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Thread: Back in Ballet Class

  1. #76
    Senior Member Sarah V's Avatar
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    Hi Linda!! Glad you are home safely. Home for the holidays I hope? I just sent you a few PM's. Hope to stay better in touch about ballet now. Sarah


    Sarah[SIZE="3"][/SIZE]

    "Sport is for men.......But Ballet is for women" ---- George Balenchine

  2. #77
    Senior Member Sarah V's Avatar
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    Hi All ladies who dance.

    Just a quick update note. My ortho doctor's released me to go back to class at the beginning of December. However my school's annual 2-Act production of the Nutcracker was right around the corner by then, and all the school's teacher's and most of the schools students, as you can well imagine, are all involved with the show. So, for the second year now, I helped out back-stage with the production. It was a lot of hard work and a very busy week from the moment we moved into the theater until the last performance that next Saturday night. A lot of long nights for sure. But it was a lot of fun helping out too ,and the school had 3 near sold-out performances, all of which were successfully danced and well appreciated by the audiences.

    My ballet instructor mentioned to me that she had missed not having me in adult class this fall, but she is all set to help me start moving again, and hopefully a lot more pain free this time. A number of my adult class fellow students were party parents this year, and it was fun getting re-acquainted with them after being away from class for a whole semester. So, now our Nutcracker is done, and class/school is out for the next three weeks till the end of holidays

    Then the first week in January '15 it's back to class I go. Can't wait, and I will let you all know how it goes with my new hip joint parts.

    Hope all you wonderful ladies have a very nice upcoming holiday season! Hugs,.....
    Last edited by Sarah V; 12-30-2014 at 01:15 PM.


    Sarah[SIZE="3"][/SIZE]

    "Sport is for men.......But Ballet is for women" ---- George Balenchine

  3. #78
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    Last weekend was the first opportunity I had the house to myself in some time. I pulled out one of my tutus and put it on along with soft pink tights and pink ballet slippers. I then proceeded to pirouette and leap my way through the house. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I felt that dressed like that, my ballet dancing was more graceful and beautiful than ever before. It really is quite a sensation to have a romantic-style tutu bouncing around your legs as you move. I felt like a veritable Sugar Plum Fairy.

    Sarah, I'm glad to hear you'll be back in class next week. My class doesn't start up until the third week of January.

  4. #79
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    Hi Jamie,

    Glad you were able to indulge yourself finally. With everyone home for the holidays Linda's been relegated to the closet until the new year.

    Ballet classes have been fun but I miss them over the holiday break. I'm still trying to learn how to pirouette consistently. It gets frustrating when I do it right one time and then fall down the next. However; I will persevere and get it right eventually.

    I'm envious of your tutu's. Although I'd love to have one hiding it from the kids I imagine would be a chore.

    Happy New Year to all the girls out there!

  5. #80
    Member CamillaCD's Avatar
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    I have a pancake type tutu (which includes a body), nearly 4 feet in diameter. It is as you're saying Jamie, an odd sensation to prance around in a tutu. For the Russion type you can't see your legs, and where do you place your arms ?

    I too Linda, have learned that mastering piruettes takes time and perseverance. Lately I am more and more often able to do two turns without needing to take an extra step afterwards to keep the balance. However, on some occasions my brain throws an abort!!! after a quarter turn resulting in me lying in a heap on the floor.

  6. #81
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Linda E. Woodworth View Post
    I'm envious of your tutu's. Although I'd love to have one hiding it from the kids I imagine would be a chore.
    I have six tutus that I inherited from a (CD) friend who was trying to make space in her closet. I keep them covered with trashbags in my closet. So far my kids haven't noticed them, although I imagine its only a matter of time. Not sure how I'll explain it when the time comes...

    Quote Originally Posted by CamillaCD View Post
    I have a pancake type tutu (which includes a body), nearly 4 feet in diameter. It is as you're saying Jamie, an odd sensation to prance around in a tutu. For the Russion type you can't see your legs, and where do you place your arms ?
    Yes, all of my tutus have attached leotards, that's the best kind in my opinion. The pancake tutus are wonderful. When, they're really big, I guess you have to keep your arms in second or high fifth position.

    I too Linda, have learned that mastering piruettes takes time and perseverance. Lately I am more and more often able to do two turns without needing to take an extra step afterwards to keep the balance. However, on some occasions my brain throws an abort!!! after a quarter turn resulting in me lying in a heap on the floor.
    I can only do a single turn at a time, and am not consistent with them. Now I can do about four of these in a row across the floor: turn, step, turn, step, etc. I would love to do double-turns like you, and perhaps its just a dream but perhaps one day a triple turn? Heck, while I'm dreaming, why not make it en pointe? :-;

  7. #82
    Senior Member Sarah V's Avatar
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    Jamie:

    So glad you were able to give yourself a bit of fun ballerina time. I would love to see the TuTu's you own. The holidays are a perfect time to relax a bit and have fun esp. if we are all down these two weeks and away from work.

