69 posts tagged “ballet”

One of my fellow dancers had asked me if I thought the 6 to 10 classes per week requirement (for the advanced levels) was too high.  At first, I said yes but then I thought back to when I was 13:

I was taking (I think) 9 classes a week.  

Mon & Wed: Ballet
Tues & Thurs: Ballet, Jazz
Fri: Ballet (private lesson)
Sat: Ballet, Modern (and a pas de deux class, but I don't really count those because it's an easy class).

In high school, I was taking 6 ballet classes and a modern class a week.  I took class every day, without fail.  

So I have to change my answer to no, it is not too many classes.  However, I don't think this requirement at the studio produces the desired effect.  These dancers sometimes will take 2 or 3 classes a day (lower level classes) but then not come the next day.  It's more effective to take class every day, then multiple classes every other day.

Plus, how much are you working in class if you can take 3 classes in a row and not be tired?  One good class should wipe you out.  I'd rather work at 100% for one class and go home.

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After about age 11, I've been in the top level at whatever studio I was at.  I wasn't a prodigy, there just wasn't dancers in a higher level (the one exception was when I was 13 - there were adult/semi-pro dancers that were obviously better dancers, but they don't count because they weren't in the school levels).  Anyway, so I never got the thrill of "moving up" and thus, kind of pooh-pooh how the studio handles promotions.  The director will pretend to make it a hush-hush thing, which of course makes more of a spectacle than if you just promote the student outright.

However, by that same token, I have also never danced roles where I was just standing in the background as scenery.  My first performance on pointe was a solo variation.  So though I never got to experience getting promoted, I also never had to endure mundane roles.  I guess it's a win-win situation :)

So tomorrow (Sunday) is my last day (ever) in ballet!  Just one more class (should be an easy class since it's a warm-up class) and one more performance, and that's it...

I'm not particularly sad about leaving this particular studio - though it hasn't been completely miserable over these 14 or so years, but it hasn't been super wonderful terrific either.  Especially lately.

It does feel weird that something that's been part of my life for so long is soon not going to be.  I'm going to box up all my leotards, tights, and shoes and put it away in my closet or garage.  Wow.  I'm not going to go absolutely crazy and throw everything away, but still.  No more checking rehearsal schedules, no more figuring out what day of the week it is by what class I have to take, no more taping my toes, no more sewing ribbons and elastic, no more pinning my hair up in a bun.

No more using ballet as an excuse why I can't go to parties, either.  Drat!

People have asked me why I'm quitting (retiring?) - I just don't really have that much of a passion for ballet.  I like it because I'm relatively good at it.  If I wasn't, I would have quit a heck of a long time ago.  And it made me unique, made me more than just average.  Ahhh, I'll miss that.

But whatever - nothing lasts forever.  If I don't retire this year, it'll be next year or the year after.  Why try to avoid the inevitable?

I've given my notice, 2.5 months in advance.  It's a bit much, and honestly, I'd like to just disappear into the night, but I had to give sufficient time for the owner to find replacements.  

I'm not sure what kind of reaction I was expecting.  Her response was just a 1 line email (note - she responded via her mobile phone so it's not like she could type an essay, even if she wanted to, which she's not the type to do).  

Anyway, we'll see how it all goes.  I was planning on telling her next Tuesday (because I wouldn't have to take class from her until the following Sunday) but once I have an idea in my head, it's difficult to focus on anything else.  So even when I plan on something in the future, I end up doing it ahead of schedule.  The anticipation kills me.

Note - I love the phrase "disappear into the night".  I don't know why...

I've been trying out different combinations of eyeshadow for stage makeup.  I'm not a big makeup person, even when it comes to the stage, but I figure that I should at least try this time. 

It's pretty remarkable that after being in ballet for this long, I still haven't learned how to put on stage makeup but it's not my fault.  Really, it's not.  When I was a kid, my mom used to put it on (and when you're a kid, no one cares what you put on).  When I was in my teens, my ballet teacher would do my makeup.  And then when I moved on to the studio I'm at now, I basically gave up trying.  It's a smaller theater and the director didn't seem to care what I wore.  Other people, she would tell them to darken their makeup or change the color, but never said a thing to me.  Oh, she did once tell me (while telling everyone else they did their eyeliner wrong) that she trusted me to do my makeup correctly.  Hah!

Anyway, I've determined (although I think most tutorials would already tell you this) that pink eyeshadow is not... right.  I put brown hues on my right eye and pink/magenta hues on my left eye.  The left eye looked smaller - definitely not what you want.

