Costume Check

Peasant Pas - Giselle costume

Today we thought it would be a good idea to check that Salem's old costumes still fit him.

And to try out what he was going to wear for the Peasant Pas and for Proud Mary.

I was pleased with the waistcoat I had made for Peasant Pas.
We were influenced by the costumes from the Royal New Zealand Ballet's recent production of Giselle.
So that is why he is wearing a shirt with rolled up sleeves.
I think it looks very smart.

Du Hast contemporary costume

His Du Hast costume still fits and so does his classical outfit which I think we will have the black leotard under the waistcoat like the photo we have used for the blog title above.  Last year Salem wore his red leotard but I think the black looks more grown up.  I'm pleased I don't have to make any alterations.

Our first idea for the Proud Mary costume

We had a few ideas for Salem's Proud Mary costume so had Salem dance in them.
Our first idea looked good but Salem does like to wear tighter fitting costumes when he has to do a lot of more dynamic dance moves.

This is now the Proud Mary costume

So we came up with this costume which he can move very easily in.
Not very jazzy but he loves it and he can wear his Elvis frilled shirt which is now too short in the sleeves so he can't wear it for his Bond on Bond costume.

I will make him a black pin striped waistcoat to wear as well but if it's too much, I'm sure he will be able to wear it for something else.

I'll make a few different waistcoats for him, they don't take too long to make.

Then I have to start making some patterns up to make him a Polish character costume because as soon as the Alana Haines Awards are over then he will be working on a Polish character dance for the next lot of competitions.

I've found some great photos for design ideas.

I'm lucky I can sew!!!!!!!!

"Sh Boom" Costume

Sh Boom ,Sh Boom

Yesterday The pair of white cricket pants arrived in the mail.  I had bought them off Trade Me.
It was the only way we could get a nice pair of white pants for Salem's Sh-Boom costume.
So Salem had to try the whole costume on and it looks so good on him.
He looks so smart and grown up and it is easy for him to dance in.
I will put elastic braces on his pants so that it helps keep the shirt in place.
And I have to hem up the legs on the pants as they are a bit long for him, but that means it will last him a while as he is getting taller.  He grew 5cm over the last couple of months.

Just wait til you see him in his Proud Mary costume!!!!!!!!

Now every time I look at you

Salem had his private lesson yesterday and that went well, his teacher will used most of the choreography that we worked out for the Peasant Pas.
And he had his first Level Two Contemporary class for the year.
Plus practiced at the gym before both classes.
He is very dedicated!!!!!!

If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love

His old contemporary Sh Boom costume

Sh Boom, Sh Boom

"Life Could Be A Dream"

by The Crew Cuts

 
Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang
Boom ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodle-ay

Oh, life could be a dream sh-boom
If I could take you up in paradise up above sh-boom
If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love
Life could be a dream sweetheart
Hello hello again, sh-boom and hopin' we'll meet again

Oh, life could be a dream sh-boom
If only all my precious plans would come true sh-boom
If you would let me spend my whole life lovin' you
Life could be a dream sweetheart

Now every time I look at you
Something is on my mind dat-dat-dat-dat-dat-duh
If you do what I want you to
Baby, we'd be so fine

Oh, life could be a dream sh-boom
If I could take you up in paradise up above sh-boom
If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love
Life could be a dream sweetheart

Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da, sh-boom

Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da
Sh-boom sh-boom Ya-da-da Da-da-da Da-da-da Da, sh-boom

Every time I look at you
Somethin' is on my mind
If you do what I want you to
Baby, we'd be so fine

Life could be a dream
If I could take you up in paradise up above
If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love
Life could be a dream sweetheart

Hello hello again, sh-boom and hopin' we'll meet again boom sh-boom
Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang sh-boom
Ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodle-ay
Life could be a dream
Life could be a dream, sweetheart

Life could be a dream
If only all my precious plans would come true
If you would let me spend my whole life loving you
Life could be a dream sweetheart

dee-oody-ooh, sh-boom, sh-boom
dee-oody-ooh, sh-boom, sh-boom
dee-oody-ooh, sh-boom, sh-boom
Sweetheart!!

A Very Jazzy Practice

It was very hot and extremely humid at practice today.
Poor Salem had sweat pouring off him.
Had to have a lot of water breaks.

As well as working on his contemporary and ballet dances, he spent  a bit of time on his jazz dances and they are coming along really nicely.

He is still experimenting with changing some of the steps around and adding in how he would react to an audience with his facial expressions etc.

Tomorrow he has a private ballet lesson to work on his dance for the Alana Haines Awards which is coming up very soon.  It will be held over the Easter weekend.

The End of the Holidays

The Summer holidays have now ended and all the kids have gone back to school.
Salem starts back at Kapiti Dance Centre tomorrow for his Intermediate Foundation class.
During the KDC summer school Salem helped the younger kids to paint the two murals pictured here.
The kids enjoyed painting them and they are to be put up in the new studios.
In the meantime they were used as a backdrop for the "Teddy Bear's Picnic" at Southwards, Paraparaumu last weekend.  It was nice that the kids work was seen by the wider community.

Salem enjoyed the rest of the week helping with the littlies.
Then this week it was practices as usual and getting dances ready for the first lot of competitions for the year, the Ribbon Festival, at the Little Theatre in Lower Hutt which is on the 15th - 17th March.
The "Sh-Boom" dance has gone from a contemporary dance to a jazz dance and Salem changed the choreography himself.  He has also got another jazz dance organised as well to Elvis's "Proud Mary".  Looks very good.

Maria Dabrowska

On Monday Salem went to Thistle Hall for a contemporary class with Maria Dabrowska.
It was a very challenging class and Salem took it in his stride and really enjoyed it.
He enjoyed having to really work hard and work things out.
Maria said that Salem moves really well.

Then on Wednesday Louis Solino had a floor barre and modern class at Thistle Hall so we went along to that.  It was good to do a class with Louis again as it had been a few weeks now since Salem has had a class with him.  Salem likes doing the floor barre as it really helps him with his turn-out.
Salem has a one-on-one class with Louis tomorrow before his ballet class.
Salem's looking forward to it all.
Back to all his classes starting on Monday.