And the (shoe) verdict is...

But first, a rant. Well, not really a rant. More of an observation.

The classes I'm taking are not beginner classes, despite being listed as "Beginner 2" in the catalog. I know it and I've said it here before. One of the guys who often takes the Intermediate classes but who dropped in tonight because of the US Thanksgiving holiday later this week said it in the dressing room after class this evening.

As I mentioned in the last post, our instructor has decided that we should spend more time doing things that move across the floor. Okay, great. It's more like dancing and less like a balancing exhibition (not that we're doing much less of that). But how did we come to doing renversé in our combinations?

Maybe, just maybe

I left home this morning with the intent of arriving in time to do some warm-up, but the GPS informed me that several streets in the vicinity of the studio were closed. The traffic report on the radio then confirmed that today was the town parade. I was sure I was going to miss class entirely, but I managed to get the car parked at the time class officially started and ran to the studio. The float representing the ballet school was passing as I changed, which delayed the actual class start until just before I walked in and I only missed a quarter of the first barre exercise.

I finished the first exercise in my socks, then pulled on my brand new So Danca slippers, which I haven't had on since I bought them last weekend. Barre included a promenade and a pirouette, but the shoes seemed to stay pretty well in place. Then things got busy and I mostly forgot about the shoes. I think that's a good thing, because if I'm thinking about my shoes then something's wrong.

I'm not sure what's gotten into our instructor. Already this class is notorious for being a hair's breadth from being an Advanced Beginner class rather than the Beginner 2 class it's listed as, but things have gotten more intense. The usual 16 one-footed releves became 16 plus 8 optional, and now it's 24 on each leg. Centre has become more complex, and today she announced there will be more focus on grand allegro work.

It could also be that she's losing some students to the Advanced Beginnner classes, but shouldn't that be the normal progression? I'm really not sure whether I'm excited by these changes or dismayed by them.

I'm not sure whether it was the lack of a warm-up, or the extra releves, or something else, but about half way through centre my lower legs started to feel like lead. I finally sat down for a bit, then laid down on my back and put my legs up against the wall. I was able to rejoin class for the grand allegro portion, but even then they felt heavy. By the time I'd changed to street clothes all the muscles in the back of my legs from my glutes to my calves hurt, something that persists even now several hours later.

But I'm going to stubbornly finish this entry with "the bright side": thus far I like these slippers. They feel comfortable, unlike the Grishkos, and they don't seem to move on my feet even during turns. But I'll reserve judgment for a few more classes.

Happy Turkey Day for everyone that celebrates the US Thanksgiving holiday!

The never-ending search for shoes

As I mentioned previously, I got another pair of Capezio Hanami slippers last Saturday. The class I took Monday didn’t include any turns, so that really didn’t tell me anything about how well they’d stay put on my feet. Tuesday’s class was more of a realistic test and afterward I was feeling kinda optimistic about them. I almost wrote a blog post declaring victory, but I decided to hold off until after today’s class.

Something different: I had fun!

Yesterday was the Veterans Day federal holiday. I'm not a federal employee so it wasn't a holiday for me, but it did mean I got to work at home. Sometimes after working at home on a Monday I'll drive up into the hinterlands of the county and take a ballet class at a tiny but well-regarded ballet school in a nearby small town. An instructor I took classes from several years ago teaches the adult classes there, and it's kind of a chance to relive fond memories.

I also thought this would also give me a chance to try out my latest attempt at finding a soft ballet slipper I like.

She changed her intro!!

I've been taking this Beginner 2 (or 2.75, as I like to call it) class  with this instructor for something like six years, and she has always opened with the same first barre exercise. This has been so constant that none of the regulars pay any attention to her as she reviews the steps; although they take their chosen places in preparation, they chatter quietly until the music starts.

This morning was the first time since last winter that the temperature outside has dipped below freezing. Although classes started much earlier in the morning, the corridors and studios were still chilly as my class assembled in our studio. A crowded class, too, with 25 to 30 students. Many familiar faces, some whom I haven't seen in months, and a few new folks.

Our instructor began with a comment about the studio temperature, and said something about getting moving so we'd get warm. I say she said "something" because, like everyone else, I wasn't really paying attention. Then I realized that the exercise she was describing was entirely different from her usual routine and I'd already missed a good chunk of the description. As that realization passed through the class like a wave, people stopped chatting and turned to listen. It was an interesting experience.

So few people caught the whole sequence that the instructor had to call it like a square dance caller or we'd have degenerated into chaos.

I have a suspicion that this exercise was given because we had two student wearing pointe shoes, one of whom is still quite new to them. The exercise included what some call "prancing", which seems to be a favorite in pointe classes as it helps stretch and strengthen the ankles and feet.

Fortunately the SECOND barre exercise was the the exercise we normally do first, which restored the world to its normal order and class proceeded without further incident.