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Not being the most graceful person, I decided I wanted to get rid of those bruises that appeared conspicuously from time to time (absolutely unaided by any substances I might add), decided to take a ballet dance class. Having never taken an ounce of ballet, Beginner’s Ballet 247 was the natural choice. However, from what I had heard about the classes, it was not all tutus and fluff. The teacher had strict rules and there were many papers to write. I signed up anyway wanting to know more about the arts of dancing.

The entire first class consisted of the teacher explaining each point of the syllabus so we would understand thoroughly everything required of us. These points consisted of a clean appearance, assignments, papers, presentation and performances to attend and, finally, a final exam. It was good of our teacher to be clear about her expectations, but I was left feeling overwhelmed and slightly off-balance. And we hadn’t even done a single plié.

Classes were two times a week at the Robins Center and we would always start at the bar, dressed in pink tights and a black leotard, hair in a bun pulled straight back. Fortunately, my initial thought about the class was proven wrong as the second and third week ensued, and we started to learn the first, second, third, fourth, fifth positions. Then the teacher would direct, correct, and redirect our feet and arm directions. Some days it felt good to stretch and had moments where I felt like a professional practicing another day to perform Swan Lake. Other days everything just hurt.

With the number of steps and new vocabulary we learned, I found it very important to keep reviewing the steps and names in my head and to ask the teacher a lot of questions. The class helped me develop my rusty French as we repeated after teacher’s plies, tournes and grand battements. There were also papers to write, but they were more like expressing all the dancing I had been doing into words. The performances we attended were a treat because now I wasn’t just an audience member. Learning even the basics of ballet made me much more attentive and appreciative of the athleticism of the dancers on stage in performances such as Midsummer’s Night Dream and the Richmond Ballet Studio 1.

Finally, the research paper was a reinforcement of what we had been learning all semester as I researched George Balanchine, the great choreographer and creator of the New York City Ballet, I found familiar terms I had been learning as well as brand new facts and ideas about dance.

On paper, the list of assignments and projects seemed too rigid too rigorous for an elective, but really they were just a series of steps that made the material comprehensive and easier to grasp the concepts of dance. I would recommend this for a semester of looking at dance with new eyes and gaining a better understanding of art.

University of Richmond Theatre and Dance

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