A Ballerina’s Footprint

 

            I arrived early to class this week, which was an aberration from my usual tardiness. With time to kill, I sat outside the studio door peering in at the class of ten year-olds that was still going on. I knew that the weekend before, Dorrit, my dance teacher, had taken these girls to Capezio, a dance store in the city to help them purchase their first pair of pointe shoes. The girls were practically glowing as they were instructed on how to specifically tie their ribbons, where the knots should be, and how to cover it up with the remaining material to appear professional. I reminisced to my very first trip into the city to complete this same task and recalled the feeling of my numb toes after I had danced in my pointe shoes for the very first time. I could not help but smile when I saw the girls knuckles turn white from their tight grips on the barre. Regardless of the fact that they were so dependent of the barre to balance, all of the girls were beaming with pride. Dancing has almost become second nature to me and I had almost forgotten that fresh thrill I once had. I remembered the way I would walk around in my pointe shoes at home, doing special exercises in them every single day to strengthen my ankles. I wore them all the time because I thought that is what the “real” ballerinas did, and that was my dream as a little girl, and through middle school, to become a “real” ballerina.

            Before I knew it, the girls were exiting the studio, all giggling and talking about whose shoes were better and who could stay on their toes the longest, and were therefore the best at pointe in the class. Then I strolled into the studio and kissed Dorrit on the cheek as always. “Hello darling! How are you? Start warming up at the barre, I need to take a five minute break before we start class” Dorrit uttered to me as she left the studio. Two girls were already prepping for the class and I gave them each a hug and embraced them hello as well. Dorrit was outside, we started discussing what we did the previous weekend, and our plans for the next. The girls from my ballet class are like sister to me, and Dorrit is like my second mother, despite the fact that I only see most of them 3 times a week from December until June now. I have pretty much grown up with them, in that studio. I still confide in all of them because they know me in a different way than my family members, school friends, and anyone else in the world. They see me express myself through the art of dance, and only they can relate and understand me in that sense. It is amazing what feelings can be conveyed through body language. There is just an incredible bond that builds between people and it is truly impressive how much respect we all have for each other. I think that the friendships I develop with the group of girls from dance will be forever lasting. These footprints that these remarkable girls leave in my heart are so valuable, because they are a ballerina’s mark.

            After our shoes and leg warmers are on, we strut to the barre, face forwards towards the front wall, covered in mirrors, and place our left hand on the barre. A silence falls over us all. The music commences and we gracefully raise our right arms in unison to our sides, and turn out our feet into the perfect first position, and class begins. Dorrit demonstrates the exercise and we follow her exact moves. We all turn to face the back wall and repeat it with the left leg. After about ten various types of combination steps, and jump steps across the floor, we take a break.

            I believe that some people underestimate the work of a ballerina. In their minds the typical ballerina is a little girl with a big pink tutu spinning aimlessly on her toe, with her arms raised and curved over her head. After doing ballet for 14 years, I know from personal experience just how wrong these people are. Ballet takes a great deal of discipline, motivation and strength. To be a ballerina you have to be willing to change your entire life and diet in order to stay in the right shape and keep the right body type. You have to be willing to practice until perfection and complete exercises on a daily basis in order to keep yourself strong enough to do ballet. Every movement in ballet is an extreme effort in order to get just right.

            “I just don’t understand teenagers, I never will!” Dorrit stated boldly. Almost ignoring what she said, my friends and I continued to discuss boys and current event taking place in our lives. The advice we give and receive from each other makes all the difference in most of our problematic situations. After we were done fastening the ribbons on our pointe shoes, we reluctantly rose to our feet. We each did our individual exercises that we need to do before the first rise onto our toes. Mine, specifically being lying down on the floor and sliding my feet under a radiator in order to stretch my ankles so I can get onto full pointe. After we each warm ourselves up in our own individual ways we gather in the middle of the room directly in front of the mirrors. We get up on our toes in a couple of different exercises, and then we start the more challenging steps. “Knees straight!” Dorrit always demanded perfection and effort. If a girl was not trying, or was talking, that individual would be told what it was that she was doing wrong in such a way that made all of us always want to do everything perfect.

            Still through all the sweat and the tears, the result is priceless. At the completion of each class I am left with a smile across my face, regardless of what type of mood I had originally entered the building in. I cannot help but be proud of myself, because the results are instant and the effort is demanding. Knowing I am capable of completing these two-hour classes 3 times a week is a victory to me. So, the next time you hear “ballet”, rather than thinking of pink satin shoes or tutus, just remember the value of a ballerina’s footprint.