2/7/2023 Question of the day

[petrea_mitchell]

World Ballet Day: Have you ever been to a ballet performance? If not, is this something that might interest you? Have you ever had ballet lessons?

My mom liked watching televised ballet performances when I was a kid. I showed some interest, which in retrospect was more about liking the music than the actual dancing, and that was enough to get me sent to ballet classes for a while.

A few months ago, I stumbled across this article about the ballet school I attended and discovered that I have something in common with our current vice president. I only missed her by a few years.

I did cross paths with the school's other famous alumna. I recall a girl named Tami who was in the same class for maybe a year. After she hadn't been around for a while, a rumor suddenly broke out that Tami had moved to Hollywood to be a movie star. There was general disbelief until we all went to see The Neverending Story, and there she was, right up there on the big screen.

Anyway, I was terrible at ballet. My best skill was being able to memorize sequences of steps faster than anyone. I was not inherently athletic or flexible enough, and I should never have been allowed into pointe classes because my big toes weren't properly straight. I like to think all that time did something for my balance and coordination, though.

Comments

[delosharriman]

I attended, a couple of years ago, a performance of the group known as the "Ballet Trocadero", which has large men performing the famous ballerina roles. It was an astonishing display of athleticism, as well as quite funny. My old headmaster, in a reminiscing mood, once mentioned that he had taken ballet, quite a long time ago.

[petrea_mitchell]

Ah, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo! I think I might like to see them in person sometime.

[athenais]

I took ballet for five years and wanted desperately to be a ballerina for real. But at age 13 my teacher took my mom aside and said, "You have got to tell her there is no chance. Wrong body type, not particularly talented. That's just how it is." So my mom told me a gentler version of that and I dropped out of ballet classes immediately with a broken heart.

I don't know what it did for me. I certainly loved it with all my heart while I studied dance and I still go to ballet performances when I can.