Sunday, December 22, 2013

100 Relevés!

I'm sitting outside a studio where they're having a small kids' Nutcracker party. They're playing some sort of bingo game, and the teacher told them that if they called "Nutcracker!" (instead of "Bingo!") and didn't have all the right markers they'd have to do 100 relevés. Only in a ballet school would that have meaning, let alone sound like a punishment. One that was never invoked while I was there, I might add.

I went to the Beginner II class this morning. The first half of barre was like respiratory therapy for me, with lots of deep breathing accompanied by sporadic coughing fits that noticeably improved my ability to breathe. It also elicited a comment from the instructor that they were going to have to quarantine the room. But I made it through barre feeling better than last week.

Center was more of a challenge, and I took some of the easier options we were offered. I skipped most of the turns, and I'd have to rate my performance in the jumps combination as listless. I got the steps and I worked to emphasize the pliés as she wanted, but the jumps themselves had no spring to them. The end of class came none too soon for me, but my recovery time between combinations is definitely improving. I'm hoping that I'll be back to normal by early January.

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