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How Many Pirouettes Can You Do!?

How Many Pirouettes Can You Do!?

By TurnedOutPointeOfView on Friday, October 4, 2019

Thanks for the fun question, buster_jensandersen!

Pirouettes, pique turns, lame ducks, fouette turns, chaines, soutenu’s… I sure do love to turn! There is something about that feeling of being so on balance that you can make the world spin around you, while you stay put!

In my dreams I can turn 6, 7, 8 times around.

Reality always hits! I’ve NEVER done 6, 7, or 8 turns in real life. The dream lives on…

My average is 3 turns. I can consistently do 3 turns to my right. To the left, not nearly as consistent. More, every once in awhile.

3 turns in various ballets.

I can do 4 turns! But I’ve only ever done 4 turns in the studio. Whereas I have done 3 turns on stage multiple times. When I’m in the studio and go around 4 times I always have a little moment of, Did anyone just see that!? It’s exciting. 🙂

Today in the studio!

When you turn on stage and go for more then just two, you are taking a risk. It’s liberating. You can’t save a turn if you go for an additional rotation without being on balance. You will fall out of it. Consequently, possibly making a bit of a mess of your variation…

On stage there is a lot more pressure then just in class. I tend to thrive on the stress! I love the idea of pushing beyond your own limits in front of an audience. I’m a true believer of now or never! I always take the risk and go for 3 turns on stage.

I wouldn’t take this risk though if I didn’t believe in my turns. The faith comes from all the hard work done in class. I’ve analyzed how much force I need, (less is more in my case) and I use my personal corrections to keep my turns turning. Corrections such as, higher passe, don’t over open my left arm (when turning to the right), and to feel my arms being lifted up from underneath them.

How many turns can you do!? What corrections help your turns!?

Keep in mind that a single turn that is placed, turned out and controlled can be just as beautiful as multiple turns. It isn’t about the number, but the quality.

xoxo
-Hol

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How To Make Corrections Work For You!

By TurnedOutPointeOfView on Monday, September 30, 2019

Corrections! Ahhhhh! There are days where you long to hear even just one and other days you wish they would stop telling you all your corrections.

When I was quite young, taking ballet class, I couldn’t handle being corrected. I didn’t understand that corrections are given to help you improve. I only thought of them as failure. I was disappointing my teacher. I wasn’t good enough.

Corrections are for your benefit. 100%. Don’t be like silly, little me crying because my foot wasn’t pointed enough. I wasted a lot of time being very hard on myself. I encourage you, if you feel like this, to find your inner grit and be confident. Everyone wants the best for you.

When corrections are given, whether they are to you or to someone else in the class, always listen. Knowledge is power. Maybe you did the step correctly that time but one day, possibly, it will stop working for you and having a bigger knowledge to tap in to will only help you.

My Notebooks.

My biggest TIP to make sure that corrections really make a difference for you, is to use a notebook. At the end of the day write down all the corrections you remember. Take the time to go back through the class in your head, remembering what was said. Your brain has to recall what you were just told. This can be easier said then done. It’s normal to hear your corrections in class and then walk away and not remember them or not remember them until you are doing the step wrong again. Write. Force your brain to stay on top of your ballet technique.

You can scribble! You are the only person who needs to understand what it says. Spelling goes out the window. This is just about getting as many thoughts down as possible.

My corrections from when I played Alice in December 2018.

If you are playing a character in a ballet, I would also encourage you to write down all the emotions the character goes through. Write down lines as if you could speak. What would your character be saying in those moments on stage if they could.

Notes for the Queen of Hearts.

Read your notes over and over and over again. Before you go to class, before you go on stage, before a rehearsal, before you go to bed, whenever you can. The more you think about it, the more automatic the corrections will be and the thoughts will become a part of you.

Before I entered the stage as Odette in Swan Lake, I had my notebook in the wings with me so I could read my thoughts helping me be completely in the moment. To be Odette. Feel as she feels.

Me pictured as Odette with Jonathan Chmelensky.

If you are thinking, “Ok Holly, sure, but I can only think about so many things at once and sometimes I need my entire focus just to pick up the combination.” I get it! I totally get it. Been there. Some days you’ll be better then others. Some days really are just class, warm-up and go kind of days. 😉

If you are feeling overwhelmed by trying to remember everything then narrow it down to only one or two corrections and try to apply them to every combination. Then the next day, try two different ones. Preferably without losing the corrections you worked on yesterday.

If you want to improve at the fastest rate possible buy a notebook and start writing. Make your thoughts support your movements.

