bluebirduncaged Ballet

Pointe Shoes

This post is dedicated to my butterflies and their class as well as to all of the aspiring dancers who dream of being 'en pointe' one day.

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Pointe Shoes–any girl who takes ballet dreams of the day that she will get to wear them. When she will gracefully skim the stage. And when she makes balancing on her toes look effortless. Pointe shoes are, in some ways, the trademark of the ballet dancer and when she puts them on, magic takes flight.

Usually girls get their pointe shoes around age 11. When you get your shoes depends a lot on your maturity, strength and placement. Your teacher is the best judge of when you should go on pointe.

Pointe shoes are made of layers of glue and fabric and are quite hard when they are not "broken in". There are several parts to a pointe shoe. Here is a diagram showing them.

Pointe shoe

When you first go on pointe, you usually only do exercises at the barre. Then, as you get stronger and more comfortable in your shoes, you will move to the centre. After a few years, you will be able to do whole classes on pointe.

Many people will tell you that pointe is a pain and that you don't want to do it. I do not believe this. Pesonally, dancing on pointe is one of my favorite things to do. As to the pain issue, it really does not hurt that much. Often, if there is too much padding in your shoes, your toes will fall asleep which is uncomortable. Also, if there is no padding in your shoes it hurts too. So, don't put too much padding in your shoes (especially gel). I recommend lambs wool pads.

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In your dancing life, you're bound to get a few blisters from pointe shoes. This  is caused by your foot rubbing against your shoe. To prevent blisters, it helps to tape your toes. This reduces the friction between your foot and the shoe. If you do get a blister, take care of it so that it will heal faster. If you have to dance with a blister, put some extra padding around it and it should not bother you.

Dancing on pointe is a great privilege for a dancer and with it comes great responsibility. You must be technically strong and work very hard. Make sure you apply the corrections that are given to you by your teacher. If you do not, and work incorrectly, you can injure yourself. Overall, dancing on pointe is a wonderful experience and with hard work and dedication you will be able to wow you audience by gracefully skimming the stage.

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Diagram from here   

 

 

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! ~Romans 10:15b            

bluebirduncaged Ballet, My Life

And I’m off…

Well, today I leave for a five week adventure into the ballet world. Kind of scary yet exciting. I know I'll have fun. But before I leave I have a few bullets for you.

  • While I'm gone, I have compiled a series of posts about ballet. So be sure to check back every Sunday.
  • The Just Like Rebekah store will be open either the week I get back or the week after
  • If you would like, you can pray for me. Pray that I will have the strength and stamina to dance all day and not get overtired. Also pray that I will shine my light and point others to Jesus as I am away.

Well, that's about it. I'll see you in 5 weeks. 🙂

bluebirduncaged Ballet, My Life

Packing

Here's the packing post I promised. It's not much but you can see how I prepare to go away and maybe get a few ideas of what you might want to bring along on your trips to your intensives.

We have designated a whole room in our house to packing (it doesn't have much in it anyway). Here are some pics.

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Interesting things that I'm packing:

Straws-in case the cafeteria doesn't have any (it didn't last year and it's much more pleasant to drink through a straw)

Goodies for my new friends

Books-in case I don't feel like socializing

Mini fridge-5 weeks is a long time and I like my cheese for a snack–besides, it'll keep my water cold too

I just thought you might find that interesting. Of course I'm also packing the usual–sheets, all my leotards, extra pointe shoes (5 pairs to be exact but I don't think I'll go through them all), all my bows, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, etc, etc.

Well, that's all for now, I'll see you on Sunday before I leave.

bluebirduncaged Uncategorized

Sorry

Hey Everyone,

Sorry this post is so late. I was originally planning to put up a video that Caleb made but it won't upload to youtube. Oh, technical problems. Anyway, I decided to write about my packing for my trips. At the moment I don't have time to write it all out now but I will get it up ASAP.

TTYL, Rebekah

bluebirduncaged My Life

The summer of popsicles and ice cream

So, school's finally out and the days of freedom (from deadlines, tests, and school nights) are here. What are you going to do with all that time? Well, for me, I'm going to be dancing all summer. For five weeks, I'll be gone (don't worry, I have some posts stockpiled, so it will appear that I am here 😉 at two summer intensives.

