Another Saturday, another trip to the ballet studio. It’s the start of spring break so the class was extremely small and we got the biggest studio meaning lots of space to dance! If only if I was actually able to utilize the space…
Class started well with my balance being spot on and body feeling good. However, as barre drug on (and I mean DRUG), my body started rebelling. I’ve been having a lot of hip/pelvic discomfort through the 2nd half of this pregnancy and while sometimes dancing helps loosen things up, moving too fast into 5th position (standard ballerina position with heel crossed to opposite toe) causes me to overuse my hip and pelvic muscles since my stabilizing abdominal muscles have been MIA for months. This is exactly what happened today. By the time we moved into the center floor work, I could hardly stand up, let alone move my legs around.
So, down to the floor I went, stretching every bit of my being and feeling better by the end of class while everyone else continued on their ballet journey. Although I was frustrated with not being able to finish out class, by the end I was thankful for the opportunity to be able to observe my fellow dancers. I rarely take the time to watch my classmates as I’m usually concentrating on remembering the combinations, correcting myself, and doing my best to not fall down (either from lack of balance or lightheadedness.)
The class I take is an open-level adult ballet class and the students represent a huge range of abilities. Some of the dancers are brand new and still trying to work out what is what in the weird world of ballet. Some of the others clearly have previous training though I’m not sure if it was childhood training or a knack that has been developed as adults. I even wonder if some were professional dancers in a previous life.
What I learned from observing class today, though, was despite a dancers ability or previous training, each has her own way of learning, performing and coping with class. Some dancers push through no matter how many mistakes they make or how confused they are while others give up after a small flub or never even try if they aren’t sure. I also realized I had formed misconceptions about many of the dancers. Some of the women that appear to have the least background are actually some of the best dancers (maybe not technically perfect, but definitely know what they’re doing).
I guess it’s this way everywhere you go, in every situation. We’re always taught not to judge others by what we see, but I think it’s natural. You take the information you’re given (and sometimes it’s only visual) and form opinions. Where people go wrong too often, though, is acting on their judgments before seeking more information to justify their assumptions.
I’m so proud to be a part of this wonderful group of women who for whatever reason choose to spend their free time in the ballet studio. Whether it’s for exercise, a love for the art or a burning desire to dance, we come together each week and give it our all, most of us leaving everything we have on the dance floor. And then we head our separate ways, resuming our other lives, until we meet again.
