Back in Ballet Class

[JamieG]

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.

Barbara, there's definitely a different between the center of balance for the sexes, but ballet is all about finding YOUR center of balance, regardless of gender. As a child, I also had the mistaken impression that ballet was for women and gay men, but apparently about half of male dancers are straight. If it wasn't for Western assumptions about male dancers and the fragility of male egos, I daresay the number of straight dancers would be far higher.

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.

Welcome back!

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.

That's too bad. Jazz really loosens you up and teaches you how to move a little more like a contemporary woman.

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!

Glad you've enjoyed it Joan!

[CamillaCD]

A little update from across the pond. No breakthrough regarding the piruettes. After one and half turns I still experience that the upper body has swung out of the centre line and I have to abort. Some times, lets say about one in 20, I can do two turns and stay in balance. On a couple of occasions I almost made 3 turns, and wondered what on earth did I do right this time ? I sure would like some one-on-one tutoring on this.

Last week Joan Kunch (https://joankunsch.wordpress.com/) visited our school. She had been a teacher and a choreographer for the school many years ago. A couple of the current teachers were only kids then, and had Joan as their teacher. So, for some of the children's classes and one of the adult classes Joan was a substitute teacher. Our class got some extra dancers this time, as some wanted to meet her.

It was an inspiring class. Joan did things a bit different than our teacher, both at the barre and out on the floor. I think she noticed the faults in all of us at the same time. She could just walk across the floor to a dancer and point out how she could do what she was doing better. Never to belittle, but to explain things to all of us.

[Sarah V]

Hi All: Nothing much new to report from my classes. Just back into the swing with them. I was gone for 4 weeks from my class here in TX as I was on a bit of 3 week vacation back up to Alaska. I did manage to get in about 6 drop-in adult ballet classes over the 3 weeks at a well known Alaskan studio in ANC, that of all places, has a extensive ballet program for adults.

Linda: Glad you are back safe and sound!! Enjoy your time off with your family and being back home till you start your next work adventure.

Barbara Black: Interesting comment you made about finding your balance. What you might find even more interesting about balance is when pro-ballerina's become pregnant, and if they elect (and quite a number do) to continue to dance throughout their pregnancy, they each find that they have to find & re-learn a totally new balance for themselves as their bodies center of gravity continually is changing with their pregnancy. This can be a real challenge esp. for a professional ballerina, and even more so if she is still trying to continue to do pointe work.

Joan_CD, and Randee: Well God knows I would love to take my classes, which I do enjoy so much, enfemme if I could!!! That would be AWSOME!

However, like Ms. Linda stated so well, I also take class at a studio/school that teaches mostly little kids, pre-teens, and teens.....all of whom have their parents always milling about. As it is, I sometimes get strange/weird looks from the "dance dads" (the "dance moms" are usually o.k.) who are dropping off/picking up their kids, even though I am totally dressed as just a normal guy with a T-shirt and sweat pants on waiting for my class to start.

Also, the ladies and I (I am the only regular guy) in our main adult ballet class have all been together now for quite awhile and we have all become good acquaintances with one another. We all have socialized with each other outside of class, going to dinner together, getting coffee after class, and/or going to monthly ballroom dances together (many of ladies in my class are BIG ballroomer's). So, I don't want to ruin anything that I am so enjoying right now by me showing up at the studio dressed for class enfemme.

And finally ya'll just gotta realize that I live in down here in good 'ol south-central Texas where folks in these parts just don't cotton to well to that sort of thing to start with. Now, if I lived in Austin, TX.......,well then,.......things might be a bit different. So I too, like Ms. Linda does, will leave it to my home practice (I have a home practice barre') where I can be dressed enfemme to work-out.

[JamieG]

We started a new session this week. Interestingly, since the class was mostly regulars, our teacher went ahead and jumped into fairly advanced material, including step-over turns. Fortunately, we've done these before in earlier classes, and I felt I did okay. Well, at least I didn't melt down and give up. I was turning, although my spotting was off, my line drifted, and I don't think my leg made it to retire during my turn... but I was turning and doing four step-over turns in a row.

There's not much else to report, but I'd like to respond to Camilla and Sarah...

No breakthrough regarding the piruettes.

Sorry to hear progress is slow. Keep plugging away at it. If its any consolation, I'm sure your turns are better mine.

Last week Joan Kunch (https://joankunsch.wordpress.com/) visited our school.

That sounds cool. I would love to see how different teachers do things differently, but so far, I've only had one, although I think she's quite good.

