Archive for November, 2008

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Night of Ballet

Posted in Motherhood and Dancing, The Dancing Life with tags , , , on November 26, 2008 by Karmela

Tuesday night is Ballet Night at my house, what with Science Boy going to class and me shortly thereafter. Last night, as I dropped SB off at his class, I caught his teacher’s eye (who I will nickname Comrade Yuri) and the dour Russian man actually cracked a smile! I was so taken aback I think I gave him a weak one back. At the end of class, DH reports that Comrade Yuri actually walked out with father and son, shook SB’s dad’s hand, cracked yet another smile and remarked how SB had “potential,” which I’m sure he meant “for mayhem” and not “for ballet.”

It was kinda funny, actually. Before class started, as Comrade Yuri was prepping the music for SB’s class, he made all the boys stand in a straight line facing out. Well, of course this was a smidge too difficult for our SB. Was he standing properly like all the other boys? No. He was turning and jumping and leaping and twirling like a mad dervish. Ya see? Mayhem indeed.

As for my class, I’m getting more and more dissatisfied with it. Maybe because the more experienced students haven’t been showing up, but Lady Cheerleader has been watering down the class and making it super-easy, with lots of explanatory chitchat in between exercises. Yawn. While I know it’s good to take beginner classes, I want to be challenged more!

For next year I think I’m going to skip her Tuesday night class and just go to her much harder Thursday class.

And now, for the next six(!) days, I will be without ballet. :-( Happy holidays, Americans!

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Ballerina Girl

Posted in Motherhood and Dancing with tags , on November 25, 2008 by Karmela

I’ve spoken quite a bit about Science Boy and his ballet adventures but haven’t written much about Ballerina Girl, my 5-year old DD. During her last class, while I was waiting in the lobby with the other Ballet Moms, one of them casually remarked on how the school was slowly but surely going to phase out the storytime and dress-up time in BG’s class after the first of the year.

First, an explanation: BG’s class is a 45-minute Pre-Ballet III class consisting of only eight girls. Their class is about 10 minutes of barre, 15 minutes of center work (in the middle and going across the room), 10 minutes of storytime (they read the old standards like Angelina Ballerina and Olivia), then at the end, they put on a costume and finish up class in the center with some freestyle moves and/or more center work.

The storytime and cosplay is definitely something the kids love, and is unusual for a ballet studio in my area. The clothes are handmade by the studio’s owner and it’s something different every week. But as they prepare to move on to an hourlong Ballet I class next year (a traditional class with a longer barre, center work and combinations) the girls will have to say goodbye to the costumes.

Upon hearing this, one of the Ballet Moms looked aghast. She was all like, “That’s awful! They’re gonna turn it into a more serious class! If Michelle has to be all serious and rigid, she’s not gonna want to do it.”

I had to turn away so she wouldn’t see my look of incredulity. Uh, lady? Your daughter will be six years old next year. First grade. First graders aren’t all fun-and-games anymore. They have to learn some solid academics at school. Same goes with ballet. It’s not going to be all jumping around and skipping next year. They have to actually learn the moves. And besides, it’s BALLET we’re talking about here, not freestyle dancing at your cousin’s wedding. Learning ballet involves serious study and some rigidity. It’s the nature of the art.

Methinks that little girl and mom won’t be around next year.

For BG’s winter recital, instead of a full-blown Nutcracker or even a Christmas performance, the kids were given a CD of six songs and told to select one. Then, they’re supposed to do their own choreography and put on a show for us. BG has been playing her song selection at home and practicing her routine everyday, which I’m proud to say she choreographed all by herself! Of course it looks like a random mishmash of ballet moves, a string of tendus and relevés and degagés put together, but she made it all up by herself. Yay! My budding little choreographer!

I will report on how the show goes. In the meantime, I snuck in one ballet class last night (along with my hip hop class) and will be going to my last ballet class for the week tonight. :-( If I don’t post tomorrow, I want to go ahead and wish everyone in the U.S. a good Thanksgiving holiday. Toodles!

