Hi everyone! Just wanted to give you a little report on class. I've now had four ballet lessons this year. After a period of feeling like I had slid backward, I made some breakthroughs in the most recent class. For the most part things came naturally; I only made a few mistakes and got back on track quickly when I did make them. I'm really starting to hear the music and move in time with it, as opposed to focusing so much on what the next step is supposed to be and how to accomplish it. And as an extra confidence boost, the teacher said that this was the hardest beginning ballet class she's ever taught, and said I did well in it! Yay!

My biggest concern these last few weeks has been... costume malfunction!
No, not Janet Jackson-superbowl-level malfunction (thank god), but malfunctions nonetheless. I typically wear an underarmour-style tee and men's ballet tights. Well, last week I tucked the shirt into the tights to get it to stay in place. As a result, the tights didn't grip so well and started to sag. I was constantly trying to pull them up! If I didn't, it would look like my crotch was 6 inches above my knee! This week, clever me decided to put the tee over the tights. Tights didn't sag: win! But my tee kept crawling up around my chest: fail! Honestly, I don't know why male dancers don't just wear a leotard over their tights like the girls do. It would make things SOOO much simpler. Next week, I'm thinking about wearing a leotard under the tights, but I'm worried I'll still have the sagging problem. I think maybe I need to get a unitard, but we're on a spending freeze right now. I'll keep you posted.

Before I go, I wanted to respond to something that Juno said about her belly dancing class (which sounds really cool, by the way):

Quote Originally Posted by juno View Post
The women are so accepting. Normally, when I try to get involved with the female activities, women look at me like I have ulterior motives. In dancing, I am accepted as a male dancer, like I've already passed the test for not being a primitive macho-man.
I've noticed the same thing. It's possible they assume we're gay and not a threat, but I think it's more likely that they consider us more refined. I wear my wedding ring in class, and many of my classmates met my wife when she came to a few lessons with me. I think they realize I'm not gay . I think they respect us for being courageous enough to do things that would cause most "manly" men to melt in puddle of fear.