The Ashtanga Diva

At BT4D, there was a poster who mentioned how annoyed she got when she received correction from a fellow student. That *would* be annoying. You go to class to get correction from your teacher, not your fellow students. Something similar happened to me during ballet class last night. As I arrived at the studio with only a minute to spare, I knew it was imperative of me to warm up. My hamstrings were tight and I was just overall sore from the lifting I’d done the previous day. So after I placed my stuff away, I started jumping up and down, which really was nothing more than sautes on the floor.

My teacher walked in and told me to stop or I’d injure myself. Another student piped up in mock-horror and agreed. I reassured my teacher and this student that as I was a kickboxing instructor and a certified group fitness professional, I knew what I was doing. My teacher smiled and told me to carry on. This student however kept insisting I stop. Again, I reassured her that I’ve been a fitness instructor for the last five years and knew what I was doing, to which she retorted that she’d been taking kickboxing class the last three years and never had her teacher told her to warmup this way.

I wasn’t about to justify myself to this brat so I shut her up with a, “I’m also a personal trainer. Don’t worry about me, I know what I’m doing.”

Under her breath, she murmured with quite a bit of disdain and attitude, “I’m just trying to be helpful.”

Which would be fine if she was, say, Petra Kolber or Rob Glick or some other fitness expert. But she. Was. Not. But, I don’t think she’s going to be offering me any more advice.

So class last night was extremely interesting. Lady Cheerleader was out sick and we had a sub, a youthful looking woman with a slender body and gracious manners. Before class began (there were only three of us who showed up, probably because of the massive thunderstorm that blanketed my area right around the start of class) she asked us to introduce ourselves and to tell her our reason(s) for attending ballet class. Was it for a workout? To improve technique?

One woman actually said she was there to relax. I almost laughed. Ballet, relaxing? I can’t think of another activity that demands every square inch of muscle work together in perfect synchronicity to your brain, to the other muscles of the body, and to the music. The ultimate in multitasking.

When it was my turn to talk, I said I was there to improve technique. I told her to get technical on my ass. She gave me a small smile and BLAM! Did she get technical on my ass indeedy.

We spent the first five minutes doing spinal alignment exercises on the floor(see how your butt can’t stick back?), then we focused on the mechanics of the tendus (it starts from the heel!), then turnout (she demonstrated proper hip rotation). She corrected my ballet hands (my thumbs were too far from the rest of my fingers), repositioned my port de bras fifth while on relevé (aaahhhh…better balance!) and went around the room lifting elbows while in second, and explaining why tendus should follow the natural direction of your turnout instead of going all the way to the side. Oh, and so much more!!! Wish I could show you guys everything she showed us. Wish I could’ve taken some notes, or better yet, videotaped her instructions. It was awesome, a true “back to basics” class correcting bad habits and mistakes that lots of teacher neglect when instructing adult students. In just one class I feel like I improved my form and alignment one hundred percent.