32-year-old performs in first dance recital
I'm Chris. I took my first ballet class at age 30. I wanted to take ballet as a teenager, but I did not want to get made fun for being a boy in tights. I took social dance classes at 26, but those were all wrong. I had a ballroom teacher who acted more like an SS general.

I looked around for a studio that would be affordable and would take me seriously. Most studios would give me that look like, a man over 25 wanting to start ballet, you have to be kidding me. But, I finally found one.

My first ballet instructor, Marcia, really encouraged me. I started taking her jazz class, too. I then took jazz with an instructor named Heather: I tried her patience, but she was proud of me when I got my pirouettes finally down pat. I then started taking jazz and ballet with a great instructor named Judy.

At age 32, I performed in my first recital. It was a good feeling that I could get the seal of approval and blend in with the teenagers. It was very frustrating practicing, but knowing that someting special was happening made it well worth it.

My instructor included about 33 or 34 different short dances, configured by age, level, and style of dance. The adult ballet segment which I was in, incorporated the Emperor's Waltz. As a matter of fact, every segment revolved around the theme of clothing. The dance incorporating the Emperor's Waltz was choreographed around a story line based on "The Emperor's New Clothes."

I was one of the emperor's sentinels, wearing a very colorful medieval costume (gray tights, purple and yellow cape, and a brown tunic). The other sentinel and I, during the climax of the piece, had to help the emperor (wearing boxer shorts) dress under a barrel. The handmaidens in the piece all threw pieces of clothing, like bloomers into the barrel. The barrel fell apart several times during rehearsal, but stayed intact for the performance. It was a lot of fun.

The teen/adult jazz portion I was in was choreographed to the fifties song "At the Hop." For this, the guys wore blue jeans and white t-shirts. The girls wore colorful scarves and poodle skirts. This was just simply a fun, very aerobic guy/girl partner dance. There were also many other dances that I was impressed with from the other divisions, and despite a couple of minor technical glitches during dress rehearsal, the recital was a success. I can't wait to watch the DVD of it, when it is edited and finished.I would not have missed the recital for the world.

Now, I am looking into even more dance forms, such as bellydance, clogging, ballroom, and Latin. It is always a nice feeling to find a new hobby and explore it even further. I have also received encouragement from members of the Cincinnati Ballet, with whom I take aerobics. Dancers certainly are the best people to be around. -- Chris