Hi All: Nothing much to report new from my classes. Just back into the swing with them. I was gone for 4 weeks from my class here in TX as I was on a bit of 3 week vacation back up to Alaska. I did manage to get in about 6 drop-in adult ballet classes over the 3 weeks at a well known Alaskan studio in ANC, that of all places, has a extensive ballet program for adults.

That's great you were able to drop in on some classes while in Alaska. I hope you had a great vacation.

[Linda E. Woodworth]

Hi Girls,

I had my first class is almost 3 months last night. Started out great with the Dance Master working us hard. It was definitely going to be an "Advil" night for me.

Then he had to leave for a meeting and the last 20 minutes were a complete waste of my time. The advanced student who took over gave combinations I didn't know how to do and wasn't showing how to do them. All the other students were thoroughly familiar with the moves so things went so fast I couldn't even see them well enough to try and copy the moves. What really burned me was that when I'm stuck not doing anything the "teacher" kept right on plowing ahead as if I wasn't even there!

I spoke up in class and asked to be shown some of the moves. I spoke with the "teacher" afterwards and aired my frustration in a polite and respectful manner. I also took this up with the head of the studio, again. I'd spoken to him the last time this young lady instructed. I've now had 4 or 5 teachers in my 4 years of ballet lessons. Unfortunately they tend to be either very good or very bad. Just because somebody knows and dances ballet exceptionally does not mean they can teach it.

[Sarah V]

Hi Jamie, Linda, Camilla, et. al: Well, this is my 1000th post here on CD.Com!! It's only taken about 9 yr's. for me to get here!!

Just wanted to say, I could not think of a more fun and better forum topic for Sarah to make her 1000th post on than this one. (or any other "about ballet" to be truthful). But I am sooo delighted to say I made it here with you all on it.

For me, Ballet has certainly become over all these years, (and well before I found you all here on CD.Com also) one of my favorite hobbies, and one of my most favorite things that Sarah does to express who I am to myself, and for which I can really embrace about being able to be me. Being able to able to take ballet, enjoy my classes immensely, and to have made a number of good friends & acquaintances of other very nice adults who have enjoyed participation in amateur ballet as much as I have has just been fantastic for me.

We were off class this week due to the Easter Holiday, as a lot of the kids at my school/studio are out of town visiting with family. Then back to the good 'ol barre' grind next week.

Happy Easter ladies, all of you. Do get to enjoy the holiday with your family and friends.

[JamieG]

Hi everyone! Has it really been two months since I last posted about ballet? We just completed another session. My enthusiasm for dance seems to have no bounds. This session, my teacher invited me to participate in a little mini-recital. We learned the choreography in an hour before my regular class and then performed it in front of a small audience a few hours later. There were six of us, half boys and half girls. Well, maybe I should say 3 girls, 2 boys, and one half-boy, half-girl if I'm being really honest. ;-) Anyway, we learned a high-energy jazz combination that takes about 45 seconds to perform. We did it as a group, then the best girl did a solo, then the three guys did it together, then the three girls and finally the group together. We were preceded by a contemporary ballet solo by another girl in my class. The whole thing was over in 10 minutes, which is why I call it a mini-recital. I didn't do as well as I liked, but I had SOOO much fun. I have to figure out how to memorize a sequence of steps more quickly, as my biggest problem was trying to remember the order in which things go. I think I realized that I am primarily a verbal learner, so I need to associate names with each section and then string the names together. I also need to practice certain kind of steps because when I'm hesitant about a given step, that throws me off of the rhythm and things can deteriorate quickly. To help with the second part, I've decided to finally sign up officially for the jazz class. This summer I'll be taking both ballet and jazz, for about two and a half hours of consecutive dancing. I'm really looking forward to it.

Linda, sorry to hear about your experience with the "advanced student" who isn't much of a teacher. If you paid for a class, you should get the benefit of a trained instructor. I agree that just because someone is good at something, that doesn't mean they can teach it well. Sometimes, the people who are naturals at something are the worst teachers, because they never had to struggle with the material. And Sarah, thanks for making "Back in Ballet Class" home to your 1000th post. Congratulates on achieving that mark. I've been here 6 years and am still a bit of a way off.

[Linda E. Woodworth]

Hey Girls!

Jamie, great to hear about the recital. I don't even want to begin about my train wreck of an adagio!

Unfortunately for me I have a new contract and depart the country later this week for 3 months. No ballet for me, except what I can practice in the privacy of my room.

I did take two classes a week for most of the spring and the Dancing Master remarked on the visible improvement on my technique. I continue to have a ball and am determined to persevere to master the pirouette!