    @Ms. Linda: I got your note, but had bad internet service at the hotel I was staying at in NY visiting family this past week. I'll drop you a note at once now that I am back home.

    P.S. ladies, wearing some of my men's thick dance tights underneath my jeans was perfect for the weather in Upstate NY (rainy & cold) and prolonged cold airplane travel. They really helped keep my lower extremity joints from bothering me as much, and next time I fly in the winter I think I will add leg warmers to the mix.
    Last edited by Sarah V; 12-30-2014 at 01:17 PM.


    Sarah[SIZE="3"][/SIZE]

    "Sport is for men.......But Ballet is for women" ---- George Balenchine

  8. #83
    mical mical7's Avatar
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    you look so fem

  9. #84
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    I just paid for my next session of ballet, which starts up next week. I am chomping at the bit to get back to the barre. I've been practicing my pirouettes and my splits, but it's hard for me to do any serious ballet practice at home. Before Christmas, I bought a new black, tank-style unitard which I am looking forward to trying out on the first day of class.

  10. #85
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    Hi Jamie, I'm in Nj and i have been contemplating taking a Pure Barre type of exercise class, what do you think? I would go drab but probably wear men's capris. I think the tiny precise movements of these exercises could help make me able to move more femininely when going out dressed.

  11. #86
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    Hi Sara,

    I'm not familiar with Pure Bare. I just looked it up on the Web, and it doesn't appear to have much in common with ballet training aside from the use of a barre. It's probably a good workout and you will be surrounded by women, but if you are looking for the ballet experience, I doubt you'll get it there. Whether or not you should take it depends on what you're looking for.

    Jamie

  12. #87
    Senior Member Sarah V's Avatar
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    Well class has started once again. I made it through the entire class and nothing popped out of joint (pun intended). So the hip held up pretty well I guess.

    This spring semester's classes have been cut down to 1.25 hr, v. the traditional 1.5 hr, and that is a bit saddening. We have two new ladies who have joined us group of adults, but I remain the only male member. These two ladies actually started last fall while I was out, but I had not met them yet. Both seem very nice.

    Since this was the first class for all of us since early December, our instructor took it easy on us, and esp. me. She encouraged me to not do anything I didn't think would be good for my THR. However, she was absolutely shocked, and kept telling me so throughout the class, how much better my turn-out was, how much better I could hold and control my right leg, and how much more ROM I was getting when stretching on the floor. She told me during corrections that we/she can work with me so much more on better body alignment now that my legs under me are stable, and I am not in a lot of discomfort. So yesterday we did mostly relatively easy barr'e work, nothing to strenuous at all, and to be honest, the right hip felt wonderful and moved around quite easily. But I could immediately feel how tight my left side was. I felt great after class, but again, our instructor did take it very easy on us. About 3 hrs. after class my right hip was feeling sore, so I took it easy the rest of the day but it feels fine this morning.

    So, all is good I think. It should be a good spring semester.


    Sarah[SIZE="3"][/SIZE]

    "Sport is for men.......But Ballet is for women" ---- George Balenchine

  13. #88
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    Hi Sara,

    That's great that the first class went so well. I understand how important getting back into the swing of things is.

    I was incredibly tight for my first class after the Christmas break. It is amazing how fast you start to lose the stretch in your limbs when you stop for even a few days.

  14. #89
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    Yay! Finally back in ballet. This week's class was a combination of regulars and new faces. I ended up opting for my more traditional mens tights and long sleeve tee, instead of my new unitard. However, There was another guy in class, and he was wearing footless tights and a spandex top, so I don't think the unitard would have looked out of place (sometimes when guys take the class, they just wear shorts). I'll probably wear it next week. Class was a mix for me. I was definitely rusty, and lost my place in a couple of the combinations we did. I got corrections on some very basic things, but did get at least one compliment from the teacher. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time on the floor, which is when the "real" dancing happens. Hopefully, things will move more quickly now that everybody knows there places.

    Sarah and Linda, I'm glad to hear that your classes are going well too. And I definitely know about how quickly one can lose flexibility.

  15. #90
    Member Randee's Avatar
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    I will never forget the comments from the ladies in my jazz/ballet class when another guy visited our class. After they told him they were glad he had visited and hoped he would come back, one would loudly make the comment after he left, "if he comes back he'd better be in leotards!" As the other ladies agreed, I took that as their preference/approval of me dressing in leotards and tights with them, making leotards and tights the standard class outfit for all. They did not consider me a crossdresser as my personal dance wear was unisex styles in solid black and navy colors worn with tights under the leotard some if not most of the time. Either way was fine. And no wigs or fake tits. But I do think, being dressed more the same, they tended to treat me like just one of the girls while in their class.