So this is what I will need:

Pancake (foundation) - I've got Max Factor pan cake, which I think they stopped making.
Eyeshadow (brown hues - just got a Revlon 4-color one)
Eyeliner - I prefer pencil.  Don't like liquid.  Cake liner would probably be nice but they don't have it in drugstores.
False eyelashes w/ glue - I don't really like to wear them, but fine.
Blush - I have a couple of blushes, but none that are the right shade.  I guess I can try mixing, but I'm not really good at that.  I may just end up borrowing from another dancer.
Lipstick - again, I have a few, but not the right shade.  I may borrow, I may just settle.  We'll see.
Mascara - I'll probably bring this, but might not use it.  I don't like the way it clumps (plus, it bothers my eyes at times), and since I'm wearing false eyelashes, I probably won't need it.
Pressed powder
Translucent powder - I sweat buckets (and have a shiny face) so hopefully this will help control the shine a bit.
plus some cotton balls and q-tips.

I don't have any problems with voicing my political views, but I think there's a time and place for them.  For example, I don't like when people bring up politics in ballet class or rehearsal.  Ballet!  We should be focusing on ballet, not politics. 

Like there was one day in ballet where some of the dancers were joking about how someone should shoot the president.  I found that extremely offensive.  I don't care who the president is (could be a Clinton, could be a Bush, Obama, McCain, Reagan, Ford, Carter, Kennedy, Lincoln, etc) - it's just offensive to suggest, even jokingly, that someone should shoot another person.

And there's a way to express your opinions, whatever they may be.  The director and Miss Theory tend to be very pompous/righteous when they express their political views.  On the flip side, the guest choreographer/teacher, who told us last summer who he was voting for (in the primaries), is just very matter-of-fact "this is who I'm voting for".  Not judgmental or anything.  And though this summer, he did ask "you're not voting for ___?!", it was in a teasing way.

I think the GOP is just doomed this year... I fully expect the Dems to win.  I still won't be voting for them, but I do expect them to win.

I'm a simple girl - well, okay, I am quite complex at times, but when it comes to relationships, it's crystal-clear:  I either like you or I don't.  If I like you, I will talk your ear off, to the point that you yell at me to stop commenting on everything.  If I don't like you, well, then you will nary hear a peep from me.  Unless I am being bossy and tell you what to do.

Sometimes I feel like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, who doesn't understand social relationship norms.  It's not so much that I don't understand them - I do; I just don't understand why we have to keep them.  If two people don't get along, why should they pretend?  I'm not saying they should be cut-throat mean to each other, just "hello, good-bye" and be on your way.

At ballet, there are a couple of girls that are really, really annoying.  Thankfully, they're leaving (forever) in a couple of weeks.  Although that doesn't really affect the social strata, because new girls will fill in the void.  Anyway, the other girls and them are kind of friends.  I wouldn't exactly classify them as great friends, though, because both of those girls are super self-absorbed.  They do pretend to be friends with others, but you never quite get the feeling of a real connection with them.

But now that they're leaving, everyone's one big happy family!  They're arranging parties, sleepovers, what-nots.  It's like at funerals - how you can't speak ill of the dead. 

I'm not buying it.  I can't and won't join in, because honestly, I am estatic that those girls are leaving.  And I certainly don't believe in last-ditch efforts to make amends, especially since they're not really making amends, but sticking some band-aids on to make everything look peachy.  If only all of those girls were a bit more considerate (and less egotistical) during the ballet season...

One of my friends (a guy) asked if it didn't bother me that the other girls have scorn for (towards?) me.  In a nutshell, not the least bit.  And though it is nice to be liked by others, I'd have to change my personality (become all sweet and fake) in order to accomplish that.  So no, I don't care.

Of course, there are those wonderful frenemies... more on that later.

I woke up this morning with the alarm clock ringing and thought "arg, work.  Oh wait, it's Saturday!"

Two girls have quit the company in the past week.  One was a complete shock for me (although she apparently had told other people) and the other wasn't as surprising, but still - I don't understand why people quit in the middle of the season.  You know what you're getting into when you sign on.

The latest crop of students at the ballet studio are just a pain.  They won't shut up in class (there's no talking in ballet!!) and rehearsals aren't much better.  Everyone is so opinionated and as soon as the music stops, everyone opens their mouths to offer their 2 cents.

Sometimes the director tries to change something and everyone has to offer their reason why it won't work, without even trying.

Their lack of maturity is really annoying.  It doesn't matter if you like the choreography or the costumes or the choreographer or your part.  Just do it.  Okay?

