About eight months ago, I had the idea that maybe I should be doing something to work on flexibility and posture, like yoga. I’ve taken yoga in the past and liked it, but never really loved it enough to stick with it. Maybe I’ll try ballet, I thought.
A lot of members of my family and extended family have taken ballet, as have a disproportionately high percentage of girls I’ve dated. Through them I’ve been exposed to it in bits and pieces, and I always admired the discipline of it. Ballet is so exacting and precise that even after years of work it’s still near impossible, but ballet dancers press on despite that. I always admired the tenacity it seemed to build.
I also like going to ballets, as long as they’re not modern ballet. Between seeing all the good things that came out of others doing ballet and thinking it may help me appreciate watching ballet more, I figured I’d take one class and try it out. The fact that it was weird for a straight guy to take ballet probably factored in, as well.
I was pretty much hooked at my first class. In life I like the idea of working as hard as humanly possible but still trying to make it look good on the outside, and ballet was the dance form that reflected that. It felt great to wake up on Sunday morning, ride my motorcycle downtown, and then slip on ballet shoes, stretch out, and learn something difficult and physical.
Since then I’ve probably taken about twenty classes or so. I moved from Introductory Ballet I to Intro II pretty quickly, and then last week I took one class of Intro III and then skipped ahead to Basic Ballet, when my teacher said she thought I could handle it. I’m on the fourth level now, but I’m still horrible at it, of course. Those four levels are just the preparation for the next level, which is finally Beginner Ballet. What other skill do you know where you can go through four levels and still not be a beginner?
One of the things I love about ballet is that I’m really bad at it. I’m reasonably flexible and apparently have excellent feet for ballet, but besides that, I have no natural aptitude. Never have I had to think about the movement of my body in such granular detail. Unlike things like programming or languages, I have no experience whatsoever to draw on. So when I learn something, I get to observe my process from the very beginning.
I also find it relaxing. We dance in a big studio in an old building with huge windows, and there’s a live pianist to play the music we dance to. The setting couldn’t be more calming and pleasant. I accept that I am going to look like a complete idiot, butchering steps occasionally, so it doesn’t bother me when I’m lost and way off. I love it when I get corrections from the teacher, because I know they will make me better. So even though it’s difficult, there’s no stress.
Ballet is also really humbling. I go in there thinking that I’m young and physically fit, and then I see someone older or heavier do things with grace that I can barely kludge my way through. It’s a true testament to the power of repetition, learning, and persistence.
I don’t know if you’d like ballet or not, but I didn’t know if I’d like it or not, either. I find it tremendously valuable to pick some random thing that you’re not into at all and try to learn it. Sometimes you’ll find a new hobby, but even if not you’ll gain some perspective and maybe some appreciation. It’s sort of like visiting a country that you’re not crazy about. You may never go back, but you can draw something from your experience there.
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Photo is a Degas sculpture from the Met. I think it’s just a study for his paintings of ballet dancers, which happen to be some of my favorite paintings.
Heading to Puerto Rico for the first time tomorrow!
I also just realized that I promised an updated RV tour that I never delivered on. It’s back on the list…
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