As much as one might want to believe that ballet is a singular pursuit, it’s not. Unless you are in a private session, ballet is done in a classroom environment and it is really, very much a team effort.

There is a spot on the floor in my studio that is crazy slick. I’ve almost wiped out on it a couple of times. Apparently someone in another class likes to oil up and then squirm around on the floor – the studio owner actually suggested that this might be the problem!

Here’s my point – let’s all be good ballet class citizens. If you spill water on the floor, clean it up; don’t use tons of lotion and slime it all over the studio; don’t use rosin if you aren’t supposed to – at another studio I watched beginner ballet students stomp through the rosin box in their flatties and leave sticky all over the floor!!!

Also, if we could all be aware of our use of space both at the barre and in center, that would be great. I hate feeling all squished up in a bunch instead of in lines and I won’t extend if I feel boxed in.

Also, ballet class is social but it is not social hour. If you chatter on like its happy hour, you can’t hear the teacher… also, you make it hard for everyone else to hear the teacher AND you make his job harder. Listen, I already feel for the man, my ballet teacher is beyond Awesome, but let’s face it, he’s trying to teach ballet to a bunch of lunatic adults who can barely tell their right from their left much less do anything graceful and coordinated. He already deserves a medal for bravery, give him a break – be quiet and pay attention.

I realize I’m kind of venting a bit but we’re all in this to learn and have fun, right!? Let’s play nice and be good ballet class citizens. The truth is that like any class that involves physical movement, people can get hurt – let’s not kick each other, create dangerous conditions in class, or get on each others nerves and everything will be, oh so much better in ballet class. After all we’re in this together!

Thanks for listening. Now let’s dance.

Let me preface this post by saying that I am totally looking for your input here, please, feel more than welcome to throw your thoughts and experiences at me.

So in the last couple of weeks I’ve worked up some bravery and tried a bunch of new ballet classes, meaning new studios and new teachers. Let me remind you that this was not a successful thing for me in the past. Somehow I found every version of “bad” teacher and honestly got a little scarred from that. When I found my awesome ballet teacher, I think I kind of attached. That has not been entirely a bad thing because his methodology is totally working for me, I’ve come so far in just last year with him that I stand amazed and I’m not that easy to impress 😉  I’ve watched other people come to his class – trepidatious, unsure and then just come alive and I’ve watched the classes go from being a group of adult dance students to become a group of good friends. It’s not just ballet because I have experienced ballet classes that have left me sad, discouraged and physically ill. My awesome ballet teacher creates and nurtures this wonderful ballet environment. Plus I am a big believer in loyalty.

But I have challenged to try some new teaching methods mostly to get out of my comfort zone and get used to a occassional change in my ballet scenery. Mostly so that when I go out-of-town, which can be a lot, I can feel comfortable finding and going to new classes. So that’s what I’ve been doing, I’m not replacing my current line up of classes with my awesome ballet teacher, I’m supplementing with a few additional classes.

Here is where I hit a conundrum… the classes I tried where “Basic.” They were not difficult at all. Don’t get me wrong, I know that each and every class no matter how slow is an opportunity to learn and each and every class I’m still working on the basics. And I enjoyed them, the teachers were nice and competent and I did get some good corrections… but am I not challenging myself enough by not moving up in difficulty? My current lineup of classes include (1) Intermediate Beginner, (3) Advanced Beginner, and (1) Intermediate all with my ABT. Am I chickening out by taking Basic classes elsewhere and is that actually holding me back? A lot of people who I’ve talked to who take Beginner level classes elsewhere have years of training behind them. I take a lot of classes a week now but I’m not going to kid myself that doesn’t add up to years of training, plus I’m just not a natural at anything… I don’t have great feet or great lines, I’m not naturally flexible and my sense of balance sucks bad. I’ve got two days where I’ve got the option to take a “Basic” class or a more advanced “Beginner” class, so… what do you think?