dance

Tracks in the Rug

Due to a small string of injuries and ailments, I haven’t been to a dance class in a little over a week. That’s a long stretch for me and I’m getting stir crazy. My kid threw some oatmeal around at breakfast this morning and I blew a gasket. Mommy needs to get out of the house and back to the barre.

Are you asking yourself how obsessive I am? Can’t I live without ballet? Of course, I can. I’d rather not, but I certainly can. However, dance is my prime method of exercise and anyone gets cranky if they don’t get to sufficiently stretch their legs every now and again.

Thanks for the Boogie Ride

This week my ballet teacher busted out some Cherry Poppin’ Daddies for a petite allegro combination in class. I probably would have hit the beats better to Vivaldi, but boy was I having fun.

Back when I was in Beginning Ballet I, I was also taking an intermediate swing class at the college. I had one teacher nagging me to pull up and tuck down my tail bone in my plié while another instructor was shouting, “Shannon, sit into your swing outs. Shame on you. You haven’t done that in long time.”

The joys of cross training.

Overheard in Ballet Class

“Lift up. What, you expect me to feel sorry for you because you have a broken toe and you’re on pointe?”

We pay for this privilege, you realize.

24 Bobby Pins

I pulled 24 bobby pins out of my bun last night and let my hair loose after a long weekend at the theatre.

“Why is it,” Shawn asks, “that we work towards something for so long and so hard and when it finally arrives we’re terrified of it and the completely relieved when it’s over?” Good question. I think it’s a little like running a marathon. Not that I’ve ever run a marathon, but bear with me. You work and you train and you finally catch your goal when you cross that finish line. It feels good to be done.

Curtain Call

The sound of the curtain pulling open to the audience sounds like the tick-tick-tick of that anticipatory pull up slope at the beginning of a roller coaster. I may have mentioned this before. It strikes me as new every time.

Helter Skelter

Welcome to Mars.

Honk Honk

My friend Ania recently created an online quiz that identifies the ballet heroine that you are most like. Apparently I’m most like Odette. That puts me somewhere between

Modern

I’m not a huge fan of modern dance. A friend of mine once referred to it as “twitching to Tori Amos” and I confess that I can’t help but always think of it in those terms. I’m the same with contemporary ballet, by and large. I spend the whole time watching it thinking, “Turn out your feet!”

The following clip is a modern ballet piece called “Amelia” by a dance troupe called La La La Human Steps. It’s still not really my style, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate precision when I see it.

Blocking

I push my way through the heavy backstage door and into the hallway. A friend of mine is discussing costumes while putting the finishing touches on props. “Hey, didn’t you read the sign?” I say. “No talking. There are dancers on stage.” She gives me a warm smile and a rude hand gesture. I laugh and haul my gear back to the green room. Tomorrow night this hallway will be dark, lined with quiet dancers warming up their feet and calming down their nerves before they go through the door down to the stage. But not tonight. This is tech and blocking.

Ah, the Pitter Patter of Tiny Feet in Huge Combat Boots

So I had an audition on Sunday for a ballet performance that my studio is doing in February. It's a series of three fairy tales. Should be very cool.

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