10 things to do before coming back (Ballet Edition) - Back to School/Work

Hello there!

How have you been doing? Summer is coming to an end and back to school and work season is right around the corner. I know it’s kind of sad to go back to routine but I actually end up enjoying it more than having too much free time as it can be more boring than normal days.

I thought that today, in order to introduce this special season, I would do a very short post series of back to school time. Today I’ll start with a list of ten things you can’t forget to do or have in your first day back to ballet routine!

1.- Organize all of your bobby pins and hair nets and get new ones if you really need them.

Cleaning all of your bags, purses and wallets of all pins we might’ve saved during the past season is a good thing to do to realize how many pins we actually have. I’m, as many dancers, the typical girls that gets a thousand pins lost around the place and when I do my clean up I realize I had so many pins that I accumulated somehow during the season. That allows me to re-organize them to start fresh and be aware that there’s no need to buy new ones which is always great for ballerina’s on a budget!

2.- Get a planner or calendar to organize all your events.

I did it this past season and it has helped me so so much! Carrying a planner, journal, calendar, organizer or whatever you feel more comfortable with is the best thing you can invest in. Writing down what is your day, week or month looking like makes your mind much more organized and you get a perspective of how to face the upcoming events. You can also highlight or check everything you do and although it’s a small thing, it makes you feel like you already accomplished a lot of things on the day and cheers you up to go on.

3.- Clean your dance bag.

When I say clean I actually mean get it on your washing machine and get it cleaned up for real. This might seem a bit too much to some but believe me, the little trash you accumulate, the smells and all those nasty little bothering things can accumulate and make your bag look like a hot mess even before coming back, which is not the nicest tbh. So get all of your stuff out, get it cleaned up and when it dries, re-organize your dance bag consciously.

4.- Organize your bag.

Retaking it from the last point, this is also a very important thing to do. Think carefully before you fill up your bag with a thousand things that you’ll probably won’t need. I mean, yes, the turning board might be fun, but you don0t have to carry it with you every single day! If you don’t have a locker at your dance school, and you know you’ll have to carry your things with you every day, then try to get the things you’ll need for sure with you only. I’ll do a video-post on what I carry on my dance bag soon, so you can check it out to see what you would add or take off.

5.- Make a new CV and erase your old ones.

For the ones we’re starting a bright new year of auditions, I believe that organization is key and having your CV re-done and fresh is very important to have it all ready when you need to send any application. Add new things that you might have done recently and try to make it as short and specific as possible. Short CV’s are the way to go when auditioning to anything, believe me.

6.- Book your photo shoot A.S.A.P

You won’t be the only dancer wanting to take an audition photo shoot, so be fast and book it as soon as you can if you haven’t done it in summer. A lot of people will be in your same situation and if you don’t have any recent studio photos or you’ve changed your appearance since the last shoot, it’s better to get it done first and then it will last you till the end of the season. Don’t be scared to «not be in shape». If you want, leave it for the end of September, but don’t delay it more because otherwise it will become a full mission to get it done afterwards.

7.- Plan what you want to record for your audition video.

This is also something that is better to get it done soon because it’s tedious and I don’t think any dancer likes to be recorded in class. So talk to your teachers and plan soon how would you like your audition video to be done and if you can, contact someone that can make the video for you so you have a professional result for at least your full audition video. Also decide for a couple variations you would like to work in and some contemporary solos and/or pas de deux you would like to present. The more variety, the better.

Also, think about planning a list of variations and solos you would like to do so you can record yourself during the year to update your videos as you’ll improve your movement quality and personality throughout the season.

8.- If you wear a uniform, be sure that’s clean, with no threads hanging and that it fits you just as you want.

This that might seem such a silly thing to do, I’m telling you, it matters more than you think. When you know you’re going to wear a certain model or a certain color of leotard for a full year, you better be comfortable and happy with what you’re wearing because you’re going to have to wear it for a full year. Watching yourself in the mirror and doing a class everyday in the same outfit can be horrible when you don’t like what you’re wearing, so take the time to decide how you like your fitting and fix anything that might disturb you later on.

9.- Prepare a few pairs of pointe shoes so you don’t have to rush later.

Now that you still have time to do this, sew a few pairs of pointe shoes and get them ready to go so later on you don’t have to sew them rushing before class or a rehearsal. Shellac them, if you do so, and take your time to dry them correctly and sew them neatly. Afterwards you’ll be happy you did it because you’ll be able to take a pair and go straight to class with no worries!

10.- Be confident and get ready for all wonderful things that might come ahead!

This is the last thing and the most important one: believe in yourself, recognize that although it’s not going to be easy it will be exciting, challenging and fun the upcoming season. Be ready to learn, improve and most importantly, enjoy!

I hope you liked my ten tips. Which ones would you add or recommend me to try? Let me know in the comments below or in any of my social media accounts!

I hope you have a lovely day and I’ll see you soon!

Love,

Muriel