Notebook. It’s a secret weapon. I swear by it.

xoxo
-Hol

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How To Create A Red Lip That Is Stage Kissable!?

By TurnedOutPointeOfView on Monday, September 9, 2019

First things first. 🙂 When you see two dancers on stage kiss, they are actually kissing. I guarantee, that they aren’t thinking about the kiss though. A kiss is always set to the music and is thought of as part of the choreography. In the ballet Napoli, I was asked to kiss my partner while simultaneously slowly lifting up one of my legs. That moment in the ballet, quickly became a balancing exercise for me, to truly create that Hollywood moment that my director wanted. My thoughts were, “Don’t fall over, Holly!”.

Napoli First Act. Jonathan Chmelensky & I.

How do you create a red lip, that is kissable but wont come off all over your partner? There isn’t always a possibility to run off stage to fix your make up and for him to wipe his face during a show.

Powder! It’s all about that face finishing powder. When doing your makeup before a show, put on your lip liner and then use that Ruby Red, or Drama Queen, or whatever the name is of your red lipstick and put that on your lips. Then, take your finishing powder and dust it all over your lips. It’s going to feel weird. Really weird. Give it a moment to settle in. Then, put another layer of your red lipstick on. Again, add more powder. Do this three or four times.

Your lips will not feel like your own anymore. It can feel quite dry. Once you start dancing though, I promise you wont be thinking about your lips.

Photo: Peter Anderson

To take it one step further, after you put on your lipstick and powder layers, take your concealer and apply it around your lips to stop any color bleeding. Make those red lips really pop!

I always finish my make up routine with a face setting spray. Doesn’t hurt to give everything, one last chance to set before the sweat starts to pour, threatening to ruin everything.

xoxo
-Hol

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How Many Pairs Of Pointe Shoes Do You Go Through In A Week?

By TurnedOutPointeOfView on Monday, September 2, 2019

I would say on average, I go through two pairs of pointe shoes a week. Some weeks my schedule isn’t very heavy, so I might only use one pair. Other weeks are extremely busy and then I may even need three or four pairs of shoes! I will round up and say that for one season with the Royal Danish Ballet, I go through 100 pairs of pointe shoes!

I prefer to dance in softer shoes. New shoes are a bit of a nightmare for me. I like the toe to be hard but everything else worn in. Which is why I try to make my shoes last as long as possible.

Sometimes, you just get a bad pair of shoes. So sad. I can’t tell if something is wrong with the shoes until after, I have spent 2 hours sewing and prepping the shoes. I need to try them in class, in turns to know. The center point needs to be good. There is no time for a weird shoe that takes you out of your turns! If the shoe isn’t good… it doesn’t get worn and another pair of shoes needs to be sewn.

Photo: Sofie Mathiassen

Fortunately, this doesn’t happen too often. I have customized my shoes more and more over the years which has definitely helped. Little shout out to all the wonderful people working at Freed making all the pointe shoes! We literally couldn’t dance without you!

When the weather is HOT, for example like last week, I can kill a pair of shoes in a day. Heat definitely creates a quick death to pointe shoes. They become too mushy to dance in.

Sometimes, you get a miracle pair of shoes! That is the best! I’ve never been able to quite figure out what makes a miracle pair so good, but every once in a while, there will be a pair of shoes that doesn’t die with a perfect balance point. When I danced as Henriette in Raymonda in 2017, I used the same pair of shoes for all of my 12 performances. I love when that happens!

Alice In Wonderland last year, was the opposite to Raymonda. I went through a pair of shoes for every performance. Alice dances on stage for nearly three hours in the warm stage lights, so the shoes simply, had no chance for a long life.

Photo: Politiken

Even after I consider a pair of shoes dead, I will keep them in my dressing room for several months. The shoes become hard again which is great because then I can get a second life out of them! I can use them for rehearsals during the day or if they are really good, even a show!

So many pointe shoes! I love them though. Speaking of which, I need to go and sew.
xoxo
-Hol

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Have You Ever Forgotten Your Steps Onstage!?

By turnedoutpointeofview on Friday, August 30, 2019

Yup. Yes, I have. Luckily, this doesn’t occur often, but we are human, like everyone else. For me, I fell victim to exhaustion, and my brain lost focus, for less than a second, but still leaving me in a state of panic. I forgot my steps while I was performing in Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Side note- This ballet is absolutely fantastic!). The company did 21 shows in 3 weeks! No small feat. It’s a huge, magical production.

‘Alice i Eventyrland’ ballet på det Kongelige Teater. Portræt af Holly Dorger, 27 år, der danser Alice i balletten.