With regard to the "problem" teacher, she taught a full class back in May. She was coached by the Dancing Master about slowing down her style and showing things. It made a world of difference and I had an enjoyable and productive lesson. She is the pinch hitter in case he or his wife, both professionals, can't teach the class.

So everyone, have a great summer and keep on dancing!

[Sarah V]

Linda, I know you wrote and I owe you a follow up. But do travel and be safe out there. A 3 mo. trip is a long one so hope it all goes well. Glad to hear your technique continues to improve--GREAT for you!!!

Jamie: We just finished up the spring semester ourselves, and I again helped out back-stage with the school's end-of year recital and totally enjoyed it. Since I am retired, at least temporarily for now, I had time this past Monday to help my teachers move props and stuff out of the theater where the recital was held and haul the stuff back to the dance school I go to. After we were done my teacher's and studio owner were filling me in a bit on the announcement the school made that they were going to do a full length production of "Into The Woods" in spring 2016 in addition to the annual winter "Cracked Nut" and the end of the year recital. So defiantly a busy dance winter and spring coming up for me. But the neatest thing they mentioned to me is that they are going to need adults for parts in "Into The Woods" and would I be interested!! I think I am going to take them up on it, but I have all summer to talk myself out of it, so we'll see.

[JamieG]

Hello fellow ballet fans,

I have begun a new term of classes, as I've mentioned before I'm now taking two back-to-back dance classes. Although I was recovering from a cold, I found that once I started dance, I just forgot about the cold. In ballet, we did our usual mix of barre, center work, and moving across the floor. I didn't learn any new steps, although I did learn one new stretch. The focus was on improving my technique. The teacher kept on getting on one of the guys case for not going in the back; her belief is that the guys should always follow the girls in exercises. I thought about asking what if I'm trans, but held my tongue.

The jazz class was very large, and included three guys. Here I learned lots of new steps as I am much less familiar with jazz. It is a more fast paced class with lots of percussion in the music. I was sweating bullets by the end of the class, but I think that was partly due to the lack of A/C and the number of bodies in the room. We learned a combination and performed it at the end of class. I was happy that even though I didn't nail it, I made no major mistakes on the combo. When performing it, the teach had us run through it multiple times. At one point she had just the girls do it, and then just the guys. Since there were only 4 guys, that gave us lots of space, and it was nice that the girls all clapped for us when we were done with our turn. This might be the first time I was glad to be perceived as a guy in dance class. Weird!

Linda, I hope you're doing well overseas. And Sarah, please keep us posted on whether you'll be dancing in "Into the Woods."

[Randee]

So I would ask, "If I want to dance at the front, I have to dress like them?" pointing to the ladies. might get you the invite you want.

[Marie-Claude, France]

I am delighted with this thread, which I read extensively. I confess that dancing the Lac des cygnes with the swan outfit would have definitely one of the goals in my life, if I were a girl.

I am old enough to have seen Maia Plissetskaia, Ghislaine Thesmar and Margot Fonteyn dancing, but the best was a Swan Lake danced by the Plissetskaia... Her arms waved as she did not have bones... Unforgettable.

[Sarah V]

Hi Jamie and everyone else! Well my adult classes are now over with for this spring school term and for the year now. My adult ballet classmates and I will pick back up with things in the first week of September when we get back to class. I should know more about my instructor's desires & intentions for us adults to participate in the studios production of "Into The Woods" the school is planning for next spring shortly after our adult classes start back up.

In the meantime for the rest of the summer, I will be busy moving into a new home I just purchased so that should make the rest of my summer go by quickly. Is anyone here going to/doing either a adult SI (Summer Intensive) or going to an adult Dance Camp? Would love to hear about it if you are doing one. Hope you all have nice summer and stay safe. Sarah

[JamieG]

Is anyone here going to/doing either a adult SI (Summer Intensive) or going to an adult Dance Camp?

I hope your move goes smoothly, Sarah. Enjoy the new home. I'd love to do an adult summer intensive or dance camp, but that's just not in the cards for me right now. I have neither the time nor the money.

I ended up missing two nights in my first three weeks of classes, which means I missed four classes total. Fortunately, I can take makeups, but that means I now need to take three classes a night for four weeks or else waste lessons I've already paid for. So now the plan is to take Ballet I, Jazz I, and Ballet II all in a row for at least a little while. I tried it for the first time this week.

Ballet I went well. I'm feeling pretty comfortable in class, although it hasn't reached the point of being too easy for me. I still made mistakes, and still have posture and alignment errors I'm working on. We had four guys in class, which I think is a record.