This year, the theme for my trip is popsicles and ice cream. No, I'm not going to eat them all summer. But I am going to decorate my room with them. I have popsicle sheets and lights and pajamas (Mommy made them). I'm even going to give the girls on my hall popsicle keychains.

Popsicle

Because this year's theme is popsicles and ice cream, I thought it would be cool to give you some ideas for summer fun.

1. Have a family Sundae night. Make your own sundaes with interesting toppings.

2. Make this ice cream cone that won't drip. Click here

3. Dream up a new ice cream flavor. See who can come up with the wackiest, tastiest, or weirdest dream flavor and imagine what it would taste like. How about double fudge, cookie dough? Yum.

4. Make your own popsicles. Freeze Kool-Aid in small disposable cups with a stick stuck in it. For extra zip, drop a bit of fruit in before freezing.

5. Celebrate National Ice Cream month in July!

 

bluebirduncaged Family, My Life

Me

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So, now that you've read about all of my other family members, I guess you want to know more about me. Well, my name is Rebekah (obviously) and I'm a princess of the King of Kings. Next to God and my family, I love ballet. Here's a closer look. 

When I was almost 3 years old, I told Mommy that I wanted to take ballet. She found me classes and I was hooked. I started my formal traning when we moved to the house we are in now. Since then, I have attended several intensves. Last year, I went to New York City and studied at the Joffrey Ballet School for 2 weeks. It was a great experience. This year, I will be gone for 5 weeks of intensives. I use dancing as a tool to worship the Lord and I hope that my audience will see Him through me.

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Apart from doing ballet 5 days a week, I am also home-educated. I am currently going into 11th grade. Last year and in the coming year, I am doing an online program through Belhaven College called High Scholars (see the link on the left for more info). It's a high school worldview curriculum and I'm enjoying it a lot. I also do math, science and Latin.

School and ballet take up most of my time but when I have free time, I like to read, knit, hand embroider, sew, and hang out with my family. Right now, I am working on getting my business called Just Like Rebekah up and running. Soon, I will have an online store. Well, that's it about me for now, see you next week. 🙂

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Stuff you might find interesting about me:

Favorite color: Hot Pink

Favorite music artist: I really like tobymac but  I also like the music from classical ballets. In that category, I like Tchaikovsky.

Favorite verse: Joshua 1:9

Favorite role played in The Nutcracker: Clara

Last movie watched: 27 Dresses 

Live as children of Light… and find out what pleases the Lord. ~Ephesians 5:8-10

bluebirduncaged Family

My Brothers Pt. 3: Jonathan

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Jonathan is the youngest in the family and also the most energetic. He loves pirates, cars, action figures and his hermit crab, Hermie. He is our little energy ball and we love him very much.

Jonathan is a man of many names. I call him Boo because when he was born, he had enormous eyes. Other names Jonathan has are Spookmiester, Agent Unknown, and The Torch.

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Jonathan is quite an interesting 10-year-old. He is great at playing. He can take almost any toy and make a story about it. He makes his playmobiles or lego men talk to each other. Sometimes the pirates are mutineering other times the gladiators are fighting in the colliseum or the world is in need of saving. Boo bear has a huge imagination.

This school year Jonathan did AWANA. He was the first "Clubber of the Month" for this year and finished his first T&T book. Boo also is quite smart and likes to read a lot (he read a G.A. Henty book this year). He loves his webkinz (all 39 of them) and diligently takes care of Hermie. He also hopes to start learning to play the drums soon.

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Jonathan at a glance:

Favorite food: Coca-Cola

Favorite hobby: playing with Buzz and Woody

Favorite verse: 1 Samuel 17:45

Secret talent: he can roll his belly

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bluebirduncaged Family

My Brothers Pt. 2: Joshua

                   Joshua

Joshua is the moviestar of the family. He's a people person, a politician, and an actor. With him around, there's never a dull moment.

This week is actually very special for Joshua. On the 12th he will turn 13 and enter the age of the teenager. So, here's to J-,  HAPPY  BIRTHDAY!!!

