Return to Ballet

I can't stand that the front page still shows the story of our sweet good girl Nannerz because it still hurts too much, so I need another something to push it down further for now. So, you get to hear about me taking ballet again.

I did a lot of dance when I was younger. My earliest memories of dancing are choreographing dances to Spice Girls and TLC, and my formally-instructed friends would teach me the basics and technical names of the moves. I didn't start taking studio lessons until middle school when I made the dance team. And being at the start of my free and rebellious years probably explains why I was never a fan of ballet - too strict and rigid, too much structure, not enough freedom or room for interpretation. I liked the more forgiving and open-ended genres (and especially enjoyed my foray into real modern dance when I took a few classes at Columbia University while I was there). 

I didn't hate ballet though, and I dipped in and out of adult classes in college and NYC; ballet is usually readily available wherever you go, and I was fine with that for something to do, it just usually wasn't my favorite.

Well, Sophie's music classes are at a nearby dance studio, and it's pretty small and I only ever see kids there so I was surprised when one day I saw them advertising their adult classes. I looked into it and it was a smashing deal, and with a little creativity on mine and AJ's part for scheduling and parenting, there were a few I'd be able to attend regularly.

These classes have become a real source of joy in my life right now. For one, I love getting out and doing something and being active. And I enjoy the community that I am becoming a part of there with all the people who regularly attend... it's adult classes but we get high schoolers doing make up classes through to working moms like myself, retired women and even a middle aged man taking up ballet for the first time in his life.

I guess it's because I'm at a different time in my life, but everything I found annoying about ballet is suddenly the reason why I love it now. I love the reliability, the dependability, the strictness that never changes, the universality of the moves and the names (and all en français too) and being able to expect different combinations of the same building blocks each time, and the grace of it all.

But, maybe this is tempered by the fact that this instructor is the first I've ever come across in my years, that does our barre exercises and warm ups to something other than piano barre music. Our barre exercises are set to some real bangerz... from Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" (so hard not to just bounce my knees like Sophie does to that number - it's seriously her favorite!) and "Royals" by Lorde, to my favorite 80s new wave hits like Yaz's "Only You" and The Cure's "Pictures of You". Most of our across-the-floor exercises are to more ballet-appropriate numbers, but it makes me feel so happy and warm to have my feet, arms, and brain all going while we do pas de chevals and enveloppés under the sounds of The Cure.

I hope to make this season of ballet the longest yet. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.