Second class

After a week off for spring break I went to my second ballet class. Only one other student showed up; it was almost like having a private lesson. This time I decided to wear the traditional garb of dance belt, tights, slippers and a T-shirt. The teacher clearly approved. I have to admit that the snarky comment from the dancewear store about white shoes with black tights was right -- the contrast was painfully harsh.

I'd tried to do some stretches over the break, though it's hard to tell how useful that was. I had a yoga class the night before and I'd put some extra effort into it, but found that my legs were almost immediately sore. I found I was having trouble staying on demi-pointe, with my right ankle especially wanting to roll off to the outside. I just couldn't seem to get my foot into a position where my weight was centered. Every time we did a sous-sus I'd come down into fifth with my front heel on top of the big toe of my back foot. Not pleasant.

Still, I enjoyed the class. I got an odd compliment from the other student: when we were at the barre the first time we turned so she was facing me she commented, "Oh good! Now I can follow you."

What I didn't enjoy was getting up the next morning. My calf muscles were very tight, and it took a few minutes to limber them up enough to be able to stand flat-footed. For the rest of the day, and for two more days, if I sat for more than about an hour standing up happened over the protests of my calves. I guess I over-did the stretching, eh?

I also came to the conclusion that my slippers were just a hair too short for me. The suede pad under my heel wasn't quite far enough back, and the back of the heel didn't come up as high as it was designed to. I ordered a new pair through Amazon.com a half size larger, this time in black rather than white.