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47-year-old takes recital by storm, begins pointe class
At age 5, I started ballet, but was not allowed to continue due to "lack of practicing" according to my mother's strict piano teacher standards. Alas, I still remember my white tulle with red sequin polka dot tutu, and my shoes which were black spray-painted white for the recital.
Fast forward to my college years. I decided to take ballet for college credit, three days a week at 8am -- too early for my muscles to fire. My favorite memory of the class, which was regulation ballet school, was having my Russian instructor slap me hard on the butt during one floor
stretch and telling me, "Your ass is like spaghetti" -- in her drawn out accent.
I survived, but due to other pressures could only take one
semester, plus one semester of modern dance. My favorite position in modern dance was 6th. You see, I have the world's worst turnout. It was frequently exhibited for all to see at the behest of my Russian, butt-slapping ballet instructor. Talk about discouragement for one who loves
ballet... well, modern was a little more kindly.
Fast forward yet again about 27 years later, and a pal told me we were taking adult ballet for fitness starting in January 2002.
Visions of my flabby thighs in pink tights, not to mention the famous spaghetti ass, and the world's worst turnout at this point had no more effect on me, and the lure of the pink shoes came back in force.
In fact, years ago, I had even gone so far as to purchase a pair of pointe shoes, just hang on the wall and stare at their beauty -- and to put my feet into once in a while. They were in their original box in my closet. I lovingly took them out and winced in pain trying them on my feet -- which had grown. No, I couldn't even attempt standing on pointe; the shoes were thankfully too small. God works in
mysterious ways to prevent us from hurting ourselves sometimes.
I informed my friends that one day a week was simply not enough, that two would be more appropriate. Due to the slowdown of my insane work schedule, and with my husband's continuous fitness badgering (I'm not obese, just 20 pounds overweight with no muscles except my fingers from typing,and my alcohol raising elbow), I decided to get back to ballet again.
I bought pink ballet shoes, not pointe shoes. After huffing, sweating, and puffing through the first class, complete with fits of hysteria for the new elephants in tights, i.e. "sweaty pantyhose" class, I decided that
it was time I got serious about fitness because I had found a passion long lost for ballet.
The best part: I could care less how bad I looked, and was enjoying starting over. Even better, two times a week became three, with a day off in between to let my muscles recover. I have now been at it for about four months, we are also learning tap, and there is a RECITAL which I have to appear in with adolescent girls, who are so much
fun in my class. I have to make devil's horns for all of us. We get to wear red satin elbow length gloves. It is hysterical. No, I'm not inviting my husband.
So how am I doing? I've lost 14 pounds, am consuming ballet videos and information, and we are beginning a pointe class. Very slowly. It doesn't hurt that bad. As an adult, I'm being really fussy about pain, and am protecting myself from injury more carefully.
I just attended a party, and my dresses which are rather tight around the hips have a different shape. My spaghetti ass is tighter and my hips are smaller. My jeans are falling off, and my husband is urging me on. He likes the new me.
I really don't care about being a professional dancer, my life is already full. What I love is letting go of the baggage of person to person comparison, as well as comparing who I was with who I can be. For me, the greatest thrill is knowing that I don't have to just stare at the pointe shoes wondering why my mother wouldn't let me continue (I coulda had turnout), but rather that I can actually don them for class and experience the thrill
of the actual use of them -- the pain is just great.
What makes it even more fun is the wistful staring eyes of the other adult beginners, and the adolescents in my class, as I jeté across the room and land with a
loud sound on the noisy things -- laughing all the way.
Here is the best part. They took my picture when I got my first toe shoes in the dance shop, and put it in their book of first toe shoe events. I wore a red feather boa, and put my age on the picture: 47. Take that, you spaghetti-ass-disparager. Life begins when you decide to begin life. Don't let anyone tell you you can't, when you really can. It is up to you.
Update 8.4.02: Dear Rosetta, Since I first wrote, I survived the recital, and actually have discovered even more studios which are dying to have adults perform at recitals. What a thrill! My next goal is to do a recital on pointe, which will be quite a while in the future, but I am working toward it. My flexibility and muscle tone are hugely improved and I am sneaking in morning classes during the week when I have the time. Oh the work guilt! If I can do splits by the time I'm 60 I'll be thrilled!
