Double Ballet Day

Class Number One: It was a real adult beginner class! All adults, (the teacher was probably the youngest there), at an actual beginner level. We stretched, we warmed up slowly at the barre, the teacher led us through barre exercises & we did some fun floor combinations. White Swan grinned annoyingly for most of the class but the highlight for her was during stretching. WS was not born with the gift of flexibility and there was another student who could only reach mid shin while White Swan was grazing the tips of her toes with her fingertips. I refrained from pointing it out in the middle of class but I don't know why I bothered. The girl was wearing a t-shirt. A T-SHIRT! In ballet class! If I have to stand around looking like a sausage in a leotard and tights, so should she. But it was a fun class and we left feeling good about our blossoming dance careers until we arrived at...

Class Number Two: We walked into a large studio full of 3' tall goblins in pink tights, pink leotards and pink ballet shoes running wild all over the place. White Swan shuddered while I rolled my eyes. The Executive Director introduced himself to us and I told him we were there for the three o'clock class, which is listed as a tweens & teens beginner class, also open to adults on an ongoing basis. The only other adults in the class were the teacher and her, um, eccentric husband who "assists" her classes. When the Executive Director told her we were there for the class, she looked at us, looked at him and said like a total snoot, 'We are practicing for a performance'. They discussed for a minute while the swans stood around feeling very awkward. He came back and asked us to stay for the barre portion of class, free of charge. Then the husband came over grinning and nodding maniacally and told us he thought we would get a lot out of the barre exercises. We considered making a run for it but instead shrugged our shoulders and walked into the class. The teacher proceeded to ignore us for the next 50 minutes while the husband took a little too much interest in us. We held our own for the most part but when we were finishing an arabesque, the husband was standing in front of me and said, 'Oh yes! You added a beautiful flourish there at the end!'. I wasn't aware I was flourishing but he stood there and made me "flourish" when we did the other side, as well. Hopefully they will start an actual adult ballet class because it was a very nice studio but today's experience was just a bit too weird.

- Black Swan