Values Clarification

[hart]

I am feeling encouraged because I feel like I am actually improving a little bit. I have tended to be so frustrated in the past because I have not been able to replicate body sensations from one class to the next. Over the last several weeks, I have been focusing almost solely on learning how to pull-up while relaxing my tailbone down. I am not quite sure why I am beginning to feel a basic sense of mastery in this area when I have struggled to do things consistently in the past, but it feels good. Maybe it is because I am in my third year and things are starting to click. Maybe it is just that my stress levels are a little lower and I can focus in class more easily. I just don't know.

 

I do know that over the last several weeks I have gained some clarity about ballet's role in my life along with what I value in ballet. When it comes to learning ballet, I have decided that I just really want to work hard on the fundamentals. The fundamentals just seem to make almost every step in ballet so much easier to do. I am learning to just enjoy the slow, steady process and quality of my work over taking classes where I do complicated stuff but look stupid. There is a reason why kids don't look stupid when they get to the more advanced classes; they've spent seven years getting there. When I am fifty, I may not have a 120 degree arabesque, but I can still look like a dancer. And who knows, perhaps by then, I will have learned a little bit about what it means to be an artist.

[Victoria Leigh]

Really excellent post, hart. Sounds like you have your act together and your head in the right place!

[Hans]

The fundamentals just seem to make almost every step in ballet so much easier to do.

 

That is exactly right!

[Jaana Heino]

Hart, that's it.

 

I think the problem I had with my classes earlier (it's getting better with changing schedules and classes) was partly because of feelings exactly like yours.

[Laschwen]

 

 

My sentiments exactly! Have a great week.

 

Laschwen]

[Guest adancingartistforlife]

Hart, you couldn't be more on target...

[Guest pink tights]

I struggle with what I look like now compared to what used to be..

[ami1436]

Hart - I referenced this thread on the current one about 'bad classes', but just adding here that you are so right about the fundamentals. I really wish I had fully appreciated that when I was much younger!

[Guest pink tights]

Hart,

I'm glad you are feeling encouraged. Keep working on your technique!! It's slow, tedious work but it is worth it when you finally nail something.

[hart]

Thank you all for your encouragement. It is very much appreciated.

[Guest sally-mandy]

Hart, your post about your feelings three years into it are very encouraging to me as a returning student. I am going to try a class at the university in the spring, and I really want to start with the absolute basics. I kind of have a hunger for that. For the reasons you mentioned. When I learned the basics I was a child and didn't have the mental capacity to understand them well. I'd like to grasp them that way now. Honestly, I would rather master something very simple than feel like a fool over my head. Because with this art form, even the basics are beautiful!