I had my first ballet lesson when I was two and a half years old. I can't say I remember too much about it, but I do recall a wooden floor on which they would draw a chalk circle with a giant compass that we had to keep inside when we were doing our moves, pliés and point springs.
I have more traumatic memories of learning ballet when I was a bit older (5-9 years old). Lets face it. I do not have a natural ballet physique. I am fine with that. Now. At the time though, I was very aware that I was a head and shoulders taller than nearly everybody else. Although I know that they were doing it for my own good, even though I used to go up through the grades, I never took one ballet exam, and at the time I never really new why.
Then, it all came to a head when I was nine years old when my teacher, Miss Chase, said to me when I was experiencing slight balance and coordination issues whilst attempting a pirouette, "Don't worry Louise, it is not your fault that your brain has further to travel to get to your feet than everyone else". But it wasn't just to me. It was in front of the whole class and all of the parents that were lined up at the side waiting to collect their children and the end of the lesson. I think it was my own mother that laughed the loudest. That was the last ballet class that I ever took.
When I was eleven I was treated to a trip to the ballet to see Swan Lake in Covent Garden, London which was a great adventure because at the time I was living in Lyme Regis in Dorset and a trip to the Big Smoke was another world. It was a very dear family friend that took me and although I enjoyed it, I could only appreciate it from the eyes of an eleven year old which did not do it justice.
Years on, in my year of choosing to do things that I want to do, I decided that I wanted to revisit the ballet in a festive spirit and so booked tickets to go and watch The Nutcracker. So that is where I headed last night with Mum in tow and two good friends. After a pit-stop to introduce Mum to the delights of Shabu Shabu, we descended on the Golden West Performing Arts Theatre in Huntington Beach.
The performance was put on by The Ballet Repertory Theater which is a volunteer educational organization which was formed in 1977. It relies solely on its fundraising efforts to keep it going, so although there were professional versions around, I chose to support this one, and I am very pleased that I did. It was delightful!
Was it perfect? No. There were stumbles and fumbles, but this made it even more personable. There were young girls that were a little more than three years old taking part which took me back to my days on stage in which I think I played a sea nymph in one and a fairy in another amongst other things (all blink and you would miss me moments!). It was the children that made it so special. Of all ages. Auditions are available for all to take part in which is what makes it so inclusive.
The prima ballerina was a young called Ali Deovlet and I thought she was phenomenal (the lead is shared between four girls who swap each performance). The control and posture was fantastic. It's fair to say that I don't really know anything about ballet, but you can see when someone is good and she was great. She was truly beautiful to watch. It is fair to say that with my extra years, ahem, experience, I now can appreciate the performance.
And to top it off I got to add to my Christmas tree decorations, a Nutcracker Solider and a Ballerina, put on the tree by me and my mum. Another one for the memory box when I bring the decorations out each year!
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