The Kostrovitskaya manual revealed some critical training tips, but not enough to encourage progress. And why would it? During the Cold War, information was at a premium. Ballet was just another area in which Russians could (and did) outdo the West.

On day 3 of the year 2012, an adagio declassified: grand pas de basque

Part I:
(from corner 8) grand pas de basque to piquE attitude (to corner 2; arms either immediately to 3rd upon developpE, or 1st to 3rd to 2nd); promenade enveloppE to passE/high arm (to corner 8); lower to pliE-tendu-croisE (arms low/open); 1/4 pivot (to corner 6) bringing arms to 2nd (still in pliE), lift leg & 1/2 fouettE into attitude (to corner 2); pas de bourEe (to corner 8) and lower to 5th; forward cambrE bringing arms to 3rd; back cambrE with audience arm high, away arm in 1st;

Part 2:
(from corner 8) pas de basque en l'aire to piquE attitude (to corner 2); 1/2 pirouette en dehors (arms in 1st) to corner 8; repeat

My Time in Russia

More than two months have passed since my return from Russia, but I have yet to write about this very personal journey of mine to the Mecca of ballet. Only two months have passed since my return from Russia, but now the very streets that I walked in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, are "occupied" by hundreds of thousands of Russians protesting against election fraud and general corruption. The passage of time is and will forever be a mysterious duality: A blink of an eye feels like ages ago.

It is amazing how quickly matters can change. It is amazing how two months ago, I left Russia with the impression that politics was dead, and the culture of corruption so entrenched that the belief in the people's power to effect change had been extinguished into indifference. Now, while watching the action from the sidelines, I realize this indifference, or lack of desire, was in actuality a latent desire-- asleep, but not dead.

And now suddenly, something, someone, or perhaps the spirit of the times has caused this sleeping thing to wake and rise in droves of hundreds of thousands of Russians rallying under the Kremlin walls and across the Siberian tundra. How quickly matters can change.

And yet how steadfast other aspects of life appear to be. Ballet still has a hold on me, and no matter the politics of the country, I will always look back upon my brief 12-day sojourn in Russia with fondness and romance, as a place of hospitable hosts, a fascinating and beautiful underground network of trains, and of course, a first-class experience in ballet education.

I should explain that ballet was the reason I went to Russia in the first place. My name is Angelina. I am a 27-year-old woman who discovered ballet only two years ago, but took it up with a passion and rigor that at one point bordered upon obsession (but no longer, I like to believe...) This story of my love for ballet is an ongoing one that neither begins nor ends with my journey into Russia, which is but a few measures of an ongoing tune; a single movement in an ongoing score; an adagio, say...

Monday evening, 12/5/11: 

Ballet en solitude. Watching my shadow spinning as I practice fouette turns. A walk home in the dark in the fine mist. A baby slug on the kitchen floor. An exchange of texts on my old phone. Finally, I climb up the stairs to my room and close the door.

Morning ballet on Street Delhi. 
Look out!...into the twilight sky.

-a concept of street ballet: adapt to the given surroundings; for ex: uneven ground
-today's barre: the post in front of Richard's house; the gate that encloses Supper's enclosed trash lot

Street Ballet

I gave myself my first street ballet class-- in my own neighborhood, Delhi street. Just before you walk out onto South street, there is a wheelchair access ramp with a rail; I used this railing as a barre, and...it functioned just fine as one! Facing the brick wall to do the jete combination, I heard applause. I turned around and saw a group of friends standing in the street corner watching me.

"You look beautiful! We're dancers too!"

That was so nice. Ballet has brought me so much pain lately...It's nice to experience some solidarity and positive attitudes from fellow dancers, from strangers who appreciate it and have no association with...inconsistencies, empty promises, and other not very nice things. I should not take any of this personally, and yet I cannot help it. It distresses me. It hurts me. Every time I hear the old adagio music, I am reminded of a time two years ago when ballet meant nothing but pure bliss to me, and it always plays with a tinge of sadness.

This trip to Russia which approaches so quickly will be a time of searching. What do I wish to get out of ballet? I wish to be self-sufficient; I wish to be able to train on my own, but how can anyone learn how to do this in 11 days? I will not experience some sort of magical transformation in Moscow, just because it is the mecca of ballet. It will have to begin here, in Philly, and it will have to follow wherever I happen to go. Practically speaking, I have this diary of exercises.

A choreographic class. A class worth framing in the mind.

-rond de jambe with a long, beautiful prep
-from plie to sus-sous, maintain the turnout of the backfoot
-fancy back pas de bourree: deepen plie in back tendu; step and cover space (travel)
-we leap into piles of aSymmetric objects
-a first attempt at complete recall reveals chaos in the brain: a puzzle completed, then thrown haphazardly back into the box; a method of notation must be devised to include counts

Home from work. A fedex envelope greets me at the door. It contains a visa to Russia! At last, my official pass into the Mecca of ballet!

-to close the rib cage: hug self; hang over upper shelf; stretch up by the earlobes
-swoosh! swoosh! drop the steering wheel, not your center
-from a lyrical centerpiece to 32 changements, a disjointed ending

"The Response: L, R, LRL."

