What I've learned from 16+ years of ballet, etc.

Dance Class and the lessons learned therefrom

Monday was my last offical ballet class and my last recital was Satuday night. It feels strange. Ballet has always been there, been my committment. I am a dancer. That is one of the names I accept, now. I like this visa ad above my edit page "NOT JUST ANOTHER PRETTY CARD." Actually, that's the one I have. Anyway, Patrick gave an even stronger version of his 'Laura' speech last Wed., so I figure that he uderstood about the variations and is proud of me. Betsy, Melissa, and Carolyn are, but I don't know how much of that is just liking me as a person and how much is my dancing. Patrick always tells the truth, and, besides, he only knows me though my dance. I like them all. I feel very lucky to know them, but it also feels like my right. I deserve it. They have seen me though bad times, unconciously, just by being their great selves where I can see. If I wasn't also great, I wouldn't have benifited, you see. It isn't all in your head, but it isn't mostly in your body either. It's the corpus whatever, the band of nerves that connects the two sides of your brain that is most important for coordination, the skill and talent of having your mind understand what you want and having your body want the same thing. Matter and energy (that's you and the music) must become one lovely plasma (that's the dance). Well, now that I'm completely out there, I'm going to leave mom's computer. "Ya' gotta dance when the music says dance...." MOTL

,,,,I've had the idea for quite a while, but I don't remember if it came from reading Amber's music lesson bit or if I just finally decided to actually write it. I rather think they're independent, but I just read it, so now it's stuck. To be more precise, I was thinking of all of the references I use to explain stuff and the references various teachers use. Ballet is full of abstract ideas and my teachers have been very creative in explaining exactly what we're doing. I've heard from catepillars under your arches to zipper knees and, my favorite, squishy cheese fondus. I'm going to add to this gradually, so, if you like it, be patient. If not, there are other pages, more complete, but none done. That's the way it currently is here in

Elfin's Link to Her Own People

. Right. Left.

You need to think faster, to make everything else slow down, and have extra time.

Dancing superficially is a waste of time and exagusting. (note, spelling is not on this list)

How to pronounce an impressive array of French words and how illiterate peasants felt.

"With the music" is a state of mind.

Plieas should make you sweat.

Your back is never straight enough.

Smile!

Keep your head up.

Be alert and OBSERVE.

You're lucky to see it once.

You move, you don't pose.

Dance: Movement through space with time

Right before left (sigh).

Balance leads to grace. Keep your stomach up and your back straight and you won't fall. (sure, right...)

Bones aren't physical limits.

Stretch.

Unhappy classes last forever.

Learn the combination or you can't go further.

You'll never see this again, so get it right. This is your chance.

You have to think about what you're doing, not what you should be doing.

There are only two steps: Plie and tomdu.

This is not an easy life. This is really, really hard. You have to love it.

I love dance. I hate ballet class. I love ballet.

You have to love what you do or it's all a waste.

Talent is no good without effort.

Thanks to all of my dance teachers: Susan, Laura (even her), Meridith, Christian, Michael, Miss Elisa, Melissa, Jane, Betsy, Patrick, Carolyn, Kim, all of my Ballet Camp teachers, and the world. *Carry on dancing.* <-saves on figuring out who said what! A Ballet Page

Good Captions

Some quotes on dance I 'borrowed' from (what else)a dance inspiration page. I like some of them a lot.

Give me but one firm spot to stand on and I will move the world.
-Archimedes

Success is not the result of sponatneous combstion. You must set yourself on fire.
-Fred Sero

Dance isn't something that can be explained in words, it has to be dance.
-Paige Boom Boom Arden

"Either you do the piroutte or shoot yourself..... one or the other, but something must happen!"
-Monet Robier

"No artist is ahead of time. He is time; it's just that others are behind the times.
-Martha Graham

Why walk when you can dance? - ?

We should consider every day lost in which we do not dance.
-Nietzsche

A good dancer has the posture that can say "I have presence, you have dirt." -?

Someone once said that dancers work just as hard as policemen, always alert, always tense. But see, policemen don't have to be beautiful at the same time.
-George Balanchine

"Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is the kind of order that sets me free to fly."
-Julie Andrews

"Life's a dance---jump high!"
-DRA

When asked about his dance philosophy, he replied: "my philosophy of dance? I make it up and you watch it. End of philosophy."
-Mark Morris

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth. And it is yours for the taking.
-Agnes De Mille

Dance like no one is watching, and love like it's never going to hurt.
-Unknown

"Cause I'm dancing to the music of the madness inside me."
-George C. Wolfe

"Love is a lot like dancing- you just surrender to the music"
-Pierce Brosnon

Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts. For it it no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself.
-Henry Havelock Ellis

"I have a fabulous life. It is interesting and rigorous. I work hard. So leave me alone. Watch my dust. Shut up."
-Mark Morris

A real ballerina must fill her space with her own personality.
-Natalia Makarova

Dance is life, the rest is just details.

This is a ballet dictionary, but french spelling really creeps me out and destroys my pronounciation. Sheesh.