Semaine 4

Monday 6/25/12: 

I thought that the Adult Ballet class at Washington School of Ballet was advanced for a "beginning" class. Boy was I wrong... 

Tonight was my first class at BalletNova Center for Dance in Falls Church. The class was called Beginning Ballet (For Non-Beginners). I'd convinced my co-worker, Kelly (a physical therapist), to join me since she'd danced ballet for her young years. To my surprise, she was completely into it! She even stopped by Robcyn's to pick up some Capezio ballet slippers. :) 

Anyway so we showed up for class and after looking around us, I noticed about twenty girls in their 20s stretching in their ballet tights, leotards, and dance skirts, all outfitted and ready to dance. I tried not to think about how intense this group seemed compared to the group at WSB... It seemed intimidating! The class was nuts! It was super fast-paced compared to what I'm used to, the girls knew what they were doing ("Beginning Ballet" my pink tight-ed ass!) and they were great at it; graceful and extremely precise. The instructor wasted not even a minute before class started. No one asked questions, no one (except me) was confused with the combos. Complicated exercises I can't even remember the sequence let alone the names of some of the more advanced moves, and sweat dripping down my forehead and down my back was a quick realization that "wow and I thought I would take Ballet II by the Fall?!" Not so much. 

Centrework exercises were absolutely frightening. A handful of floor routines- again, that I can't even remember the moves for- put me at the slow end of class. In a group of about 30 dancers, Kelly and I tried to hide in the back. Then, the back row was forced to come to the front row - TERRIFYING. Not only was I probably one of the most inexperienced dancers in the class, but now I was practically leading it? I missed my WSB class desperately, where I felt closer to the top. The arm movements, the combinations, the foot placement, the WRONG foot placement, all of it felt all incredibly foreign.  However, it made more sense after the class was over, after running through the combos in my head. 

Kona, in Second Position

I called Jeff after class was over, telling him how embarrassed I felt and how I didn't know what class I should really be taking - Basic Beginning Ballet or keep going to Beginning Ballet for Non-Beginners. In the end, I think I'll stick with this class. It's true what Jeff said - Though I may feel confidence being one of the best in a Basic class, it may be so slow to feel like I am being challenged. It may feel like a waste of money. His analogy was Spanish Immersion - kids don't become proficient in Spanish by taking Spanish I, they get immersed in it and come out stronger. Besides, I already rearranged my schedule at work to accommodate BBFNB (my abbreviation for Beginning Ballet for Non-Beginners). 

Tuesday 6/26/12: 

I ditched my last Washington School of Ballet class tonight to go to the Basic Beginning Ballet class with Kelly at BalletNova. This way, I'll be much more certain that BBFNB is the class that fits me and my beginner-though-non-beginner skills level. Hopefully - HOPEFULLY - the class will be soooo remedial that I'll feel ok about being in the hard class. Class is at 7:45 pm-9 pm. Basic Beginning Ballet. 

As I'm writing this, I'm laying on my belly in the Frog Position (see the video in Semaine 3 "Improving Ballet Turnout" at the 1:22 mark) after noticing (for the hundredth time?) how horrible my Fifth Position is. 

**update** 

Yay! After going to Basic Beginning Ballet (for COMPLETE beginners), I feel good about starting BBFNB. The Basic Beginning Ballet class was really basic, and it was even a "moderately difficult" version of class for Walk-In Week. I felt proud to be able to say that I wasn't in the middle of the class, I was probably in the upper third of the class as far as skills are concerned. That being said, the upper third of the class comprised of 7 or so ballet students who have been taking ballet consistently for the past 1-2 years, who are even beginning POINTE this summer session. So BAM, TAKE THAT BASIC BEGINNING BALLET! =P 

Tonight's class resembled last night's BBFNB class, but at about half the pace and half the difficulty level, including the centrework exercises. They were slightly "dumbed down" to fit the pace of a Basics class. 

So anyway, after class I spoke with Madame Burnstein who led the BASICS class, and she said that Class #1 of Basics is much more basic than today's class, since the Walk-In Week is basically a snapshot of what's to come for that class, similarly to last night's tough class. It was a snapshot of the class as a whole, not necessarily the start pointe (heh) of where the class begins instruction. ADDITIONALLY, she said that Madame Wunder, who led BBFNB, is a notoriously fast-paced instructor (even considering the skills level of the class). 

After class was over, I also spoke with Andrea, one of the more advanced ballet dancers in tonight's class, about the general skills level of the classes. She mentioned that she, along with other more advanced students I've been in class with, have moved on to taking pointe (or close to it) and enroll in any and all classes they can (including Basics and BBFNB). This means that I'll be learning ballet alongside these advanced students, who are taking BBFNB with me just to keep their muscles/hamstrings warm and limber. Plus, she said that everyone is really really nice and really helpful and would NOT turn their noses up to the slower and less-skilled students (like myself). 

yay! 

My next class is July 5th, next Thursday, with Perez. So my Summer Session is as follows: 

Week 1: Thursday July 5th @ 6:15 PM (Perez)

Week 2: Amsterdam Dance Centre Thursday July 12th @ 5:45 PM

Week 3: Thursday July 19th @ 6:15 PM (Perez)

Week 4: Monday July 23rd @ 7:45 PM (Wunder)

Week 5: Monday July 30th @ 7:45 PM (Wunder) AND
             Thursday August 2nd @ 6:15 PM (Perez)

Week 6: Monday August 6th @ 7:45 PM (Wunder) AND 

             Thursday August 9th @ 6:15 PM (Perez)

Week 7: Monday August 13th @ 7:45 PM (Wunder) AND 

             Thursday August 16th @ 6:15 PM (Perez)

Week 8: Monday August 20th @ 7:45 PM (Wunder)