ballet class observation day

 well, it's the end of the ballet year and it was parent's observation day this evening.

 (i feel a little stunned about this . . bamboozled by time . . . . .  cheated, tricked, hoodwinked, swindled . .  . . )

miss irene giving notes . . 

 adagio . . 

 one of my favorite pieces of music from romeo and juliet, by sergei prokofiev, written in 1935, and first presented as a ballet in the czech city of brno at the mahen theatre in 1938.

grande pirouette in the center . .

grande allegro . .

reverence . .

 putting on pointe shoes for variations class (when they work on repertory from specific ballets).

for the past few weeks they've been working on kitri's variation from don quixote (music by ludwig minkus, choreography by marius petipa; first presented at the ballet of the imperial bolshoi theatre in moscow in december of 1869).

thursday

 chanda and i were out early this morning as she had a dance rehearsal in soho. we were so glad to see that the cherry trees were beginning to bloom.

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 i had fun filming her dance rehearsal . . and then later her private class with her ballet teacher.

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and then on to ballet:

 kitri's dance from don quixote . . 

( still sipping my la columbe iced coffee!)

 after the ballet class, we walked to gibney studios on chambers street for the egal dance trunk show (misty copeland's new dancewear line). it was good chanda could try on the different leotards, because they are made smaller than other brands and she needed a medium. she picked out one black leotard and a mesh overshirt. they're both well made and look nice. she hopes to get the olive one with the chiffon scarf in the future.

we watched the employees snap an instagram photo . . (which i'm not sure how to post here on the blog . . maybe chanda knows . . so maybe later!)

getting back on the horse

 this summer's ballet intensive was not the best so it was with much happiness that chanda had a private with her ballet teacher today (she had been away on vacation). 

the lesson was at her old school which is not far from us. 

 the school whose ballet intensive she attended ended up not being a place that she was comfortable at. they emphasized a particular body type and technical tricks rather than a person's dance ability. so for a few weeks she felt in limbo and unsure of what to do for this fall, but after seeing her teacher and reviewing her hopes and desires, a plan was made. after our week away on the cape with my sister she'll attend fabrice's intensive (which she went to last summer also) and see if he'll accept her as a student for the fall. and then in december she'll re-evaluate her situation again to see if she should maybe apply to gelsey kirkland's school, or continue with fabrice. in three weeks she'll be in rehearsal with dances patrelle for their september ballet production of macbeth, and with this plan she hopes to also dance in their nutcracker again (which she's had to miss for the past three years).

miss irene lectured her about trusting her technique so she can relax and dance more boldly.

 i started a shawl when chanda first began taking classes with irene (yes, three years ago). i didn't like the first one i made and knitted this one up in june. 

i really love it. it's the 22 little clouds pattern by martina behm, done in shibui pepple and sensei mohair (colors "fog" and "smoke grey" respectively). oh, the trim is koigui painter's palette.

getting ready for the audition video

 chanda has been working on an audition video with her ballet teacher for the national ballet of canada's summer program and the royal ballet's summer program. for the past few thursdays they have been meeting at the ripley greer studios to practice and to work on placement and how each of the exercises should look on film.

ready to begin . .

correcting the extension . .

she stops in this one as she does a very poor double turn. she says, "it's my back," and her teacher says, "it's always your back." her back needs to be very straight in order to keep the momentum going.

checking to see how it looks on the video.

jumps . . 

keeping warm and limber . .

making sure feet and shoulders are correct in the combination.

marking the grand jete combination and fine tuning the arms.

last go and then the hour rehearsal is up.

meeting allegra

 today we headed uptown to meet little allegra who is two months old (her baby shower was here).

 she's a happy child to be bounced around in mama's arms . . 

she started out in the stroller but never made it back in. the stroller carried our bags and big brother's toys instead.

 big brother did well with all the chit chat we made! though he did roll around on the ground for a bit . . 

 we passed a beautiful tall bald cypress tree.

 we were in the north of the park, an area i haven't walked around in much. 

 black eyed susans and one big bumblebee . . 

 it was such an incredible day . . the last cool day we had on sunday, the 23rd, did not last long at all and with the heat and humidity i fell back into my sleepy ways . . well sleepy during the day from the heat and then awake and uncomfortable at night because of the heat! wait, that doesn't make sense . . ?

 the world's best brother at the boys' gate . . 

 giving the world's best brother a big push . . 

 world's best baby toe . . 

 can never get enough of the sweet baby cheeks . . 

our friend and chanda's ballet teacher is a wonderful mama . . so relaxed and happy . . wearing and nursing her baby and running with her boy along paths and through greens . . 

 i really miss these days of dusk falling around you while playing and relaxing in the playground . . 

and the moon shining bright in the coming night sky . .