Or what is commonly known as the “cursed day” beware of the 3rd day, and as if on cue at 6:30 in the morning I get a rat a tat tat on the door with the news that one of the older students has a fever even Constant our only boy seems to suffer from an unexpected stomach problem during breakfast !!! but that was soon resolved I won’t go into details.

The first lesson I observed was classical grade 3 with Meritxell who surprises me with trying to learn all the names of the younger children amazing !!! she does a great warm up in a circle with a galop and always insists on energy and strength so even from an early age they start to feel their core and posture, She gets them to lie on the floor and do the famous bridge or pelvic tilt from pilates, and work in couples one in frog and the other holding back the knees to build up resistance the same standing, once again feeling the right muscles to activate. These few exercises are repeated so it becomes routine for them even before the class starts.

Back to of my favourite phrases of the summer school is the “bistecca congelata”  she uses this image of the frozen beefsteak to feel the strength in their torso and therefore have control no jelly fish. She did exercises today for the steps that they have in group dances with Maria pia di Mauro which shows that the teachers communicate with each other to give maximum benefit for the week there was a bit of confusion although about the glissade in the dance, another sore point when teaching good job they only have two legs !! This time for the depth of the plie in the glissade she used the image of melting chocolate in the microwave not so it’s runny just soft, all this talk of food is making me hungry.

Walked quickly and decisively back to hotel to see how our student with the fever was doing I was surprised to see she had cleaned up the room and put some makeup on, the paracetamol obviously had worked but about an hour later she was asleep fully clothed, crossing fingers for tomorrow.

In the afternoon, after our now ritual of sandwiches in the gazebo  lovely, some of us took the cabinovia up to 1400 meters above sea level to walk along the newly opened  path called Megabugs it was an escape from the heat and Constant our animal expert loved it with new facts to add to his already expansive knowledge of the animal kingdom , there were various stops all with an insect theme the butterfly , dragonfly , bee and ladybug just to name a few and each one had some games, My only complaint was the fact that to fully apreciate the caterpillar you needed to buy a small wooden marble to complete the course above our budget !!

Dinner as always was fabulous with Andrea’s favourite the desserts creme caramel , tiramisu , and strudel. just to name a few.

Happy Dancing Leighx

Andalo 2025 day 2

Let’s start with what happened in the afternoon of the 1st day after a decadent lunch in hotel we had a few errands to run and the promise of playing in the park at the end, so that was all well and good even with a newly bought frisbee to play with but the threatening sky and rumbles of a storm put an end to our plans although in the mountains you can never tell exactly how far away the storm is it could be happening high up at 2000 meters above sea level and not arrive in the valley, but it did and we had to take shelter and wait till the rain was not quite so torrential.

Now to day 2 and for me it was up and out just before 7:30 to get some fresh rolls ready for lunch it is a shame that the hotels do not include lunch any more the morning was crisp and fresh because of the rain the night before but there was no time to stop and and sing aka sound of music, it did sound like the strudel was calling to me but I resisted its tune, instead it was back to the hotel to wake up the younger components of the group with the hope of pancakes for breakfast .

I admit to indulging in a second coffee this morning with my friend Sonia who yesterday attended the introductory course for the new Rambert syllabus in which we at For Dance Institute are lucky enough to have a certified teacher ,Erica del Maschio and even completed our first exams in April.

Onto the first lesson of the day classical class with Cristina Zatti who is always very clear in her explanations and musically so the students know exactly the exercise they have to perform and every exercise has its objective I liked the way she made sure they knew the positions in the centre ecarte, croisé , ouvert devant and derrière very precisely with the head and eye line.

A quick change of studios and grades and I am back to a world of pastels opposite to the black leotards of the older girls we are now have the pinks, mauve, sky blue and whites of grade 2 learning a choreography with Meritxell (pronounced always Mericell ) one of her favourite sayings or phrases is the frozen steak so they have strength and stability in their torso she got them to simply stand and tried to move them (with permission of course) and the same thing kneeling so they really had to think about their posture , they are learning a simple waltz with the image of a princess elegant and with poise . She worked a lot on the music today as well and even had them eating the music chewing then swallowing so the music is inside them. 

Last lesson of the morning another repertoire class with grade 3 and a different rhythm, an upbeat polka it kept me awake anyway lots of galops spring points and the light but not jumped glissade which I personally think is one of the harder steps to teach. Maria Pia even attempted a catena inglese a type of chain which takes the coordination and concentration of all the class improving the communication between students. I found myself thinking that the lessons today all had a connection to maths what with the music counts and patterns both in creative and choreography learning different sections of a dance part A part C etc even the older students with their 3D shape finding the perfect efface devant and not to mention the number of the room angle 5 wall 2

It was sandwiches in the gazebo for lunch then straight to the pool, I don’t know about the mountains calling me anymore it might just be my bed signing off from day 2 Andalo

Happy dancing Leigh 

This year after a years break For Dance Institute are heading to Andalo, Trentino Alto Adige for the Royal Academy of dance’s Italian summer school.
We left Ivrea aboard the bus that for the next 6 hours would take us to Andalo in the wonderful company of two other dance schools la Fenice ballet under the directorship of Filomena and Sonia and Studio danza Ieva principal – Anna Maria leva.
How was the bus trip you might ask ? Long yes !! Hot yes!!! Exciting not so much but the frequent facts about different animals by Constant one of our students kept us engaged especially when we found out mosquitos are the most deadliest insect in existence. All 7 students this year are new to the summer school experience which makes it all the more stimulating for us as teachers. We arrived at the hotel Stella Alpina to a warm welcome and being in a great central position we were able to spot almost immediately the groups of dance schools exploring and heading to the pala congresso to receive their welcome packs. It is like the baby ducks following their mother occasionally one might stray with the pull of the sights and sounds of the area but always waddle back to safety of the group.

All of our students have their lessons in the mornings which means the afternoon is free so it was all go in the morning breakfast being 1st thing on the list and the hotel Stella Alpina did not let us down with all the good things available even some surprising extras like a detox juice and juicer bacon and scrambled egg and some wonderful assortments of cakes and brioche.
The first class I went to watch today was grade 2 no boys unfortunately but a good group of 16 students , and the first teacher of the day for the classical class was Maria Pia di Mauro and the veritable authority on all things musical the pianist Marzio Vaccarini who is great at keeping the students and teachers on their toes with changes of rhythm and every now and then a tacit (deliberate pauses ) in the musical phrase. Then it was off to studio 9 to follow a class led by Lucia Perego another legend teaching at the summer school this year, a whole group of students new to her teaching and the wonderful way she leads them in a discovery of how they move in space and a personal journey not through technique but putting the voice and wings to the move, where does it start ? The pattern it makes and understanding how to move.
and just like that we are at the 3rd class of the morning a contemporary lesson with Simone Donati I only catched the tail end of the class but already he had the attention of all 27 students and the energy and passion of a teacher that wants to divide that passion with everybody he teaches.
They took only 5 minutes break and jumped straight into repertorio with Blanca Cortez learning a fire dance it will be interesting to see the result on stage on Saturday when intermediate get to perform in front of their fellow students.

I am going to end the blog here with some pics today but will continue tomorrow with another chapter of life in Andalo.

happy dancing  Leigh x

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