Godzillarina

It has been ages since I went to my ballet class. I went twice, then I stopped - life got in the way and I just could not make it to the class. Last week I was lamenting my inability to make it back and make it part of my life.

So this past Tuesday night, while Mr. Blueberry Pancakes and I were finishing dinner, I noticed it was just before 7PM. I said aloud "You know, if I go upstairs and get ready, I can make it to ballet in time." He said "Why don't you?" So, I did! I ran up, got dressed, found my shoes, got my wallet... and even though I was probably going to be *late* to the class, I ran out of the house super excited that YESSSSSSSSS I was picking ballet back up again!

One little aside here - I am *not* a ballerina by ANYONE'S definition. I took ballet classes as a kid and liked them a lot, but ultimately preferred soccer practice to ballet - I never even made it to pointe classes with the pretty satin shoes (and killer bunions that came with them). So, my non-ballerina self found this Absolute Beginning Ballet class for adults a couple years ago, and I started going to it regularly back then. But just like right now, life got in the way of me keeping it up.

So I get to the studio and here I am so thrilled to be back to ballet that I don't care that I am running in there late. I watch the girls inside finish up a fairly complicated combo, and I think, Hmmmmmmm, that looks tough. But the music stops and they finish and I run in the room, over to the barre. I say to JillyBean, the teacher, "Sorry I'm late!" And she tries suppressing a laugh and says "Liz! Nice to see you, but the Tuesday class starts at 6:45, Monday's starts at 7:30!" OOPS - I'm not five minutes late, I am FIFTY minutes late! Then she says "But you can stay for this one, you're fine! There's over an hour of this class left!" I thought to myself, this is definitely not Absolute Beginning ballet, but ok I'm here and excited so I'll give it a shot.

Well, all the girls in the class were definitely well above intermediate level. They were so good and had perfect form and could nail the combos on the first try! I could barely keep up, and what I was doing was on the wrong feet, or the wrong direction, or whatever. My inexperience was not hidden from anyone. But. I stuck it out. And you know what? It was way more fun than the Absolute Beginning class, even if I did look like Godzilla.


After spending the next 75 minutes in a class which felt like it was prepping people to audition for the New York City Ballet, I asked Jill what I had just taken. She told me it was Beginner/Intermediate ballet class. Beginner/Intermediate? Holy crap! I guess my face gave away my thoughts... Jill then said "I know you think you didn't do well, but you did fine and this class is probably a good level for you. I am a fan of encouraging growth and pushing yourself, you did great."

I think JillyBean was being very nice... I was trying not to cringe as she said all that, but you know what? The class was really fun. I am positive I am not at the level those girls were in. But I might be able to get there with a lot of practice and more classes like this one! I will probably go back to one more Absolute Beginner class, but maybe it is time to just move up and push myself a little. Hell, I just did!

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HA HA! There is a GODZILLARINA! Check out this image I found!