Ego Boosting

After missing a week due to travel, I made it to class both days two weeks ago. I was glad to be back, I'd missed it. I was just too busy to post about it.

Last week I was gone again. Spending hours on my feet made my legs feel stiff, so one night I decided to stretch a bit. Found myself practicing our barre routine using the desk chair for stabilization, though once I got through the first of the grande plies it was easier to do it hands-off. Had to skip the tendus as hotel carpet doesn't make a great dance floor.

Went to class this evening. I guess it's good that our class progresses rather slowly, so I didn't feel like I'd fallen behind. We're still working the same combination: balancé forward, balancé back, two tours chaînés, tombe, pas de bourrée, glissade, assemblé. I no longer fall over doing the chaînés, but I don't always track straight, often under-rotating a few degrees. Probably has something to do with not spotting properly. The barre is still not my friend, at least not when doing stretches. I really need to do is stretch every day, especially since I'm not getting to class twice a week, every week, like I was for a while.

Anyone know of a friendly, drop-in type, beginner ballet class in Munich? Ich verstehe ein bisschen Deutsch. Aber nur ein bisschen.

This travel thing is disrupting the rhythm I'd developed since May, and replaced it with a syncopated rhythm of its own. Gone. Back. Gone. Back. Gone. Back. Gone. Back. Gone, Gone, Gone. The last time I did a lot of travel, in 2007, I woke up totally confused as to where I was, and what language was spoken there. After a surprising number of moments feeling totally disoriented, I realized the answers were "home" and "English". Fortunately, I don't do this sort of thing often enough for it to lose its excitement, and I have some vacation time worked into the schedule.

So what about this ego thing? Somehow I always end up next to the mirror. The floor up there is a bit more slippery than farther back, so when I think about it I try to move back and get someone who is better to move forward. The woman I asked clearly was the best of the group tonight, but she wanted to stay in the back. "But you're good, you should be in front", I said. She replied, "You're good too! You stay up there." I'm really not that good a dancer; better than some others, maybe, but I know what good looks like and that's not me. Still, it's fun to hear someone say it.