What have I learnt in Lockdown? (ballet edition)
1. Surfaces are important
Doing Barre on carpet is very hard, but a piece of hardboard really helps if you are on a carpeted floor you just have to think about size and positioning, in an ideal world you'd put a dance floor material over the board ... and in a 'first world problems' world you'd have the floor laid into your spare room as per a studio floor ...
However while that works for barre, even with modifications as many teachers have done for lockdown it doesn't really work for centre work, and I've found that centre work on the carpet seems to irritate my hip, knee and/OR ankle joints at various times/
2. You can do pointe at home
However you need to think about the surface as discussed above and stick to the stuff you were confident with in the studio. Lockdown and on dodgy surfaces is not the time to be trying anything out ... save that for when we can get back in the studio and your teacher can at least see you even if physical corrections are still off the menu
Doing Barre on carpet is very hard, but a piece of hardboard really helps if you are on a carpeted floor you just have to think about size and positioning, in an ideal world you'd put a dance floor material over the board ... and in a 'first world problems' world you'd have the floor laid into your spare room as per a studio floor ...
However while that works for barre, even with modifications as many teachers have done for lockdown it doesn't really work for centre work, and I've found that centre work on the carpet seems to irritate my hip, knee and/OR ankle joints at various times/
2. You can do pointe at home
However you need to think about the surface as discussed above and stick to the stuff you were confident with in the studio. Lockdown and on dodgy surfaces is not the time to be trying anything out ... save that for when we can get back in the studio and your teacher can at least see you even if physical corrections are still off the menu
3. Visual cues
One thing I have realised in lockdown is that I am still reliant on visual cues in class especially those when I am pushing myself technically and that if i get lost in an exercise without visual cues or verbal reminders from the teacher - I'm snookered.
Improver type classes, I'm down with it or where Inter / Advanced type exercises are given in short sharp combos... but Inter exercises in a long combo ... arrgh!
One thing I have realised in lockdown is that I am still reliant on visual cues in class especially those when I am pushing myself technically and that if i get lost in an exercise without visual cues or verbal reminders from the teacher - I'm snookered.
Improver type classes, I'm down with it or where Inter / Advanced type exercises are given in short sharp combos... but Inter exercises in a long combo ... arrgh!
4. The 'Energy' of the Studio
Absolutely one thing I have missed about classes in the Studio, is the energy that you get from being in the studio even if the people you are in class with are people you barely know (as happens with some of the classes I take on trips to London) and it's also been something that teacher have commented on in terms of their cognitive load and effort in teaching online.
5. Opportunities and Threats...
Lockdown has lead to the opportunity to take class with teachers you normally can't take class with, or class with them is an infrequent treat - especially via Zoom ( or other videoconferencing platforms) - there's follow along classes on instagram and facebook but i'm not fond of those and i'm really not a big fan of paid for follow along classes ( and yes i have tried them ... )
As Lockdown continued it became clear that we were looking at weeks to months , and a possibly much reduced studio capacity when we are allowed back ... which spurred a few more teachers to get on zoom (or other videoconferencing platforms) and start delivering classes that way, with the possibility / probability of 'mixed mode' teaching once the studios were allowed to open...
There will be some people who struggle to come back to the studio after lockdown and a lot of us will face the impact of an enforced layoff as even with classes over zoom etc the number of classes and the mix of exercises will be different.
5. Opportunities and Threats...
Lockdown has lead to the opportunity to take class with teachers you normally can't take class with, or class with them is an infrequent treat - especially via Zoom ( or other videoconferencing platforms) - there's follow along classes on instagram and facebook but i'm not fond of those and i'm really not a big fan of paid for follow along classes ( and yes i have tried them ... )
As Lockdown continued it became clear that we were looking at weeks to months , and a possibly much reduced studio capacity when we are allowed back ... which spurred a few more teachers to get on zoom (or other videoconferencing platforms) and start delivering classes that way, with the possibility / probability of 'mixed mode' teaching once the studios were allowed to open...
There will be some people who struggle to come back to the studio after lockdown and a lot of us will face the impact of an enforced layoff as even with classes over zoom etc the number of classes and the mix of exercises will be different.
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