New Ideas and Choreography

Sydney Harbour Bridge New Years 2015

Happy New Year every one!!!!!!!

I had a fantastic New Years, I was over in Sydney at the Boys Ballet Summer School.

It was held at the Shore School which had a great view of the Harbour Bridge.

We all stayed up to watch the fireworks and the next day we went to Wet'n'Wild.

Photo courtesy of the Boys Ballet Summer School

I had such a great time, wish it was for longer.  I am now saving and fundraising to go back next summer.

When I came back home, I only had a couple of days off dancing and have got back into the studio to practice.  I started back with lessons with Jacqui yesterday.

Today I finished my new contemporary choreography. 

I'm very pleased with it.  Now it needs lots of practice to make it look good.

I was so inspired from being at the Boys Ballet Summer School and had fantastic tutors - Jason Duff for jazz, Bill Pengelly for contemporary, and Christian Tatchev from the Queensland Ballet.

Bill gave me a load of new ideas and inspired me to create this new dance using lots of new moves that he taught us. Thanks Bill. And thanks to Jason and Christian too.

I also get to use a Kate Bush song which is a bonus.  I just love this song,

For those of you who recieve this by email, you can click on http://youtu.be/oxQmfzmdSkI to watch the video.

Me and Mum will be doing more updates to catch up on everything.

Bye for now - Salem xx

Lots of Exciting News

Salem with his Ballet Exam Certificates.

It's been a very exciting time for Salem lately, He's had his ballet exam results back. 
He passed with distinction with a mark of 96%. I am so pleased for him as he really worked hard. Because he got over 90%, he received a BTDA Platinum Award too.

Preparing for his exams

We have had lots of good feed back from the documentary about Salem on Attitude, you can watch it online at http://attitudelive.com/blog/dan-buckingham/documentary-salems-ballet .
We have people coming up to us to say hello and how much they enjoyed the doco.
There was a lot of lovely footage of him dancing.

At practice at the studio at City Fitness.

Salem is also a finalist in the Attitude Awards for Creative Achievement so they will be flying us both up to Auckland in December for the awards which is a black tie event. 
I will have to get Salem a new suit as he keeps growing out of all his other ones.
His old "Bond on Bond" suit is so small on him.

A film crew will be interviewing him some more in just over a week so he will be on TV again in October and December.  
You can check out the finalists at http://attitudeawards.org/2014_awards.html.

We have just found out yesterday that Salem is a provisional finalist for the Pride Awards for Creative Achievement and Innovation (Senior) Awards. He will be interviewed for that in the next week or so.  http://www.prideawards.org.nz/.

Tired out at the gym after having a fun practice in a grass skirt.

Plus Salem have two competitions coming up, the first in two weeks time up in Palmerston North where he will get to perform his new jazz solo for the first time. He's very excited about that, it's quite a funny dance. 
Then the next one in October, which is modern and tap up in Upper Hutt, Salem will be doing his first ever tap solo.  He has choreographed a tap dance and it is looking great.

Warming up at the Auckland BTDA Festival.

Straight before that he has his contemporary exams. 
For his medal exam he gets to do one of his own dances, "In the Shadows" which we have shortened.  He has to do two dances for the medals.

Waikanae Dance School Exam Awards Presentation

At his dance school in Tawa, Hayley Johnsons Academy of Dance, Salem been cast as Daddy Warbucks for the end of year production of "Annie". 
It's going to be very busy in Term 4!!!!!! 

A Quick Catch-up No.3 - The last one....Choreography and today's lessons.

On our way home tonight after classes.

Yay, Salem's tap shoes arrived this afternoon but of course after he had already left for today's lessons.  So I made sure that I got them to him before his tap class.  He was thrilled and they were a perfect fit.  Sorry I forgot to take a photo of him wearing them.

Today he had his Intermediate lesson, and then instead of going to the performance troupe's practice, he stayed at the studio and worked on his twelve competition dances.  Only one of the dances isn't his own choreography.  He has been a busy boy creating more of his own dances.

So far this term he has choreographed a contemporary dance - "In the Shadows", a demi-character - "Robin Hood" and a neo-classical - "Cold".  He has been doing Siegfried's variation from Swan Lake Act III for a while but felt it was too rigid so has done his own choreography for it which is really great.  It is part of his BTDA dance journal work to look at a ballet, he chose Swan Lake, study it, it's history, the story and look at the choreography and suggest changes.  Well, he wrote down the whole choreography of the variation which was taught to him by Shannon Dawson at one of the Boy's Ballet Classes with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.  Created his own version and wrote the whole choreography for that.  It was very impressive.

This is his new contemporary dance "In the Shadows", it is very different to his old contemporary dance "Du Hast" when he was with KDC.  He has worked on it a lot since this was filmed.

He didn't go to troupe practice as the others were working on their older dances as they are off to comps in two weeks time.
Yes, it's comp time again.  Salem will be doing six of of his solos and five impromptus.
And it will be his first time at comps out of the Wellington region.
We are off to the Palmerston North Dance Association's Restricted and Open Impromptu Competition which will be held at the Regent Theatre in Broadway Avenue, Palmerston North on Friday 28th - Sunday 30th March 2014.
He is dancing on all three days so we will be staying up there in a hotel and making it a bit of a holiday. Salem has never been to Palmerston North.
Looking forward to it!!!!!!!