I was very fortunate to have been cast as the role of Alice and as the role of the Queen of Hearts. It was amazing to play such different characters. It also came along with a big responsibility.

The character of Alice is on stage for almost the entire ballet. She is only off stage for one quick costume change. She has many steps. SO MANY steps! The Queen of Hearts is often on stage at the same time as Alice. It was crucial to remember who I was playing everyday. I constantly switched back and forth. Everyday before the show, I would go through the scenes that the characters shared as the character, I was on that day.

Usually, if you dance as Alice then the next day you have off. For me, due to scheduling, I did four shows as Alice or the Queen, twice in a row! The first time I had four in a row, I alternated each show between the characters. The second time I did four in a row, they were the final four shows of the run. I played Alice for three of them and then switched to Queen for the very last show. In that last show, while I was dancing the Queen’s variation, is where I had my blank out.

It was minor. If you didn’t know her correct steps you wouldn’t have seen it. Luckily, I was dancing by myself, so a ripple effect wasn’t created for any of the other dancers. I knew right away that something was off. I did a step that didn’t feel quite right or normal. Thank goodness dancers have such good muscle memory. A tool that we use everyday. Before my brain knew something was off my body did. My body kept dancing through. Once my brain caught up, I remember feeling a moment of panic, and then a realization of, “Well, I’m still going.” The song that Dori sings from, Finding Nemo, would be a great theme song for anyone who suffers from a black out. “Just keep swimming… Just keep dancing…”.

When I got back into the wings, I was fully aware that I definitely needed to catch up on some sleep. My brain was tired from constantly switching and trying to stay on top of such a big, and complicated ballet for two characters ( I was also rehearsing up to 6 hours for our upcoming production of Cinderella as Cinderella and the step sister. Again switching between two characters.). To say my head was fully loaded would have been an understatement. As busy as I was, I loved every second of it!
xoxo
-Hol

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Do We Get Help Changing Costumes During A Show?

By TurnedOutPointeOfView on Monday, August 26, 2019

Photo: Kasper Nybo

In fact, we do! And thank goodness! We have the most lovely colleagues that specifically help us with our costumes during a show and full costume rehearsals. We call them, Dressers. There are two dressers for every floor of dressing rooms. Approximately 12 dressers are in the house on a performance night.

Help backstage. Water and a pat down. Photo: Kasper Nybo

If you are the lead female and male dancer of the evening, you have your very own dresser. They help you with any costume changes, or anything that you could possible need throughout the night. It’s like having a guardian angel, helping you bring your best to the stage. They even bring you a glass of water in the wings. Which is totally going above and beyond their job but very much appreciated.

A dresser arrives to the theater around 6:30pm/7pm. They check the casting for the night and then put everyone’s costume in to their personal dressing room, including hair pieces and accessories. Then, they sit in the hallway waiting patiently for us to come out of our rooms to help us get dressed. All strings must be tucked away and all accessories on before we head down to the stage.

Swan Lake Hair Pieces

The dressers stay for the entire performance. Sometimes they are needed during the show for quick costume changes. For example, during Alice In Wonderland many people were playing several different characters in one show which required quick changes. In this scenario, the dressers are back stage with us. Otherwise, they sit by our dressing rooms waiting for us to come up from the stage and to help us get out of our costumes.

Swan Lake Costumes Ready for the Evenings Show

It is a complete luxury to have such lovely colleagues helping us getting dressed and undressed. They deserve a huge round of applause for all that they do for us behind the scenes.

xoxo
-Hol

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What Are Pointe Shoes Made Out Of?

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Ballet

What Are Pointe Shoes Made Out Of?

Awww the beautiful, little slipper that ballerinas wear. Think again! Pointe shoes, from afar look silky, smooth, and light. Up close, knock on the box and many people would guess that they must have metal inside of them. Ouch!

The outisde of the pointe shoe is made from satin, making a feminine, ballerina look. The box, (where the ballerina stands on her toes) is made up of densely packed layers of fabric with cardboard or paper, and lots of glue. The shank, (the inside part of the shoe, running along the bottom part of the dancers foot vertically giving support) is typically made out of layers of cardboard. The shank can be custom ordered and replaced with leather (my personal favorite), plastic, cardstock or even layers of hardened burlap with glue. The sole of the shoe (the backside of the pointe shoe) is made out of a thin layer of leather.

Satin, cardboard, leather, and glue is all there is to make up the shoes that allow ballerinas to create that infamous illusion of whimsical beauty.
xoxo
-Hol