Jazz I also went very well. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it, although it will be a long time before I feel that I've mastered the class. There was a step where we swing our arms in opposite directions as we step back and "sit" on the back leg while popping the other leg out and touching the heel to the floor and then bounce once before repeating on alternate legs. I've seen this in class a few times before and couldn't get myself to do it, but this time it came almost naturally, which made me very happy. We learned another dance, and although I definitely had some rough edges on it, I think I have a good foundation to keep working on. Hopefully we'll see some of the same steps in future classes (even if in different combinations), and I can continue working on them.

The last class was Ballet II. In Jazz, I always wear shorts over my tights, so between classes I started to remove them, but my grey tights had visible sweat stains around my crotch area, and I decided just to keep the shorts on. Otherwise, the class started off well-enough. I think I kept up well with everything at the barre except perhaps the frappes (quick, striking kicks). Rather than demonstrate the steps, the instructor would just rattle off their names and then start the music. This forced me to think quick, and although I usually didn't get it all from the instructions, I got enough that I could follow along by watching the other dancers. However, once we took away the barres and focused on floor exercises, I was completely at sea. I was physically exhausted from the first two classes, and the pace of this one was mentally exhausting. At times I felt like I was in the way of the other dancers. We did a whole bunch of turns across the floor, most of which I'd never done before, so I went in back and tried to mimic the best I could. The other combinations involved moving back and forth, which meant that if you missed something you could be in a place where another dancer needed to be. I was so tired and frustrated at the end that I almost quit. In fact, I stepped out for a few minutes because I was out of position and clueless when we started, but then forced myself to get back in the group and take my best shot at it. We did eventually make it to the end, and I was never so relieved to have her call the end to a class.

Normally, I would remove my shorts and put my track pants on over my tights at the end of class, but I was so beat, I decided just to swap my ballet slippers for my sneakers and go. Outside of class, I talked to one very talented young lady about how hard it was. She said that was one of the harder nights in the current session, and that she felt I did good, especially considering that I danced for 3 hours prior to the class. That made me feel a little better, but we'll have to see how the next week goes. Hopefully, dancing for non-stop for 4 and a half hours will do wonders for my cardio. I can tell I'm definitely out of shape right now.

One consolation prize is that while driving home, it was nice to be able see my legs in soft, grey tights, and I rested one hand on my leg and enjoyed the tactile sensation while driving with the other. When I got home, I had a light, late dinner, took a shower and then climbed into bed, although I didn't sleep very well that night. I was sore for the next few days, but no more than after any other particularly intensive dance evening.

[Angela Marie]

I am a runner but have been told not to run for a while while some health issues (hopefully not serious) are being addressed. I had always wanted to take ballet and actually took a class in college but never continued. I decided now was the time. After three lessons I know why I always loved this art form. Although i'm clearly a beginner even after three lessons I find myself moving more smoothly and throughly enchanted by the grace of the complex movements required to master this discipline. The women in the class are wonderful and very supportive. Even if I do get the go ahead to resume my running I will continue my classes.

[Sarah V]

Well HI!! Ms. Angela and welcome to this little group!!

Like yourself, we here are all adult recreationalists when it comes to ballet dancing. We all seem to have varying degrees of experience and how long we have been at it, but like you put it so well--we are all doing it because we just love it, it's good exercise, helps with ones deportment, and like you have found already you can make some very lovely supportive friends in class. I know I have. Back in the day, I was quite the runner myself, but I gave it up almost 25 yrs ago, and I am pretty sure heavy running certainly contributed to me having to have my hip replaced almost a year ago now....(and to be fair, ballet probably did not help either....but hey, when I look back at it now, I really hated running (had to do a lot of it for work).....but I loved ballet, so at least it was worth it to me !!!) Even after hip replacement surgery , I am back with ballet and I actually am now more flexible than I have been in years. I do have to take some things easy with it though, and I can't really do jumps any longer.

You will find the girls/ladies here are just great people........Jamie, Linda, and Camilla are all good eMail acquaintances now, and I know they all will certainly be able to at least try to answer any questions you have about adult ballet and starting out with it as a beginner.

Ballet is a relentless, crazy disciplined art form, where most practioner's of it seek perfection in their mastery of it, and that probably is why we as T-ladies get drawn to it, as we try to perfect our female selves in our own lives.

Pls feel free to PM me if you have any ballet questions I can help you with! And again Ms. Angela WELCOME! to our little group here, and do hope you stick with adult ballet as a hobby!

[Angela Marie]

Thanks for the welcome Now I have a question. Both time and money prohibit me from taking more than one or two classes a week. Do any of you know of a good cd/dvd for beginners? I have a great basement to practice in and would love to find and instructional video.

