Old El Paso

Off and on for several weeks, our instructor has commented during evening classes that barre was so good we should quit and go have tacos and margaritas. She's done it often enough that it became a regular joke, and I started thinking I should stop at Taco Hell on my way to class.

Grocery shopping this weekend I spotted an item on sale:

Far less mess than Taco Hell with no odor to offend classmates, and more likely to get used. When I got home I tucked the box into my dance bag.

As you walk into this studio you pass by the built-in sound system that's used for classes that don't rank a live pianist. It's also right by where our instructor likes to stand, and it's where she puts her coffee on Saturday morning classes. After the previous class's students filed out and ours began to filter in, I pulled the box from my bag and placed it on display on top of the sound system like you'd see it on a store shelf. One student noticed, asked quietly, and quickly understood the joke; no one else said anything.

Our instructor came in last and greeted us, welcoming everyone to the fall semester of Ballet II. It was a larger class than most I'd seen over the summer: 22 students. She said we'd start fairly easy so everyone could recover from their summer time away, and build as the weeks went on. We then started barre as we always do. Ten minutes in she apparently forgot about this "start easy" stuff. I've found it's easier to tell how tough a class will be by looking at who is in the class than by listening to the instructor: if one or more of the really good students are present, we're all in for a rough time. We did combinations that shifted from extending on the beat to closing on the beat, back and forth within the same measure. I picked up most of it fairly easily, but there were one or two combinations that my feet just didn't want to do. Quite a few of the folk had trouble with the majority them.

About 25 minutes into barre she did a double-take, laughed, and waved the taco kit around while explaining the joke. To my disappointment no one else seemed amused. I guess too few of the folk who'd been listening to the "tacos and margaritas" jokes over the summer were in attendance. Oh well.

The rest of class didn't get any easier. While our "star pupil" struggled to perfect double pirouettes en dedans and triple pirouettes en dehors, the rest of us just tried to get through the combinations. I really enjoy watching her dance and envy her skill, but it makes the class rough for the rest of us.

Since I'm on the "unlimited/4-month" plan now, I'm going to head down to the Beginner I class tonight too. If I can get through that without any boneheaded blunders maybe I can finish the week without feeling like a total novice.