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Classes Over the Holidays

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , , , on November 24, 2008 by Karmela

Thanksgiving is coming and already I’m bummed out about the classes I’m going to miss. Wednesday night of kickboxing, Thursday ballet, Friday ballet. I’m seriously thinking about taking off work all day Wednesday (instead of just leaving early) so I can go to a class Wednesday morning. I’m also thinking about taking two classes on Tuesday just to load up. Okay, I know it doesn’t work that way and I sound a smidge obsessive but my ballet muscles are getting twitchy and restless at the thought of no ballet for six consecutive days! Argh! My ballet brain might atrophy!

Friday night ballet class with Lady Glissade was once again pretty awesome. It’s one of my beginner classes and I’m proud to report that I’m progressing along swimmingly. The best part was actually after class when she stayed for a few minutes and coached me on the mechanics of an en dedans pirouette. She’s such an excellent teacher and actually broke down the mechanics of the pirouette in such a way that even my muddled brain managed to understand. She’s awesome. No matter how many times Lady Cheerleader repeated herself, I couldn’t seem to get her instruction. Poor girl.

Armed with my newfound pirouettical knowledgte, I’ve spent the entire weekend practicing. Am a little dizzy at the moment. While I can report no improvements as of yet, I am happy to say that I now seem to have the mechanics of foot placement at the very least. Yay!

One more thing about Friday night’s class: I forgot one shoe at home. I had to do barre work in socks (blech. Sous-sous were terrible), and center work with one shoe (I kept changing from right to left. PITA). This is the second time this has happened to me and by god, there won’t be a third if I can help it. I will always, from now on, jam one shoe inside the other.

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Stupid Goals?

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , , on November 21, 2008 by Karmela

The class before mine ran late last night so Lady Cheerleader and I had a chance to chat a bit as we waited. Most of my ballet instructors are retired professionals and Lady Cheerleader is the first teacher I’ve had who is a working pro. I was very curious about her, her background and what her day was like. The journalist in me, you know. I wasn’t surprised to hear about her long days working three jobs and pressure from her family to get married and have babies. I was surprised and delighted to discover that she is a local. Rare is the professional dancer who can find work in her hometown. She even teaches at the ballet school she attended as a child.

In the course of our conversation, I expressed my desire to eventually go en pointe, and she gave me a look that very clearly said, “You have GOT to be kidding me. Are you for real?” She didn’t say those words, she just gave me a long, “Okaaaay…” then she kind of rolled her eyes a little.

Her reaction completely took me aback. She actually made me feel…well, stupid. And pathetic. Like there’s something wrong with a grown, almost 40-year old woman wanting to go en pointe after all these years. Since I’m not the kind of person to let something like this pass, I probed further.

ME: What? [Said somewhat defensively]
HER: Are you sure you want to go on pointe?
ME: Yeah, why not?
HER: Because it’s such a pain!

Before I could ask her what she meant (is it the process of learning that’s a pain, or is it teaching adults to go en pointe that’s a pain?) we had to break up the conversation when the other students in my class started to arrive. I was definitely a little peeved and sulky during class, hardly smiled at all. At the end I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

I had a chance to cool off on the drive home and think about her comments a bit more. To her credit, I think she was just trying to spare me from the actual, physical suffering and difficulties associated with dancing en pointe. Maybe. Or maybe she was just articulating what I always feel during ballet class—slightly embarrassed at the fact that at my age, I still want to dance ballet. And go en pointe. And partner.

***Sigh***

Part of me wants to take this as a challenge, to show her I can do it and will do it. But part of me is like, what if she’s right? What if it’s kind of lame and pathetic, like an old, balding guy buying a Ferrari to relive his youth and attract twenty-year old babes?

For now, I’m just going to continue going to class. She is a very good teacher—clear and strict and patient. And I’m not even going to think about going en pointe just yet. Not until Fall 2010 when I’ve had two solid years of demi-pointe training under my belt. Until then, I’m going to concentrate on getting better and just dancing for the fun of it.

Good weekend, all.

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Intermediate Classes

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , on November 20, 2008 by Karmela

Over at dance.net, there’s a really interesting reply to my post about my frustrations in learning ballet choreography. The poster’s basic point is that learning choreography the ballet way, although harder and extremely frustrating, is actually a really effective way to give us that “ballet brain,” i.e., learning how to pick up choreo right away. She cites her own experience and observations as examples.

