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19 In fitness

staying fit | ballet

second-position-enpointe

Ballet is an obvious one for me to include in this ‘staying fit’ series, and is considerably more graceful than my last activity too!  I’ve been at the same dance school since before I can remember.  After almost 14 years with the same teachers and same group of girls it’s impossible to imagine life without weekly dancing for me.  My teachers Ann Louise and Laura really do feel like my aunties, and our Thursday nights are honestly some of the funniest times ever.  I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve been killing ourselves laughing and tried pulling it together to carry on dancing!

brunette-doing-ballet-pose

Fitness-wise, I definitely include ballet in my workout ‘routine’.  It’s well known fact that dancing most definitely is a sport as well as an art.  Only takes one look at a professional dancer’s legs to figure that one out.  Obviously I’m nowhere remotely near that level, but I can agree that nothing works your bum quite like a grands battements and battements en cloche exercise 6 times through.  AnnLouise does like to push us. 🙂  Also, there’s a hell of a lot of leaping and jumping involved so it’s a great cardio sesh too, and I can safely say we all look less than graceful when we’re red faced and puffing afterwards.  Good posture is drummed into us from pre-primary all the way through, which I’m now thankful for!

What differentiates dance from other workouts is the trying to look good whilst doing it: nobody really cares if your legs are properly turned out or if your eyes are following your hands in the gym, but trying your best to be aware of what every part of your body looks like is a challenge in itself.  During any other workout it’s easy for your mind to be stuck on ‘OMG this hurts so much’ and struggle to push your way through, but I usually find it’s only afterwards that you actually realise quite how tiring dancing is.  Concentrating on getting moves right and looking half decent whilst you’re at it is actually a distraction from the fitness element, so it can be a workout you don’t even realise you’re doing, woohoo!

black-pleat-front-leotard

ballet-pose-fourth-position

I’ve actually done tap and modern for equally as long but ballet is by far the prettiest. 🙂  For our next show (which will also be my last wahhhh) we’ve started a Les Mis medley that I am absolutely loving so far, and in black tutus it should look quite impressive.  I remember watching the ‘big girls’ in their tutus when I was in the younger grades, and I’m sure they seemed much older than I feel now haha.  Always the case isn’t it?

brunette-putting-on-pointe-shoes

Perks of being one of the ‘big girls’: choosing our own black leotards haha.  After years of all wearing the same plain pale pink, then lilac, then navy, we’re all slightly too excited to pick our own strappy crisscross backless ones.  Mine’s from Bloch and my tights are Primark – they’re not exactly traditional ballet ones being patterned black and all but hey ho.

dance-studio-brunette

barre-exercise

How perfect is this light in the studio?  After helping out with the little ones’ classes on Saturday morning we hung about for a play around in an empty room, and unsurprisingly the full length windows and mirrors on every wall work in the favour of photographs.  Even the floor is slightly reflective so it’s pretty much a dream location.

ballet-releve

Anyway, I should really get started on the ton of maths and physics homework I have due for tomorrow, so that’s enough for now!  Thanks for stopping by!

lily kate x
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p.s. If any of you are ballet dancers yourselves and are critiquing my position, then please be nice with any constructive criticism!  I don’t pretend to be any expert.

19 Comments

  • Reply
    Carys
    19th October 2014 at 5:00 pm

    I loved reading this so much! Just as much as I love your studio and your leo and your arms and just omg! I completely agree with the whole ‘you don’t feel like it’s a workout’ thing! Doesn’t being in front of so many mirrors just encourage you to dance and look pretty? 😀 x

    • Reply
      lily kate
      19th October 2014 at 5:09 pm

      Glad you liked it Carys! Thank you! The mirrors really do help you to remember what your body is doing – a good reminder to keep your posture in check!

