Also, I was somewhat deterred when the instructor at that class asked how many people had seen the just-released Black Swan. As the first class of the winter session, the room was packed – maybe 40 students crowded into a room that works better with 20 bodies. Probably close to 90% of their hands shot in the air when asked about the movie. Ugh… I missed the nights of the smaller group; faces that, over the year of being in Becky’s class, had become familiar and even welcoming. Katie, the dancer who kindly offered to sew the straps on my slippers. Dave, the older guy who was in better shape than me (and always seemed to end up to my right in our unofficial weekly spots at the barre). And a woman who’s name I’ve sadly forgotten (Corinna?), but who encouraged me on day one to stick with the class, even though I was whining about being a newbie. It was comforting to see her in that room over the weeks and months.
But! I must return. I’ve told myself I shall be back when the spring session commences, which is in a couple of weeks. A mere 14-ish days. One reason is that I truly enjoy the class. Like I said in an earlier post, ballet is my yoga. I love it. Even if I’m not very good at it. I focus and yet I relax.
Another reason is that I just saw Giselle, a classic ballet (and, admittedly, one I’d never heard of before my friends asked me if I wanted to see it). Performed by the local Metropolitan Ballet, the cast includes both local professional dancers and students from the associated school. It also boasts an amazing Russian dancer who now serves as school director. I enjoyed the overall performance and paid close attention to all the footwork – it gave me a newfound appreciation for all the exercises we did in class and the sheer difficulty of many moves.
The third reason? Dang it, those blasted, seductive pointe shoes. Yes, of course, it's the shoes. The whole impetus behind starting ballet (besides helping me kick and punch things) was the ridiculous, six year-old "I'm a princess" urge to be on pointe eventually (funny, since I was a tomboy growing up). Oh, the graceful lines of the legs – the gorgeous arch (that I don’t have and never will, damn you biology!). Hell, I’d probably walk around work in pointe shoes if I could get away with it. I did rock that Benetton sweater recently after all…
It shouldn't be surprising then, that I thoroughly enjoy browsing online for pointe shoes. Of course, this is a total joke. Cart before the horse, as they say. I haven’t even taken pointe yet. I need to complete another round of basic ballet before I can even move on to an advanced beginning class. You know, the advanced beginning class that is also offered in conjunction with beginning pointe.
I’ve even found some possible shoes, courtesy of Discount Dance (a site fellow students recommended). These are the Aspiration by Bloch, a company dedicated to dancers.
Bloch is pretty awesome. They've branched into the commercial shoe world and now offer ballet slippers for the street, like pretty much everyone else is doing these days. I own these guys and adore them, both nabbed on Revolve.com.
From the website:
For realz (love the cute packaging):
They're called the Giselle. Go figure.
Anyway... back to pointe shoes. Never mind that in reality I need to shop in a real store and get fitted for the correct pointe shoe. Or that I still need to take more classes to shop for these babies. Or that maybe, even after another class, my teacher will deem me unfit for beginning pointe.
Why the hell am I so obsessed with shoving my feet into little satin shoes that are supposed to totally eff up your feet anyway? As an artist, maybe it’s the admiration of the line of the body. As someone who likes to kick, maybe it’s the power, strength and focus needed to be up on your toes. And as someone who loves to dance (like no one’s watching), maybe it’s just the pure enjoyment of a new kind of expression. Cue the cheesy music. Oh wait, it’s already seeping into my brain from the headphones. No, really, it is. I recently downloaded the soundtrack from Somewhere in Time. Silence from the peanut gallery already! I like it J
Even as winter laughs at the calendar (it snowed yesterday, it’s supposed to snow later this week and again next week…), spring is approaching. And so is my next shot at getting a little closer to those satin shoes.
Image credits:
Bloch Aspiration pointe shoe: Discount Dance
Bloch Giselle formal image: Revolve.com
Remainder of Bloch images: own
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