The View from Up Here

I attended my first ballet class tonight. I'm sore, tired and grinning ear to ear. I'm not so delusional as to claim that I'm coordinated when it comes to dance but you know what? It doesn't matter - the class was a lot of fun!

It's been a long time since I did something simply for the sheer joy of doing it. I'm quite bad at ballet but then again, so is at least half the class. There's a very steep learning curve...and gravity is a harsh mistress for some of those particularly unstable moves.

We went out for dinner tonight and I jokingly suggested to the kids that they should take ballet too. The look on one of the boys was precious, a cross between biting into something sour and tasting Marmite. Upon further good-natured interrogation, it came to light that the kids see ballet as something that only girls do. They may be correct there - there's probably about 19 women in my class and exactly one man, who was also grinning ear to ear for the entire class for some inexplicable reason of his own.

The instructor had a Syllabus written on her Notebook, which she referred to regularly as she took the class through a dizzying number of moves with Undue Haste. I can't say I'm impressed with her pace, nor were some of the other students if the queue for feedback was any indication. I did manage to talk to the instructor and politely give voice to my concerns. Hopefully next week will be different. I'd rather learn fewer moves well than flub up many moves fast.

My flat feet haven't bothered me in a long time...until tonight. The soles and ankles started burning halfway through the class from the exertion and repeated impacts. I suspect a lot of it has to do with me not doing the exercises correctly and I'm hoping this will get better as I progress.

Contrary to popular belief, no, we didn't spend most of the class en pointe. None of us, except for the instructor, can dance en pointe. I was having a hard enough time not falling over. En pointe will take years and years of practice, if I'm even able to do so now at my advanced age. There's a reason why you don't usually see old ballet dancers in performances. We're just a little too decrepit and calcified to handle the rigors of advanced ballet.

In the meantime, it's practice practice practice! I'm glad that my Condition is cured - I'm going to need to practice in front of a mirror regularly now. And find a chair to act as a barre that's sturdy enough to hold me up when I inevitably lose my balance. Yes, I know that's not what I'm supposed to use the barre for...and I'm wincing as I'm typing this because I'm caught between reinforcing a bad habit vs. getting to know my carpet really well from close up everytime I prove that gravity is still working.

Tough, but fun. Gods, I'm loving this!