Wellington Summer School 2014 Part Two

Chatting before Contemporary class.

After the warm-up class, Salem's first "proper" class of the day was Contemporary with Anita Hunziker.

He really enjoyed this class and said that Anita was a great teacher.

Contemporary class (1)

Salem did very well to travel into Wellington every day and the get home between 7.15 and 7.30 pm, eat dinner, tell me how his classes went and then off to bed ready to be woken up at 5.45 am for his cup of tea and to get ready for the day.  Out the door for the 6.15 am bus,then on the train where he ate his breakfast.

Contemporary class (2)

On the last day parents were allowed to watch the classes which was great.
It's really good to see what they have learnt and what they need to work on.
And of course it's a good experience to learn from different teachers.  Salem's a bit spoilt in that way.

I'm not sure yet if Salem will be going to next years Wellington Summer School as I think the Boys' Ballet Summer School in Sydney is more important for him to attend.  He really needs classes that are just for boys.

Contemporary class (3)

Unfortunately when being the only boy in a class full of girls, you miss being taught how to dance like a man.
Salem is lucky now as his teachers, Jonty, Jacqui and Michelle are concentrating on Salem standing, gesturing and dancing like a (young) man.

Contemporary class (4)

The contemporary class this year really inspired Salem and he has since choreographed a contemporary dance to "In the Shadows" by The Rasmus.  He will be doing this dance at competitions this year.

It is very different to his old contemporary dance "Du Hast".

Well, I seem to be have had better luck uploading everything tonight even though it is sooooo slow!!!!!
All the videos which are on this post are not on You Tube.

Contemporary class (5)

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.

Dancing Through the Holidays

Even though it is the summer holidays and Salem's dance school is closed until February, Salem is still doing plenty of dancing.  He wants to keep up his fitness for Summer School which is coming up soon.
If he doesn't dance, he gets too bouncy at home!!!!  But don't worry, he has had rest days too.

Since the last post, Salem has had some one on one time with Louis Solino and has learnt heaps.
Louis takes him through a floor barre and then his been doing a little ballet and a whole lot of contemporary.
Salem loves how Louis explains things to him and shows him how things are done.
They have worked on a old choreography that was done for Louis and have spent time working on Salem's "Du Hast" dance, changing bits of the choreography that Salem hasn't been happy with and making things flow more smoothly.  Salem has really enjoyed doing this and is confident to change the choreography by himself which he has done in his practices since then.
The dance is looking so much better.

This morning he attended another class of Louis's at Thistle Hall with the Wellington Freelance Dance Community.  It was a floor barre and a contemporary class.
He really enjoyed this and Louis taught everyone a great choreography.
I watched and it looked fantastic.
Salem worked hard and he kept up with all the adults in the class.

Afterwards we went for a cup of tea and something to eat at the St James and while there said hello to a few of the RNZ Ballet's dancers and had a catch up with Jonte.

Then it was a visit to the Hobson Street Park to have a bit of a play and a splash in the pond to cool down.
While splashing around in the pond, Salem decided to do some of his contemporary exercises in the water.
He had to do the exercises slowly so he didn't slip over, and it was quite windy, great for cooling off.
You can see one of his exercises in the video above.

Contemporary Exam Results

Salem got his Contemporary exam results today after his ballet class.  It was great to get the results so quickly.  We were very pleased with his results.

For his NZAMD Level One Contemporary exam he got High Honours which is a 90% - 94% pass.

His examiner made the following comments :  "A very promising dancer.  Contemporary style is developing.  Further study quaility of movement in Combinations.  A strong dance performance."

Going in to the Level One exam

For the NZAMD Contemporary Medal Award he was graded Excellence Plus.

The examiner made the following comments :  "Two strong performances.  Great dynamics developed in Dance 2 (Du Hast).  A very promising dancer."

Salem has done very well.  He should be proud of himself and the work he has put into his dancing.
I'm proud of my boy!!!!!!!

Today's Contemporary Exams Done and Dusted

Accepting his medal

The contemporary exams are over for another year.  Salem is very pleased with what he did today but has to wait a couple of weeks or so until we get his results.
At least with the medal test he gets his medal straight away.  The kids all line up when their group has finished and they each are presented with a medal.  This time it was his Silver NZAMD Contemporary Intermediate Medal.  But we still have to wait for his report.

Is No.5 for Level 1 Exam

First exam of the day was his Level 1 Contemporary Exam.  We had to be there over an hour earlier to make sure everyone had all the right gear, the girls had to have their hair done and they all had a good warm up.  They were in the exam room for about 45-50 minutes.  They all came out smiling so all must have gone well.

No.7 for Medal Test

Then it was off for a coffee (for me) and a hot chocolate for Salem.  He was able to relax a bit and he told me about the exam.  The examiner was really nice so made everyone feel at ease.  Then it was back to the studio and get ready for his medal test.

