My Life In A Dance Week

Life is stressful for a 19 year old girl in the middle of her A Levels who also dances four times a week, and although sometimes I would rather curl up in a ball and sleep all day, I couldn't think of anything I would rather be doing than dancing. So this post is a little different from my others but I hope you enjoy it all the same!

I go to class four times a week, doing a mixture of dancing for myself and being somewhat a classroom assistant. This combination allows me to progress in my own capability, but also learn how to take on more of a teaching role, including how to deal with the kids, how to go about teaching them new steps, and knowing how to react in certain situations. So basically in this blog i'm going to talk you through what I get up to in a usual dance week, and why "sorry I can't, I have dance" is a valid excuse to get out of things!

Tuesday:

So my usual dance week will start of on a Tuesday at school. I study A level dance as one of my options so I will have an hour and a half lesson either theory or practical based focusing on our academic exam. If it's practical based we will be working on our solo and group pieces, but if it's theory based, we focus on the works of Alvin Ailey and West Side Story. However because we have completed our practical exams this year, we've only really focused on the theory elements of the course.
And then on a Tuesday evening from 5-6:30 I have my outside of school dance. Our dance school is focused mainly on exams which help us with our teaching, but we also do show work and have recently been involved in competitions. But my Tuesday class is for the exam group below me, so even though i've already taken the exam, it's nice to go and be able to work on my technique and strength.

Wednesday:

On a Wednesday I am a classroom assistant for the groups primary ballet to grade 1 ballet from 4:30-6:15. So I mostly stand at the front of class and demonstrate for them and give them someone to watch whilst they practise. Recently i've tried to help out more by teaching them different exercises, but i've mostly been working a lot more on my confidence around them. It's also helpful being with this class because when you go back to basics with them, it improves your technique because you have to make sure you're executing everything properly for them.
And then from 6:15-8 I dance with the Advanced 2 students. Again, it's mostly so I can work on my technique and strength, but also I get to try more stuff and new moves so it's fun to do.

Thursday:

Thursday is the same as Tuesday school wise where I have an hour and half lesson centred either around practical or theory based on the exam specification.

Friday:

I have a dance lesson at school again on this day but my outside of school dance is my main focus where I dance from 5-8. In this class we focus on our ballet exam work including half an hour of pointe work, and then we have an hour of class where we either focus on contemporary/modern jazz or show work (depending if there is a show at this point in the year). This is my most important class because it's focused on the exam work for my ability and is at my level.

Saturday:

On a Saturday i'm usually at dance from about 11-2. For the first 45 minutes we'll have a pointe work class for the grade above mine, and then until 1:30 i'll go into the spare room to work on my own grade work as extra practise. 1:30-2 is a beginners tap class which is for the younger students. However, I really enjoy tap (even though i'm not very good!) so I join in with them, or stand at the front to help demonstrate.

This is mostly it for my dance week, but is subject to change at different points in the year if we have a show, or small performances/competitions. But I hope people now understand how busy I actually am and realise that I can't just miss a dance class because all of them are equally important!!

Lucie xo