This is for my bunheads!!

So, I finally made it back to a ballet class.  I took at Millennium Dance Studio again because I really liked the teacher, Mai Yajima from Tokyo Ballet, that I had taken from the previous week.  Ballet classes here range from 2500 yen to 4000 yen ($25 -$40) per class, so I could only take a few times for “educational research” purposes.  There was only two of us in class this time.  The other young woman in class is the one obviously shown in the pictures with me.  She was very kind and knew a little english so was able to translate some corrections from the teacher.

I wore tights as I knew that Angelo would be able to photograph the class!  We started at barre with plies.  Miss. Yajima has a very good eye for correcting the body for alignment.  She said ( I believe she said ), that when I am going to the bottom of my demi plie that I let my heels roll forward and somewhat lift off the ground.  Also, she tried to get my shoulders down and breathing while I dance.  I’m sure you bunheads understand that correction.  Mai Yajima helped with everything, the articulation of the foot in a tendu, port de bras, upper body positions, how to stretch the leg while on releve.  I knew that she was giving great corrections to my classmate and me.  But after when I saw the pictures that Angelo took I saw how much she helped my form.  I also like how Miss. Yajima did not let us get away with anything.  Although she is super nice, she was firm and made sure we understood the correction.

Center was a good mix of technique and dancing.  I tend to teach more technique than the dance, so I really appreciate people who do both.  Sometimes if you only focus on the technique then you look like ballerina robots.  Haha!  ONI the ballet robot demon!!  Miss. Yajima shows everything full out.  Its nice having a professional dancer show the combination.  Then you can see EXACTLY how it should be done.  Her adagio combinations are very lyrical and a little different that what I am used to.  I liked that.

This is a video across the floor.  I pretty much suck as I am not taking much ballet right now, but oh well!  Still so much fun!!

We did a nice little petit allegro.  We finished with coupe jete turns, yay, I love these big jumps! They are hard for me as I don’t have much extension, but I love them regardless.  This is a photo of the teacher, classmate and I after class.  She is going on tour soon to Rome and Belgium.  Thanks to Mai Yajima, Millennium Dance Studio Tokyo and my classmate for allowing us to take photos.  If you are planning a visit to Japan, please take class, so worth it!!

Mai Yajima, artist Tokyo Ballet

Millennium Dance Complex Tokyo

Ballet Fridays at 18:45-20:15, 3,000 yen per class

I almost forgot! Here are some photos of me in front of the Chacott store in Shibuya.   Chacott is a Japanese brand of dancewear and shoes.  They actually have many stores in Japan.  They also offer ballet classes too!  The Chacott store in Shibuya has 8 floors, three of which were dance studios.  I didn’t take class there as it was a bit pricey, about 4,000 yen.  I watched class for a bit, the teacher seemed professional and had great lines.  If you have some extra money to spend on dancewear go to the Chacott store as they have some really beautiful dance clothes! They also have a costume level which is always nice to see and drool over 🙂