As an aside, I'm learning a lot about adults taking
classes, and the way we are treated in the process. I'll share my thoughts on that some day. It has been an interesting journey getting attention and getting
taken seriously -- but attitude is proving to be everything in this area. I am convinced that we would see more adults in recitals and performance if we made a
more emphatic fuss about it. There is so much talent in the classes I'm taking!
All the best, I'm enjoying the site and the wonderful newsletters, and I have referred as many as possible to your work.
Update 1/03: Well, can you believe December 14, I managed to make it through another recital -- EN POINTE! No, I was not a devil this time, I was a MOUSE. (a cute mouse). Our group had two 13-year-olds, one 15-year-old, two in their early twenties, my friend (who is 43), and me. We danced a very short routine, but it was all en pointe. I'm still in shock that I did it.
Today, January 27, is my one-year anniversary of starting ballet. I have lost just over 20 pounds. My teacher's boyfriend, who videotaped the recital, told her I had a cute figure. How flattering is that? What made it even more hilarious is that on my birthday, January 8th, she asked me how old I was (I was celebrating in class) and I told her I was 48. She was shocked, she is 36 and thought I was her age. She asked me if she could tell her other students, and now she let's people know I started pointe at 47. I get more embarrased than the devil horns or mouse ears could ever make me.
The teens in class are so much fun, I don't know why I'd ever want to take class without them. Their youthful passion is like a tonic in such a sorry world.
I'm consistently taking three days per week, our pointe has progressed and I'm starting pique turns and can actually execute more than four in a row en pointe. When I look in the mirror at my pink tights and black leo, I see "ballet legs" where the flab was. My kicks are getting higher, and I can sustain longer and higher arabesques. My turnout is still abysmal, but it is getting better. I look like I've had a face lift. My gluteous max has definately had a butt lift. I laugh at my pointe callouses.
What is really cool is that when I'm in class now, the adults have tripled in attendance, partly due to seeing more adults in the recitals. At the December recital, a few friends came and were just amazed that we were up there dancing in pointe shoes. "I could never do what you guys are doing! I am so awkward." That makes it all worth it!
My family is also really blown away -- especially my mother. My older sister loves to tell her very sophisticated friends that her sister is in dance recitals -- in a costume.
O.K. here is the real shocker... my husband is thinking about joining me in ballet class and asked me to get him some clothes and shoes! I'm not sure I could handle him as the mouse prince yet.
I'm really enjoying your newsletter, and I'm blown away by the mail I'm receiving from other ladies who have read my story and are sharing their own wonderful ones. I hope they send you their stories as well -- we need to encourage one another. Thanks for your excellent web site and phenomenal encouragement, I have referred several web adult ballet chat pals to your site, some have subscribed.
I'm attaching a photo my sister took at Thanksgiving, before my recital. We were at my folks' house, and I told them I'd prove I could really get en pointe. I still look like a beginner, but hey -- my sister gave me the ultimate compliment when she said she would take ballet in such a cute outfit. She had no idea!
Update 2/27/03: I just got these photos from my teacher from our December recital. They were taken after the show: We were lining up for pictures, and most of the ladies and girls had taken off their pointes -- just me and my friend still in pointes. We were cats and mice, and danced to pieces from West Side Story.
The lineup with the mouse ears shows my teacher on the far right (Ilena "enjoy the pain"), who is from the former Soviet Union. I'm the third from the right.
We had such a ball! With one exception, all of us were in pointe shoes
for the dance for the first time in a recital, all beginning pointe students. Youngest in our group was 13. I turned 48 a month later, the oldest. My best friend is the second from the right, who started with me. We made a pact to do pointe together, after I forced her to get shoes. She
didn't think she could do it.
Here's a photo showing both of us proving we did. It was a Merry Christmas for us. Hope you like these photos, we had lots of fun at this recital. -- Barbara
