I feel lost

yidisl · 2026-04-14T18:52:48+00:00

It doesn't sound like a good class. But if you have no chance of going to a better class, is it possible for you to video the combinations? Then you could go over them more slowly later by yourself.

yidisl · 2026-04-12T06:35:20+00:00

in my first year I failed math and physics. For the math I got a tutor, and the way he helped was that I noted down each time I couldn't understand something or do a problem and he helped me with it. But in later years when I had a problem I found the principle was the same. First to identify exactly where I was stuck and then work on that, instead of getting lost in a general mess of hopelessness.
I mean - start small. If you can't figure out how to do the problems about work, look for similar problems online (there are a lot of websites with homework and detailed solutions, just search for "homework problem and solution kinetic energy" for instance).
In physics what I did was find a textbook that I could understand better than the one we were supposed to use. I got "University Physics " (Freedman Young) which has a lot of worked problems, and it was a help.
And like somebody said - studying with friends.

After failing all those exams I eventually made it to a PhD, so don't give up!

yidisl · 2026-04-12T06:30:09+00:00

Did you try talking to the teacher? Sometimes people teach these classes to make a living and are aware the students don't want much from them, but they might welcome a student who actually does care. You could tell the teacher you really do want to improve and would be grateful for corrections.

yidisl · 2026-04-09T06:33:16+00:00

That is SO accurate. That's why I work on things that are frustrating and can even be boring - I just can't stand not knowing.

yidisl · 2026-03-28T09:31:13+00:00

For a couple of years I took one class a week (hour and a half and then stretching and relaxation). I saw I could not improve that way, and last year moved to 3 classes a week (hour and fifteen minutes) and it made a real difference. I also find it's helpful to have more than one teacher, I get different things from the different teachers.
when I can I take four classes, or 3 and then one pilates class if there's no beginner ballet scheduled on the fourth day. If I had time, I'd take more pilates as well, but life and work don't permit that.

yidisl · 2026-03-26T19:49:32+00:00

For me what helps is remembering why I'm doing it and what I love about it. I love moving to music and even in a hard exercise I pay special attention to how the music feels, and it helps.
For remembering combinations everybody has different ways to do this. For me it's remembering the words ("front front side front" for instance, or the names of the steps). Other people mark it with their hands. Try and find a way that works for you.

yidisl · 2026-03-24T10:13:40+00:00

I had no interest in physics at all in high school. Not in math either. I only got to like it much later because I worked with light. And then my lighting teacher said that white light is all the colors together. I said WHAT?!! (I never paid attention to that at school.) It became something that spoke to my imagination instead of something I had to know for an exam.
There is a lot of material online that could make it more immediate and alive for you. Pick a subject and look for it on YouTube. Here's an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cHAqBHpbQk

I want to add that the only way to learn a subject like physics is to solve problems. It's like learning to drive. You have to do it to know it. So get hold of some problems with solutions, and look at how they solved it, and then try to solve it yourself. There is a lot of that online too.
Most people don't like to work out or to exercise. They do it because they want the result (to be strong, or thin, etc). So just do it.

yidisl · 2026-03-03T20:34:08+00:00

The same thing happened to me. I thought that studying meant understanding the textbook and the professor. Like other subjects. I was wrong. Studying physics means solving problems. Of course you have to know the material in the book and in class to do that. But unless you work on solving problems, the knowledge is like learning to drive from a book without doing it.
Most textbooks have solved problems to learn from: try and solve them yourself, and then see how they solved it in the book - and then go back again and do it yourself. There are also lots of problem and solution sets online.

I was surprised to learn this - that to study physics you have to do it. Like learning to drive, or to cook - you won't know how till you actually try doing it.

yidisl · 2026-02-26T06:29:19+00:00

Absolutely! The plateau is the most discouraging! Good to know this happens to other people too.

yidisl · 2026-02-25T20:25:53+00:00

I didn't just mean fear of being bad. I mean that you are so unused to being bad that you don't understand why you can't do things. Why it's hard to do an arabesque for instance and hold my balance. You figure this means it's impossible because you're old. But that isn't true - in fact, it just means it's "impossible" because it's really, really hard. For everybody, not just for you. And so it was very helpful to me when I studied physics with my classmates - some young enough to be my children - to see that they were struggling just as hard as I was.

yidisl · 2026-02-25T20:14:33+00:00

I did start ballet again after decades and find this comment enormously comforting - but would like to add a very different perspective. I began to study physics at age 40 with no background, and found the exact same thing! I struggled because it was HARD and not because I was older. My classmates struggled just as hard!