Despite the fact that I was the original ranter, I actually see her point. I’m in two beginner classes and one intermediate class. In the beginning, I had the hardest time remembering even the simplest of barre combinations, never mind center work. Now it’s a breeze, at least for my beginner classes. Why is that? I credit it all to my intermediate class. In that class, the combos are way complicated and long. My teacher does cue the moves for us, but remembering the combo frees up a part of my brain and allows me to actually add some flavor to the movement (better epaulemént and port de bras come to mind). I’ve gotten better in remembering them, but I still struggle. However, as a result, I now find the simple combos in beginner class very easy to remember.

Training your brain this way seems similar to how basketball players practice with a smaller hoop or soccer players practice with a smaller goal. They train their brain to be more accurate with their shots. Forcing myself to remember harder combos makes it easier to remember the easy ones. For once, I’m glad to be wrong. There is something to be said for how ballet class is structured, which, come to think of it, they’ve been doing for many, many, many years now. So they must be doing something right! ;-)

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Ballet For Fitness and Weight Loss

Posted in Life with tags , , on November 19, 2008 by Karmela

Temporarily putting on my group fitness instructor hat…

I’ve read a few posts on Dance.net regarding the use of ballet as a weight-loss/fitness medium. Frankly, this surprises me. Speaking strictly about the benefits of ballet on the physiology (and ignoring for a moment its effects on mental health and just how much damned fun it is), it is my opinion as a fitness teacher/professional that ballet is not an effective way to get healthier and/or lose weight.

Why do I say that? Let’s define the word “healthy” for a second. While many people think it’s simply the absence of disease (as in, you’re not sick, ergo you must be healthy), I think a more general definition might be to use the Body Mass Index chart. In addition to that, I also want to add my own question: Can you do all the activities necessary in your daily life? An example: you might be free of disease and may satisfy the BMI requirements, but if you can’t bend over to pick up a sock from the floor, you’re not healthy.

Can going to a recreational ballet class once or twice a week promote weight loss and better health? My knee-jerk reaction: not really, for the simple reason that a 1 hour or 1.5 hourlong recreational ballet class does not elevate your heart rate to moderate levels for a sustained 30 minutes, (guidelines issued by the American College of Sports Medicine). Ballet class has a lot of stops and starts, and the only portion of class that really kicks up the heart is during allegro, which lasts for ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops.

“But going to a class once a week is better than nothing!” my sister says. And yes, I agree that an hour a week of exercise is better than zero. But all things being the same, with no changes in eating habits or addition of any other physical activity, will the one-hour a week ballet class make you lose weight?

That’s just like asking if a once-a-week hourlong walk around the neighborhood will make you lose weight. You already know the answer to that: no. While the once/weekly activity, whatever it might be, probably has an immediate benefit to your overall health, that benefit is negated after six days of sedentary activity.

Now if you’re talking three hours a week of ballet, plus a change in nutritional intake, plus two hours a week of lifting/stretching classes, THEN we’re talking. The benefits of ballet for a recreational participant is just like the benefits of any other recreational activity: the more you do it, the more it benefits you. A once/weekly class, even a twice/weekly class really does nothing in the long term as far as fitness and weight loss. The very nature of a ballet class is such that you are there to learn how to DANCE and not to WORK OUT. The two have very different goals.

You hear it so often it’s become cliché, but really there is only one path to losing weight: your energy intake must be less than your energy output. While ballet can provide a workout, it shouldn’t be used as the ONLY weight loss method.

