Tuesday morning...

This blog is getting to be like the daily news...so, I took my friend's advice and ignored the people in class who laugh at my efforts to be a dancer.  I mean, I pay for class, so I might as well work on myself, right.  In center, though, where I like to hide in back, there are a few encouraging dancers who always step back and force me to stand in front, even though they are far superior to me.  I also tried to make it a point today to "ace" the combinations, after yesterday's teacher made the comment about adults not being able to think.

There was one outstanding dancer today, outstanding to me because she can see behind the combinations to find the true movement patterns; for example, in center we did chasse pas de bourre, coupe, pique arabesque promenade, step developpe a la seconde, tombe pas de bourre, faille, faille, faille, with "windmill" arms, and she questioned which arm goes up with the developpe leg, something I discovered the importance of when I could not get the arms going the right way!  I thought, okay, it's like the backstroke, and I finally did it right.  Gym pays off, and that is where I am headed, to yoga class.

Stretching after class, one dancer commented he would try yoga after his career was over to get himself aligned and I said, you can do yoga incorrectly, too.  In many ways, classical ballet is the best exercise for alignment and it keeps you fit, too.  I would not be able to swim or take yoga or Pilates as well as I do if I had not studied dance.  Now that I am older, I supplement my dancing with these exercises because, as one dancer I met said, you have to work on yourself when you are older so you can still dance.

I wore my pointe shoes at barre, the same ones I have had for the past two years.  They are my "magic" shoes, I said to a young pretty dancer.  They will not die, although I need to buy a new pair soon.  I always feel more pulled up with pointe shoes on and after watching the dancers yesterday, I see that pointe is really using your body and then displaying the feet even more.  My line is always more circular, too, and I move better with pointe shoes on, although I cannot stand up except at barre, I said to the young girl who dances the whole class with pointe shoes.  I asked when she started on pointe, and she told me, 12 or 13.  That's about the right age.  I tried to remember what my friend told me about dancing being natural and how children are born dancing as babies and just enjoyed the movements while wearing my pointe shoes.

My turns are improving and when we did pique soutenu, chainnes across the floor, I was able to keep up with the fast music.  After class, I asked the teacher how I was doing.  Report card time, I said.  What do I need to work on?  He said that everything is okay and to just be consistent.

After my swim with the noisy children, I could not get to yoga class on time, so I opted for a fitcore class instead.  Heavy metal!  We did so many crunches, my stomach is now permanently crunched.  Crunches with kness twisted to one side felt really good on my sore sides.  This is where my pain is, on my pinched sides.  We did planks and side planks, too.  I couldn't do these and when I asked the teacher after class, she said start with the knees bent until the obliques get stronger to have the whole body move in one piece.  To move in one piece is now my goal...