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.