Ballet!!!!

I went to my first ballet class in two weeks on Saturday!! It's amazing how much more flexible I get when I let my muscles completely disappear--all of a sudden it's like there are no muscles connecting my bones. What? Hamstrings? Totally not there at all. So yay for that.

I asked for help in finding a studio about a week ago, but I ended up just googling a place. It didn't look like a ballet place so much as a pilates/yoga/spiritual place that also offered ballet classes. Anyways, I figured that I would try it out. And I did.

The bike ride down there was fairly exciting! Because I feel over! Which made me happy. Because I've been waiting for it to happen, and then it did, and I totally didn't hurt myself. Although I need to practice falling--I totally went for the hand-ground-first-thing, which is silly if one likes the bones in one's hand (as I do). Anyways. Glad that's done with. It was kind of embarrassing though--I was right across the street from the studio at the time. Oh well! Embarrassment is useless. Right. Ballet!

So, this studio is in an area of Tel Aviv that looks a bit sketch on a Saturday evening--people aren't really around, and appears less affluent than other areas. The studio was up a narrow, cracked flight of stairs that opened up on a broad, sunlit room with couches to one side, and a desk with a computer to the other. A silvery teapot sat surrounded by cups on a low table in the center of the ring of couches. It felt very welcoming, although empty. The only person in the studio was a young-ish man in one of two studios.

I knocked, looked blank for about 2 minutes while he talked incomprehensibly to me over the music, then I realized he was speaking Hebrew, then I felt stupid for thinking that I just wasn't hearing him. Oops. He actually spoke really excellent English once I explained that I know exactly two things in Hebrew (excuse me and thank you).

It turned out I was twenty minutes early (which has never, ever happened before. I factored in extra time for when I got lost, but I was never even slightly confused. It was a seriously excellent bike ride). So, I stretched, and met the studio cat (yay ballet cats!)

The class itself: it turned out the guy I met first was the teacher, and there were only a couple of other students there that day. I was wearing the most ballet-ish clothes of anyone there (this has also never happened to me before. Ever. I even had my hair up all the way, since I had twenty minutes to kill before class. Although I didn't even bother bringing hairpins, so it was a pretty slapdash bun. But still. Leotard, tights, bun...ballet shoes. It was crazy).

It was really excellent to be in a class again, although it was something of an odd class. I am pretty positive that we did more forward cambres than plies. Also, there was not a single releve. Also, there was a distinct feeling of crazy arms. I didn't even know where to throw my arm to next. But it was a fun class anyway. They need to put a new floor in there, though. It is in this tiny tiny studio, and the floor is not even a little bit flat. Plus there are sinkholes. Grand allegro was way exciting--that'll teach me to have some awareness of where I am in space.

Some of the other students gave me the name and address of another studio to try out, so I'm excited for that. I got the feeling that it is a more ballet-oriented place (they apparently have a pianist).

Hopefully I won't get completely out of shape this fall! Actually, hopefully I'll get more in shape. I suppose that's always the goal. Especially if it doesn't involve running in straight lines just to run in straight lines.