Dancing with my Daughter

Tonight I took my daughter to ballet. She has been taking lessons for about two and a half years at our local civic ballet. Before that, she did gymnastics and "baby ballet." She is eleven, about the age I was when I really caught the bug after six years of ballet, and started actually wanting to be good. Something is going on with her (other than the first onslaught of puberty); she is a tense kid, not particularly flexible, very little musical sense, but suddenly she is on fire to go on pointe. I explained to her that just because she's eleven doesn't mean she is ready. However, I also said I would work with her, as best I can, to get her ready. Thus, ballet with the grownups tonight (with the teacher's permission of course).

She stood behind me at barre, so I couldn't see what she was doing, which is probably good. I always go through a period of adjustment at the beginning of class, as if my mind needs to warm up as well as my body. I have to actually think all the the things that after fifteen minutes or so become reflexes again; core held, chin level, shoulders back and down, neck long, arms floating, feet... you get the idea. K, the teacher gave her some good corrections, I thought. She knows AW (daughter) from last year, when she had her in class, so fortunately neither felt shy of the other.

She is a gawky child, all long, long, limbs and this tiny little body, like a pretty little spider. I think there may be some grace in there -- at her end of term recital I saw it in her port-de-bras, a kind of sustain that wasn't there before. But it takes so much work to make a dancer, and the discipline and rigor of our little school is simply not that intense, so for someone who isn't a "natural" it is probably a lot harder to get there. I hope I can help her get to her goal of going on pointe, but more, I hope I can show her that it doesn't matter that much, in the end, so long as one enjoys dancing and finds some bliss in it.

Toward the end of class, K set a very simple combination, a saute arabesque/chassee on alternate sides -- pure, skipping fun. All of us were smiling as we did it, and AW got a big grin on her little face and said, "Wow, that was awesome!"

So, maybe she doesn't need me to show her anything. She already knows.