So, after an incredibly busy period of constantly moving house, as well as many other life changes (detailed in my last post), I am finally settled into a new home and back in classes.

Now that I have left my part-time day job in order to pursue dance more seriously, I am enjoying being able to attend more classes and immerse myself in dance. My boyfriend Jake and I are renting a house with another couple in South London, and all is going well so far.

I did initially return to classes when we were staying with friends in Shoreditch, for a week and a half, however then the moving stress just became overwhelming so I was out of classes for another week and a half after that. I returned to classes on Monday; it’s now Friday, and I’m feeling physically tired and sore but very happy to be throwing myself into training. After moving from place to place since leaving our previous home, which was just slightly chaotic, it’s great to be able to set up a new routine that’s going to enable me to progress in the way I need to.

My intention now is to really focus and work as hard as possible over the next few months, because I’d like to try to rejoin the vocational course at my ballet school, if I decide not to take up my university place. At the moment I am really quite far away from where I need to be to make that happen, but I think that it is possible (and even if I don’t succeed, making progress is of course what I want regardless!) so I’m going to try.

I am thinking of this period as a new start. The lack of success following auditions, then more recently some disappointing feedback I received, left me feeling depressed, with low self-esteem about my dancing. These low periods, I think, are inevitable, and it is important to be able to keep going and then put them aside. I have set myself new goals and targets- I even started all of my journals and notebooks again, and I’m surprised at how much it has helped me to move on! This week I started by establishing a very healthy eating regimen, in line with recommendations made by the dance nutritionist I visited, returning to daily ballet classes and also teaching and taking some extra classes. I took my first flamenco class the other day and really loved it, and last night I took class with a teacher I had when I first started learning the Russian style. She’s very strict about technique, and this morning I could barely get out of bed, I worked so hard! I’ll be making both a part of my regular schedule from now on!

Now that I’m in a rhythm, from next week I will also be following a new morning routine and arriving at the studio a couple of hours early to carry out all of my conditioning exercises before class. Tonight I’ll be dancing on pointe for the first time since before my auditions started (aside from a small amount in auditions) so I’m really back to a full schedule!

So that’s a little life and dance update for you. I plan to post regular updates with more training-specific thoughts and notes on progress, for those who are interested. I am likely to be very busy but I want to schedule in time for blogging and also social media. I am going to write a couple of the long-promised posts right now, and then make time in my schedule to do more next week! Also be sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more insights!

Jessica x