[pamela7]

i'm sure there are plenty of youtube vids, but I had one idea. As ballet is about balance, balance, balance, I wondered if pilates classes and maybe some yoga would pass the time developing a) core strength, b) flexibility to support the ballet?

[JamieG]

Thanks for the welcome Now I have a question. Both time and money prohibit me from taking more than one or two classes a week. Do any of you know of a good cd/dvd for beginners? I have a great basement to practice in and would love to find and instructional video.

Welcome, Angela. My instructor actually discourages us from using videos. It is possible to ingrain bad habits by repeating mistakes without the benefit of corrections. That said, I have two DVDs, but I only use them rarely: "Ballet 201" is probably the better of them. It's almost a complete class, although it has the annoying habit of saying, "Stop the video, and now repeat on the other side." rather than just having the on-camera dancers do both sides. The exercises are pretty doable for a beginner that knows their positions, tendus, and other other basic steps, but there's also a "Ballet 101" for the absolute beginner. I also have "Ballet Class for Beginners with David Howard." I don't find this to be good for exercising because its a whirlwind demonstration of steps. It might be a good reference if you want to see something that was done in class and you didn't get it at the time.

I recommend you spend your time between classes going over things you learned in your last class. Try to repeat the barre work. If you can, also try to remember the floor combinations (adagio and allegro) your instructor gives you, so you can practice them too. Once you know the vocabulary, you should be able to take notes after class to help you remember the combinations. Your instructor will also probably be willing to tell you what music she/he uses in class. A good resource to have is the book "Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet" by Gail Grant.

Most of all, have fun with it!

[Belle Cri]

I did tango - wonderful for balance and poise, no matter which side you take

[CamillaCD]

Not many news from this side of the Atlantic. The ballet school follows the timetable of the regular schools, so there won't be any classes until the end of August. I have signed up for the same two classes a week as the last semesters.

I haven't been lazy though. Since mid june, every 2.nd or 3.rd day I have done some practising at home. 10 minutes warmup, 30 minutes of mostly piruette variations, 10 minutes of strength exercises and finally 30 minutes of stretching. I have been thinking I might be overdoing it, but so far my knees haven't protested. No grande plies or grande jettes may be the explanation for that.

I have a goal this semester to be able to do basic fouette piruettes. I have this clip in my favourite internet page list: http://balletoman.com/1426-good-foue...o-yes.html#vid

[JamieG]

I have a goal this semester to be able to do basic fouette piruettes. I have this clip in my favourite internet page list: http://balletoman.com/1426-good-foue...o-yes.html#vid

What a wonderful clip. If you can get to the point that you could just do a few of those, you'll need to post a video of yourself.

[JamieG]

Just a quick update. Since I've last reported on dance class, I had two more sessions of three classes in a row. I am really enjoying jazz dance. We keep adding on to the dance we learned in the previous week, and I feel like I'm steadily improving on the old steps and picking up the new steps quicker. Ballet II has been a bit up and down. My second week in the class was much better than the first. We did many of the same combinations, so having some familiarity made it a little easier. The third week though did not go as well for me. I actually sat out some of the jumping exercises near the end as my feet were killing me. However, the teacher goaded me into joining back in for the final allegro across the floor, and I'm glad she did, but I was definitely pushed to my limits. I don't know if things would be different if I just did that class and wasn't tired from the first two classes before. Class finishes pretty late, and not many people are around when I get out, so I've continued with the practice of just throwing shorts on over my tights, instead of completely covering them under track pants.

[Sarah V]

Hi Ms. Angela, et. al: Sorry to be a bit behind in responding to your question about ballet video's to do from home. I just purchased a new home, and am in the midst of moving and unpacking and have not been on here for a bit. Summer's are slow for dancing, (and this Texas heat this August has been a killer really) so just taking it easy this summer. Back to class in about two more weeks for me.

Ms. Jamie pretty much said it, but I will repeat it, most instructor's do not like their students to go the video route to learn from. However, like Jamie, I too have a a number of video's that I reference and/or use for a home practice. I have all the video's that Ms. Jamie mentioned and the "201" is pretty good. One other series that you may want to look into are the Finis Junge instructional ones. He has some really basic ones, and then they advance to an intermediate level.

Hope that helps and feel free to PM me if you would like to know about specific titles.

P.S. Camilla: Thanks for the link to the Balletoman site. I had never heard of it, but I am going to be taking a closer look at it now that I know about it. Good on you for continuing to have a summer practice and setting a great goal for what you are currently trying to accomplish with your dancing.

[Elli87]

that's awesome Ive been wanting to try a barre class, but Ballet kavod