More Than Just Steps
For 16 years of my life I have done ballet, and throughout the majority of those years I thought that I was simply learning how to dance. However, particularly in high school, I came to realize that some of the most important things that I was learning at ballet were only tangentially related to the art form. Growing up in this environment has prepared me for life better than any book I could read or any class I could take in school.
From the very beginning ballet has taught me self control. A ballet class has a lot of rules. For example, dancers are not supposed to lean on the barre. While this seems like a relatively simple and easy rule, it actually can be quite difficult for a 7 year old to follow. When they are tired and are simply listening to the teacher talk, their inclination is to lean against something. However, this is considered disrespectful in a ballet class, so quite quickly I had to learn to take control of what I was doing and not simply go into autopilot. A similar example is the fact that, when you transition between sides at the barre, you are always supposed to turn towards the barre. I don’t know why this is a rule, but it is, and once again even the young dancers are expected to follow this rule. These small and nitpicky rules are the basis of the dynamic in a ballet class, so I had to learn to really think and be deliberate in my actions.
This concept of doing things purposefully is applied to every little thing in ballet. You can’t just willy nilly throw your legs and arms around and hope that everything works out. Each move is very calculated and requires a lot of attention to detail. Am I turned out? Is my foot pointed? Is my arm in the correct position? Every part of your body needs to be properly placed in order for the position to look correct. Beyond the aesthetics of it, there is also a proper way to do the movement. For example, you are not supposed to simply move your arm from one position to the next. While the shape may look correct, if you don’t use the correct muscles then the quality of it is wrong. Paying attention to those sorts of intricacies is what elevates the final product and separates the good dancers from the great dancers.
I’m just going to be straight with you: ballet isn’t easy, and it can really start to break you down sometimes. Growing up in this environment has truly taught me how to persevere. The art form itself requires a lot of practice in order to improve. For example, transitioning from single pirouettes to doubles takes time, and can be frustrating. In the beginning you’re only hitting that second turn every so often. You practice on the side but feel like you aren’t making any progress. Maybe someone in your class is a natural turner and is already consistently doing doubles. It’s very easy to get down on yourself. But you just have to keep working at it. In a little while you find yourself doing doubles with ease, and have moved on to trying triples. This determination is necessary if you want to get better as a dancer. You can’t just give up when things are difficult; everything in ballet is difficult.
Ballet dancers are dedicated to their craft; the dancing is often put before the dancer. Even if you have a bruised toenail, you are expected to dance. Depending on the teacher, they might allow you to do things on flat instead of pointe, but ultimately you need to be able to do the dance the way it is supposed to be done. The audience doesn’t care about your bruised toenail; they paid to see you dance, and they expect you to do a good job. So, you dance through the pain because you need to practice. This dedication is also seen in the amount of time that ballet dancers spend at the studio. A Saturday of rehearsals could require you to be at the studio for 6+ hours. Most dancers say goodbye to a social life; they don’t have time to go to parties or other events — they have ballet. It’s intense, but dancers recognize it as something they have to endure in order to do what they love.
Doing ballet has shown me what it means to be truly passionate about something. Yeah, it’s hard, and yeah, I have put a lot of literal blood, sweat, and tears into it, but I wouldn’t trade all of that for literally anything in the world. Every single injury I got and every single mental breakdown that I had was completely worth it. I have seen what people will endure simply because they love what they are doing and can’t imagine their life without it. That level of enthusiasm is truly beautiful. I now see that it doesn’t really matter how crazy your life may seem to somebody else as long as you are happy with it.
In school, teachers are trying to prepare you for the real world. They try and fill your brain with knowledge that you hopefully find interesting. They encourage you to develop a good work ethic. However, without ballet I would have a limited knowledge of what working hard really is. I wouldn’t have the same level of self control and perseverance. But most importantly, I wouldn’t know what it means to care about something so much that you will sacrifice your physical and mental well being just to continue doing that thing. I now know how to truly put my entire self into something that I care about, and I strive to do that for everything that is important to me.