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Dancing Wish List

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , , , , , , on November 18, 2008 by Karmela

Is it Christmas yet? Because I’m ready for my presents. If you’re looking to get me something, I’ve made it way easy for you! Feel free to get me…

  • Born To Be Wild: The Men of the American Ballet Theater, DVD. Featuring Angel Corella, Vladimir Malakhov, Jose Manuel Carreno and Ethan Stiefel. I don’t care what the style of
    born2bwild2 dance is—I just love watching men dance. I love the power, the height, the majesty. If more American men knew how much their dancing turns women on, I bet teenage boys would flood dance schools.
  • A class card to one of my dance schools. A gift that keeps on giving.
  • The Art of the Turnaround, book by Michael M. Kaiser. turnaround1I don’t normally read non-fiction but this perked my interest, especially in this bad economy. The arts seem to always be the first one axed during budget cutbacks and it will be interesting to read about how some companies weather this storm.
  • Original Compositions for Ballet Class, Vol. 3, CD by Roberto Pace. One night as I was waiting for hip hop class to start, I heard beautiful music coming out of one of the other studios. After some research, I found out that it was this CD.robertopace2
  • A subscription to Dance Magazine. It’s pricier than Pointe or Dance Spirit, but it’s my favorite one because it covers a range of ages, both professional and amateur dancing, and a whole range of dance styles.
  • Tickets to American Ballet Theater’s performance of Swan Lake at the Kennedy Center, Feb. 17-22, 2009. I’ve always wanted to see this ballet ever since I was a little girl.
  • And finally, tickets to the Broadway production of Billy Elliot. I am dying to see this show!!! Tickets are available but they’re at $156 apiece! Fortunately, it’s looking from the reviews like it’ll be on Broadway for a really, really long time.

Okay, that’s my dance Xmas wish list. Do you have something in your list in common with mine? Or something totally different? I’ve passed on wishing for clothes and shoes since I’m so picky about those things, but I’ll pretty much take any book, DVD or tickets!

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Five Studios

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , , on November 17, 2008 by Karmela

In this month’s issue of Dance magazine, they had a state-by-state directory in the back of dance studios all over the country. As I perused my state, I saw to my amusement that out of the twenty or so listed (which is by no means comprehensive), my family has direct and current connections with five of the studios. DH thought it was crazy.

STUDIO 1: Ballerina Girl’s studio
Her studio specializes in the very young dancer, ages 18 months (mommy-and-me classes) to 10 years old (pre-pointe). They also offer tap, jazz and musical theater. On the plus side: costumes for the girls during every class, strict adherence to developmentally-appropriate training for young dancers, small class size (eight max), close to our house, Sunday classes (which is the main reason why BG attends this school). On the downside: enforcement of rules somewhat lax (hair and shoes), no winter recital (which can be a good thing for some people), expensive.

STUDIO 2: Science Boy’s studio
His studio is a serious pre-professional school with a time-release program for high school students. On the plus side: strong male presence in the school; the artistic director’s personal mission to recruit more young boys into ballet through their free young men’s program taught by a Bolshoi-trained Russian dancer. On the downside: it’s far, far away from our house.

STUDIO 3: My home studio
Large, superserious studio with a fantastic regional reputation. They were recently appointed the official Royal Academy of Dance center for the Mid-Atlantic region. On the plus side: large menu of adult recreational classes in ballet, tap, hip hop, lyrical, flamenco; progressive ballet program for adults (three levels of beginner, plus intermediate, plus pointe and partnering classes); great faculty, large studios. On the down side: far from my house, expensive at $18 per class.

STUDIO 4: My other home studio
One of the oldest pre-pro schools in my area, this studio has a good reputation. On the plus side: it’s close to my house, cheaper than Studio 3, fun teacher. On the downside: not a whole lot of adult recreational classes, no progressive ballet program for grown-ups, no male faculty, crappy website (I know, it shouldn’t matter, but it’s REALLY crappy).

STUDIO 5: My occasional studio
Another studio close to my house, I only attend this studio because my teacher from Studio 4 teaches here on Thursday nights and I really like her classes. I don’t really know too much about this studio, its faculty or history.

In addition to these five studios, BG has also taken ballet camp at one other studio, and went to a totally different studio last year, which makes SEVEN the number of dance studios in my area we’ve had direct personal experience with. Wait, maybe DH is right, that DOES sound a tad excessive.

Eventually, when SB and BG go to the same school, I’m leaning more toward putting them both in SB’s current school even though it’s far, far away from our house. But I’m not gonna think about that now. Time enough for me to worry about that a few years down the road. Hopefully.

