Rambert Intensive: Day 2|Dreams That Glitter

Day 2

10:00-11:30 – Contemporary with Kate Mummery

We did a very similar class to yesterday, building on some of the exercises we did yesterday. We’re slowly adding in more Cunningham specific exercises, today we did pulses which is like sit ups but standing up. I found that really interesting, at first it just feels weird and like it’s not doing much, but once you get the correct range of movement and alignment you can really feel it working the abdominals. We did the phrase we did yesterday and worked it out on the left and then performed it in smaller groups which was nice to be able to use more of the space and to watch everyone else. Oh and I forgot to mention yesterday – we have a musician for this class who plays different rhythms on various instruments, it gives a different feel to the class and it’s refreshing to work in that way rather than with the same set music from an iPod.

11:45-13:15 – Repertoire with Hannah Rudd – The Strange Charm of Mother Nature

We learnt another phrase from this piece which I really liked as well, so once we’d learnt that we recapped the phrases we did yesterday and then got into groups (there’s quite a wide range of ability within the group so the groups we got into were kind of based on how well people were picking it up so we could go at a speed we were most comfortable with) and in those smaller groups we got into formations and went from one phrase to the next, almost like putting together a mini piece. This is what we’ll be performing in the sharing on Friday.

14:15-15:45 – Choreography with Estela Merlos

I have so many bruises from this session! Floor work is the enemy. We started off with a bit of partner work and went into some contact improvisation playing around with counter balances. We then took this on a larger scale and created three big structures including everyone in the group, using each other to balance in a variety of different positions on different levels. We then recapped the phrases we did yesterday and then learnt a new phrase which again included floor work, and it’s quite fast! I’m enjoying it though. I always find this session the hardest as it’s the one after lunch, so I’ve just sat down for an hour, eaten and seized up!

16:00-17:00 – Yoga/Pilates

This was more yoga than yesterday, it was challenging but much more of a steady pace compared to yesterday, and had a lot more stretching which was lovely. We did a section of passive stretching in partners, it’s amazing the difference it makes having someone apply pressure to parts of your body and the effect that has on the stretch you’re doing, it feels wonderful! We finished off with a relaxation session which was much needed. After two days of finishing with a relatively gentle session, I think finishing off the day with ballet tomorrow and Thursday is going to a be a bit of a shock to the system!

So that’s two days down, three to go! I’m covered in bruises and ache a little, I came home today and made friends with the foam roller (if you don’t have one, you need one – I have this one and this one). We’re doing a different piece of repertoire tomorrow so will be nice to mix things up a bit! Here’s hoping I don’t forget everything we’ve learnt from today…

Rambert Intensive: Day 1|Dreams That Glitter

So this week I’m doing a 5 day intensive at Rambert! I’m going to attempt to write a post about each day, so here goes. It’s an adult course and it’s split into two groups: Intermediate and Advanced, I’m doing the Intermediate. I’d never been to the studios before today and would just like to mention how lovely they are! They’re all wonderfully lit by natural light, high ceilings and lovely flooring, really nice to dance in!

10:00-11:30 – Contemporary with Kate Mummery

The day started with a Cunningham based contemporary class, which was a bit different to what I’ve done before but followed the regular structure of a technique class working through a series of exercises using more of the body and travelling more, working into the floor as we got warmer, eventually learning a short phrase which I think we’re building onto/adapting as the week goes on.

11:45-13:15 – Repertoire with Hannah Rudd – The Strange Charm of Mother Nature

I really enjoyed this session; I think it was my favourite of the day. I couldn’t find a link on YouTube for the rep but I might not have been looking hard enough so I totally recommend you give it a search! We were shown a clip from the work and then we learnt three phrases, which I really liked. They were quite technical and we didn’t dance them at full speed (the whole piece shifts a lot, and the music is fairly abstract but all of the movement is very speedy), I particularly enjoyed the balletic style to some of the movements. We performed them in smaller groups at the end and went from one phrase to the next continuously which was nice, and were given plenty of opportunity to go through all the details and ask questions as we went along which was really helpful, the class wasn’t too fast paced but I feel like we achieved quite a lot over the hour and a half.

14:15-15:45 – Choreography with Estela Merlos

I didn’t know what to expect from this class; whether we’d be taught more choreography or have to make up our own or whether it would be like improvisation. We did a simple warm up and then learnt a short phrase which mainly consisted of arm gestures, it was really specific and the movements had to be exactly on the counts, which isn’t always the case with contemporary dance. We then learnt a development of this phrase which contained the same movements but made them bigger and travelled more in the space, adding in more leg movements. Finally we learnt a third phrase based on the idea of falling so used a lot more floor work, which was really interesting, a lot of the moves I hadn’t done before and wouldn’t have thought of using them in my own choreography but is something I probably will  now incorporate in the future. These three phrases are being put together to form a piece which we are working towards for the end of the week, when we will have a sharing with the Advanced group so we can see what everyone’s been up to!

16:00-17:00 – Yoga/Pilates

This was a really nice class to finish off the day with. I think there was a bit more yoga than pilates, and I didn’t really know what to expect, I think a lot of people assumed that it would be the ‘easy’ class because Pilates and Yoga seem to be associated with older people I’ve realised? But I think some of the exercises were challenging, particularly the speed of the yoga flows we were doing. At the end of the day it’s quite easy to just want to curl up on the mat and have a nap! I do quite a lot of Pilates as my mum actually teaches it, and I wondered if there was going to be a difference between ‘general public pilates’ and ‘dancer pilates’ and there wasn’t really.

I think that’s it for today! I have also purchased the new Rambert t-shirt and hoodie which are both really lovely and soft. I have a similar day tomorrow so hopefully I’ll remember to post about it…

Summer Fitness|Dreams That Glitter

Me and my friend Maisie are doing a fitness plan for the six weeks we’re off while we have some time off school and dance so we can improve flexibility and such…We might be teaching a dance class for middle/lower school kids at some point too, so we’ve been working on some routines for that. I’m also teaching her ballet technique and some syllabus work so she can start a class in September!

So far we’ve been in the studio twice, usually for around 3 hours at a time… We’re going again on Saturday. We’ve also started yoga and Body Step (a little challenging but great for building stamina?), I’ve been in the gym a couple of times as well. I’m trying to do something active every day, I don’t want a repeat of last summer… Today I went to Armageddon (it’s like circuit training) and zumba with my mum (she’s a fitness instructor). Day off tomorrow though, so it’s all good! Can’t wait to see how much progress we can make by the end of the summer.

And you can’t forget to treat yourself after a good workout… Iced coffee or Costa’s new ‘Coffee Coolers’ are just the best, I totally recommend them.

In Costa

Practicing a bit of pointe work 

My current favourite drink