Queen of the Willies

I was a little sad when I first heard that we were performing Giselle for a summer ballet production, but then I remembered how much I love romantic style choreography :)  Many years ago, I performed excerpts from Giselle with some of the advanced dancers and I absolutely loved it, so an entire show should be even better, right?  How could you not love a ballet full of arabesque penchees?

If only....
I can't wait to see who comes to our small town to fill the principle roles.  I think my favorite couple to play Giselle and Albrecht were Makarova and Baryshnikov.  Pretty much the perfect pair for the ballet.   

La Esmeralda

I teach and take ballet classes at Willow Street Studios in Carbondale.  This year the advanced ballet class will be performing solo variations at the recital rather than a group piece.  Each of us was able to choose the variation we wanted to perform.  I would have been happy dancing practically anything, but one of my favorite variations has always been Esmeralda.  I think my obsession with gypsies contributed to my decision on the Esmeralda piece.  Plus, it's one that I've never danced before.  I've decided to dance this version:

Of course I could never dream of looking as amazing as Natalia Osipova, but I will work my hardest.  I'm really proud of the younger girls in the class and can't wait to see how their variations turn out.  

My next decision is the costume.  I hate and love choosing costumes for recital.  It was hard enough to choose something for my little girls and now I have to figure out what is appropriate and low cost.  I'm trying to piece together the Esmeralda costume rather than buying a pre-made piece from a catalog.  A few of the "Esmeralda" tutu sets online are decent looking but not exactly what I want.  Right now these are the items I'm looking at

Balera Tattered Tutu found at dancewearsolutions

The picture shows the black/red tutu but I would choose the black/purple/plum option.  I like the tattered look and the fact that it's more of a euro shape tutu (longer than a pancake).  On top I would wear something like this

Capezio Camisole found at Discount Dance Supply
Shown here is the burgundy camisole but I would choose the plum.  I like the idea of a simple leotard with clean lines.  I would probably sew a criss-crossing ribbon on the front of the leo to give it the village girl feel.  

Lots of decisions to be made.  Good thing I have a week off to sort things out!

Hello Blog World

I have thought about creating a blog for quite awhile and my week off from school and work seems like the perfect time.  Please be patient and sympathetic with my blogs.  I am incredibly busy and at times uninteresting. 

I'd like to use this blog to discuss anything and everything.  My interests lie in dance (mainly ballet), other forms of art, crafts and health care related topics.  I finish my studies as a registered nurse in May and as much as I discuss nursing topics at school, I'm always interested in researching new information.  I hope that dancers, nurses and anyone else reading finds this blog of some substance.  Enjoy.