hurt, but every other girl en pointe was complaining of pain too.  It was so cool going on pointe.  After pointe class, one of the ballet teachers took us out to a nearby cafe (Cumaica) to get chocolate smoothie-ish drinks.  It was fun.

To finish, ballet today hurt ( pointe class ) but I had a good time and am lovin’ ballet!

 

June 23 (Thursday) – Day 4

Today was my fourth day of ballet camp.  We had the same teachers as Tuesday.  One of the girls, Lilah and her brother Max skipped camp this week.  They went somewhere out of the state on vacation.

Everyday the ballet classes seem to be harder and harder.

During pointe class, one of the things we did was arabesque on pointe.  It was really hard and I was kind of wobbly at the beginning but in the end I got it.  We also walked across the ballet floor en pointe and around a chair in the middle of the room en pointe.

To end, my fourth day of ballet was challenging and hard.  But I still am enthusiastic about ballet.

 

 

June 24 (Friday) – Day 5

Today was my fifth day of camp.  We had the same teachers as Wednesday except instead of jazz class we had stretching class.  In pointe class, we started to do bourré en pointe (a rapid up and down movement).  I did it surprisingly well.  But it was quite painful and tiring.

To finish, today was painful and definitely tiring.  But I can’t wait for the next week of camp.

June 27 (Monday) – Day 6

Today was the beginning of the second week of ballet.  We did some combinations from last week and harder new combinations.  We had jazz class and learned a really hard jazz combo.  A new kid joined class.  I recognized her.  She was in my ballet class at SFBS and her name is Clara.

Pointe class hurt my feet.  We had 45 minutes of it and we started to do a combo that would prepare us for a type on turn en pointe.  I forgot what the name of the turn was.  Clara appeared to have just started pointe because she was really wobbly en pointe and she didn’t know how tie her pointe shoe ribbons.  I helped her tie her ribbons.

Overall, my 6th day of ballet was okay.  But not fabulous.

 

June 28 (Tuesday) – Day 7

Today was my seventh day of ballet.  We had a different teacher for the morning ballet part.  He was really funny.  I hope we have him again.  2 new kids joined the class.  A boy and a girl.  One of the girls, Emily, brought peaches from her dad’s orchard.  They were cold and refreshing.

Mr. Berg taught pointe class today.  We started to do turns.  We also did bourrés without the barre.  We’re doing harder and harder combos.

In  modern dance class, we learned how to do rolls.  We had to careful not to roll into the other students.

Even though I learned a lot, today was really tiring.  This is a tough schedule and I need more sleep.

 

June 29 (Wednesday) – Day 8

Today was the eight day of camp.  We had a new teacher.  She was nice.  The girl who came yesterday didn’t show up today.  I wonder why.  The new boy is still in class.

During pointe class we started bourré running en pointe.  It really hurt.  We had to do it across the room.

In the last hour of ballet class, Mr. Henry taught us an adagio from a ballet.  It was really hard.  I don’t know what the ballet is called.

I learned a lot today, and I can’t wait for tomorrow.

 

June 30 (Thursday) – Day 9

no entry

 

July 1 (Friday) – Day 10

I didn’t write an entry yesterday – we got home too late.  Went straight to bed.

Phew, I can’t believe today was the end of my second week.  What a grueling 2 weeks!  We were allowed to do the adagio combination we learned yesterday en pointe.  Before, only the older students were allowed to do it en pointe.

Also, for part of the camp the students got to be the teachers.  It was really cool being the teachers.  Mr. Henry told us each what ballet move we had to make a combination for.  I got grande bâtement, or big kick.

Being the teacher was hard because you had to know basic accompaniments to a combination.  For example, how many counts between each kick or to do a pas de bourrée or a passé.  And you had to be able to explain and show  how it’s done.   You also had to know, should the arms be opposite the leg or not.  Or how you would transition to the other leg or should you reverse the combination at the end.

I can’t wait for next week.

 

Session 2

July 4 (Monday) – No class

It’s Independence Day

July 5 (Tuesday) – Day 11

I was the only kid who came early, so when I did floor barre ( stretching class ) in the morning, it was one-on-one with the teacher.  After that class was finished I did part of the regular adult class.

Only 3 kids from last session showed up.  There were 4 new kids.  One of the new kids, a girl was also named Amelia.  So the teacher started calling us Amelia 1 and Amelia 2.  The other new girl has the most awesome colored hair.  It’s bright bronzeish-red.  She also has freckles.  Her name is Bryanna.  Another new kid, a boy I recognized from SFBS.

In pointe class, only the other girls from last week and I were on pointe.  The other 2 girls didn’t have pointe shoes.

Today instead of jazz, we had modern dance.  We learned some Martha Graham techniques.  Martha Graham was a famous modern dancer.  We also did a bunch of different types of jumps with bare feet.  It really hurt.  I now know what my dad feels like after a really, really long walk.

I can’t wait for tomorrow.

 

July 6 (Wednesday) – Day 12

I got to ballet late today.  Lila and her brother Max rejoined ballet camp.  Their mom takes the adult ballet class in the morning so they get to camp early.

We had jazz today.  The teacher taught us a new combo that was very complicated.  It had a lot of jazz pirouettes and grande bâtements.  Most of the ballet moves done in jazz are turned in, not out.  This makes them different.

In pointe class we started to do pirouettes en pointe.  I was really wobbly and couldn’t stay on pointe for more than 2 seconds.

