Elenora Morris at the Prix de Lausanne – Day 3!
Today started out with some excitement. I have had a bit of jet lag the past two nights and couldn’t fall asleep last night, so, unbeknownst to me, my mom let me sleep in later than we had planned. I woke up in a panic. For some reason I thought that my first class was at 9am, and I jumped out of bed, shouting that I was going to miss it! My mom had to reassure me that I wasn’t due at the theater until 11:15!
After my mix-up, though, the day went very smoothly. I started with classical class in which the jury gave us marks. With the pressure of the scoring I was a little more nervous than yesterday, but it didn’t affect my dancing much. We repeated most of the combinations from yesterday, so I felt comfortable with the steps. At the end of the class, we also learned a long enchaînement that was similar in length to a variation and was a lot of fun. Overall, I enjoyed the class very much.
During lunch break, I sat in the candidates’ lounge with some other girls from my class. It was a clear day and we enjoyed a stunning view of the Swiss Alps outside the window. Awesome!
Next all of the Group B girls got to run their classical variation on stage. It was so exciting and a little scary to dance on the raked stage for the first time! My variation went quite well considering the new setting. Watching the other girls in my group was also awe-inspiring. The talent here is amazing! Some people seemed quite at home on the raked stage, while others took some time to adjust. Once we had all danced, there was enough time for everyone to do their variation again. I appreciated the extra practice!
The day finished off with contemporary. It felt wonderful to release and move more freely after a long day of classical ballet. We practiced most of the combinations we had learned yesterday and also started to learn an enchaînement for when the jury watches tomorrow!
So far, being here has been an amazing experience. I was nervous about coming to Switzerland, but I’ve already had so much fun!
More tomorrow!