Ballet
Imagine standing on a stage, and the lights are off. You feel heat everywhere from the other dancers dancing. The lights turn on, and you’re in your pose, the heat is even more intense because the light is straight on you. You have to wait for the first group to dance you are nervous to go. The dance is finally done. Now your music begins and so does your dance. You feel shaky, but when you get into your dance, you forget anyone is watching. You fall in love with the song and dance with your whole heart. You feel like your painting a picture for everyone to see. Before you know it your dance is over. The audience's applause is deafening, and when the lights go out, you feel relieved and run off to the back of the stage where the audience’s eyes can no longer see you. You have a powerful feeling inside of you, and you are almost disappointed that you are done. This is what ballet performances feel like. I have been through plenty of these, and I'm going to tell you the process to get there. We will be talking about the history of ballet, ballet positions, dances I have done, my teachers, and dance studio, beginner dance moves, and my personal dance experience.
The history of ballet is a fascinating topic. It began during the Renaissance during the 1500’s originating in Italy. Catherine de Medici of Italy married King Henry the second and introduced ballet to France. When ballet first started out the costumes would be so heavy that dancing in them they would tire the dancer instantaneously. The dancers would also wear masks that would hide their faces. The dancers wore every-day shoes with a heel to dance with, unlike modern-day ballet shoes. They were very uncomfortable to dance in. Ballet had spread to France and Russia, but they would change it according to their preferences. That is how pointe was invented. (Nedvigin, 2008)
Now if you have ever wanted to learn how to do ballet; the first step is the positions. Let's start with feet. The first position is…well first position. Imagine a birds mouth, ok now picture that mouth opening as wide as it possibly can. That is what first position looks like. Now, after thinking about first, take the feet and scoot them out to the side, but keep the turn out that is second position. I bet you think that third position is going to be next. Well, your wrong, formal ballet has no third position. The reason why formal ballet doesn’t use third position is that it looks too much like fifth position, so they don't use it. But they do have a fourth position. The legs of fourth position look like a twisted pretzel. Your feet are also twisted. There is a space between your two feet. After fourth position is fifth position. It looks exactly like fourth except your heel is touching the side of your big toe on your other foot. Just like the feet positions, arms have the same names, but they do have a third position. Think about hugging a tree that you're able to touch your fingertips. Now let go of the tree, but keep your arms like how you had around the tree. That's first position in arms. Keep your arms in first and extend them, that is second. From here, take one of your arms and put it above your head leave the other arm in second, that is third position. Moving on to fourth position, you need to take the arm that was in second back to first but keep the arm that is above your head there, that is fourth. We are almost done. Just hold on for a little longer. Next is fifth. It is pretty straightforward. Just take your arm when it is in fourth and bring the arm that is in first up to meet the other arm up there. That is fifth position in arms. Make sure it looks like an oval shape. (Perkovich, 2012)
On a personal note, I have performed many dances. Some of the names for these dances are” Turtle dance,” “Mermaid dance,” "My Heart will go on” dance, “Majestic Seven” dance, Daydream dance, Hula Hoop dance, Antelope dance, and Badger dance. The Turtle dance, Mermaid dance, “My Heart will go on” dance, and the “Majestic Seven” dance I did in ballet one. The “My Heart will go on” dance and “Majestic Seven” dance was the first dances I did in ballet one. The performance was about music from movies. “The Turtle dance” and “Mermaid Dance” I also did in ballet one. Those dances were performances of was Peter Pan. The “Daydream dance,” and” Hula Hoop” dance were my most recent ballet dances. They were part of the dance and play performance. (Treasure, 2002)
People have teachers for everything. Your parents are your teachers for life. They give you advice in tough situations. You have teachers at school to learn new things about science, math, ELA, and many other subjects. Similarly, I have teachers for ballet. Some of my teachers I had for ballet last year are Ms. Emileah and Mrs. Hannah. This year I have Mrs. Dianne and Mrs. TeAwna. I have had Ms. Sammi and Ms. Sabrina as substitute teachers. When I was little, I had Mrs. Jocelyn as a ballet teacher. The academy I go to is called Treasure Valley Academy. Treasure Valley Academy’s slogan is “We are a regional pre-collegiate dance studio focused on formal ballet training” (www.tvballet.com). (Lockhart, 2017)
I’m going to start you off with beginner dance moves. Because I don't want to confuse you too much. In beginner ballet, you start with plies, tendue, dégagé, rond de jambe, and grand botma. All of these dance moves you do from the feet positions I talked about previously. Some more simple moves are turns. There are many turns in ballet, so I’m only going to tell you a few. There is the chaîné, pique, pirouette, fouetté, and step up turn. When you are younger in ballet, you work on first, second, and fifth position that includes arms, but when you get older, you learn fourth. Also during younger years of ballet, you work on two feet to one foot after that you work on one foot to one foot. (Andrew, 2018)
I started ballet when I was four I was six when I had to quit. You are probably asking yourself “why did you have to quit?” I had to quit because my dad lost his job so we couldn’t afford it. About two years ago I had wanted to start ballet again so I took a summer class so that I could remember all of the things I needed to learn. I then took their normal ballet class that is during the school year class. The levels of ballet are Pre-Ballet one, Pre-Ballet two, Pre-Ballet three, Pre-ballet four, Primary Ballet one, Primary Ballet two, Ballet one, Ballet two, Ballet three, Ballet four, Ballet five/six, Ballet seven/eight. The class I started in was ballet one. I now do ballet two, and I am hoping to move up to ballet four next year. (Sturlin, 2018)
Ballet is an art. No one knows what they are watching unless they have done ballet. It requires grace and strength. Ballet is physically painful. The pain of soreness, the pain of toes bleeding when you are on pointe too long. Many things are done for ballet, but when you get on stage and get ready for a performance that is what makes it worth it. Ballet is my passion. It is a way to express yourself when you can’t be heard using your voice. In conclusion, I have shared the history of ballet, ballet positions, dances I have done, my teachers and dance studio, beginner dance moves, and my personal dance experience.