Twitter talks pointe class

Going to ballet class. Excited. Je vous vois dans trois heures, tweeps!

This is how I said goodbye on Twitter last Thursday. Three hours went by, I got home, and this is what I wrote:

Back from ballet class... with GREAT NEWS. OH-MY-GAWD, OH-MY-GAWD, OH-MY-GAWD, YOU GUYS.

My teacher has invited me to JOIN TOMORROW'S BALLERINA CLASS, aka POINTE CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

POINTE, POINTE, POINTE, POINTE. I'M GOING TO A POINTE CLASS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!

I haven't been to a pointe class since I was 13. So I've just (re)joined the club of people who like to mangle their feet on purpose!!!

Please note my mental breakdown. It might be serious. Later that day I also had my sentimental moment:

I just wanted to say that... I love you all, ballet tweeps. I'm so happy to be a part of this community where we can share our impressions.

And then, another mental breakdown. This one is a little milder, as I was starting to assimilate the news:

Sorry if I'm a little annoying, but I can't help jumping and shouting in joy! I AM EN POINTE, YOU GUYS.

It seems that when your ballet teacher invites you to try pointe class, you feel everything. Fear, of course, is the order of the day:

But I'm a little worried, because pointe class won't be with my regular teacher. The other one seems a little harsh (?).

Oh my God. I am going to suck so much this afternoon at pointe class.

Then, I got ready (see feet here) and went to pointe class.

And this is the result of it:

Advanced pointe class is serious business, guys. It felt good, but I was doing pointe with 15-17-year-old girls far more talented than me, who could do piqués en tournant without problems. But the good news are that my feet weren't hurting at all!!!

I will go to the academy on Monday again. I will talk to my pointe teacher and to my regular teacher and we'll see what they think about me.

Oh my, I'm dehydrated!!!

I guess my teacher was right (they know us better than we think). I was prepared. I didn’t break my ankles in pointe class.

The problem was the technical level. They should give a pointe class for beginners, because I simply couldn’t follow the steps. Seriously, how the hell do they want me to do a hundred piqué turns EN POINTE in my first class in 8 years? I can't even do them properly in slippers!

Definitely, I could totally go to that pointe class during barre and port de bras. But the diagonals were too much. TOO. MUCH.

Oh, and by the way... I think my ballet teacher just promoted me to intermediate class. Maybe I did something well today, after all? =)

Nope, I hadn’t done anything well THAT day. This is what hapenned yesterday when I went to talk to her:

My ballet teacher had spoken about me with the intermediate teacher before the academic year started.

She told her I was strong, had a good posture, a very fast evolution and could perfectly fit into the intermediate class (and pointe shoes).

She said that last year she could tell I had danced for many years before. In her (translated) own words: “I just had to polish you up a little bit, but now you’re ready”.

So she has definitely invited me to try intermediate level. She said I could be a little lost at the beginning, but she believed I was prepared.

SO I AM HAPPY.

And also sad, because that means that I am probably going to class with another teacher. And I like Mrs. C so much, you guys. Because she’s lovely.

My super old pointe shoes, which look less crappy with their new ribbons!

Nerea.

The Day when it happened

Today I went to my second ballet class of the year.

The first one, on Tuesday, was fine, but there were some new people, so it was slow. I have no problem with that, as we’re starting again after three months and I believe it’s better not to start with a full variation at the centre.

But I am here to write about today, which is going to be known as “The Day” from now on. Because, nice reader, “The Day” was good, so good. Barre was very simple; I did the exercises without much trouble, except for a: Nerea, try not to move your body so much when rond-de-jambe-ing with your left foot. Because, you know, Left Side is evil. It’s the Dark Side of ballet. I am such a disaster with my left part of the body, seriously.

Also, I could finally keep my balance for many seconds while doing a passé relevé, which is a huge achievement for me, due to my weird hips and knees.

Later we started with the diagonals, which consisted in walking. Yep, it was simply walking as ballerinas in first position. Mrs. C asked me not to be “so correct”. She said that my walking was technically perfect, but I should be more relaxed. I can’t help being tense; I haven’t danced in three months!

So when ballet class finished, a friend of mine asked the teacher about the possibility of attending pointe class this year. It was a private talk, actually, but when I finished putting my flamenco clothes on (because “The Day” wasn’t over yet), I joined the conversation. I said I was also interested in that, but Mrs. C thought it was maybe too early because we had been doing ballet for less than twelve months. She said that we shouldn’t join “Pointe Class” anyway, mostly because it’s for advanced people. There’s no pointe class for beginners right now. Nice reader, that is a shame, you know. She also said that she would try to arrange a thing on the timetable to make us come half an hour before our normal class to be able to do some barre work en pointe. BUT, that would be next year. NEXT YEAR, or as soon as in March, April or so. That is a total disaster. A total and absolute disaster, because next year I will be a graduate and I will not be in Salamanca for ballet class after June. But that was her last word.

