Thursday, March 31, 2011

The wooden picture (картина) mantle has tombéd off the wall (стена); what should hang in its place?

(a) a fat mirror (зеркало)
(b) a Snellen chart
(c) knitting pattern that reads "Inside Shoulder!"
(d) the skeleton in Kip's closet

A class full of attitude. A super-reversible class. можно? да, можно.

-present, present, rond present
-a relatively calm exterior belies the inward frenetic pace
-melting rond de jambe
-flying pas de basque; aka, 'the dance-y move'
-adagio turn; turns can be fast or slow
-turns: spot up, not down; (not too high); let it grow, let it grow
-first arabesque is meant to be held and "quote un-quote 'revered'"
-давай водка let's go, vodka!; aka 'flic-flic' (à la Tsar Peter; not to be confused with the ballet move 'flic-flac')
-wasted brain cells. Too much vodka. Not enough reversing. Croisé/effacé are the constants in most reversal problems (ie: they do not change). Use them as reference points.* What is reversed is front/back & inside/outside turns.
-молодец pat on the head; hearty slap on the back; you go girl!; atta boy!; well done
-конечно of course! (not an Eastern European/Yiddish dumpling pastry stuffed with mashed potatoes and sold at hot dog stands around NYC)

*an interesting point: a reference point (ie: a constant, an anchor) is necessary in any kind of reversal, not just in a balletic one-- or else with respect to what is it reversed? "Reversed" is a relative notion, not an inherent characteristic of the reversed object.