We started learning how to do fouettés in flat shoes.  I couldn’t do more than 1 fouettés.  But I really want to be able to do at least 10 by the end of camp because Odile in Swan Lake does 32 of them in a row on pointe and it looks awesome when she does them.

I hope we do fouettés tomorrow.

 

July 7 (Thursday) – Day 13

I got to ballet early today.  When I did floor barre today, I got complimented on my turn out.  I’ve been working on it extra hard because you need it for pointe and one of my previous ballet teachers said I needed to work on it.

In pointe class, we started to bourré en pointe across the room.  We also walked en pointe and did piqué turns ( piqué turns are turns that have a passé in them. ) across the room.  Also we did pirouettes en pointe.

On flat we did fouettés again.  I kept on falling. Then we learned a new combo that was in 2 parts.

I hope we do piqué turns tomorrow.

 

July 8 (Friday) – Day 14

Today I did floor barre in the morning with Mr. Charles.  In regular barre, we had Miss Julie.  We have her a lot.  She also teaches pointe class.  The other Amelia didn’t come today.

Instead of jazz today, Mr. Henry taught floor barre.  It hurt, but I saw the progress made in my splits.  I’m almost down.  Yay!

In the last hour we did the variation Ms. Julie taught us one by one in front of the other class.  I wasn’t feeling so well so Ms. Julie said I could go last.  She said I did well I just had to remember the difference between first and second arabesque.  We also worked on fouettés

I hope we do fouettés on Monday.  I need to work on them.

 

July 11 (Monday) – Day 15

Today floor barre had already started when I arrived so I couldn’t do it.  A new kid, a boy came to camp.  He was in Billy Elliot and everyone in camp had seen Billy Elliot ( except me ).  Everybody thought he was cool and started talking Billy Elliot with him.

In regular barre we had Mr. Charles.  I’m glad we got him as a teacher today.

We had jazz today.  We added more jazz moves to the combo we were learning.  The combo got even more complicated.  I like the ending though.  It has a second position on relevé with arms in a v then what can only be described as a Spiderman crouch with both arms down.

In the last hour we focused on the variation we learned last week.  We didn’t get to do fouettés though.

 

July 12 (Tuesday) – Day 16

Today we had Ms. Julie as our teacher.  It was really cold out so she let us wear jackets or long sleeved t-shirts until we got to therond dé jambecombination.

A new girl came to camp.  Her name is Rachel.

We had modern dance today.  We did a lot of contractions and walking and skipping backward.  I kept on messing up which leg to passéand arms in oppisition.

In the 3:00-4:00 period, we learned a new variation from Ms. Julie.  It is the Lilac Fairy variation, from Sleeping Beauty. We learned it in 4 parts.

I hope we practice the Lilac Fairy variation tomorrow.

July 13 (Wednesday) – Day 17

Today we had Miss Julie.  I got to class late today so I didn’t do the floor barre class in the morning.  Miss Julie let us wear sweaters again during the combos because it was really cold.

In pointe class today we practiced piqué onto pointe. We also hopped in arabesque then relevéd in arabesque 4 times.  My ankle was really wobbly.

We had jazz today.  The jazz teacher added on to the combination we learned last week.  She told me I needed to work on my four starch ( fourth position parallel with the back foot in demi-pointe and the front knee bent ) last week.  I worked on it over the week and a half and today she complimented on it.  That’s very good.

In the last hour, we worked on the Lilac Fairy variation.  Miss Julie had us do it one-by-one across the floor.  She said I need to lift my head and to work on the waltz turn and assemblé part.  She said tomorrow she will not show anyone the variation so we better remember it.  I have the steps glued in my brain.

 

July 14 (Thursday) – Day 18

I got to class early so I did the floor barre class this morning.  Mr. Charles or Mr. Henry teaches it.  Today Mr. Charles taught it.  We had Ms. Julie for pointe class, the morning ballet class, and the last hour of camp.

In pointe class we practiced piqué roll throughs ( springing up to passé en pointe then rolling down ).  We also did an echappe combo in center en pointe.  Echappe means “to escape” so the legs “escape” from fith position and then “escape” back in.

In the last hour, we did the Lilac Fairy variation one-by-one across the floor again.  Ms. Julie said I did the variation much better this time.  I did the waltz turn and assemblé part better then yesterday.  She said make sure that the piqué arabesque didn’t turn into sauté arabesque. The second time I did the variation I applied my corrections and she said it was much better.

July 15 (Friday) – Day 19

This is the end of AMS’ fourth week.  Two more weeks to go.  C

 

 

 

Session 3

July 18 (Monday) – Day 20

This is the beginning of her 5th week.  Too tired to write an entry.

 

July 19 (Tuesday) – Day 21

We had Mr. Charles today.  Ms. Julie only taught pointe class.  We had Mr. Henry for the last hour.

In pointe class we did piqué turns, an echappé combo, and a piqué roll through combo.

We learned prune rolls in modern dance class.

We did piqué turns and a jeté turn combo in a circle around the room in the 3:00 to 4:00 period of camp with Mr. Henry.

I hope we do piqué turns in a circle tomorrow.

 

July 20 (Wednesday) – Day 22
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July 21 (Thursday) – Day 23
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July 22 (Friday) – Day 24
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July 25 (Monday) – Day 25

July 26 (Tuesday) – Day 26
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July 27 (Wednesday) – Day 27
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July 28 (Thursday) – Day 28
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July 29 (Friday) – Day 29

Last day!