The Beginning of a Dancer

         At some point in every girl's life, they strive to be a ballerina with amazing flexibility and natural gracefulness. They get their first pair of soft shoes and treat them with such care, sometimes even sewing it themselves... Most of all, every dancer dreams about getting their first pair of pointe shoes. Most girls starting ballet don't even think about the time, efforts, and pain it takes to be a dancer. They expect their parents to bring them to class, do their hair, buy their outfits, and make sure that they never get too stressed. However, once a girl has started her path of dance, everything changes.

        Girls who start ballet are expected to take care of all their responsibilities by themselves. I think that most girls think that their parents are going to do these things for them, but once you become a dancer, you have to become a very independent person. You'll probably start ballet and work your hardest, but your parent will probably have many restrictions on you, for example, my parents were very unhappy about the fact that I had to take weekend classes. However, if you make these pacts, you should expect to break them.

         My parents are always telling me about how being on pointe ruins your feet and that I'll have foot pain when I'm older, but I think its worth it. Putting on pointe shoes gives a dancer a feelings of confidence and proudness, and as soon as you start dancing, you feel this wave of pride. The best part of being on pointe for me is that as soon as you start dancing you have the control. The control of your movements, the control of your body, the control of your awareness. Every time I dance on pointe, I have this sense of absolute concentration where until I'm done with the combination I am just focusing on what I'm supposed to do next and what mistakes I just made.

          It can be hard to focus in class because all your friends are there, and you want to catch up, and your constantly thinking about what you're going to do when you get home, and you're judging every single student and saying to yourself whether or not they are going to succeed or not. I usually find a balance between friends and work in class. I'll learn the combination we're going to do next, then I'll catch up. I will also try and ask other people how to do the combination so that not only are they learning themselves but also teaching me.

         Ballet is sweat, tears, blood, blisters, time, money, and competition, but the most important part is to always have fun!