Class today was like the weather – mostly sunny! I started off over-thinking and being tense and trying too hard, but by the end of my second class I had managed to relax enough to do some quite decent work going across the floor. I also totally hosed up the frappé combo in Class #2. Feh. On the other hand, during our adagio section, I did a couple of decent promenades. Also a couple of bad ones, but hey, that’s a better ratio than it has been!

Going across the floor, Jessica gave us a simple but rather lovely little combination: tombé-pas de bourré-fourth-pirouette, pause, repeat.

After the first run from the left corner I was convinced I was turning the wrong way (Oh noes!!!) so Jessica made me run the combo by myself. Evidently I was doing it right the whole time, so Yay! Pirouettes from fourth without all the confusion.

On the first repeat, however, I exhaled as I finished my pirouette and suddenly my left ear went all funny.

I spent the rest of class (fortunately, only about ten or fiften minutes) mostly deaf in one ear, but it didn’t really seem to affect my balance much *(I had noticed, earlier, that my promenades on the left leg were iffy). It was just really strange. Later I tried pinching my nose and exhaling to see if I could clear it out, but that just made the right ear go funny as well.

So, um, hooray for allergies, I guess? I think I’m going to take some allergy meds tonight. The time has come.

Both T and J were in class today. T is pretty darned good. If I can dance as well as he does when I’ve been back in it for a year, I’ll be pretty satisfied (I think I’ve probably said that before). J, meanwhile, is funny and lovely and humble and gives me really useful notes (for example, the one about watching my mouth, and another about being lazy with my turnout while practicing releve balances in coupé before class ;)).

After class, I took my time coming home. I was too tired to ride the whole way, so I waited for the bus, then ate lunch downtown, then slow-pedaled the remaining seven miles.

This evening, Jenna joined me for dinner at home (You guys! I made baked falafel and didn’t ruin it*!) and then we went to see University of Louisville Dance Theater at Iroquois Park Amphitheater.

Jenna is evidently my sister from another mister. I looked at this and went, “Huh, we could totally be siblings.”

The whole show was immensely enjoyable — UofL Dance Theater put together a program of varied choreography, including one very fun Bollywood-inspired pieces — but the two pieces at the end with Louisville Ballet’s Eduard Forehand were stunning. He is simply a gorgeous dancer, and the rest of the company raised their game to approach his level.

For what it’s worth, Forehand is totally the kind of guy you watch and think, “And that’s why he’s a professional.” He’s very fluid, expressive, and musical, and his technique is very good.

Also, his pas de deux work could be used to teach a partnering masterclass.

So that’s it for now. A lovely way to close out the summer, even though school has already resumed (and if it hadn’t, I’d be at Burning Man). We don’t have class on Monday, and I may or may not be going on an epic bicycle adventure instead. Depends on the likelihood of major thunderstorms. The weather has been iffy of late, and while none of us mind riding in the rain, we don’t want to get caught in a severe storm in the middle of nowhere.

Good-night, everybody. Don’t burn your falafels.

Notes
*So, the last time I made falafel, it was an unqualified disaster. I didn’t own a deep-fryer then and I don’t own one now, so baked falafel seemed like a good plan.

I have no idea what I did wrong the first time (I was still in high school, and I really had no idea how to cook anything but spaghetti, ramen noodles, hot dogs, and a really fine grilled cheese). Whatever it was, I didn’t repeat my mistake this time. I suspect that’s because in the intervening period I have learned to occasionally read all the directions. Both times, I used boxed falafel mix; this time, I got Ziyad’s mix, which has a short list of recognizable ingredients and easy-to-follow directions. I recommend it.

I’m posting this because Jenna pointed out that I’m always wearing my composed “portrait face” in photos. So there 🙂