There are so many contradictions in ballet, it's quite amusing.
The whole premise of ballet is that it looks effortless and graceful, but in reality there is so much work going on with the body to create that illustion. It's very much like a swan - you see this serene creature glide across the water as if by magic, but look underneath and you will see the swan's legs frantically working at 100mph to create that movement. Well, ballet is exactly like that.
Very often our legs are moving really fast and using exceptional amount of muscle power to get them from one position to another, meanwhile our arms are flowing much more slowly and our bodies are 'quiet'. The illusion is that is all looks so soft and fluid, but it's actually exceptionally hard work.
After our pointe class on a Thursday, the studio is used by a yoga class. After class last week, the yoga sorts came bounding into the room as we were getting changed (the irony here is that this lot are such an aggressive bunch, when yoga is meant to be chilled out!), shoving our stuff out of the way, when one mouthy woman exclaimed, "it smells of sweat in here!". Aside from the fact we all know that while dancers may smell of sweat, yoga students fart the whole time during class, so major case of the pot calling the kettle black, but it was funny because much of the sweating comes from keeping your body straight and pulled up and looking like your are not working, whilst your legs and feet are going like the clappers!
Also, anyone who does ballet also knows how pretty the clothing can be. Of course, each thing actually serves a purpose and is rarely superfluous. Leg warmers, though perhaps a cliche in dance, serve an important function - to help warm up cold joints. I really the notice the difference when I forget mine. I, for instance, often have one leg warmer rolled up revealing my ankle, whilst the other is fully covering my ankle. I've not seceretly joined the Masons, I just have one foot which doesn't always behave therefore I like to see what it's up to at all times, so it doesn't get to hide under the legwarmer. I also roll up one leg of my shorts for similar reasons - I feel my right leg doesn't cross as well as my right, so I like to keep it free to see what it's doing.
The whole irony/contradiction of ballet is carried to what we wear, and consequently, what we carry in our bags. Little knitted shrugs and pretty satin shoes, which all seem so delicate and feminine, yet all of this ends up weighing a bloody ton!
Inside my bag I carry: a leotard, legwarmers, two pairs of pointe shoes, a pair of soft ballet shoes, lambswool, a shrug, shorts and usually, but not in this bag, a pair of pink ballet tights, plasters and water.
I'll do all this ballet only to end up with a sore back from a heavy ballet bag. Go figure!
Queen Michelle