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As I said before, J- is our moviestar. He is currently in the process of filming a movie called "The Year of Easter" that is scheduled for release in theaters around Easter of next year (Click on this link to see clips from the movie http://www.basiclux.com/easter/). "The Year of Easter" is about a portion of the life of a girl, Yvonne, and he is her brother.

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Joshua is the most talkative person in our family. He can carry on a conversation with anybody and can persuade anyone to believe his side of an argument. Joshua is also our animal lover but the only pet he currently owns is a hermit crab named Joe. We love Joshua. He loves the Lord as well as people and seeks to glorify Him.

J- in a nutshell:

Favorite food: steak and shrimp

Favorite Color: Orange

Favorite verse: Job 42:2

Interesting Fact: When I was Clara in the Nutcracker of 2006, Joshua played Fritz. So he was my brother on stage and off.

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bluebirduncaged Family

My Brothers Pt. 1: Caleb

                                 Caleb

Caleb is my big-little brother. Even though he is 17 months younger than me, at 14, Caleb is four inches taller. He is mostly known as the quiet one in the family; he only says what is necessary. However, once you get to know him, Caleb is pretty talkative and has some great one-liners. Caleb's passion is swimming. He swims for the Tidal Waves and his favorite events are the 50 Free, and the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

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                     This is Caleb on his 13th b-day. He got to fly in a WWI airplane.

Caleb is also the family IT guy. He helps us whenever we have a computer problem and does a lot of our graphic design (he did my banner and the store advertisement). He's also the only one in our family to have a Mac. This brings me to Caleb's other interests. He loves animation and movie making. Since he got Poser 7  and Vue 6 for his birthday, he's been animating during most of his spare time. So far, he's animated a mini-movie about SurfDude and NerfGuy. Joshua and Caleb work together on making movies and they hope to make it a business some day. Their website, Broadcast Production is not ready yet but keep checking back to know when it will be.

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                                                         SurfDude and NerfGuy

                  

Caleb is a great guy. He's creative, smart, handsome, and loves the Lord. Here are some interesting facts about him. The above picture is from his 13th b-day; he got to fly in a WWI biplane.

Caleb in a snapshot:

  • Favorite food: Hamburgers and Tacos
  • Favorite Color: Blue
  • Favorite word: good
  • Hates it when…: Rebekah tries to hug me. The result…

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bluebirduncaged Family

My fam

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The next few posts are going to be about my family. You'll get to know each member and hopefully have a better understanding of what we're all about.

First of all, there are six of us. Mommy (Kelle), Daddy (Dan), Me (Rebekah), Caleb, Joshua, and Jonathan. We live in a suburb north of Atlanta. My grandmother, Gran, also lives with us in her little house that is connected to our garage. We have a lot of fun together and love each other very much.

Daddy, is the head of our house. Under his leadership we stay connected and live in harmony. Daddy owns a mortgage business and runs his own ministry, UNC (check out his website to the left). In addition to these, Daddy also coaches the boys in swimming. He is constantly writing and enjoys it a lot. Aside from giving our family an Italian last name (and features), Daddy is the driving force behind our family's identity. He is passionate and godly and we all love him alot. Without him, we would not be who we are today.

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Daddy giving me pearls for my 16th b-day.

Mommy  is the glue that holds our family together. She makes sure everyone is where they need to be at the right time. She plans great parties and is also very talented. Through making costumes for the ballet company that I am in as well as making clothes for me, Mommy exercises her creativity and shines her light. She is one of the most selfless people that I know and I wouldn't trade her for the world. She makes an imprint through teaching us as well as getting us where we need to be. Without Mommy, our family would not run as smoothly as it does and we wouldn't be known in the same way.

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Mommy and I after Sleeping Beauty (I was Princess Florine, the  Bluebird)

And then there are the boys. They add the spice to our lives. The next 3 posts are going to be about them so I won't go into detail here. Just know that they are really fun and I wouldn't trade any of them for a sister–ever.   

When my parents got married, they decided that our family was going to be a "family on a hill". We were going to stick out as a light to the people around us. Ironically, we actually live on a literal hill and we hope to continue to reflect the Lord in all that we do.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. ~Matthew 5:14-16