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To Sum Up…

Posted in The Dancing Life with tags , on November 14, 2008 by Karmela

Haven’t posted in a couple of days. To summarize, here’s what’s been going on dance-wise in the MasterPuppeteer household:

  • Wednesday night is kickboxing night. My class numbers have swelled thanks in part to the excellent time slot the class got moved to (Wednesday evenings vs. Sunday mornings), and in part because…well, I’m awesome. ;-) I just wish my participants would show up on time. Kickboxing without properly warming up is a recipe for injury.
  • Thursday noon: Ballet class with Lady Glissade. Unlike Lady Cheerleader’s class, LG’s class is truly for beginners. She breaks everything down nice and slow and repeats the moves over and over again. When I went to her class yesterday, I actually got a tad bored. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want her to change a thing about her class. It’s me, not her as the saying goes. It might be time for me to move on to a higher level class. Or not. I like her class because she DOES break down the mechanics of every move, which the higher level classes don’t seem to do any more, not even Beginner Ballet II. I can do a pretty decent single pirouette and I credit it all to the fact that she took the time to deconstruct it for us, step by step, from preparation to turn to landing. So I think I’ll still go to her class, but maybe I’ll go every other week instead and alternate it with Boy Teacher’s (much harder) class.
  • Tonight: Ballet class again with LG, but this time with my sis.

I’m taking ballet a total of three times a week now. I also want to take a biweekly private class starting the beginning of the year. I’m doing all this in preparation for going to an adult summer intensive in 2010, either to the one sponsored by the Maryland Youth Ballet or the one in Richmond. I count myself extremely lucky that I live pretty close to both places. As part of my prep, I also, within the next two years, intend to be good enough to go on pointe, and quite possibly join a pas class or two.

Maybe by 2010 Science Boy will be tall enough to partner his mom. Heh. That would be funny! And awesome!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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More Premier Danseurs!

Posted in Motherhood and Dancing with tags , , on November 12, 2008 by Karmela

Last night was Science Boy’s second time attending his all-boy ballet class. To our surprise and delight, another boy joined the group! That brings the class total to nine fledgling premier danseurs, three of whom are actually good enough to have secured parts in the company’s Nutcracker production. The barre got crowded! Even the female students jammed the small window just to get a peek at the boys.

Another first last night: it was DH’s first time seeing SB in ballet class. I’m a firm believer in the participation of both parents in their children’s activities, so I nicely asked DH to do the post-class pickup last night, to which he immediately complied with no probs.

While he wasn’t quite moved to tears at the sight of his son dancing ballet, DH nevertheless provided SB an effusive attaboy and made sure to mention some of the tougher moves they did. If in the slightest of chances SB wants to continue dancing to his teens and beyond, his dad’s support will be crucial to his success, especially since male classical dancers are still looked upon with such stigma here in the U.S. I’ll talk about SB’s dad in a future blog post.

Back to SB: there is one funny thing about boys that doesn’t seem to change no matter what activity they do. Last night, there was a girl in the lobby waiting for a sibling. She was about eight or nine. She whipped out a bright pink Nintendo DS and proceeded to play. The beeps and dings attracted DS-crazy Science Boy and he instantly zoomed in on the sound. A second later, he was shoulder to shoulder with this little girl. One of the other kids in his class must have heard the sound too because he showed up and took position on the other side of the girl. Soon, a crowd of little boys, all dressed in identical ballet shoes, black bike shorts and tight white tee, was gathered around this little girl. I turned my head for about ten seconds and when I looked back, the little girl was gone and one of the boys was playing the DS, with the rest of the boys glued to his side. If it weren’t for the ballet shoes, this scene could have been in any dojo or basketball court or football field where boys congregate before their recreational activities began. I looked at Kim the Administrator who’d materialized next to me. “We’ve never had this before,” she said, smiling fondly at the boys.

Totally warmed my heart.

When class began, I stayed for a few minutes to watch. Unlike his soccer and gymnastics classes, he was totally and completely focused on his teacher. I’ve never seen such concentration on his face before. I think it helps that his teacher is serious and doesn’t clown around with the boys at all, which is 100% fine. SB has other outlets for his clowning around. I’m just pleased that his listening skills seem to be getting better. If his dancing also improves along the way, that’ll be total whipped cream on top of my latte.

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