At the ballet

Last night the girls in my family all went to see the Russian National Ballet perform Sleeping Beauty. A-mazing! Princess Aurora was magnificent dancing the Rose Adagio, but perhaps my most favorite was the Lilac Fairy herself, and even though Aurora was amazing, she had nothing on the Lilac Fairy. I'm not sure which dancer was on last night (there are several who dance the part of the Lilac Fairy), but she had the longest neck and arms and legs I've ever seen. They went on and on, maybe for another 50 miles. Talk about swan necks! And her arms were so graceful whirling across the stage; she was magical to watch. This performance was the first professional ballet performance I've seen since taking adult ballet classes (the last one I saw was A Midsummer Night's Dream in high school, which still remains my favorite ballet) and I loved the fact that I recognized many of the steps and knew the names of them - attitude, attitude en pointe into an arabesque, pirouettes en dedans and en dehors. And I could appreciate how difficult the pirouettes and chaines turns were (because I could hardly do them in class!), but the dancers made them look so easy and effortless.

Owww

Well, I'm officially old. How do I know this? Because I've come to the point where I need to ice my knee. During plies in ballet class tonight, I thought my left knee would give out. I had a chance to stretch it at the barre, but then we started doing all kinds of jumping and bending and more plies on the center floor, and by the end of class, I was in a lot of pain.

My knee had been bothering me on and off for months now, but nothing really too serious. I thought it was because I wore heels too often. But in the past week, it has gotten worse to the point where I can barely walk down the stairs without feeling like someone shot off my kneecap, and now I'm finally admitting defeat.

It's time to ice my bum knee.

I never thought I'd see this day.

Glissades and other stuff

I really had fun at ballet class last night. The barre work is getting to be such that it's fairly routine by now and I can start concentrating on my form without worrying so much about the steps. Doing combinations on the center floor, however, offers up something new and interesting every week.

First, I finally succeeded in doing pirouettes, after three weeks of frustration, which I felt hugely proud of. Then we proceeded to do the longest combination yet so far, consisting of three elements:

1. Glissade
2. Jete in one direction
3. Jete in the opposite direction
4. Pas de bourree

The feeling of gliding across the floor is indescribable - so weightless and freeing.

New traditions

A grocery store run for pancake ingredients a few weeks ago has led to a new tradition in our household: every Saturday, Mr Hazel makes a heaping stack of pancakes for brunch, to which I usually add bacon. A veritable feast to be sure - enough to ensure me a whole week's worth of leftovers for breakfast.

My sister and I also started a new tradition where every Friday after ballet class we alternate renting a dance movie and watching it at each others' houses over dinner. Last week we saw the ballet-centric Center Stage, which I loved, and this week I chose Flashdance. Such campy 80s fun - especially the clothes.

I hope you all made the most of the last day of summer. Me? I went to the dancewear store with the female members of my family, where we proceeded to buy out their inventory. I bought a new dance skirt and tights, and a nifty hair gadget that will enable me to put my hair up easily in a bun.

Goodbye, summer!