  16. #91
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    It's been a few weeks since an update. I've had two more lessons since my last post. I wore my long sleeve unitard with a white tee to the first, and my new tank unitard with a long sleeve shirt to the second. The new unitard is a little loose on me below the knees and the ankles don't fit tightly. It probably looks more like tight pants than footless tights to the observer. Still, it was very comfortable, I don't have to worry about the waist rolling down, nor do I have to worry about the back zipper like I do with my other unitard. My lessons are going okay, I'm still getting a mix of compliments and corrections. My teacher pointed out that my posture has improved significantly since I started taking classes with her, and I get the sense that the corrections I'm getting now are often fine-tuning after having mastered what she's been hammering me on for so long. At the end of class, we did a very quick pas de basque across the floor. My feet were having a hard time moving at the required speed, and I ended up not being on time with the music, but after a few goes, I started to get it. Because we were basically moving non-stop for 10 minutes, I was short of breath by the end (yes, I know I need to improve my physical fitness).

    I hope my fellow dancers are having a great time in their classes!

  17. #92
    Senior Member Sarah V's Avatar
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    Hi Jamie!

    So glad to hear things are doing good with your classes too!

    Class has been going very well for me too as well. So far no problems with the new hip, and I am now able to do a reverse elevated leg barre' stretch, along with the rest of the class once again!---something I haven't been able to do in years. My instructor compliments me every week on how much better I can move now with the new hip. Even did a bit of change ma' small jumps, (really just coming off the floor a bit on my toes) in first and then into second in place, and then adding that to a small waltz turn combinations while we were doing some adagio center and across the floor center work! It really felt good! Also, our regular instructor (studio owner btw) was sick two weeks ago, and we had one of her other teachers fill in for her. The sub gave a real nice class, which was very different from our normal one, but very enjoyable all the same. All the ladies in class liked it. So all in all things are going very well this spring sememster.

    In other news for me, I had been having some trouble balancing on releve' lately, and my instructor told me I was doing everything right, but it looked to her like me toes were getting a bit jammed up in my shoes (leather flats) making me unstable on releve' or demi-pointe. So, she told me she thinks my shoes have just gotten a bit too small. To be honest, its been like six years or so since I got new shoes, as leather last forever and once they are broken in they fit wonderfully. But she was right, they had been bothering me I admitted to myself. So it was off to our local dance shop I went, dressed as a guy of course, for a proper fitting.

    The girl at the shop, who was the store manager, was just terrific. She spent over 3/4 of an hour with me on my first visit as we worked out my problem and found what my current ballet shoe sizes are. Turns out that my right foot (the operative leg) is smaller then my left foot--go figure, everything on my right leg is different. About a week later, she asked me to come back for a second fitting to try on some additional shoes she had shipped over from one of their sister store's so she cold verify fit on the make and style she thought would work best for me, but for which she normally does not keep in stock in men's, only ladies colors. She kept apologizing profusely for having me try on pink ladies shoes even though it was for sizing izing purposes only.----I just went along with it and smiled---If she only knew!!! She wanted to be sure everything was going to fit correctly before she ordered them for me, as my sizes she does not usually stock and special orders are nonreturnable. However she was able to fit me with a canvas pair, in white, so at least I would have something to wear to class until my orders came in.

    So, now that I know my new correct sizes, and I will order a pair or two in ladies ballet pink for myself to have for home practice use.

    In ten days I will be taking my annual winter trip back up north to Anchorage AK, but I have already talked with the studio I used to take class with when I lived there, and they have said "no-problem" to taking their adult class on a drop in basis for the 3 weeks I will be there. They also offer a ladies "Ballet Fit" class and I will be taking that one also. So I will get in about 6 classes over the course of three weeks during my trip.

    Finally, I just got a eMail from Ms. Linda. She is doing well and is safe, and is right now transiting one of the worlds great canals.
    Last edited by Sarah V; 02-15-2015 at 01:09 PM.


    Sarah[SIZE="3"][/SIZE]

    "Sport is for men.......But Ballet is for women" ---- George Balenchine

  18. #93
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    Sarah, glad to hear you new hip is working well. I hope the new shoes improve you releve. Cute story about the pink shoes.

    I had a great class this week. There were a few times where I felt truly beautiful, as if the music was moving through me as opposed to me trying to move to the music. Now I knew that it was is possible that I was just deluding myself and maybe I looked like a clumsy oaf, but then my teacher actually came over and remarked "Beautiful! Very good!" What a fantastic feeling! I'm so excited about next week's class to see if I can build on the progress I made this week. I want to recapture that brief moment of grace. Oh, and for those who care, I wore my professional looking grey tights. One of the ladies remarked, "A little color?" Part of me wanted to say something about wanting to wear prettier colors like the ladies do (after all grey isn't much of a color), but I held my tongue.
    Last edited by JamieG; 02-19-2015 at 12:09 PM.

