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I am pleased to present our Guest Blog from our teacher Johanna Saarinen! Tombé
 pas de bourreé away , Jo!



SUMMER DANCE INTENSIVE 2019







This summer I had the privilege of leading Ballet4life’s ‘ballet leg’ of the summer intensive week, including a six day long ballet repertoire course. Having had a long break from teaching Repertoire myself, I noticed I was approaching the challenge with surprisingly mixed feelings.
I was excited to be tipping my dancing toes in the good old classics again; refreshing hours of material and narrowing it down to suitable variations and corps de ballet pieces for our students, however, I was faced with the smallest mental dilemma of how, as a choreographer, I could stay as true to the original choreography as possible, yet make it accessible and joyous to perform for all the dancers from such multitudes of abilities and backgrounds.



It turned out we had an incredibly productive week! Each piece was tweaked ever so slightly, mainly in order to be performed more organically on demi - pointe. Over the six days we learned Giselle’s Friends (corps de ballet waltz, Giselle, Act I), White Swan (Odette’s variation, Swan Lake, Act I), Candida (First Fairy variation, Sleeping Beauty, Act I), Dance of the Sacred Fire (Nikiya’s entrance variation, La Bayadere, Act I) and Peasant Pas (Giselle’s variation Peasant Pas De Deux, Giselle, Act I).





I got to work with most of the dancers on a daily basis and gained an understanding of their bodies and minds quickly. Instead of focusing on the grand bravado of flat 180 degree turnouts or complex final diagonals, we approached all repertoire from an angle of expressing our emotions through the character and the body, accepting its abilities for what they are and ultimately dancing for ourselves, not expecting anyone’s approval. We discussed a lot about emphasising the inner life of ballet, creative expression and not being afraid to expose ourselves artistically.

From a teacher’s and choreographer’s point of view it was incredibly rewarding to witness how quickly these dancers grew in confidence with such poise and passion and how that elevated self-esteem has now been transferred back in to the class room that the new term has started. I truly love witnessing personal breakthroughs and there were so many during that week I only wish I had a camera to capture the surprise and elation on the dancer’s face when something clicked and their practice leaped forward that extra turn or balance or boost in self-esteem of ‘I can!’

We have very knowledgeable dancers at Ballet4life, so many of our dancers are passionate, up to date dance fans and know exactly what is going on each season, which is why it is only natural they want to know more in depth what they are watching on stage. Our dancers often give up a lot to get to class regularly, whether it be time with their family, money or both, and I have such appreciation for this. Offering our dancers an opportunity to learn some of the material they possibly have been watching since their early childhood as well as putting into context the technical steps and preparatory combinations they might have been honing for years in the dance studio only makes sense to me. I believe all students should be taught in a way that prepares them for performance, whether they ever intend to step their foot on an actual theatre stage or rather embrace life in general as their greatest showcase.

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