Acro, Intermediate, Grade 1, Swimming and on the Leader Board

Salem has been busy as usual with his dancing.  He has been having his lessons with Jacqui and Jonty as usual and his Acro class and Lyrical & Jazz class as well.

On Monday he started doing his BTDA Intermediate class with Michelle at Waikanae Dance School.  He was very excited about that and found it very different to the RAD syllabus.  He is enjoying this a lot more.
So he has been practicing his new exercises up at the gym before he gets into his own dances etc.

What was even more exciting for him, was being the teachers helper for the Grade 1 class afterwards.
He really enjoyed being with the younger kids and is looking forward to next week.
It's a good sized class with six girls and one boy.

He is enjoying the challenge of his acro class and is so pleased at being able to stand back up after doing a bridge and is working hard at doing a tidy walkover.  Luckily we have a large flat lawn, which we just had mowed, for him to practice on.

It's a bit scary watching him sometimes!!!!!!!

Salem has been having swimming lessons once a week with the Kapiti Homeschoolers at the Aquatic Centre and after two lessons, can swim a length of the pool, back stroke, without stopping and can swim freestyle a bit.  He gets in to the big pool and practices for over half an hour before his class starts.

Not bad for a kid who hadn't been in a pool for over five years.

It's great exercise for him, really gets those leg muscles working.

Every Wednesday at City Fitness, they have a 1 Minute Challenge which Salem has a go at.
Last week it was how many push-ups can you do in one minute.  Salem did 35 proper push-ups, which isn't too bad for a thirteen year old.  He made it up on to the leader board.

Then today, the challenge was how many sit-ups in one minute.  Salem did 50 which put him up on the leader board and was still there when we left two hours later.

Well done Salem!!!!!!

Turnout Exercises, The Splits, Up-coming Competitions and Other News

When Salem got injured earlier this year we looked for some gentler turnout exercises for him to do and found some great information on www.theballetblog.com.

They have a great three part article called "Training Turnout" which you can find at http://www.theballetblog.com/portfolio/training-turnout-part-1-achieving-your-ultimate-range/.
Do have a look as it was a great help to Salem, he was able to understand better, what muscles to use and how to use them properly as everything was explained very clearly.

Last week Salem officially joined the gym, City Fitness, who had been kind enough to let Salem use the Mind Body Studio at no cost when it was not in use by members.  They have also included a sponsorship for him in the form of two hours a week exclusive use of the studio which means we can book it for private use for him to have his private classes with Louis and Jonty.
A big thank you to all the staff at City Fitness Kapiti!!!!

It's the school holidays at the moment so there have been no classes at the dance school last week and this week except for a private lesson yesterday for more work on Salem's new Polish character dance.

Earlier yesterday, Salem also had his lesson with Jonty and has really worked hard on his pirouettes and is looking so good.  He has a lot of fun with Jonty.

We have been having plenty of dance practice as Salem is competing at the DanceArt Society Inc's 11th Annual Dance Festival on the 3rd - 5th May, this weekend at the Little Theatre in Lower Hutt.
He turns 13 on the first day of the comps so is now entering in the higher age groups and will be dancing in the Senior Variation Championship.  It's a big step up!!  He is very excited.

Competitions coming up are:

The Associated Ballet and Theatre Club Inc - Tap, Modern, Restricted Ballet Competitions 17th - 19th May

Wellington Region Dance Teachers Competition Society Inc - Queen's Birthday Festival 1st - 3rd June

Hutt Valley Performing Arts Competition Society - Ballet and Tap/Modern Dance Comps 12th - 16th July

The Kapiti Comps are on the 20th - 23rd July but have had no information on that yet.

I love this quote which is on the DanceArt Dance Festival program:

"Great dancers are not great because of their
        technique;
  They are great because of their passion."

                        Martha Graham
                   Dancer and choreographer

Getting Ready for Contemporary Exams

Having fun at the gym

All the madness of the dance school concert is well behind us now and Salem has been back to working hard at the gym.  His personal trainer, Belinda has given him a new lot of exercises to do, all of them can be done at home which is good as some days we can't make it up there.

Salem's contemporary exam and his contemporary medal test are all coming up on the 20th September so we are making the most of the studio at the gym for him to practice all his contemporary exercises and dances.
He has been having the occasional audience now and then as other gym members see what he is up to and watches him for a dance or two.  The other day an elderly lady who used to be a ballet teacher watched him do some of his ballet and was very impressed with him.  She enjoyed watching him and he enjoyed having her watch him dance and listened to her comments about technique etc.

With Belinda, his trainer

But at the moment we are really concentrating on his contemporary.  These practices are going really well and he is really tidying up his technique.  For his medal test, he will have to do two dances so he will be doing half of his Du Hast dance and half of the Sh-Boom dance.  He knows these very, very well.

