#Ballet Focus

[victorluvsalice]

Merry Christmas VanDork!

@vand0rk Your request involved your version of the Van Dort family (Victor, Victoria, and daughter Lily) going to see The Nutcracker ballet, and I have delivered! I still find it amusing that Lily was born the year this premiered. XD Anyway, hope you like!

--

“Oh, that was amazing! All the dancers were so graceful and elegant – and the scenery! So beautiful! Oh, Daddy, wasn’t it incredible how they made the Christmas tree grow like that?”

“It was!” Victor agreed, smiling at the bright gleaming joy in his daughter’s eyes. “And so quickly too! I would have thought it would take longer.”

“Me too!” Lily bounced in place, looking rather like she wanted to start pirouetting around the lobby. “And then the battle between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker – oh, I knew that they wouldn’t actually let the Mouse King win, that they couldn’t kill off the title character, but still! I was so nervous for him!”

“I was too – they had quite the fight,” Victoria said with a soft chuckle. “Though, really, what impressed me the most were all those dancers playing mice. I couldn’t believe how smoothly they performed in those costumes! They can’t be light.”

“I imagine they’ve practiced for months and months with them on,” Victor said, trying to picture the scene. “I would have immediately run into a wall the minute I put one on, I’m sure.”

“Oh, Daddy.” Lily gave him a hug. “I’m sure you’d be amazing as a mouse!” She looked up at him, and her brow furrowed. “Granted, you’d be a very tall mouse...”

Victor laughed. “I would, wouldn’t I? I’d tower over all the rest of my fellows. Perhaps I’d be better suited as a tin soldier then.”

“Or the Nutcracker himself, even! He’s one of the main characters – he’s supposed to be tall! And then I could be Clara, and stop the Mouse King from killing you by throwing my shoe!” Lily declared, miming doing just that. “And then you could pick me up and whisk me off into the forest, along the path to – er – where is it they’re going for Act II?”

“The Land of Sweets,” Victoria informed her, checking their programme. “Where they will be met by the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Clara’s bravery in saving the Nutcracker will be honored by a grand dance of sweets from around the world.”

“Ooooh – yes, please, sweep me off to the Land of Sweets,” Lily said with an eager nod.

Victor chuckled. “I’m sure we can make arrangements after the ballet,” he assured her, lightly ruffling her hair. “I’m so glad that you’re enjoying this so much. We were a little worried it wouldn’t be your cup of tea, so to speak.”

“Oh no – it’s absolutely lovely,” Lily said, giving into her impulses and doing a little spin. “I can’t thank you and Mamma enough for bringing me along. Everything is just so – so beautiful, and elegant, and – and I’ve never felt so Christmassy before!”

“The performance does very much suit the season,” Victoria agreed – then let out a little gasp, pointing at the nearby wall. “Oh – speaking of which...”

Victor followed her finger to see a light snow beginning to fall just outside the lobby windows. “Oh! I didn’t think it was supposed to snow tonight,” he said, scratching his head.

“I didn’t either – but it certainly adds to the Christmassy mood, doesn’t it?” Victoria said, giving Lily a smile.

“Definitely!” Lily hurried over to the window for a better look, Victor and Victoria following in her wake. “It’s so light and delicate – perhaps the Sugar Plum Fairy has paid us a visit, sprinkling powdered sugar all over the city.”

“It certainly looks that way,” Victor nodded. “Imagine stepping outside and catching snowflakes on your tongue then.”

Lily beamed at him. “That would be the best,” she agreed, before turning her attention back to the snow. “So pretty...”

Victor grinned at her, then wrapped his arm around Victoria’s shoulders. “What a lovely way to spend the holiday,” he murmured in her ear.

“It is,” she whispered back to him, putting her arm around his middle. “I don’t think I’ve had a Christmas season happier since Lily was born.” She glanced over her shoulder for eavesdroppers, then leaned in. “And I hope a certain someone is enjoying it too.”

Victor opened his mouth to agree – then blinked as movement outside caught his eye. Looking out the window, he thought he saw, just for a moment, the shadow of a blue-tinged figure spinning in the swirl of flakes, arms held wide and head tilted back. He stared for a moment, then smiled and turned back to his wife. “Oh – I think she very much is.”