Today's teen drama issue was understudies.  Sometimes (esp when I was younger), I too got annoyed with understudies, as they may be distracting or whatever.  And there's a bit of that sense of "oh, right, like you're good enough to do my part!".  But as common as injuries are in ballet, we have to be prepared for any situation.

One girl (who is a bit of a know-it-all, teachers like her because she's a fast learner, etc) was filling in for one of the main girls in one piece today.  She did a pretty good job - got most of the choreography, was in the right spaces at the right times.  And all I heard from the other girls was how she should just do her own part; why was the director asking her to show things - when she's just an understudy; how understudies should wear signs that say "understudy".

Are you serious?  A sign?  *Sigh* 

One of the junior dancers (she's not that young, maybe 13 or 14?) was marking/learning the choreography during a couple of the pieces today.  I heard mutterings of: "[omg], who does she think she is, learning that part?!"; "As if she would ever get to do that part!"; are you seeing what I'm seeing?!".  It may be a little wishful thinking on her part, but if she wants to do it and (the most important part) if she's not infringing on your dancing, why does it matter?  At least she's doing something more productive than you, standing there goofing off and talking.

Plus, it helps sharpen your skills at picking up choreography, even if you never actually perform it.

I guess many of the girls feel that the junior dancer mentioned above thinks she's so good and acts like it.  I think a lot of the girls act like that so I don't even care anymore.

So yeah, when injured dancers are replaced with the same few girls everytime, the other girls have no one to blame but themselves.  If they had learned the choreography, they may have had a chance to fill in, but they don't even bother and just whine/complain.  Even the girls who are assigned to understudy roles sometimes don't bother.  The director is not going to just hand you what you want on a silver platter - you have to go out and work for it.  (Sure, it may seem like a few chosen ones don't, but life's not fair).

On another topic - I fell in rehearsal yesterday and banged my knee.  It's swollen and hurts a bit to bend it a lot (knee flexion).  I did dance full out today, though (I wore a knee brace for rehearsal) and it didn't hurt for my solo in one piece.  It did to start get a little buggy, but I think it'll be fine.  Aside from the black-and-blue bruise, that is.

Her: I'm going to be home-schooled.
Me: Why?
Her: So I can graduate early.
Me: But why?
Her: (says something but I don't remember what).
Me: How are you going to graduate early?
Her: I'm going to finish junior year and all of senior year by June.
Me: When are you going to start home-schooling?
Her: The end of the semester.
Me: In like 2 weeks?
Her: Yup.
Me: And then what are you going to do?
Her: Take classes at the community college.
Me: And then?
Her: Transfer to a university.

This coming from a girl who, about a month earlier, told me that she wanted to get her degree online so she wouldn't have to physically go to college, and who also said that when she grows up, she wants to marry her current boyfriend and stay at home (e.g. not work).

I don't agree with homeschooling... unless you're an elite athlete competing in the Olympics and even some of them attend "regular" school (albeit with shortened schedules).  All the home-schooled people that I know are all a little off.  Now, obviously, there are and will be people who are well-adjusted and everything, but just from my experience...

I'm not saying I'm well-adjusted myself, but I know that I am much better off having gone to public school.  And for the people I know, they also should have been kept in public school.  Take Primadonna Numero Uno - she said that when she was in school (this would have been elementary school and maybe a couple years in middle school, at most) that the other girls were not nice to her.  Fast forward to her now - all the teachers/parents and little kids love her.  She is just so sweet and everything.  As for people her age, well, they're friendly with her, but none of them are really close to her.  Her best friend is her mother.  During lunch breaks, she goes off with her mom (while everyone else pretty much stays at the studio and eats with their friends).  Now, there's nothing wrong with being close to your mother, but really, are you that clingy?

Another girl - one reason why her mom homeschools her is because when the mom was a kid, she didn't fit in well at school.  So to protect her daughter from this, she decided to homeschool.  Okay, but what are you going to do when the kid grows up and can't interact well with others in the real world?  Even the scientists who spend the majority of their time by themselves conducting experiments or whatever have to still interact with others.

And yet another girl - her family used to live in a small town, out in the middle of nowhere.  Her parents taught her to read when she was like 5 so when everyone else was learning to read, she was already reading at a higher level.  The other kids made fun of her for being smart and being in a small town, the school wouldn't let her skip a grade (not like that would make it any better socially).

For those girls, one of the main reasons to homeschool was socialization issues.  How about ballet reasons?  Well, one girl is homeschooled I think primarily so she can focus on her ballet (if you ask her, she would say she's pretty popular, so it's not really a socialization issue).  Except that she has no future in ballet...

So yeah, that's my view on homeschooling...