Louise*

Hmmmm Well i still have to say i saw what i saw! I dont think she is too tall or anything but in the clip i saw she did look a little out of shape and as i said there were technical faults and artistically i would have complaints but artistry is a very personal thing! I tried to watch the other clips but i couldnt i will try again though:-)!

I know this is an old thread but i just saw a clip of her on you tube. It was some gala thing she was doing. I have to say it was odd. Her feet were terrible ! Her pointe is awful. I mean really bad she slipped like three times! In fairness she did not fall. Her toe point was bad and she seemed clumsy at times. Her back seemed stiff. Her port de bras was well strange! Her extensions were very very good though, good line with good height. One things was strange she she not seem to be able to turn or spin at all really well. And i am sorry she did seem a bit out of shape to me in the clip she is tall for a dancer if she never wanted to have a partner fair enough but it is not fair on the guys they end up suffering later in life even if there is not much lifting and they are mainly supporting her it would be awkward. Jockies have to be 98 pounds or something like we treat the horses better than the guys sometimes. I am not saying weight has to be such a big issue or anything. What she was doing was in no way representative of ballet. i really think that her company and school seemed to go through a period of trying to produce glamorous ballerinas with emphasis on huge extension and not much else and forgetting artistry and they kind of made her into what she is. She is a passionate person who wishes to express herself through a glamorous lifestyle rather than a classical art. But i cant help but think they made her. She is therefore given to a dramatic lifestyle and personality but she cant translate this onto the stage. As she is not really interested in taking the nuances of the art seriously. There are plenty of dancers with better extension it is something that if you work at it will come techniques go beyond that though , i IT was not just that she seemed larger she seemed well to lack fitness or something lightness it is not to do with weight she did not seem very agile for a dancer i have seen large dancers who are very graceful and nimble. But she did look very out of shape to me for a dancer. Maybe it was just in that clip and she is not usually like that i dont know. I do think that if you are a larger dancer it is your duty to make things easier for your partner by giving the time to rehearsal and giving everything you have into the technique of using muscle tension and relaxation to achieve lightness and it can be very technical and she does not seem like a very technically aware dancer. I am very very small, slight and thin but i still work hard at that type of stuff i have not done much partner work but when i have it was always about working together to make sure neither one of us had to work too hard we try to make the other one look good he trys to make you look like you have a better back than you do or a better line and you make his strength seem effortless !! And i know a lot of dancers that would have been bigger than me but could lift light (in fact they can surprise you!) if you know what i mean but you have to learn it and you sort of have to learn it anew every time because it is different with every partner. And it is not just about counterbalance there comes a point when you cant make someone any lighter. And i do doubt it was because of her weight that she was fired like what has been said above there seem to be many factors involved. I thing it is a pity that none of them have anything to do with ballet but everything to do with the dancer herself and perhaps the kind of artistic or lack or artistic atmosphere that sometimes happens unfortunately in ballet. She seems to have come from a period when it was all about the next big thing , they kind of set her up for it really, there seems to be the idea in her head that if you have a good extension then you dont need anything else and that is what she thinks ballet is (DONT GET ME WRONG I AM OBSESSED WITH MY OWN EXTENSION LOL!!:-). Or at least that is what it seemed to me anyway there where huge technical gaps in her dancing. Maybe she needs a more consistent coach and more consistent classes with a consistent schedule but i guess that is not who she is. And i suppose we all have to be who we are. She seems to do just showcases and music video stuff?? It sort of mimics ballet in style but looks odd! It is not ballet but whatever it is i wish her luck:-)

Interstingly in opera the term repetituer is used also:-) But in that case is is not used for someone who has sung to role but rather it is a unique profession in itself where there is specific training in musicianship and languages and piano to help teach the nuances of a role to a singer:-) oper companies have inhouse repetituers usually. I know its not ballet but i thought i was intresting:-)

Hi Gianna:-) Thanks very much:-) I did register under the same name there:-) Thanks for the very kind welcome.:-)

Hello everyone:-) Pleased to meet you:-) My name is Louise. I just joined yesterday. I have taken dance classes on and off as a kid and got back into ballet classes more seriously recently as well as other forms of dance:-) I love folk dance( asian irish you name it!) , jazz, everything , i wish i could do them all LOL!! I also take modern contemporary dance classes too. I also love opera and classical music ( i sing and play the violin or TRY TO!!!:-) I love going to the theatre and ballet or to see an opera:-) I love movement in general , like mime and physical theatre, i took martial arts classes for a while too. Actually it is amazing how similar dance and martial arts are you know! Lots of very similar movements and use of the same muscles especially in martial arts forms:-) I love expressing emotion through movement ballet and dance gives me such joy and happiness and peace I LOVE IT:-) Ballet and all forms of dance give a great sense of self and the spirituality of the body or something like that anyway:-) Moving to music (or to silence) always feels so special:-) Dancing makes me feel great:-) And it is a great way of meeting lovely people and making friends i love the camaraderie within ballet and dance. My goals are to improve and to keep improving and growing:-) Anyway sorry for being so long winded:-) Basically HELLO:-)

A big thanks for the welcome !! I think you are so right about dance being social interaction onstage I will get there hopefully too i am always improving (I hope!!)

That makes sense. But I would imagine that this was a kind of specialized skill. You can certainly observe this in operation in places like a major underground metro or subway system, or all sorts of complex urban crowd situations. Some do it brilliantly, weaving in and out, moving quickly and efficiently, never bumping, always going with the flow. I'm one of these, thank goodness. Others -- including several friends -- never seem to manage to adapt to it even after decades of having to try. I can visualize (perhaps erroneously) student dancers who are technically tremendously gifted but who have great difficulty in placing themselves, while moving, in relation to others. Conversely, I can visualize student dancers who are great at this kind of placement -- and have a good sense of context and relation to others -- but are not as technically proficient in other aspects of dance. Another way of looking at this might be to ask: Are there some people who are natural ensemble dancers -- and others who are not? Edited to add: Innopac's initial post mentioned spear-carriers in Pharoah's Daughter. It's not only a matter of where they stand; it's the angle at which they carry their spears. The Russians on stage are particularly good at this kind of thing with armaments, etc. Americans and Brits seem to be particularly lackadaisical. Hi All I dont know if this might help But i will post it anyway if it is useless please disregard:-) An exercise i learnt in stage craft was to stand face to face with someone else and for both of you to start to move ( not dancing just moving at first) very slowly. The Idea is to get used to another body in close proximity to yours. Gradually more people join in. You pay attention to what others are doing and react accordingly. It is like singing in a choir you join something bigger than yourself its like one hundred drops of water coming together to form an ocean or something:-) Another exercise is for one person to start moving and you mirror them, taking their lead and again gradually more people join in. The idea is for you to start thinking of the whole group as a dancer and not just yourself:-) It can be a lovely experience as there is a kind of sisterhood or something in it:-) It is a lovely contrast to working alone (which i find easier too!!) Not that i am any good or anything:-)!!