Review Thursday's lesson Week 3!!!

On Thursday I had one hour of Contemporary and one hour and a half and one hour and half of Jazz. My Contemporary teacher is called Laura and my Jazz teacher is called Vicky. 

Contemporary

In Contemporary we did a number of exercises which helped my Flexibility, Strength and my Extension. We did a warm up which lasted about 15 mins. This got the blood circulating around my body and warming up my muscles. We then did the first exercise which consisted of rolling down through the spine, doing lunges, going out to plank position and leg swings. All of these are the basic warm up exercises which start to warm up the spine, the hips and also is responsible for waking up the centre. 

We also did a Tendus exercise which got me thinking about my strength, my extension and my tracking. Tracking of the leg is very important in dance because it creates a pure extension of the line and prevents sickling. I tried not to sickle because it will likely develop incorrect muscles which can a limit an overall ability to perform more advanced steps and it can break your line. To make me not do this I had to be very conscious of the tracking of my foot.

Jazz

For Jazz, Vicky started us off with a very intense warm up which tested my stamina. We did a plie exercise which also had alot of flatbacks  

Monday's fitness lesson (week 5)!!!!!

Monday's fitness test week 5

Today was our last fitness test in term two. I felt I had a lot more power in me due to the fact that I knew it was my last week doing this and I wanted to get higher results than I have been for the past few weeks. The reason why we do the fitness test is because as dancers you need to build up your strength and have really good stamina. This week my results turned out to be higher than last weeks. Over the last few weeks the three main stations I know I have improved on are the roll down press-up, the split lunges and the squat jumps. The first week I found the roll down press-ups really hard, I felt that mostly my arms got tired the most. I can now feel that my arms have become a lot more stronger so now I can do a few more and my arms will heart a tiny bit less. The squat jumps across the room were really tiring, but to me, I found that when I did them properly; with a bigger plie,  I was able to do a few more than usual. When it came to the split lunges, at first I was doing them an easier way than I should have. Then Andrea corrected me and I felt my thighs working like MAD!!! 

My results:
(Week 5)
1. Roll down press up- 13
2. Vertically crunches- 73
3. Squat jumps- 8 
4. Plank challenge- 1min
5. Mountain climbers- 147
6. Burpees- 20
7. High knees- 115
8. Split lunges- 40
9. Jumping jacks- 65
10. Flutter kicks- 78

Conclusion (Term1)!!!

Conclusion Term 1

I feel this term has gone so quickly, I am extremely pleased with what I had achieved. In all of my dance classes in and outside of school, my three targets were Flexibility, Strength and Extension and my three other physical skills were Coordination, Balance and Control. I know for sure I have become stronger in all of these skills. 

On Thursday Andrea and my dance teachers came to assess us. This assessment consisted of most of the exercises we have been learning in class the past few weeks. I felt I did quite well in the assessment. I feel I applied all of my targets to the exercises and I thought about when I needed them. In Jazz before we did the leap exercise, I stretched out my hamstrings which increased the flexibility in the legs which helped the action of the split in the air. I feel one of my main things I need to work on is my point. I will achieve this by doing 100 tendus in the morning and 100 at night.  I also felt during the assessment I was very focused and I felt I showed it in my face as well. 

Term 2

For term two my targets are to work on my point, my stamina, and Coordination. I will still be working very hard on my term 1 targets as well. I am also going to try and include more pictures and videos of myself on my blog which it more attractive.

Physical skills!!!

Physical Skills!!!

I think that in dance we always have to think about physical skills. On Monday we had to choose a few physical skills that we will be working on for the next few weeks. In each exercise I'll be working on all of them, but my three main ones are the same as my targets so I'll choose three different ones. Those will be my dynamic awareness, my balance and my coordination.

Coordination

Coordination is being able to control all body parts at the same time. There is an isolation exercise we did in Vicky's Jazz class the other day and straight away I got confused. I had never done Jazz or Modern before so I hadn't experienced a lot of isolation exercises using the arms and the ribcage. I had to really use my brain and get my body used to using one part of it whilst keeping the rest of my body still. 

Balance

Balance is controlling the weight on a specific support. In Contemporary with Laura we do many exercises which require good balance such as a tendus exercise which includes quite a few of rises . As a dancer balance is very important because the dancer needs to be able to show stillness and suspension in the space.  The key factor of balance is a strong core. The centre of a dancer (core stability) is the most important aspect of their technique. Because without a strong centre a dance is unable to move with freedom and fluidity. 

Control

Control is when your able to control your body and limbs and being able to make them perform a dance accurately by making them do what they need to do. Balance is a big part of control. Here is an examples of when using control: 

• Coming out from a jump you need balance and control to help you land properly 

Fitness test week 3!

