Well I Danced…Kind Of

I’m about to get bloggy on you, so brace yourselves. I am writing this right after my first ballet/modern dance class (side note: this was last night) and I have to tell you I have no idea what I have gotten myself into.


The class is a ballet/modern class for teens and adults of all levels…well I would say it was 85 percent teens (most of which who appeared to have been dancing since they left the womb) and 15 percent adults. It was like a junior high school dance where the boys and girls are on opposite sides of the room talking about each other but not to each other…the teeny-boppers were on one side and we grown-ups were on the other side even though there was no gap of space separating us.

Grand plié

We did some good stretches and some warm ups that were very yoga and Pilates-esque (except there were no mats so my spine and tailbone are sore…can those get callouses? Kind of hard to do a teaser on hardwood with no mat! Anyone who does Pilates knows what I mean), which I was able to follow pretty well (just some minor modifications for my bad back). My demi-pliés weren’t too bad, although I almost fell on my bum during the grand pliés (the ones where you bend your knees all the way down), but when we did the turns and leaps and triplets across the floor is where I had a big problem.


The good news is that the problem wasn’t stamina. I was nervous that I would be huffing and puffing and nearly pass out at the end of the sequence…that was not the case. However, it seems that the part of my brain that governs my coordination has gone dormant and the klutz side has become dominant.

Teaser

We were supposed to do these alternating stag jumps across the floor where the arms are opposite the legs (right leg forward, left arm forward and so on), plus it had to look pretty. Well there were the teenagers that looked like baby gazelles gracefully leaping across the savannah. The other grownups looked like mama gazelles gracefully leaping after them. Me? I was the elephant stampeding. And that thing about making it look pretty? I caught a glance of my face in the mirror and I looked like I was in labor with no epidural or something equally as painful.


I didn’t expect it to be easy, and I knew it was a little bit out of my comfort zone, but I honestly did not expect to feel so awkward and incompetent. I know I should never compare myself to teenagers who have been taking dance for the majority of their young lives. The other adults in the class said they had felt the same way when they first started, and not to worry, it will come back.

Stag jump

I don’t know. I made the decision to stick with the class, but I don’t know if I am going to do the recital. It’s five months away, and we start learning choreography at the end of this month so there will be a full four months to learn the routine, and I know I said all that about setting a good example for my kids and walking my talk about stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new, but I don’t know if I am willing to risk totally humiliating myself on a stage in an auditorium full of people in a group of dancers who actually know what they are doing. I suppose I could always ask to be in the back so if I mess up it won’t ruin anything for them, but if I do that then there’s really no point. I only have a couple of weeks to decide about the recital.


Anyway, my next post will be back to normal…I just thought I’d share this experience with you in case any of you are also trying something new and are not feeling that great about it. I know I’m not the only one who gets these feelings and neither are you. I’m not going to dwell on the negative and neither should you.


This week I am going to practice my triplets, and stag jumps, and hinges, and grand pliés, and try some of the choreography in my NYC Ballet Workout DVDs and maybe some vinyasa flow yoga (kind of like choreography) and hopefully the klutz side of my brain will start getting sleepy and the coordination will start to come back.


I probably won’t write full length posts about this every week, but I will keep you posted on my progress. At least my dance outfit is really cute.



PS: It's now about three hours later and I spent the rest of the night turning and leaping across my family room floor using my sliding glass doors as a mirror...I already feel more confident! 

PPS: It's now about 24 hours later...and I am in PAIN. Oh well, no pain no gain right? Or how about "pain is weakness leaving the body"...either one will do. 


*Grand plié image from DiscoveringBallet.com, teaser image from The Pilates Company, and stag jump image from About.com.