While the cat's away...

Our regular teacher, Catelyn, took a well-earned holiday this week, leaving the adult ballet class in the hands of a substitute teacher, Candice.

Tuesday, one of our newer students showed up, full of excitement and energy. The class was a bit more organized than usual, as Candice brought a written lesson plan in her notebook. The routines were different, of course, but they flowed nicely. Catelyn spends most of her time working with young children, and she tries not to single out anyone for criticism. Candice had a nice mix of correction and compliment, a bit more appropriate for an adult class.

I enjoyed the class, though somehow I always seemed to be in front of the other student, blocking her view of the mirror. She's petite and I'm not, and I'd rather have let her be in front, but she always lined up behind me when going across the floor.

Thursday turned into a private lesson, as no one else attended. I know that summer is a difficult time for those with children, and one of our Thursday regulars just adopted a child last month. But at one point we were running out of barre space, and now three is a big class.

It was a good class, and I felt like I was getting the hang of the sequences of steps she wanted. She introduced waltz turns, which felt somewhat familiar, and the fouette turn, which I definitely remember.

It may sound like I'm down on Catelyn. That's not true. She's a great teacher with boundless energy. I've seen her with kids and she's amazing. However, her focus in dance is not ballet. And I think I'd benefit from a teacher who was a bit more demanding; trust me, a het guy taking ballet is not looking for coddling.

I did do another net search for adult ballet classes in my area. There's one I thought I might drop in on, but wouldn't you know that they've just ended their Wednesday evening classes, and the classes starting up now are Tuesday evenings. I may yet take a peek, but I wanted to see how Candice worked out this week.