-trust your instincts, but only if they are correct
-overuse of head directions leads to a misread; simplify it
-a split end

-we open with pliEs to the Kingdom of the Shades, from La Bayadère; sigh...
-blades of grass bend with the weight of dewdrops; similarly, we cambré to the side
-an exercise "for beating" begins with a beat to the back; only one royal exception to the beat back-front rule
-entrechats and royales: from compression,
-arabesque overlays

Letter

I took a break from ballet for 3 solid weeks. It gave me time to develop other aspects of my life which had been stalled because I only have so much time and energy to devote to my obsessions (I never have hobbies; I have obsessions). Upon returning to dance, I am reminded of what a gift it is, how it brought my so-so life to a level that is more like exceptional. I also am reminded of how much learning there is to do, but still it was a very good break...an innocent chat with Mary, who will be leaving for China soon, reminded me, thirdly, that to become great at something, sacrifices must be made. To follow an extraordinary path, one must give up the ordinary one. Now I sound delusional, but so be it! I have a crocheted pink Maryflower to remind me to Always Be Extraordinary.

Yours truly,

Angelina Ballerina

Bikram ballet. A medicinal class. A sweaty, tropical class. Ballerinas can sweat.

-path of movement: head --> center --> outward; ever expanding
-with arms at 2nd, push self forward into the round space
-how to get up from a chair; studying the force of resistance; we push off and stop in low arabesque, but appear to keep going forward
-jetEs deconstructed
-rib cage: Argh. Why won't it go in?

A tower of cards; a pink Maryflower; a dancing form trapped in glass; beads trapped between layers of ceramic; creativity is everywhere apparent, is in full bloom.

"There is only one 2nd arabesque."

-with the right leg back; the packaging of various directions and limbs into a single idea: the arabesque; the simple act of naming a movement facilitates understanding and retention of the combination; "développé" rather than "the left leg flicks out", for instance
-holding giant oranges: only the beginning of an idea which has to do with laundry billowing on a clothesline and segmentation
-pas de basque vs. pas de valse: a difference in accent

-how have things been? chug chug chug
-"last" means "middle"
-a standing ovation for Kip

A veritable army of dancers in the later evening class. An impressively spartan class.

Advice for grand plié adagio at center:

(1) don't look around unless the aim is to gain your neighbor's balance and equilibrium
(2) relax the back
(3) and be happy! and here we go!
-----------------------------
-the head reaches forward in the ending pose of grand assemblé; it leads the jump
-the head reaches out toward the outstretched arm in ecarté front pose
-the head reaches, as if pulled by a yearning in the direction of the arm
-----------------------------
"Out, damned spot! out, I say!"

-Macbeth. The spot has been outed.

Pas de bourrée dessus-dessous

-aka fancy grapevine
-contains 2 directions: ecarté front & ecarté back
-going from ecarté front to ecarté back: tendu'd foot steps over (dessus) then under (dessous); sur le cou-de-pied is always behind the stepping leg; adjustments made for epaulement
-going from ecarté back to ecarté front: tendu'd foot steps under (dessous) then over (dessus); sur el cou-de-pied is always in front of the stepping leg; adjustments made for epaulement

----------------
-steering wheel analogy for pirouette en dedans from 4th; hands at shoulders during turns a useful tool
-en pointe: ankles out, knees in to create longest line possible from inner thighs to heels
-let us engage even our ears; strong, defined lobes are a desirable quality in a ballerina

Why does it hurt?

Does it help to know the anatomical reason for pain?

(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) Morphine, please.
(d) Vodka, pazhalusta.

"...a position I called 'nothing', a soft bent leg, I now give it a name: attitude..."

2nd day of the AB intensive: tendu+plié; turn in towards the barre; speed up rond de jambe from 1/4s to 1/2s; fondu+arms (review arm, feet positions; importance of 1st position arms-- b/c turns go through 1st, must "memorize", balance at high arm-- 3rd position in Russ. Method); adagio (relevé long "straight lifting of the leg"); ankle/calf stretch after grand battement; at center, grand plié+side cambré adagio ending with cambré+relevé; alternating battement tendu entournant side to side (torso informed by right twist; foot goes in direction it wants to land in; finish with 1st port de bras; explain holding core in 2nd position arms); pirouette prep (balance + 1/4 turns; toe placed lightly at side of knee; arm in 1st; must spring up to demi-toe; 1st connecting move (tombé pas de bourrée; essential to fall onto bent leg to (a) preserve knee, & (b) develop power across the floor; connects); jumps from 1st & 2nd (4-4-2-2-7); echappés+arms; across the floor (tombé step step; another "tombé"); verbalize/cue everything

-a germ-free barre
-what do you think needs to happen? for glissades at a quick pace, the foot must come out for the next move as soon as the feet touch the ground; requires a double espresso
-manage space so that important moves do not disappear into the wings
-en pointe: woooah! pulling at the barre: a cautionary tail

 

...Stop!

...Stop!

...Stop!

...Стоп!

A stoppy class.

A ballet warm-up focusing on ballonE. Weight is kept on the ball of the foot even as you pliE back down. Kicking leg pulls/scoots you forward in fast ballonEs. Let the foot lead the frappE and pull the knee along forward and backward.