A couple of weeks ago, I learned that one of my favorite instructor's Wednesday mid-day Advanced Beginner class was being moved to Monday. I've been taking this class for some months and feel fairly comfortable in it. I'm not the best in the class, but neither am I the worst.
Another of my favorite instructors will be taking over the Wednesday mid-day slot in September, also teaching an Advanced Beginner class, and I mentioned to her that I was looking forward to taking her class Wednesdays. To my surprise she told me I wasn't ready for Advanced Beginner, and she'd "let me know" when I was ready. I was really taken aback by this.
[Edit: The instructor and I may have miscommunicated here. See this post for clarification.]
My plan had been to ask her after class today what it was she felt I needed to improve. Today was also the day I totally failed all attempts to turn. Despite being able to rise to demi-pointe and balance easily on one foot during barre, I was never able to do that during any of my pirouettes. Later, I bailed out of a simple series of step-over pique turns to the right after the first one. I sort-of salvaged the step-over pique turns to the left, but even those were pretty embarrassing.
The instructor addressed the whole class in her calm, supportive tone and said the only way to master such things was practice. I have to wonder how much of that was directed at me.
Clearly, this was clearly not the day I wanted to have a discussion about my failings, and I left without raising the subject.
Last Monday the chiropractor I've been working with really dug into my right adductor (a muscle on the inside of the thigh) just above my knee. It was painful at the time, but usually that goes away by the next day. This time, though, the area continued to hurt quite a bit for several days, and is still a bit tender now.
Tentatively, I'm going to blame this on whatever the chiropractor did last session. I have another session scheduled for tomorrow and I'll discuss it with him.
I'm sorry to hear about that Wednesday business. That hurts. I'm constantly dealing with the conflict between an expectation that I will improve with practice and a body that is falling apart. Ballet is fun. It helps posture and muscle tone. But it's murder on the feet, ankles, and knees. At 25 I could jump and leap like crazy ... after running for two miles uphill to Washington Ballet School. Now I'm terrified of destroying something and having to quit dancing.
ReplyDeleteHi Reese! This is Christina. I'm a regular at MYB and we know each other from Julie's and Susan's classes.
ReplyDeleteI was taken aback when I read your post. It must have been so discouraging to have the instructor say you weren't ready for Advanced Beginner yet. I didn't realize MYB did that kind of gatekeeping with adult classes. It's also strange, because there is usually a wide range of levels in each class. For instance, Advanced Beginner classes often have adults who are regulars at Beginner II classes all the way up to Academy kids and professional dancers who are looking to improve their technique. Besides, some dancers take certain classes simply because they're what works best with their schedules. I was talking to another regular last week, and she said that she would prefer to take the Beginner II class on Saturdays, but logistically, it doesn't work for her right now so she takes a higher-level class.
I'm sorry to hear about what you went through with the Wednesday classes and hope that you don't let the experience get you down. You know you're always welcome at Susan's classes, which are kind of like Advanced Beginner anyway!
Hi Christine! It was nice to chat with you this evening.
DeleteI think I've run the gamut of possible reactions to this. After much contemplation, I think I've come to understand her rationale.
I had conversations this summer with Julie and several other instructors expressing my frustration with having uneven instruction over the almost 40 years since I took my first ballet class. I feel like I wasn't taught some of the basics, or wasn't taught them well, and that's been limiting my progress. I've encouraged all my instructors to give me whatever feedback they feel is appropriate, because I want to improve and recognize that this is how that will happen.
Julie has not been holding back on giving me feedback, either before or since this incident, and while it can seem nit-picking it's constructive nit-picking. Thus, I've settled on believing that Julie thinks it'd be better for me to fix more of the fundamentals before moving to her more advanced class. She might also be thinking I was planning to replace her Sunday B2 class with the Wednesday AB class, rather than add the Wednesday class.
Is this "gatekeeping"? I guess it is, in some ways, but it's her class. I could butt heads with her over it, but it'd be a pyrrhic victory. (I did this in college with my freshman composition teacher, and vowed not to repeat the experience.)
Hi Reese! It was good chatting with you last week too! I’m glad you reached some sort of peace and understanding over what happened, and are not letting it get you down. On a related topic, I wish they would bring back Julie’s Advanced Beginner class! I was taking that class before COVID hit. I liked the class because it was more challenging than Julie’s Beginner II but not as fast-paced as Susan’s class. That might also help with the crowding in the Sunday Beginner II class. It’s almost impossible to get into that class without registering several days in advance. If there was an Advanced Beginner class afterwards, some students may take that class and not the Beginner II.
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