The dance school is having some extra lessons on the up-coming weekends before the exam so that every one will be ready and know what to expect.  And will be having a mock exam too.
He is quite confident that he will be ready and will do well.

More Practice and a Personal Trainer

It's been a good week at the gym, on Tuesday Salem had his first session with a personal trainer to sort out a  program for him to help with balance and strength.  His trainer is Belinda and she is great.
She has sorted him out a program which is appropriate for his age and really works on his problem areas.  And it is really fun for Salem too.

In the studio we are working on audience interaction and using the mirror so that Salem can see what his hands are doing and to be aware of the shape of his hands.  There is already a big improvement.  Also even with only a few days of doing a bit of strength work for his balance, his arabesques are a lot more stable.

For his contemporary dance, "Du Hast", we have added a couple more hops in one part and it works really well, everything flows a lot better.  He is also making great eye contact with the audience and adding his own little quirks.  It's looking really good.

Having the studio space to ourselves has been invaluable for sorting out Salem's problems, I can talk to him straight away about any mistakes and it doesn't matter how long it takes.

Due to him having Aspergers, he takes things very literally and he gets very set in how he perceives his teachers instructions in class.  I have to do a lot of explaining.  He has been told in class over the years not to look in the mirror when he is dancing, not to look at his hands and many other things. So he will not look at all, which means that he hasn't been able to see what his body is doing while he has been dancing and doing exercises.
So we are now using the mirror as a tool, he can see what he is doing, what looks good and what doesn't, and we are using it as the audience.  He is improving every day.

Back at the Gym and Cinderella Performances

It was back to the gym again today, his dances for the comps are going very well and are getting more polished.  A big improvement in his confidence and performance compared to last week.  He is getting more relaxed about it all.

He has been doing exercises to work on his balance.  Next week we will arrange a session with a personal trainer for more specific exercises.

To challenge himself, he is doing the "plank" a more challenging way.  He really felt it this time!!!

Royal New Zealand Ballet's "Cinderella" at the St. James Theatre, Wellington

2nd to the 11th August 2012

The performances that Salem is in are:

Wed 1 August                          7.30 pm   Dress Rehearsal in front of audience

Thurs 2 August                         7.30 pm  Performance - Opening Night

 Sat 4 August                           2.30 pm   Performance 

            7.30 pm   Performance

                               

Wed 8 August                          7.30 pm   Performance

Fri 10 August                           6.30 pm   Performance

Sat 11 August                            7.30 pm   Performance - Closing Performance

Today at the gym and Kapiti Comps dates and times

After having a break from dancing over the weekend due to having a cold, Salem is back at the gym practising for the Kapiti Dance Comps.

Danny and Gene watched him do two of his dances.  It was good having an audience as it was a good opportunity to make sure that if he made a mistake he could keep going without anyone noticing.  He made a couple of little mistakes which would usually put him off a little but he kept his cool and no one could tell.
This is what we are working on this week.

Outside the studio where he practices his dancing

The studio is a perfect size for him and has some nicely placed fans which he really needed!!!!!

He then does a 5 minute program on the stationary bike then did some balance excercises, not too much today as he is still getting over his cold.  We did walk up to the gym and back home again, so he has done more than enough.  He just loves going to the gym!!!!

Salem with Danny and Gene from City Fitness

Now for his approximate dance times at the Kapiti Comps up at Southwards, Paraparaumu

Junior Contemporary Groups Under 13 yrs   Sunday sometime after 4.30pm, right at the end of the afternoon session.

Modern Expressive/Contemporary Under 13 yrs  Dancer no.8  Monday morning sometime after 10am, before the end of the morning session.

Classical Ballet 11 & Under 13 yrs  Dancer no.21  Monday around 2pm.

These are his first solos at a competition and this is mainly for experience and confidence, he is not expecting to win anything ...........this time  ;^)

Oh So Busy

Russian Winter - Kapiti Comps 2010

Hello everyone

Salem has had a very busy month doing his normal dance lessons and private lessons to get ready for the Kapiti Dance Competitions this coming weekend.

He has been practicing lots and will be dancing two solos and one group dance.  He is a bit nervous about this as this will be the first time he will be performing solo.  He has had a cold so I made him rest all weekend.  It's back to rehearsing again today.

He has been a very lucky boy and was given a free two month membership to one of our local gyms, City Fitness Paraparaumu, so he can use one of their large mirrored dance rooms for practicing his dance routines and to also use the equipment to work on his balance and strength which is essential for a ballet dancer.
So a big Thank you to Danny and everyone at City Fitness Paraparaumu.

Salem was interviewed by a reporter for one of our local papers, The Kapiti Observer on Friday so will be in the paper this week.

More good news for Salem, he was asked to be in the Royal New Zealand Ballet's "Cinderella" so will be starting rehearsals in Wellington on the 17th July.  He is very excited about that.

That is all for now, I will post his approx dance times for the Kapiti Comps later today.