A quote. A thought.

"Ballet classes are not intended to be fun. They're hard work. The fun comes outside of class."

So sayeth the instructor of my Tuesday night class (paraphrased, as I'm notoriously poor at remembering direct quotes). And she's right. If I wanted to spend my evening having fun it wouldn't be sweating in a bare dance studio with a former pro picking on my every mistake. I want to walk out knowing that I'm getting a little bit better every class, if only a tiny bit.

Why bring this up on a Thursday afternoon? Because I'm still a bit sore from Tuesday's class, and I was just reminded of that while walking down the hallway. Not "ZOMG I'll never walk again" sore; I never felt like that even yesterday. But sore enough to know that I got a good, hard workout.

I Survived!

I really wanted to show my best for the new instructor this evening. Alas, it was not to be.

I've been working with a new client for the last couple of weeks, and the office ergonomics (or lack thereof) are wreaking hell with my upper back and neck. I had an appointment with my massage therapist and the chiro she works with booked, but the power outages forced me to reschedule to yesterday morning. It really helped the neck and back, but the rest of me feels like I've been beaten with a baseball bat. I didn't realize the knots in my legs had gotten so bad.

I knew things weren't going to be great when I started getting cramps in both calf muscles while I was warming up before class. Things got better during class, but my normally good balance wasn't there.

At the barre the instructor really works the basics, which is something I need. I don't feel that attending the beginner classes will be a waste of time by any means.

In the center we did simple tendus and dégagés, and I had a bitch of a time with my balance. It was really frustrating: here I'd asked to take the intermediate class too, and I could barely keep my balance. But I'm stubborn.

When class was over I thought about skipping out, but decided to try at least part of the intermediate class. Much to my relief, the barre routine started with what I've been doing for most of a year, which was a huge boost to my confidence. With that I started doing much better. I have to imagine that the instructor was confused where the teetering guy from earlier went. I feel like I was doing as well as those immediately around me, though there were others who were clearly far better.

Eventually, though, the combinations became faster and more complex, and I began falling behind. I'd foolishly positioned myself at the end of the barre, and when doing the second side there was no one I could follow if I forgot the pattern. I tried switching with the woman next to me, only to find she was having trouble too.

Finally, 40 minutes in to the 90 minute class, we started with stretches that would have put me in the hospital. I took that as my cue and retreated, signaling my thanks to the instructor before leaving.

In summary, I had 100 minutes of class and learned that I do indeed straddle the two classes. If the teacher will permit, I'll probably continue to take the full beginner class and the first half of the intermediate class, staying until I feel like I'm over my head. Maybe by the fall semester I'll be able to manage the whole intermediate class.

Anticipation

Tonight will be my second class at the new studio, and probably the first class with the regular instructor. Last week established that I can keep up with their beginner class, but somehow I'm still nervous about it. I'm still toying with trying the intermediate class that follows right after, but a pro dancer friend of mine made the excellent observation that trying to do back-to-back classes may be overdoing it, especially since the second class is 90 minutes. A compromise may be to start the intermediate class and drop out if I feel overworked.

More reason to talk with the instructor.

First Class at a New Studio

With my old studio dropping the Tuesday night ballet class for the summer, I decided to try a class at a new place. It's a 25 minute drive rather than 5, but it's against traffic. The facility is beautiful, with several classrooms, a small theater, and real changing rooms with lockers. Unsure how long it'd take and how much paperwork there might be, I got there 45 minutes early. The paperwork was a simple one-page form.

The lady at the front desk pointed out that they have ballet Tuesday and Thursday evenings, but the schedule she was pointing to said the Thursday evening class was an Advanced Ballet class. I said something about hoping to move up to the Intermediate Ballet class some day, and she kind of seemed embarrassed. Honestly, I don't look like someone who is taking an advanced ballet class.

I wandered around for a while to get the feel of the place, then headed for the locker room to change.

The floor in the classroom is some sort of synthetic (Marley?) that feels almost sticky without actually being sticky. No worries about sliding across this floor by accident! I'm pretty sure it's a sprung floor, as it feels resilient under the feet. One wall is all mirrors, and a wall perpendicular to that has the classic double barre mounted to it. The portable barres are all galvanized pipe construction and non-adjustable.

It turned out that I wasn't the only man in the class. The other guy remarked that it'd been a long time since there'd been another man, and trying to be friendly I commented that it'd been years for me. I think he misunderstood me, responding as if it'd been a long time since I'd taken a dance class, when it's only been 5 days. He tried to reassure me that there were plenty of people just starting out, and I wouldn't be left behind.

Nope. More like the other way around.

The regularly scheduled instructor is away this month, so we had a substitute: the artistic director for the school. He's a retired 20-year veteran of the Washington Ballet, so he knows a few things about the subject. He's amazing to watch.

I'm glad I took time to warm up and stretch on my own before class, because we did very little. OTOH, the class is an intro class, so just the normal class work is about my normal warm-up pace. That's not to say I didn't learn anything. I did. But it was more of detail rather than basics. He wanted coupés and tendus executed sharply, and fondus and développés executed softly. Attention to detail for those ready to handle it, and encouragement to those who needed it.

I could barely cover a smile when one of the women asked how to do a rapid tendu sequence "when there isn't time." His response started with, "make time", and then he explained. My smile was because I've asked that very same question, and if I can do it I know she can learn to.

The hour was over before I wanted it to be. I hung around to talk with him a moment, and asked how difficult the intermediate class was. I think he misunderstood my question because he answered, "there are some pros in the class" and he pointed out a couple of people who dance professionally. I wasn't sure how to take that. What I was feeling for, but didn't ask, was whether I could keep up with the intermediate class. Was he implying that I wasn't ready to take the intermediate class, or trying to assure me that it would be a good class? A little confused, and having paid for only the one class, I asked if I could sit in the back and watch, which he invited me to do. I went and changed, then found a comfortable spot on a pile of Pilates mats next to one of the other beginner students.

At first, my feeling was, "I can do this!" They didn't do anything I haven't done. That feeling lasted about 20 minutes. The pace kept picking up and the combinations became more intricate until a fair number of people were struggling to keep pace. It would have been a real challenge for me, but I don't think I would have been totally lost. I was mostly watching the good students with whom I would not compare favorably, but I did note that there were a few who were frequently a beat behind or doing the wrong step and they stuck with it. So maybe I could pull it off.

I ended up leaving about 40 minutes into the 90 minute class because I kept wanting to join in. I have the feeling I'm at that uncomfortable point where I'm at the head of their beginner class and the tail of their intermediate class. Oh well.

Next week I believe the regular teacher will be back. I don't think there's any sort of planned progression from class to class in the summer, especially with the change in instructor. I'm definitely going to go to the beginner class, and will try to talk with the instructor beforehand and tell her that I'd like to take the intermediate class too. Then she can let me know between classes if it's ok.

Dwindling interest

Not mine, my fellow students'. Once again, I was the only one to show up last night. I know why some of them didn't show up: one is a once-a-week who came Tuesday, another is sick. But this time last year we were worried about having to pull out the old rickety barre for lack of space at the new one. I'm guessing, without any basis, that most wanted to try ballet again after taking classes as a child, and having done so have lost interest again.

Me, I'm looking forward to starting at a new studio Tuesday evenings. They have beginner ballet at the same time as my current class, and an intermediate class (if I get that far) immediately afterward. Most, if not all, of the instructors at the new place have professional performance experience, which will be a change. I do better when challenged. And I'll still take the Thursday class at the old place.