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Aerials: That Moment When You See The Lightbulb Come On
The seeds of what will make you a unique master of your particular passion are already present. Trust yourself. Don’t give up.
— Emily Hursh
Today I went to noon Mixed Apparatus Class, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites (though we didn’t get to do trapeze .. bleh).
There were seven or eight of us today, up from the usual 3, which was kind of nice (though we missed having our little semi-private tiny group class :D). One of them is a really awesome lady who started training recently at the insistence of her son (who is in a bunch of my classes).
While we were working on silks, she said something like, “…You guys who have been doing this forever always look so great.”
I said, “Thanks!” and stepped up to take my next turn on the silks. Only later did I realize that she actually thought we’d seriously been training for, I don’t know, more than a year anyway.
At the next opportunity, I mentioned that we’d just started in January, and she’d probably be where we are in a couple of months.
You know how in cartoons, there’s that lightbulb-over-the-head thing that happens? I swear that was what happened today.
And that was really cool, because it is great to watch someone realize that the next goal is closer than they thought.
(For what it’s worth, I’m having a lot — a lot — of these lightbulb moments in ballet right now. Things Are Coming Together.)
Anyway, that was awesome. It’s nice to be the bearer of good news for once!
In that vein, then, let me direct you to this amazing post on Living Omily about The Gap (not the place where you can buy overpriced trousers):
Whether or not you cirque, if you’re doing creative work (Ballet Peeps, Assemblé!), you should read Emily’s post*. I am almost willing to guarantee that it will speak to you.
So, yeah. There’s that. The funny thing is, I saw Emily’s post (linked by one of my instructors, the Fabulous Ms. A, on the facebarge) after I started writing this. So, yeah, serendipity in action.
And now I have to go do some work and then maybe try to take a nap, though I am actually terrible at napping because it takes me so long to fall asleep that usually I have to get up before I nod off.
Tomorrow it’s Ms. B’s Killer Class, Trap 2 (YASSSS!), and conditioning … woof. Better get some sleep tonight!
À bîentot, mes amis!
Honors Convocation
My chemistry prof from a couple of semesters back, Dr. Wainge, won the Distinguished Professor award.
In his beautiful speech (which, like everything else, was really hard to understand because of echo from the speakers), he recounted how after finishing his BS degree he had to wait four years, teaching science in high school, before he could start his PhD program in Physical Chemistry … because, at the time, in Cameroon, there was no such program.
I don’t know if that’s what made him such a great Chem teacher (you guys, I got an A+ in his class with no prior chemistry classes and I did not burn down the Physical Sciences building during lab!). It probably helps, at very least.
Anyway, as he wound to a close he told us, mid-analogy: “… And when you see a detour, be patient and follow it, because it may be the safest way to get where you are going — or you might even find an even better destination than the one you had in mind.”
So yeah, that. And everything else he said.
Also, when I got up to collect my honor cord, I got a totally unexpected whoop from someone out there in the audience on the opposite side of the auditorium from my family. So, pretty cool stuff, and many thanks to whoever that was. If you’re reading this, please know that it was a giant ego boost! ^—^
That’s it for now. Lovely weekend with the family, great roving packs of Dawsons getting along beautifully with Mom and Ray. Too much awesome food because, well, Louisville.
Commencement tomorrow: the great Reading of All the Names.
And then?
Who knows. But wherever we go, we’ll go there dancing.
danseur ignoble 