  19. #94
    Member Randee's Avatar
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    Sounds like you might have been getting an invite or encouragement to wear more color and an outfit more like the ladies wear. You can fit in like just one of the girls. For the couple of hours you are in class, they will forget you are a guy. It will be so fun.

  20. #95
    Martini Girl Katey888's Avatar
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    Jamie - of course we care about the details...

    You've inspired me enough to check out adult classes locally - but not a lot of adult ballet, and I'm not sure I'm ready for something quite so disciplined but I would love to do something that puts just a little more structure into my flailing, disco madness...

    I feel I need something that loosens my hips up - so salsa or disco... or maybe tap or jazz... am I being too ambitious? I feel I need more space than my kitchen...

    Keep going Jamie - you are an inspiration!

    Katey x
    "Put some lipstick on - Perfume your neck and slip your high heels on
    Rinse and curl your hair - Loosen your hips, and get a dress to wear"
    Stefani Germanotta

  21. #96
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    It's been a while since I wrote. Ballet is going well. I haven't quite managed to hit the moment of grace I achieved last month, but now that I know I can do it, I need to keep trying. I had two weeks off, and then took a double class this week to make up for a week I missed. I wore my tank unitard with tight-fitting grey tee over it. As usual, I did some things right, and made some mistakes. The second class was jazz, and although doing back-to-back classes pushes my endurance, it was great fun. During the warm-ups we were doing this thing where we rolled our hips as we took a step. I enjoyed watching myself in the mirror while we did that; the move combined with my unitard just made me look so feminine. We learned a couple of dances, and I couldn't do it perfect, but I did well enough to keep up. At the end we did stretches, and the teacher forced me into a complete side split, which shocked my classmates. Afterwards, someone asked, "Did you know he could do that?" To which she replied, "Yes, he's an underachiever. I have to make him do those things." It feels really good to be able to do the splits, especially since most women my age can't do them.

    p.s. Katey, I would definitely recommend taking a jazz class. It will loosen up your hips and it can be great fun.

  22. #97
    Gender adventurer JamieG's Avatar
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    I had another good ballet session this week. Before class the teacher commented that she was impressed with my work in jazz last week. She mentioned that the class has been learning the combination for six weeks, and although I didn't nail it, I "made it through." She also said that she could tell I was picking up new steps faster, she specifically mentioned a step that I got after just three tries. This week, I felt like I was hearing the music better, although I still need to work on matching different combinations to different time signatures. In our floor exercises we learned a fast step across the floor. I pretty much got it going right to left, but had some sort of mental block in trying to mirror it when going left to right.

  23. #98
    Multi-Blogger Barbara Black's Avatar
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    Glad to hear of your return. Do you think there is a big difference in the 'center of balance' between women and the (one man)?
    I've always been interested in ballet, probably because I was impressed with the skill and strength needed to do it. However, not being either a woman, nor gay, those ideas left me head quickly enough, way back then, sadly.
    Last edited by Barbara Black; 03-27-2015 at 11:55 AM.

  24. #99
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    Hi Ladies,

    I just wanted to drop a line and let everyone know that I finished up another contract and I'm back in the country for a couple of months so Ballet classes will resume next week. It's tough trying to practice in your room while away from home. I do try but there are times work demands all of my time.

    Barbara, I wanted to take ballet as a young boy in the mid-60's but lacked the courage to ask my parents. It was probably just as well as when my wife spilled the beans to my father he was not impressed and never wanted to hear of it again.

    Jamie, I don't believe the studio I'm at has a "Jazz" class so that option isn't available where I'm currently studying.

    Randee, I'm taking classes with pre-teen and teen age boys and girls so dressing any way other than what the school prescribes isn't an option. The only "Adult" class they have is for beginners and I've definitely moved on from that level of study. I did find another studio that probably wouldn't say anything but I didn't like their style of teaching and don't want to go back if I can avoid it. I'll leave my feminine dressing to practice at home.

    I'm am looking forward to resuming class and hope I haven't regressed too far during my absence.

  25. #100
    Aspiring Member Joan_CD's Avatar
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    It's bern so very fascinating to read of all the ballet exploits here. Due to numerous injuries I could never do what you describe. So let me say to all of you... Brava!

    i have to admit I'm a little surprised that none are wearing more female outfits. I only say this because I assumed the ladies taking ballet would be artistic and accepting of their classmates dressing like the rest of the class. Not a criticism, just an observation. Brava again to all of you!

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