Little people.....

Sometimes I don't think I realise just what a difference 

I have on these little girls who come into my studio 

with hopes and dreams and expectations.

I don't know what they want from my time.

 I don't know what they think of me.

The other day i had a little girl very confused as she

couldnt figure out where i slept as i 

didnt have a bed,

turned out she thought i lived in the studio.

Last night I came home and I couldn't sleep thinking about 

a little 6 year old girl in one of my classes who I don't think I treated in the best way I could. 

She's distracted in the class and always looks for 

excuses to get out of doing the steps,

 mainly  because I don't think she connects with the way that I teach. 

So this week I got really stern with her and no patience for every story 

that had nothing to do with anything or made up problem that she had

And I think to myself, this little girl isn't connecting with me 

but instead if trying to build a bridge I disconnected her further.

Today I had another little distracted little girl in my class. 

She can't stay still, she can't listen, she's always on the go, 

it's tricky because I try and teach them the 

importance of silence and stillness in ballet as much as movement.

My assistant today was on top of her trying to gain 

her attention and keeping up on her every

 lapse of concentration, 

and I told her. 'Let's just leave her alone today, as long as 

she isn't disturbing the others let her be distracted in her own little world'

And at the end of the class the little girl came and

 gave me the biggest hug and told me she loved me, 

and I'll admit I was shocked it came out of the blue. 

This little girl who makes my time so difficult actually 

enjoys being in the studio, 

she even appreciates me as a teacher 

(that week) 

and i dont know what i did in particular to make her feel 

such gratitude today.

These little children teach me something 

new every time I see them, 

and I think of the ballet teachers that I had at their age 

and what knowledgable people they seemed to me

and although they didnt alter my life in 

a life changing way,

they did make me the person i am today.

Being the teacher....

Some times i come out of the classroom and i'm

sitting on the tube on the way home and i realise

all the things i could have done to make the class better.

Mainly its when i forget to tell them how well they have

done at working hard.

I get so focussed on the corrections and

how to make them better that

i dont take the time to commend their efforts and improvement.

and i dont want to be the kind of teacher that

never pulls a student up and always breaks them down.

Sometimes i realise that i've given some students way more

attention than others,

and after i've left i think to myself how did 'such and such'

do in class today and i realise that i dont know as

i didnt give her enough attention.

i wonder how that makes the students feel,

they probably think its because i dont like them, 

and not simply my inadequacies as a teacher,

not quite always getting the balance right just yet.

Still in London.....

i realised that i havent written about why i'm still in London even though my ballet teaching course is over.

its because i'm onto course number 2, which will run for the next 9 months.

so husband is still away sailing at sea and i'm still mining my way through the streets of London.

i'm doing my Pilates teachers course.

I looked into a lot of Pilates Teacher training courses, there are so many of them out there.

I've always enjoyed Pilates, 

i used to go to a class once a week when i was between the ages of 15-18 

in Edinburgh. My mum sent me when she heard it was good for ballet.

It was,

it changed the way that i thought about movement

and it progressed me as a dancer in so many ways.

that was 10 years ago,

i havent really done much pilates since other

than occasionally doing the few exercises that i could remember.
in fact i've really struggled to find a Pilates teacher who taught in a way that inspired me in
the way that my old teacher did.
Theres a lot of things called 'Pilates' out there that really aren't.

but for years i've been saying that when i stopped dancing i wanted
 to take up Pilates

more and think about teaching it.

So i am.

I picked a course here in London 

by the guy who trained my Pilates teacher all those years ago,

His name is Alan Herdman and he was the first person to bring Pilates to the UK.

So far the course has been everything that i've wanted.

i'm learning so much and the dynamics of the 

course suit me to a T.

Its great, i have the excuse to spend all my spare time in

the Pilates studio practising! 

Baby ballet....

Teaching baby ballet classes goes from moments 

of where your heart skips a beat because they are so dang cute...

(-whenever they hold hands and skip,

-when they remember something you said the week before that 

you thought no one had listened to,

-when you can see them making friends 

even though they dont speak the same language)

To moments of despair,

where you are the big bad wolf initiating crowd control,

making them stand still when all they want to do is wiggle

and chat with their new friends.

I really wish they understood when i tell 

them off it makes me so sad,

(and hope they realise that after they've

been told off they get so many extra nice comments

cause i feel so guilty for having been strict with them)

After the first day of lessons i told my husband

i was changing my mind about having kids...

then i sat next a little 10 month year

old boy on the tube going home who i ended

up playing with on my lap the whole journey

and changed my mind again

(dont even get me started how the adoption 

adverts in the metro make me cry and wanna

adopt all the little children)

Morocco....

We actually didnt take that many pictures in Morocco,

mainly because Husband kept getting mistaken for a Moroccan

which was pretty handy as it meant nobody bothered us.

Until we got a camera out and then every tourist tout in a mile came

out of all the nooks and crannies.

We rocketed through North Morocco in a weekend.

We hit  Tangier, Fez, Chefchaouen, Tetouan and Ceuta.

to be honest I really wasnt into the big cities.

They highlights were just Arab style markets

which i saw enough off in Cairo...nothing new.

I did love the food...mmmm Moroccan stew and couscous,

and the freshly squeezed orange juice,

at one meal after having been travelling for quite a while

husband and I downed 8 classes between us,

in about 45mins!!!!

i did love Chefchaouen though.

What an adventure it was to get there!

turns out all the regular buses (that mainly take tourists)

where sold out...uhoh...

so we managed to hang around at the local

Moroccan bus stop for a few hours and

bribe our way onto a local bus 

(i hate to think how much the 

overcharged us...it was still pretty cheap)

we ended getting on a bus to a destination

that was on no maps,

the ticket tout assured us it was only 8km 

from our destination.

So we sat on a very hot dirty bus for 5 hours 

going to the middle of nowhere...literally.

When we got there it was lovely,

in the mountains and all the buildings stonewashed light blue.

Husband also treated us to the only 5* hotel in town...

Very Exciting!!!

After spending the day haggling as lowly backpackers

it was nice to splurge out in the evening.

(still for the price of a fairly average hotel in europe)

It was definitely the highlight of my trip,

sitting on our own private balcony drinking fresh orange

watching the sun go down.

Teaching or being taught....

So i taught my first official ballet class today as a fully qualified ballet teacher.

Was it any good?.....

Well i gave my students name tags which they ended up sticking on 

their foreheads and noses,

i let them...

(half way through the class i realised i 

probably ought to be more strict...)

But they were a lovely bunch of students,

enthusiastic,

listening and applying,

so as long as they do the steps good i guess they can stick whatever

they want on their noses, right?

i'm sure one day i'm going to look back at this and think to 

myself what a rookie...

Having a nice new shiny certificate

doesnt hide the fact that i've still

got a heck of a long way to go as a teacher.

I've not gone AWOL....

In fact i've been very very busy.

I've finished my Ballet Teachers Diploma (with top grades...who knew!)

I've been holidaying in

Morocco, Gibraltar and the South of Spain

(hopefully photos to come soon) 

But most importantly today is 

our first wedding Anniversary!!!!

Which is just an excuse for me to post wedding photos again!

Our Wedding Day was amazing,

we love looking at the pictures and

reminiscing about it,

but being married is what its all about and its amazing.

Someone who loves me and supports me

and makes sure that I'm aiming to be the best i can be,

putting me straight when i'm out of line.

I cant wait for year 2....