Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Very good, Giulia. Just remember to listen to what your body tells you and don't push too hard too fast." He had a feeling that she would listen well enough to stop - though if she were anything like he had been, she'd over-stretch something at least once before the admonitions to be careful sank in fully.

"And, relax!" He let the little girl drop from First, encouraged her to wiggle all her limbs out and make silly faces even, doing it with her. "Okay! Again, into First position - and hold." Colin helped Giulia return to First and to hold it for fifteen seconds (it would feel so much longer) before letting her relax once more. This repeated several times before he did the same thing with Second position and it's open arms and feet.

Once she had both fairly well, he clapped his hands. "Good, good. Now, for the fun part, because you have been so very, very good. We will go 'down the floor' and do a leap." There was a lot more he could have taught her, but she was young and would tire quickly, so it was best to block out the basics a bit. "Going 'down the floor' is something in ballet that means moving across the floor in turns so the instructors can critique you, or so you can perform larger movements, like the chasse or leaps."

First, he showed her how to hold her arms in Fifth, then rose up on his tip toes with her, "Up on our toes, draw attention to your crown, Princess Giulia! Now, head up, so the crown does not fall, we walk!" He ran her through skipping and bunny hops as well, not only instructing her on the actions, but performing them with her at least once before watching to make sure she was doing it properly, offering corrections as necessary, and always always giving encouragement with a bright smile.

"Take a break for water, then we will leap." Over a stuffed tiger in a tutu that was meant just for that purpose. Tina the Tigerina was a class favorite, always, and Colin had brought her because no child wanted to crush Tina or her adorable costume. Plus, she was just the right height for a small child to jump over without hurting themselves. perfection.

While Giulia got a break, Colin got water as well and checked his phone briefly just to make sure there weren't any emergency messages. All seemed well.

Through every minute of the tiring exercises, Giulia was game and hung in there; she had pluck and gumption. Colin made certain he gave her as much support and praise as he could manage to encourage her without seeming condescending or like he was just humoring her.

When she returned, he was doing more stretches of his own and moving ceaselessly as seemed to be his way. 'They are, in your age group. Mine are much longer, but I am used to it now.' He smiled as she joined him in stretching to ready herself, already falling into a good habit and rhythm for a dancer. 'Have faith in yourself, you will catch up. If you need shorter lessons to work on specific things, that can happen too.'

When he had judged that his small pupil was sufficiently limber, he took her through loping to and then doing the little leaps prettily over tigerina. They didn't have to be precise yet, it was just to get the feel of the action and which leg to lead with, how to gauge the distance, and also to have a bit of fun.

In fact, if she really wished - and if the nanny approved - he would be happy to hold his student and do a leap while holding her, so she could feel the height she'd eventually get to. Sometimes it was good to see where you would be, as a goal.

Either way, leaps were mostly for fun at this stage and after, he would indeed go through a cool down stretching regimen much like the earlier warm-up one, but this would also include Amelie so he could show her how to properly massage Giulia's muscles to help break up the lactic acid. 'You need to take a nice warm bath tonight, okay? And make sure you rub lotion in, because your legs are going to be like cooked noodles. So rub them like I've showed you and it will help a lot.'

In the papers he'd produced for Amelie there were recommendations as well for anti-inflammatory medications if needed, for ice, things of that nature - but it was unlikely she would need so much care. Giulia was going to be tired and wobbly like a well cooked noodle, but he'd been very careful to not push too hard.

He didn't want to scare her away, after all.

When he'd first started working with children, he'd had a hard time remaining professional when they started tiring. But he was much better at keeping his teacher cap on now, so while he sympathized and could make changes when needed, he would still press the students on. Luckily, Giulia didn't need much more than gentle encouragement, she was such a lovely, willing little girl.

"I walk out of my classes on noodles too. Wobbly ones and sometimes crunchy ones too." He smiled and continued stretching with her, even though he didn't really need it, it was just good to join in - to not make her feel as though she were alone though this had been a special request as a single person class.

"Of course you will, for you are very wise." Colin unfolded himself and returned Amelie's smile, "You are both most welcome. Time spent with such lovely company just flies." He laughed, shifting so he was sitting with his feet touching and knees pressed to the floor, expression bright and genuine, with just a spark of mischief.

"You have the contact numbers for the studio, I don't usually teach the classes, but I did add my number too so if you have questions or need anything you can leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." As much as he might have wanted to say he'd pick up and respond immediately, realistically that was unlikely. Unless the danseur was injured, nearly his entire days were taken up with his own classes - his evenings with rehearsals or performances.

Still. He loved working with the kids and had made himself available for Giulia - he would not abandon her. "I look forward to seeing you with the main class, Princess Giulia."