Ballet <3

This is the only picture in this post that is authentically mine. Those are my feet. My beat up ballet shoes. A friend of mine took this picture for me a few years ago. Yes, the shoes have retired since then; no worries, I have new shoes to dance in now. (:


Can I please have a chair like this to pose with? Lovely.

I have been taking ballet more or less since I was three years old. There were a couple of years where I forwent ballet and took jazz and gymnastics, but I returned to ballet because I knew that if I really wanted to dance, I'd need it. I have a body for ballet: long limbs.

At my studio, we use the Sonshine Christian Ballet Syllabus which has levels from I-VIII (actually, there is a level IX now, but we do not use that one at the studio). After taking ballet as a pre-schooler, I took those couple of years off and then began ballet training again at level III.

In April or May, those the teacher believed ready to move up to the next level went through ballet testing. We attended a few extra classes to make sure we were totally ready, then arrived at the studio on a Saturday to be evaluated. The tests were a little nerve-wracking, but I enjoyed receiving the comments sheet from Mrs. Sonia (the woman who actually wrote the syllabus) after it was over.


This is rather a typical sight for us. To the dancer, water is essential.

So eventually I made it as high as I could go, and I've been there a few years now. Ballet is this staple in my life where everything is normal. I know who I am there; I know what I should be doing. And I know that even if I can't get every step perfect, it's the working hard and trying that makes the difference. Tuesdays and Thursdays I come out of ballet class sore, sweating, and blissful. It makes my body feel good. Like I have accomplished something. Like I'm doing something good for myself.



I love it.
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