Fun Announcement

So, I alluded to this a while back, but it's official. I've started dancing again. Originally, I thought I was going to wait until the fall to take class here at Davidson, but after watching all these SYTYCD episodes, I just got the itch to go ahead and start. So, I found a studio in Charlotte, North Carolina Dance Theater, and they teach adult classes. Their summer session started last week, but I was out of town. Then, Monday I chickened out of taking the intermediate ballet class. It's a ballet school, so I was just having trouble gauging how hard the intermediate would be since I haven't put on a ballet shoe in 7 years. And, as Mia Michaels put it last Wednesday on SYTYCD, "You can't hide anything in ballet." 

So, last night, I went down to NODA (the arts district in Charlotte where the studio is located) and took Beginner Ballet. Don't laugh at me...I know I'm not beginner. There were about 15 people in the class and some looked like they'd had a couple of years of dance here and there. But, most, were actually beginner level though. But, to be honest, it was kind of nice to ease my way back into it. We did a good 15 minutes of deep stretching, which felt great other than the fact that I hadn't made my legs attempt some of the moves in quite some time. The ability for a center split (which I came out of the womb being able to sit in) is apparently gone now. I guess I shouldn't say gone, but not nearly as good or easy as it used to come to me. 

Then, we started at the bar which built my confidence a bit after the lack of flexibility. After I'd done one round of tondues (second series of moves at the bar for you non-ballet buffs), the teacher came up to me at the bar and said, "You've done a lot of dancing, haven't you?" which was nice considering I hadn't done anything much yet. Overall, an hour and a half of ballet at any level is hard. I love that about it. You can really push yourself and make it as hard or easy as you'd like. You have to decide to push your leg higher or push through your feet to get your jumps higher. It's fun! By the time the class was over, I was disgustingly sweaty, in an oddly satisfying way. I know that's gross, but it's true. I'd really missed feeling that stretched and exhausted. After class, I talked with the teacher, where she informed me that I need to take the intermediate classes. I think I'm going to take both beginner and intermediate for a few weeks though, because today I can really feel it in my feet, ankles, and back. So, I just want to keep building up strength for a little bit while getting back into more advanced stuff. 

I know it sounds cheesy, but I was pretty gitty all night last night (I don't know if Jeff knew what hit me) after getting back in the studio. There's just something about dance class that let's me get everything out, makes me push myself, and really makes me feel strong. I don't know if I even realized how much I missed that feeling. So, I'm definitely going to stick with it. I'm going to take 2-3 days a week this summer and see how my schedule works out this fall when I'll probably have to scale it back to 1-2 days a week. I'll keep you updated on how everything progresses. If you can't tell, I'm really excited!