  • Reply
    Naomi
    19th October 2014 at 10:12 pm

    Stunning post, Lily. You are gorgeous, and as a ballerina even more so. Such beautiful photographs, I’d swear they’re from a professional shoot.
    I so wish I had gone to ballet when I was little. I actually looked at adult classes a while ago but working shifts makes it so difficult to commit to weekly events 🙁 it’s such a beautiful sport, and art, and I love going to the ballet at Christmas!

    N xo

    http://www.whatnaomiwrote.blogspot.co.uk

    • Reply
      lily kate
      21st October 2014 at 7:21 pm

      Thank you so much Naomi! I’m so lucky having a professional photographer for a mum haha!
      Definitely give it a go if you can!

  • Reply
    Alice
    19th October 2014 at 10:29 pm

    Oh lily you look just beautiful! You need to impart some ballet wisdom onto me haha 🙈 x

    • Reply
      lily kate
      21st October 2014 at 7:26 pm

      Aw thank you Alice! I’ll try my best haha!

  • Reply
    Max
    21st October 2014 at 2:28 pm

    Beautiful pictures! And it is nice to see your studio. Especially since it has been a big part of your life. Ballet says a lot about you. The beauty, the discipline, the fun, and the grit really shapes you as you grow.

    I like your leotard too. My daughter is eight and I keep asking her when she will give up the pinks. I know that day is coming about now.

    • Reply
      lily kate
      21st October 2014 at 7:29 pm

      Thank you Max! We’ve only actually been using these studios for the last few years but they are so nice! Aww what colour do they move on to next?

  • Reply
    Marco
    22nd October 2014 at 2:05 pm

    You are a beautiful woman. I really like your pics. Also the large faces pic (£20 budget | lancaster) with your Boyfriend. Thank you!

  • Reply
    Corinne
    24th October 2014 at 12:55 am

    Gosh, you’re stunning. All these photos are lovely.

    I did ballet, tap and dance for around 5 years when I was younger. I wish I kept at it but I’m not very flexible at all, I never have been.

    Corinne x

    • Reply
      lily kate
      26th October 2014 at 5:02 pm

      Thank you so much Corinne! I’m not actually as flexible as you’d think either (my back barely bends backwards at all) but it’s still fun!

  • Reply
    Audrey S
    27th October 2014 at 6:35 pm

    OMG! I love this! I’m actually quite a serious ballet student (I trian at the San Francisco Ballet School) and I totally agree with everything you said! You should check out my ballet instagram @audrina.ballerina (I also have one for my blog) and I’ll totally follow you back!

    thesarcasticwasian.blogspot.com

    • Reply
      lily kate
      28th October 2014 at 2:56 pm

      Just checked out your instagram – holy cow you are impressive! Thank youuuu!

  • Reply
    Jen
    30th October 2014 at 6:20 am

    Such beautiful photos! I have been looking into taking adult ballet classes just for fun and fitness (I always wanted to learn when I was little!) but I’m so uncoordinated with 0 dance experience. It does look so elegant and fun though.

    • Reply
      lily kate
      30th October 2014 at 11:15 am

      Thank you Jen! I’m surprisingly very uncoordinated so don’t be thinking it’ll be a hindrance! Give it a shot 😀

  • Reply
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  • Reply
    Emma T
    5th March 2016 at 10:36 pm

    I used to do ballet as a child, from age 4 through to 6th form when I had to give up because I changed school which included Saturdays so there wasn’t time to dance as well as do school and sports in the afternoons. It’s a great way of keeping fit although I ended up with chunky calves from it much to my disappointment now.

    Years later I got back into dancing via salsa, then ceroc/modern jive with a bit of west coast swing. Partner dancing’s so much fun, really sociable, and you don’t need to wear a leotard. Much better for those of us past out youthful figures.

    Hope you find a way to continue your dancing.

    • Reply
      lily kate
      15th March 2016 at 7:27 pm

      Dancing takes up so much time and committment doesn’t it! I have chunky muscly calves too – embrace them I say 😀

      I’d love to try out partner dancing at some point!

      Thank you for stopping by 🙂

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