All ready for the Contemporary Level 1 Exam

With the medal test, the parents are allowed to go in and watch, as long as we are quiet.  The kids come in one at a time and then get to watch the dancers that come after them.  It was quite nice to watch them all.

During the Medal Test

Salem had to do two dances and did a very good job of them.  He seemed to have a good burst of energy and really put his all into the dances.  I was very proud of him.  I was filming his last dance and was so engrossed in watching him that I forgot to follow him with the camera near the end of his dance.  

Well done Salem!!!!
Then it was a quick bite to eat for dinner and he had a ballet class.  He was very tired after that.
He will sleep well tonight.

Contemporary Exams Tomorrow

Salem getting ready for his ballet exam 2006

Salem has his two contemporary exams tomorrow.  He has been doing a lot of practices at the studio at the gym.  He has also had some mock exams at his dance school.  We have been working on the polishing up on his dancing and he is quite confident.

Practicing his exam smile

Last night I found an old SD card I hadn't seen for years and it has some lovely photos of Salem's first ballet exam from 2006.  He was only six years old.  It was for RAD Pre-Primary.

Going in for their exam

He was so little then.  He was very serious about his exam and was very pleased with himself afterwards.  He's glad he doesn't have to wear those shorts anymore.  It was leggings straight after that except that he had to wear the shorts again for his Primary exam.

All very pleased with themselves afterwards

Well, he has one more Contemporary class today and then next term hopefully he will be starting the next level's syllabus.  The school holidays start at the end of next week so there will be no contemporary classes that week, just ballet.  But the second week of the holidays there will be Grade School in preparation for the Ballet exams in November.  No rest for the wicked!!!!!

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.

Rosewood Ballet Competitions 2012

We went to the Rosewood Ballet Competitions at the Little Theatre in Lower Hutt on Saturday afternoon.
We arrived early as we never like to be late and travel all that way to miss out on Salem doing his dance.  But we got there really early so had to wait around for hours.  We had a wander around the grounds and went down to the Westgate Mall at Queensgate to by some hair gel.  We really did not like the mall at all and will most likely never go there again.

Salem did his contemporary dance really well.  He had lots of confidence this time so I was allowed to go and watch from the audience which was really nice.  A few minor mistakes but no one would no as he covered them nicely.
He got another Commended and the comments included " Lovely control on your shoulder roll.  Nice curve through your body in your swing.  Great suspension in your handstand."

He was up against seasoned competition and is improving all the time.
Well done Salem.

Start of a new term so back to classes

Contemporary Medal Exam 2010

It was back to ballet, stretch and strength and contemporary classes this week as it was the end of the school holidays and into the new term.

There is the usual syllabus lessons for the RAD exams next term in October, getting ready for his Contemporary NZAMD exam and medal test .....and.... The Kapiti Dance Centre's Concert on the 25th August.
Plus there is Cinderella, the rehearsals and performances.

Letting off some steam, having some fun.

And of course there is the practices and workouts at the gym, it's always hard on the first week of term so he had a bit of fun on the swiss ball today.

He had his private lesson for his classical dance today and went over technique.
We were hoping to do his classical dance at the Rosewood Competitions in Lower Hutt on the 27th to 29th July but it conflicts with his Cinderella rehearsals which is a pity. He was looking forward to it as he was going to compete against his friend Byron, who is also in Cinderella, so both the boys will have to miss out.  But on the bright side, he can still do his contemporary dance which is scheduled for late Saturday 28th July sometime around 4pm.

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.

Kapiti Dance Festival or The Kapiti Comps

Rehearsing for Sh-Boom.

What a long weekend it has been.  The Comps are still going now as I am writing this.  Thank goodness we only had three dances.  Others are there all weekend with sooooo many more.  There is so much waiting around, but at least you can go and watch the other dancers perform.

Sh-Boom, the group contemporary dance went well and they came second.  They looked really good on stage and you couldn't even tell that there were a few of the girls missing.

Du Hast - Contemporary Costume

The next morning Salem had his contemporary solo which is to Rammsteins "Du Hast" which made a nice change to all the "girly" music that the girls were dancing to.  I don't know what the judge made of it.

Salem and Caleb

Salem got a commended marking with the comments of "You have a good sense of line and a good sense of energy.  A promising performer."
That's not too bad considering that because of being nervous about being judged, Salem's mind went blank about his dance near the start so was basically doing an impromptu dance and not even his contemporary teacher noticed.  He managed to do the proper finish though.  I thought he did so well.  It also cured him of his nerves.

Kannan, Salem and Tegan

His classical dance went brilliantly and he was relaxed and confident.  His teacher was pleased with his performance and we got so many lovely comments afterwards from people we didn't even know.  And of course from people we did know :-)
Salem looks so grown up now.

Ready for his Classical Dance

He got another commended and the comments of "You have a strong presence on stage.  Nicely turned out legs and feet."

He was up against very tough competition, his friends and well seasoned competitors.

It was a very good experience for him and he can't wait until the next competitions.