Fitness test Week 3!!

In today's lesson we had a fitness test. The first thing we did was we went outside with a piece of pen and paper, Andrea (my teacher) told us to test our heart, this was called our resting heart-rate, and mine was 63. After this we had another test to see how many step ups we could in 1min, my result was: 70. 1min after the step ups we tested our heart-rate, my was 132. We then waited until it was 2mins after the exercise and tested our heart-rate again; my result for this was 76. As you can see, my resting heart-rate was the lowest because I didn't do any exercise before; therefore the blood wasn't pumping around my body as fast as it when I just finished the exercise. After 2mins of doing the exercise, the blood, which was pumping around my body, had calmed down, but it was still pumping around my body more than it was at my resting heart-rate. So therefore, my heart rate after 2mins was higher than my resting heart rate.

After this we went back inside and did a 10min circuit training which consisted of many abdominal exercises. All of these exercises lasted 1min each. Below are my results:

Circuit:

1. Roll down press up: 7

2. Vertically crunches: 79

3. Squat jumps: 9

4. Plank challenge: 1min

5. Mountain climbers: 104

6. Burpees: 24

7. High knees: 100

8. Split lunges: 67

9. Jumping Jacks: 83

10. Flutter kicks: 102

Heart rate:
Resting heart rate: 63

Heart rate after exercise: 132 

Heart rate after 2 mins: 76

Skills Audit!!!

About me!!

Hi, my name is Honey Makwana and I'm 14 years old. I live in High Barnet with my twin brothers, my older sister, my mum and my step dad. My mum, who is a dancer inspired me to dance. I used to watch her attend Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary classes when I was younger. I am currently training on the CAT programme (Centre for advanced training) at The Place, I go there twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I have been there for four years and I'm so excited for what is next to come. By being on CAT, I get to work with loads of phenomenal choreographers when I do intensives at The Place, such as Matthew Bourne, Wayne McGregor, Richard Alston, Phoenix Dance Company, Tony Adigun and many more.   I also recently got chosen to work with a Dance Company called H2DANCE. With this company I have toured Norway, Sweden and will soon be touring the UK. I've also had an amazing opportunity to perform on The Sadler's Wells stage with a company called 'Ballet Lorent' where we performed a production called Rapunzel.  

Swimming

I have been swimming for ten and a half years at a club called 'Broomfield Park Swimming Club' (BPSC). Swimming is an amazing skill in life, but also it increases your pleasure and fun when you go on holiday and get to swim across massive rivers. I've also done a number of swimming competitions at Venues in and out of London which have been challenging. 

I have now reached a level where I can assist as a water-helper for (BPSC). This is one way on me earning money which is great because it gives me independence. To get this position I had to do a training course which consisted of 2 hours of written work and 4 hours of practical tasks in the water.  

I was home-schooled for the past 3 years and absolutely loved it. The reason I was home-schooled was because my mother was disillusioned with the state school system and thought my overall development would be better down the home-schooling route. 

H2DANCE photo shoot:

Tony Adigun Wilderness (Robert Cohan's 90th) 
at Robin Howard Theatre:

Reflection on circuits and heartrate

Reflection on circuits and heart rate

21st September 2015-

Resting heart rate: 63

Heart rate after exercise: 132 

Heart rate after 2 mins: 76

1.Roll down press up: 26

2. Vertically crunches: 79

3. Squat jumps: 9

4. Plank challenge: 1min

5. Mountain climbers: 104

6. Burpes: 24

7. High knees: 100

8. Split lunges: 67

9. Jumping Jacks: 83

10. Flutter kicks: 102

28th September 2015-

Resting heart rate: 74

Heart rate after exercise: 149

Heart rate after 2 mins: 68

1. Roll down press up:10

2. Vertically crunches:80 

3. Squat jumps: 10

4. Plank challenge: 1min 

5. Mountain climbers 

6. Burpees: 38

7. High knees: 106

8. Split lunges: 50

9. Jumping Jacks 97

10. Flutter kicks: 120

5th October 2015

1. Roll down press up- 13

2. Vertically crunches- 73

3. Squat jumps- 8 

4. Plank challenge- 1min

5. Mountain climbers- 147

6. Burpees- 20

7. High knees- 115

8. Split lunges- 40

9. Jumping jacks- 65

10. Flutter kicks- 78

For me I found the flutter kicks the easiest because I felt I could relax a bit more due to the fact that I'm lying down. I found the roll down press up the hardest because even though it was the exercise, I was using my core, my arms so therefore my body got tried very quickly. I felt I improved on the second week due to me not being ill and therefore having a lot more energy. 

  Flutter kicks: