Dance Diary: At the Ballet

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The last time I was in a ballet class I had my original factory installed hair color. Apparently ballroom dance has made me braver. When Olivia Galgano (who choreographed a gorgeous pas de deux to my recording of So In Love for two of her professional dancers) invited me to her adult ballet class at  Art of Motion ,I thought, “why not?”

Here’s the thing about me and ballet - Deep in the darkest corner of my heart I have a secret list of careers I would pursue if I had absolutely any aptitude at all. Fashion designer is on there, so is archeologist. At the very top of the list is Ballet dancer. Alas, congenitally flat feet, my height and too much T and A (well, not so much T but a whole lot of A) precluded that. I knew that gong back into a ballet class wasn’t going to lead me to a new career, but at the same time I devoutly wished to make it through the class with my dignity in tact.

I was happily surprised to find that in addition to making me less trepedatious about even setting foot in a dance class my ballroom experience has improved the speed at which I picked up steps, my balance, my carriage and my foot articulation. It was extremely gratifying that Olivia asked me several times “how long did you say it’s been since you’ve taken class? Are you sure?” 

I am by no means ready to embark upon public acts of ballet, but I definitely want to go back to class and see where it leads. Now that I’ve learned that much of what I’ve learned about movement in the last two years can translate to other forms of dance I’m curious to try some new things.  Maybe I’ll try tap next...

 

 

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