Category: The Backpacking Ballerina

Life is a dance in itself

Getting a tourist visa to Russia, in Manila

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Surprise surprise! Im going to Russia! I recently got accepted to the training program at the Vaganova ballet academy in June. This is probably one of the only visas ill ever need, being a Japanese. I have a lot of respect for those who have to go through this VISA trouble, just to get to a country you want to visit. Most especially for those who need a visa for a lot of countries.

I had quite an experience, in getting a Russian tourist visa that I just had to write about it. The first thing I did was to call the Russian embassy, the problem was, the persons on the phone were Russians who could not speak good english, it was quite a confusing call. We ended up saying pardon me? And can you repeat? Over and over again. After this, I contemplated on getting my visa to get done by an agent. I lived in Quezon City, and with Manila traffic, going to Makati would be a huge hassle. But with the blogs I read, assured that I could do it myself so i did, and I also wanted to try to do it, for the experience.

So i went on a Tuesday, and i found out that the embassy in McKinley is not where you apply for a VISA. VISA’s are processed in the RCI building at RADA ST. in Makati. So that was my first mistake, my second mistake was that i looked up online and it said it was only open TTH but apparently upon getting to the embassy they were only open MWF. So i wasted 4 hours in traffic from QC-MAKATI and that happened to me the same week I went on Wednesday, just to find out that it was a RUSSIAN HOLIDAY. So make sure before coming here, you come on a MONDAY, WEDNESDAY or FRIDAY, come early and you should check if it is or not a Russian holiday.

REQUIREMENTS:
You will not be able to apply for a visa without the following requirements:
1. ELECTRONIC VISA APPLICATION FORM which is processed on their website: http://visa.kdmi.ru
2. ID photo (photo for the VISA) photo has to have plain white background and natural face with no hair around your face (You will have to stick this on the electronic visa application form which you will have to print out on an A4 paper)
3. Ticket to Russia
4. Hotel, Accommodation and Itinerary
5. VISA SUPPORT, VOUCHER or Invitation to stay in Russia ( this is the most important, I got mine from http://hotels-pro.ru/order/hotelspro, some hotels also send out these invitations for you with an extra charge. The price should be around $30usd extra and nothing more.
6. Passport

TIPS ON YOUR APPLICATION DAY: 
1. Make sure you come early so that you can get your name NOTED DOWN in line. I was here at 8am but i was already 20th in line. Im not one who likes to wait especially since I woke up at 6am to drive here.

2. These are the actual OPENING HOURS:
Monday-Wed-Friday
9:30-1:00pm
(Not open on Russian holidays, so you should check for holidays) ** double check this before coming to the embassy 

So i waited a good hour for the consul to arrive, he forgot that he had to be at the office. So one of the travel agents decided to just pick him up. The process itself was very smooth, I waited for 6 hours from 8am before I got called around 2pm, and he just asked a few questions and then asked me to pay at UCPB which is around a 5 minute walk from the building.  Afterwards you just come back to the embassy to give him the paper, and voila! You can get your visa either rush or not. I think prices vary depending on the kind of visa you get, but for my 30 day single entry visa I paid Php 1800.

I noticed some individuals were asked for supporting documents, but maybe that was because they weren’t applying for a tourist visa such as myself.

All in all, for my first time, It was really a funny experience to get this VISA. I just decided to write about it since there aren’t a lot of blogs about it, maybe because its rare for someone to be wanting to go to Russia. But I am quite excited for this new experience, hoping this could help someone who wants to go to Russia, from Manila too!

Mission Rome

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It took a long time for me to write this, I actually travelled to Rome last October and I still remember all of my favourite sights. What surprised me though was the rich history and culture that it had. Also the secret tours and tunnels that we were able to experience, thanks to my mom. Rome has a lot to offer for those who are really interested in its rich history, its aqueducts and the cool excavation tours.

I was finally able to summarise the first half of my experience through my Vlog, I will probably just write down in my next blog, about the ballet classes I was able to take and experience in Rome. It was a really good vacation for me, and I hope to do something like this again, if my budget permits.

Its been so long since I’ve actually written on my blog, because of my crazy schedule. Compared to last year, I have a lot more pressure riding on me. Such as my soon to come board exam on October, which has been putting a lot of stress on me. I hope I find the strength and the will to keep on going and studying. While trying to keep my spirit alive by dancing.

Hoping to find time to write more again,
CIAO!

6 steps on how I prepare for my ballet recital

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So for some dancers who have been asking me to make a video about this, here is the blog version and you can visit the youtube link for the video version! This would be the perfect time to make this as it is our recital this coming Sunday. So for your reference, here are a few tips and lists you may follow:

1. Make a list
Its really important to make a short list of all your dances and make sure that you have all your costumes and headdresses that you need for that dance. Check if your costumes are clean and make sure that you have everything that you need.

2. Bring extras of everything
Extra hairpins, extra leotards, extra tights, extra warmers, extras of everything is really important. Ballet shoes, pointe shoes, sewing kit, ribbons and garters. Its really better to prepared for every kind of situation than to regret it later on. Of course don’t forget your make up!

3. Preparing the day before the show
Rest yourself well and eat well the day before the show. I like to eat less greasy foods before the day of the show.

4. Double check everything
I always double check everything that i need before the show and for the day of the recital. Sometimes you just leave things by accident and you just have to be very careful about it.

5. Don’t forget your snacks, water and get to the theatre before your call time.
These things are important because you’re going to be waiting for a long time. You can bring a book or an i pod with your music then some light snacks are good too.

