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A Dancer Is Not A Person Who Dances
What’s the difference between a person who dances and a dancer? Let’s start with a person who dances. A person who dances: Will socialize with non-dancers. Might have short hair or long hair. Listens to their body’s cues, and stops when something hurts. Will consider nutrition but does not diet. Is a “normal” person. May…
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A New Pair of Pointe Shoes
A needle and thread, a match, a razor blade. A needle and thread sewing elastic ankle bands and ribbons. A match melting ribbon edges before they unravel. A razor blade scratching the slippery shanks. Sweating, blistering, and bleeding in shoes that are softening, softening, softening, perfect, too soft! At the end of the…
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A Ballet Friendship
K was a girl in my class at ballet summer camp who I studied every single day. I studied the way her shoulder muscle cut into her upper arm (I had no muscle definition myself). I studied the elevation she was able to achieve in jumps. I studied the way she wore her leotard (with…
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Children Dance
Have you ever danced with a child at a wedding? Children who dance are wonderfully free in their movements and intuitive. They can mimic most non-complicated movements and they can feel rhythm. When my daughter was a baby on my lap, she would flap her arms when she was happy or excited and when there…
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Why Ballet Isn’t Popular
Dancing on stage for an audience is frightening. It removes the mirrored fourth wall and opens up a black cavern into the audience, one that is in the dark. They can see you, but you cannot see them, except for a vague outline of heads. Sometimes you can see only the glowing exit sign in…
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The Security of Standards
Ballet lets you know when you’ve gotten it right. Within the various styles of ballet, such as classical, neoclassical, Cecchetti, and Vaganova, there are clear aesthetic standards for technical achievement. A penché should look exactly like two hands of a clock at six o’clock, for example – one straight line from the tip of your…
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Not Just A Ballet Class
“Would you give your niece a ballet class when she comes to visit you?” my brother asked. “Sure,” I said. “No problem.” I made sure not to hesitate. I would sort out the tumult in my mind later. My niece is a beginning ballet student so how hard could giving her a ballet class be?…
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A Dancer on Vacation?
What is vacation for a dancer? George Balanchine once said that “the time for resting is in the grave.” If death were really that – a permanent, socially acceptable and well-earned rest – that would be very inviting indeed. I once said as much to some gravestones in a cemetery I used to walk through…
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The Dying Swan Lives
I went to see Swan Lake for the umpteenth time this past weekend in New York City. I went to see the two-act version choreographed by Peter Martins after Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, and George Balanchine. It was performed by The New York City Ballet, with Mira Nadon in the lead role as Odette/Odile. There…