Ok - This Sh*t Hurts

I walk into Joel Hall and register to find a new promotion going - bring a friend and get a class free. www.joelhall.org for more details!!!

Anyone reading and interested - let me know - I'm your friend :). So if you need some courage or you just want to try - you couldn't be in better hands. Ummm - just don't read the title, ok?

I'm getting putting on my shoes and ankle warmers when Wavy Ponytail rounds the corner. She's a Tuesday regular but she's kinda quiet. I always say hello, but I didn't give her a nickname. Lil Black Chick rounds the corner as well and I haven't seen her in awhile. We smile and chat. The Young One comes around and puts on her pointe shoes. I haven't seen her since we did battle for front spot. I think she's been avoiding me by going to Monday night class :) 

We line up at the barre. The Young One assumes her regular position. Wavy, Lil B and I opt for the non-frontal barre positions and line up behind each other. MDB gives us our plies and we're off - two demis and a grande, port de bra, releve, plie and on to the next position. 

The Young One is wearing pointe shoes. MDB gives her pointers (pun intended) and the three of us watch quiet and unenvious of the painfully beautiful slippers on her feet.

Side Bar: I could see us in pointe shoes

Menty: That's one of the most positive statements from you in a long time

Side Bar: I wasn't finished - I could see us in pointe shoes...breaking our ankles!!

Menty: Ok - you can shut up now. 

We move onto tendus, degages, rond de jambes with arabesque, frappes, and battements. Through them all, MDB goes through making corrections for all of us and continues to give pointers to the Young One. 

We move to the adagio. It was terrible. My a false, a carte and hey ho hey - was all in the wrong directions....and so was everyone else's!! We are all trying to look at each other to see who was doing it right. Finally MDB took mercy on us and got us going - but we couldn't keep it straight. So of course - we had to do it again. 

After we butchered that poor combination, we moved into traveling combinations. The first combination went well. We had some tweaking to do, but we did ok. The second combination was tour jete - which can look like some sorta karate move when done incorrectly. MDB shows us slowly - which we do - and screw up. And then she let's us do it quickly - TIMBER!!!  

Ok - none of us go down, but I had a few close calls. We finish with pique turns and I'm a little gun shy. I've fallen to the floor three times this month on  my right hip while executing turns.  And while I'm all for falling down and getting up - the falling down shit - HURTS!!!