[rosenbraut]

🌹Utena inspired🌹 - loving and moving my body this week

Monday. rise and shine yoga [13 mins] // fencing footwork at home practice [16 mins]

Tuesday. power pilates [15 mins]

Wednesday. neighbour-friendly ballet cardio [12 mins]

Thursday. Yoga sculpt [14 mins] // pilates for balance [13 mins]

Friday. beginner ballet cardio [10 mins] // deep stretch for beginners [24 mins]

Saturday. ballet pilates workout [20 mins]

Sunday. pilates for strength & flexibility [24 mins]

___

This week (24.06.-30.06.), I felt inspired to try something new: A selection of workouts inspired by the masterpiece that is Shōjo Kakumei Utena. The inspiration here wasn't the body image of 90s Shōjo, but rather the ways the characters move. The idea was to pretend that I was preparing to fight those hyper mannerist duels. Since I'm very limited in what I can do at home (no kendo, no fencing, not even basketball...) AND since the duels themselves are metaphorical kaleidoscopes of dance, fencing and freudian shenanigans, I picked a selection that combines factors that would go into this way: focusing on strength, flexibility and endurance, as well as balance, grace and control.

[gideonisms]

Okay job Finally starts tomorrow I know you guys are following this employment journey at the edge of your seats ♥️

[cindycross-39]

If you focus, you will get results.

[alternatesouppe]

I started drafting and thinking of ideas for the dgs ballet au around a year ago and my art is finally in a place where I can work on it confidently and I am COOKING

Cannot wait to flesh out all these sketch ideas I have omg

[rosesncarnations]

Pray for me I still don’t know how to draw heeled boots

[algolagniaa]

I forgot how good ballet is

[thejadecount]

I personally headcanon that before he started to use magic and wore himself out Mikey would dance ballet to relieve himself of the stress. Casey Jr saw him do it one day and asked him to teach him, and so he knows how to ballet. I’m going to manifest this into canon by sheer willpower.

[adultbeginnerballerina]

PSA

I do not support disordered eating, I will not interact with posts if I see it, and I’ll probably block you if you put it in the tags reblogging from me

this is a Health At Every Size blog, this is a pro recovery blog, this is a body positive blog; we’re here for every body that does ballet is a ballet body; we do not need to measure ourselves against professionals

and if you are on a professional track…

have you noticed how those same professional ballerinas are speaking out more and more about how unhealthy those standards are, how it almost ended their careers (do you know how much more easily and severely you can get injured from malnutrition? how much slower it will be to heal?), how miserable it made them, how it made them want to stop dancing, how some actually have retired before their time because of it (forced or quit)…

an eating disorder will not make you a better dancer.

look up Sick Enough by Jennifer Gaudiani, she’s not a therapist, she’s a doctor and she tells you what it’s physically doing to your body, how quickly it happens, how to fix it, and importantly, that

an eating disorder is a behavior, not a body type

you are sick enough to deserve to be taken seriously, you are sick enough to deserve help

[rainia]

i miss doing ballet actually. It’s been like, 9 ?? years since I did it seriously. But every now and then the craving will hit me again

[animalgaze]

why do I wobble even in kitten heels like grow uuuppp

[poz-patrol]

Atomic Heart Dream 2 of 2

[neutron-stars-collision]

You can do online research.

You can also buy tickets to see the cinema showing of the exact ballet you have mentioned in your fic just to be ✨authentic✨

[wigglesforonce]

omg thank u for the tag @vroombeams !!

Imagine you're a racing driver, what would be the top ten songs on your pre-race playlist? Go wild and tag as many people as you want.

this is so hard, i’ve not had a hype playlist in years, so a custom crafted chill to hype playlist coming up

1. Nostalgia of Island (Part 1: Wind Bird, Part 2: Walking on the Beach)(ノスタルジア・オブ・アイランド～パート1:バード・ウィンド/パート2:ウォーキング・オン・ザ・ビーチ) by Tatsuro Yamashita

2. Seabird by Innovations

3. Thing About Things by Daði Freyr

4. ASAHINAGU by MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS

5. Attention, Please! by Enhypen

6. Gold by Spandau Ballet

7. Call Me What You Like by Lovejoy

8. Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

9. FIREWORK by &TEAM

10. Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, but I Need You to Leave by Will Wood

and hmm i shall tag (no pressure!) @russilton @ininininininstayoutstayout @gayorphandepression @toilethamster @/ame i can’t remember ur new url ;-;

have at ye!

[dramoor]

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance.”

~Unknown