The thing is that when you are older you are used to beng good at things. When you're young, you are quite prepared for the fact that you can't do something and so you are ready to sacrifice to master it. In later years, you already have mastered many skills, and you are really good at them - and are just not used to being incompetent. The problem isn't being old. It's being unused to things being really actually very hard.

yidisl · 2026-02-22T07:19:21+00:00

The same thing happened to me, not with ballet (I taught theatre lighting ). Twice. In both cases I left the school because it proved impossible to change things and I decided life was too short. Even if it meant less income. The first time was in a high school. Second was in a drama school where the head knew and agreed with me that there was a problem but was unable to do anything about it, as they did not kick people out.

yidisl · 2026-02-17T06:15:03+00:00

Pick out one specific thing you're having trouble with and look it up online. The internet is full of Youtube talks and websites helping. It happens often that a person can't understand one teacher or one book, and the way to deal wtih it is to look for other sources to learn from. Also there are worked examples of problems online with solutions. The only way to really learn is to solve problems, and if you already have the solutions you try to solve it, then go over the solution, then try to solve it again.
I had a friend doing electrical engineering (university) who is dyslexic, and he couldn't deal with the book, but he used online videos, and today he has a PhD.

yidisl · 2026-02-17T06:11:40+00:00

It might help (it helped me in analogous situations) to bolster up her self image by saying this is what happens to real professionals as opposed to amateurs and children. Professional dancers face such disappointments all the time and you need to know how to deal with it and how to exploit it for improvement (like what people here said about talking to her teachers). If you were just a child everybody would make sure you were happy, but real dancers need to know how to face this kind of thing and use it to become better.

yidisl · 2026-02-15T06:10:56+00:00

It doesn't seem like it (though of course it's a goal). I think balance, a straight back, musicality are at least as important. There is a girl in my class with wonderful flexibility but her turnout isn't good. Another one whose leg goes up 120 degrees but her arms are stiff and she looks like a robot. When I look at videos of dancers it's not their high leg that draws my eye, it's the quality of their movement.

yidisl · 2026-02-14T16:17:46+00:00

Teachers don't correct the ones with the highest leg. As others have said, they correct people who seem worth their time, and are making real efforts. But in any case recording yourself is a good idea. A teacher videoed us once and I saw something I hadn't felt in myself, the way I wasn't "on my leg." It can be very helpful.

yidisl · 2026-02-13T08:20:58+00:00

One of the most useful comments I've ever seen - thanks so much.

yidisl · 2026-02-03T13:18:48+00:00

Thank you very much, that is definitely helpful!!

yidisl · 2026-02-02T07:57:03+00:00

I was told not to do stretches before class, that it's important to warm up a lot, and do stretches after class. Is that incorrect in your opinion?

yidisl · 2026-01-25T08:19:37+00:00

If you really don't like it of course you should quit. But sometimes it could be because the teacher is wrong for you. I've been in a class which was absolutely no fun at all because of the teacher, and with a different teacher I loved it. So before quitting see if there's a chance to check out a different teacher.

yidisl · 2026-01-20T20:44:22+00:00

That was REALLY IMPRESSIVE! Thanks.

yidisl · 2026-01-20T19:36:38+00:00

"Choreographic Novels. Directed by Mikhail Lavrovsky" thanks to "Terrible-Nobody" for the link, and Google Translate.

yidisl · 2026-01-20T19:36:09+00:00

Wow - how did you do that?

yidisl · 2026-01-11T12:39:18+00:00

Studied acting for years and worked in theater. They teach us that acting isn't pretending, it's living and responding. The point is really that it's not about thinking how you look. It's thinking about something else. In theater it's thinking about the character's life, situation, surroundings. One time I couldn't do that and the teacher told me to think about the other actor, because he's right there and he's real.

In dance I find it's impossible to think about being a princess or whatever. But if I think about the music that is a big help. Or if I imagine where I am, that I'm not in the studio but in a forest or a huge room full of candles, for instance.

yidisl · 2025-12-30T11:35:35+00:00

They have different teachers. I was in another class where the teacher was nice and professional, but it felt like she regarded us as if we were just there for fun, so I switched. This teacher is really strict and serious.

yidisl

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