Then, flamenco class with my flamenco classmates started. We’re currently dancing some beautiful alegrías, but I’m not comfortable. I’m, you know, used to delicate movements and tense body; I’m more classical! And that doesn’t have anything to do with the fiery steps of alegrías. So we’re doing a nice step in which you have to move your right foot forward and with it… you also have to move your right hip. Well, I can’t do that. I keep doing a tendu. And that’s not it. And of course, Mrs. C has realised, because she ALWAYS realises. She said she had the same problem when she started with flamenco after so many years of ballet. Ha! I’m not the only one! She suggested me to relax my body and to forget about ballet (which is not easy at all). So I guess I can say that the bad news are that I am not good enough at dancing flamenco because I am too ballet-y. Oh wait… are those bad news? I don’t really know.

Class finished and I got dressed normally to go back home. I was kind of sad. Or disappointed, or something. Mrs. C was at the reception when I was about to leave. I was determined to let her know that I had some pointe shoes at home which I wanted her to see if we were ever going to do some barre work, even if it was in April. I think I sounded a little desperate, actually, haha. No, but seriously, I told her that if she was going to teach us half an hour or so in April, I wanted to show her my old and crappy pointe shoes in case she didn’t like them and wanted me to buy some new ones. Because they are really crappy, guys. Really, really crappy…

And this is where magic begins!

The conversation was something like:

Mrs. C: Oh, but you already did pointe?

Me: Yes! I did a year and a half of pointe, a long, long time ago!

Mrs. C: I knew it! You have very strong legs and feet. You can do it! I just don’t want the rest of your classmates to injure themselves because of my decision. But you can do it!

Me: B-b-but…

Mrs. C: You can go to pointe class tomorrow. Speak with the teacher, she’s there.

Me: But… it’s an advanced level!

Mrs. C: You can do it. Go, have a look and try it. Hey, Mrs. M! Nerea took pointe class a long time ago!

Mrs. M: Ok, she can come then!

Me: B-but my pointe shoes are old… and… crappy!

Mrs. M: No problem, just bring them! I will see you tomorrow, Nerea!

And I stand there, open-mouthed. I take a deep breath and utter a shy “see you tomorrow, then!”

I leave, and while "The Day" comes to an end, I take my mobile phone and call my family with tears in my eyes.

Nerea.

How did you know you loved ballet?

The other day I was asked this question and I didn't really know what to answer. Ballet has been with me during a really long period of time in my life and I think there is not a "real" moment in which I said: "oh my, this is what I like best!" (even though I think of that everyday; you know what I mean!).

So I have been reading some other adult dancers' blogs, such as DaveTriesBallet, PointeTilYouDrop or AdultBeginner, and I have seen that some of them have written this "why I started Ballet" blogpost, so I thought this was my turn to tell you my story. I warn you: it's a very long story. Here it is, from the VERY beginning:

Believe it or not, this tale starts when my mother was 16 years old and she went to school. There, she had a friend that went to ballet lessons since she was a child. This girl was probably the only person in that school that took those lessons. One day, she asked her teacher at school if she could perform "The Dying Swan" at the end of the year party. Of course, she was told a big YES. My mother saw the performance and was absolutely amazed (or at least, that's what she told me).

More than 20 years after that, in 1996, I was at school at the age of six, when suddenly my mother told me that there was a new activity organized by my school: BALLET. I guess you all understand that at that point I had no idea what "ballet" was. But my mother insisted, so she asked the ballet teacher (let's call her Mrs. R) if my sister and I could attend her lessons even though the term had started a month ago or so. Of course we could. But I have to admit that I was not happy with it. My first class was a complete mess. I was a very shy person (I still am) and I didn't know how to interact with my older classmates (some of them were 12); they already knew the positions, so I felt kind of stupid when Mrs. R said "à la seconde" and things like that in French.

Anyway, I managed to finish my first year of ballet and got prepared for the final show. I recently found this really old picture of the performance (June 1997). I am the little girl down, and my sister is right behind me:

And that's how I spent the following seven years of my life. I ended up enjoying ballet lessons a lot. I started pointe when I was 11 and my teacher, Mrs. R, kept saying that classical ballet was "my thing" and my feet were amazing. Yeah, I felt really proud because the first day I put my pointe shoes on I could walk normally en pointe, while my classmates kept saying it was too painful.

When I was 13 we did our first "on pointe" performance. It didn't look really awesome (I've seen the video now and it's a little ridiculous), but it felt so good back then! And some months after that I had my first solo in front of an enormous crowd during a fashion show. My dancing lasted about thirty seconds or so, but I felt so HAPPY I can't even explain!

And then... STOP.

