Christmas

It has been Christmas again for me, since my father was Orthodox. I just bought a Christmas scented candle, nice on this cold night, and yesterday I bought a small Christmas tree, so I can observe Christmas quietly. I did go to ballet class tonight and, surprise, an old friend taught. He was a good dancer and I could see how his class was not structured but the movements were phrased, such as tendu front, plie, tendu side, plie, tendu back, plie, tendus 1st, 5th, 5th, 1st, tendu en croix, fondus with inside leg to fouette to other side, etc. When I didn't get the combination, he looked at me and said, "fish, fish," that is, eat more fish (brain food) and you will get it, ha, ha.

So the barre was very mental. I looked at my other side in the reflection in the large window, because the standing side doesn't just "sit," it needs to work, too. Sometimes when I think my leg is straight, it's bent, and so on. I am really trying not to "sit," and hold my back and waistline, like my other teacher said. You have to always look like a young girl in ballet.

That's why I like ballet class, because I feel like a little girl again, playing and having fun. Such an escape. In center, at first I looked stiff but then when I relaxed into myself a bit, I found that I could turn better. After class I practiced the fouette turns we did in class, finding that just flinging my leg around was better than doing it stiffly. When I just flung it out, eventually I got into the movement and was able to fix it as I moved along.

So class was good, but when I go to the gym, I feel more loose in class. It's surprising how the subtle movement of Pilates can change your body so much. And the flexibility of yoga can really improve your extensions. I think I had the highest and most pointy extensions in class today, even though the younger girls were less stiff.

It started to snow again, a fitting end to Christmas Day.