Monthly Archives: December 2014
Ballet Squid Chronicles: Lucky
We’re going to visit my parents in Connecticut in January, and I’ve been looking around for a ballet class to squeeze in while we’re up there. I’ve been surprised to find few options — there are adult options at a number of schools, but most seem to offer only one or two classes a week (and so many happen to be on Thursday — is there something I don’t know about Thursday?).
There are a couple of notable exceptions — Hartford City Ballet, for example, offers five adult open technique classes (and a conditioning class, which is one offering I wish we had — we do have Pilates, though).
I’m reminded again how lucky we are to have access to Louisville Ballet School’s robust adult class offerings — nine ballet technique classes per week, not counting the 6-week Intro Pointe class that happens once in a while. I’m not even counting non-ballet offerings (tap; something called “fitness fusion,” which might be ballet conditioning masquerading as a general fitness class; and Pilates, which doesn’t appear to be on our Winter Break schedule).
It surprises me that LBS, a school attached to a small company in a small city in a part of the country where the arts are vibrant but always struggling, offers such a robust adult program in what is presumably a much smaller adult-ballet market than one would expect in the Northeast. Not that I’m complaining! I’m just surprised.
I think the topic of how to cobble together a reasonable class schedule sorted has been bandied around the adult ballet boards at Ballet Talk for Dancers quite a bit, but I guess I still hadn’t realized how challenging it can be.
Any thoughts out there on why things shake out the way they do? How do class offerings look in your necks of the woods, fellow dancers? Do you think LBS’ offerings are more typical or more atypical for a ballet school in a moderate-sized city?
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Update
The New Haven Ballet has a nice selection of Open Division classes, so I think I’m going to try to work their Friday morning class into our visit. I’d love to visit Yale’s Peabody Museum while we’re up there, so it works out nicely for me.
Scheduling; Afternoon of a Faun
I’m starting to feel human again this morning. Not quite ready for prime time, but awake and together enough to finish my homework, get some review done, pay some bills, and maybe do a little writing today. It’s good to feel like things are winding up and room is opening up for creative work. Also rather nice to be pretty convinced that this little thing I’ve nicknamed Thanksgiving Virus (which has snagged about half the people I know) is, in fact, just a little thing, and will go away on its own.
I’ve decided to repeat the math class I took this semester. I might finish this semester with a B; I might not. Regardless, I don’t feel like I’ve really mastered the material, so I’m going to repeat the class.
I’ve popped it in my schedule for Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9:30. That won’t interfere with my plans to do class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings (ballet class: it’s funny how ballet takes over your life, and “math class” continues to be “math class,” while “ballet class” just turns into “class”).
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In other news, if you haven’t seen the brilliant and moving documentary on Tanaquil LeClercq, Afternoon of a Faun, you can catch it on Netflix streaming, or you can rent it from Amazon‘s streaming service for $3.99 (it’s not Prime eligible, but it’s absolutely worth the $4 to see it or the $10 or so to buy streaming rights).
Afternoon of a Faun is not only a touching story about a brilliant ballerina struck down in her prime, but a keen reminder of what medicine has done for us; what we stand to lose in today’s anti-vaccination foment.
I’m not sure what further to say. LeClercq’s spirit and strength are inspiring, as are the stories told by her contemporaries and the vintage performance footage. If you haven’t seen it, watch it.
That’s it for now.
danseur ignoble 