Why? Because another dance teacher came to teach ballroom dancing at my school and her prices were a whole lot CHEAPER. As a result, Mrs. R had to stop coming, since she had no students to work with. My sister and I wanted her back, but it's normal she didn't come. It didn't make sense financially to go all that way. But she did suggest us to go to the county town everyday and finish our training. What did we say? "No", of course. We were little girls studying at a little school and we couldn't make a half-an-hour trip with our parents to go to a real dance studio everyday. Impossible. And guess what. I've regretted my decision EVER SINCE.

As a young little girl... you don't know what you want. You don't know what you have until you lose it. I wanted to keep dancing with my whole heart, but I started to have difficult exams at the High School and knew that it would be impossible for me to go to town everyday and "waste" my time while I should be studying. Between 2003 and 2007 I started to forget the idea of ballet, but I still remembered those lovely lessons and performances.

Now I'm watching my wall of stuff and I can see my ticket of "Sleeping Beauty", by Saint-Petersburg Ballet in May 2008. That was probably the first whole and real performance of classical ballet I saw. Yes, I guess that's possibly the first day I thought "I LOVE THIS; I want to take lessons again to be able to do THAT". What was the problem, then? Again, my studies. I was still in High School. It was my last year and I had to study a lot. So I thought I could wait until I started university.

I did wait. I came to Salamanca, which is a county town with many ballet studios. But I wasn't outgoing enough to take the initiative. I was shy and I didn't feel confident to go to a ballet school and asked if there was a place for me in there. I didn't want to be in the same class as little girls that would surely be far more talented than me. So I kept going to ballet performances and quietly wanting to be one of those ballerinas. Until December 2009, when I watched "Swan Lake" by Moscow Ballet and was absolutely overwhelmed. It was amazing. It became my favourite ballet ever (I wrote a whole blog entry in Spanish about it... here). And I made the decision: after my Erasmus in London, the following year I WOULD GO to a ballet school and learn how to dance.

My Erasmus experience also helped a lot. I lived in London, so I could go to Covent Garden everyday if I wanted. I found the Royal Opera House spectacular, though I didn't go inside until a few days before coming back to Spain. In May 2010 I saw "Electric Counterpoint / Asphodel Meadows / Carmen" in there and it was wonderful. I could finally see my idol Tamara Rojo performing in real life and I can't explain how much I loved that day.

Well yes, I can explain it: when the following academic year started, I went to a ballet school and had the courage to ask for information. The recepcionist was so nice with me! She asked me if I had danced before. I told her that even if I had danced for seven years, I felt like an absolute beginner, so she invited me to go to an adult beginner's class.

And that's where I have been ever since. At the beginning I didn't feel very confident. Mrs. lovely C doesn't teach the same way as Mrs. R did, but I have to say that I'm learning a lot more with her. I'm learning to know my body, my muscles and my position. And after eight months of lessons I'm starting to actually feel like dancing again.

That's why I love ballet.

Because nothing feels better than that.

Nerea. 

Moving on...

Hi there once again!

I said I would let you know what my teacher told me about my interpreting. I went to her office and basically she said that sometimes I was VERY good, but there were always some moments in which she didn't know what to do with my speeches.

I told her that I really wanted to choose Interpreting instead of Translation next year, and she quickly dissuaded me from doing that. Actually she was very nice while saying it, but I simply wanted to DIE at that point. BUT! (Yes, there's a "but", and this is a nice one...) She said that next year, if I did Translation, I would be able to go to as many interpreting lessons as I wanted, and learn as many things as "real" students, without having to do the final exam. I know that on my university degree people won't read "specialized in interpreting", but they will read "Translator AND interpreter", and I guess that the important thing is what you can ACTUALLY do, regardless of what is written on a piece of paper!

So I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do next year, but I know that I have this opportunity, and it is probably the best one for me, according to my current skills.

What else!? Time for a ballet talk! Yay!

So last week I went to my ballet class and after doing some tendus, jetés and passés, my teacher said that my feet were beautiful, strong and prepared. I think it's an awesome thing to be told, so I'm really happy with myself.

Also, yesterday we were at the barre, doing some demi-pirouettes and the teacher was telling my classmates to keep their arms placed; she said that I was doing it properly, so I stopped and started looking at the corrections she was making to the others. It is true that you can learn lots of things looking at fellow students!

Now it's been exactly eight months since I decided to take ballet lessons again and I'm starting to actually see a big improvement in my dancing skills. I feel more confident at the barre and I really feel like dancing (at the beginning it was like some weird feet-and-arm-moving). Now I feel just like I felt eight years ago, when I was on pointe in front of an enormous crowd. The difference is that now, on pointe or not, I truly know that I LOVE ballet and I will not stop dancing ever. Ok, maybe when I'm too old, but still...

 That's me, the other day in my bedroom =D

See you!

Nerea.