6. HAVE FUN!
This is the collation of everything you’ve been working on for months and months. By this time your body already knows the feeling of dancing even in your sleep. Don’t forget to smile and to bring your heart with you!

Hope this helps you dancers, on some tips you can take to prepare for your up and coming recitals.

WHAT I THINK MAKES A GOOD DANCE TEACHER, THE KIND I ASPIRE TO BE:

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Anyone can be a dancer but not everyone has the skills to be an effective and good dance teacher. It takes so much skill and patience for a teacher to be able to mold a beginner into what they visualise someday for their dancers. Theres so much more to teaching than a lot of people think of it, even more than just choreographing steps, its an art.
We all of course differ in our opinions of what makes a good dance teacher. Some would prefer a more relaxed and happy teacher as others might prefer a more strict teacher. I don’t think theres just one way of teaching, each teacher has something to offer. But regardless of that I think there are certain qualities that A eacher should possess.

1. Professionalism:  A good teacher respects her students. I think a teacher should be someone you will respect no matter what situation. They can handle situations effectively, in the way they speak, talk and dress. Its really important that the teacher for me interacts well with students.

2. Experience and Reputation: Although i don’t believe that a dance teachers educational background matters or is directly related to their way of teaching, as I have had plenty of amazing dance teachers who didn’t even take dance as a course. I think reputation and experience speaks for them. Plenty of dancers, even without any certification such as retired professionals can be amazing dance teachers. I think its important to consider how long they have been teaching and observe their class before enrolling too.

3. Patience and Organisation: A good teacher, knows how to organise his or her lessons. And and effective teacher knows that it takes time to master a step and choreography. A good teacher puts emphasis on the simple steps, rather than jumping straight to the difficult ones.

4. Punctuality: A good dance teacher is always a good example. Being Punctual means he or is a responsible teacher, if your teacher is more than 10 mins late to class with no apparent reason all the time then i think you should consider changing your school.

5. Dedication: A good teacher is completely dedicated to teaching you the best things they know.

6. Constantly learning: A good teacher is also someone who constantly strives to be better, and to give you the best dance education.

7. Passion: And finally a good dance teacher is passionate about what she or he does. Good dance teachers, inspire and they share. They are constantly giving and learning for you. A teacher is also a student, A teacher learns new things and adapts them for you in class. This is what i aim to be, to generate dancers who want to dance and to inspire them to aspire to become the best in an artistic and technical way.

if you have a teacher like this then good for you! REMEMBER: At the end say that a good teacher deserves an equally good student, so do your best and do them justice. Tag your favourite dance teachers and tell them how much you love them. ❤

That’s d pointe dance shop, Manila

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Hello Dancers and Dance lovers,

As you are now well aware of, I’ve been fixing my website and sharing YouTube videos revolving around my life and ballet. Today I want to feature another ballet store in the Philippines called, thats d’ pointe dance shop. This shop owned by Ms. Charmaine, is located in Metrowalk, Ortigas ave. and in Fisher mall, Quezon City. The Shop is very much complete with the basic things and they have an ample amount of stocks, of course if you need special sizes you may also request that with them. They are very accommodating. I will be attaching our new video blog to this post.

If you are ever in need of dancewear, you may visit them today, and you can also check out their online store on this link, That’s d pointe dance shop

TUTU DANCE STORE, TAIWAN

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DANCE STORES IN TAIWAN: TUTU DANCE, TAIWAN
Welcome to Taiwan! Besides my VLOG which i posted on my new youtube page, I’ll be writing more about Tutu dance, in Taipei Taiwan.
HOW TO GET THERE: 
From the main station, or from any train station. Take the train to Zhongshan Elementary school ( TAKE EXIT C ) or you can also take the bus. Cross underneath the big highway and go straight, about a 2 min walk until you see the 7-11 to your right, turn right to the small street.
You will see an entrance to your right as you can see in the video and go up to the 7th floor, you will find TUTU DANCE showroom.
ABOUT TUTU DANCE STORE:
What I love about Tutu Dance store, is that it is probably one of the most complete dance stores that I’ve been to. Even compared to Chacott in Japan, i really love their selection of leotards, shoes and warmers. They have all kinds of selections, styles and all brands! Including online shops such as myself. In terms of shoes and pointe shoes, they also have all selections of sizes, including the new kinds of fits and the rare to find styles and sizes.
They even require all their staff to take ballet once or twice a week, which is why I love them because all their staff are knowledgeable on what to recommend and they are also very quick to follow in new trends. They are a very hands on shop and they definitely know how to take care of their dancers.
If you’re ever in Taipei, go check them out! I’ll leave you their address here under this blog and a map to their store. Enjoy Dancers!
TuTu Map.jpg

VLOG #1: The Backpacking Ballerina

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HELLO DANCERS! 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
I decided to start a video blog about Dance by Lina and I would love it if you could follow our new YOUTUBE PAGE, I’ll be including our videos from our deliveries, some from the dancing and the teaching workshops that I take around the world from Japan, US and our soon in LATVIA! 
Our blog page is also mainly focused on ballet and tips on ballet shops around the globe. I hope i could get some new ideas from all of you! LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN OR HEAR ❤ I’m also looking into featuring special people of ballet. I would really love your help dancers.


This link leads to our current youtube channel link, so i hope you could give us a follow! Besides my blog, I’ll be doing a LIVE streming video on “The art of ballet” on MAY 6, stay tuned for more information. 

https://youtu.be/3yNqLVObx70

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

SHOP AND BLOG: 
dancebylina.com 
thebackpackingballerina.com