Grandpa Kline's Poppycock {Not Your Average Caramel Corn}

There are few childhood memories that do not have something to do with ballet, for me.  I spent countless hours dancing at Duluth School of Ballet from the age of almost three to a high school graduate.  Sixteen years of my life spent dancing around in my pink tights and black leotard.  Sixteen years of classes, costumes, ballet shoes, pointe shoes, etc. paid for by my hard working parents (which I will never be able to thank them enough for).  Sixteen years of memories made and lessons learned.  It would be cool if I had sixteen lessons to write about and I am sure that I could think of that many.  However, the math side of my brain is trying to gear back up for the next school year and the English part has officially shut down since I am done with graduate school.  So here are ten lessons learned….

1. My 80 something year old ballet teacher, Ms. Patricia, once told me, “Rachel, slow down. You are always one second ahead of where you should be. Just slow down.”  She was right.  Life goes by way too fast to speed any part of it up.  And besides, one second ahead, means one second off the music and that just does not look good.

2. Like I said above, life goes by way too fast.  One day my parents were signing me up for something they thought would be fun.  The next day, the curtain was closing for the last time.  I would give anything to be able to go back to the days, where we left everything at the door and just danced. 

3.  The ballet studio that I danced at was ideal.  Mr. Peter, owner and former Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancer, believed in the art of dance.  He knew that it would be a rare chance that one of his girls ended up dancing professionally.  All he cared about was teaching us to love the art.  To love dance.  He wanted us to understand the movements and dance our hearts out.  It was never a competition.  We did not have end of the year recitals (a curse word in Mr. Peter’s mind), but performances.  These performances were his/our way of showing not only what we learned that year, but to make the audience fall in love with the art as well.

4. Because Mr. Peter did not instill an underlying culture of competition, the girls in my class and I truly loved and enjoyed one another.  There is nothing like a random group of girls, from all areas of Northeast Atlanta getting together three days a week.  None of us went to the same high school, so we never had any outside drama to worry about.  A good group of girls, that nurtures and supports you, is pretty important in any young woman’s life. 

5. A huge lesson learned, was that I cannot compare myself to others.  Somebody always has to have the lead role and somebody has to have the “worst” part.  In ballet, it was always about being better than yourself.  What could I do to improve my technique and do my best.  Trust me, when you are around all different body types and you are all practically naked dancing in front of a mirror, you tend to shut off the voices in the back of your head.  You can only compare yourself to the person you have been and the person who you can become.

6.  There is nothing like practicing the same dance over and over again, feeling blisters forming, and knowing that you will see blood when you finally take your pointe shoes off.  However, it is practicing until you bleed that makes great performances.  Ballet taught me endurance and determination that I did not realize I had until I was training for my first marathon (My poor body!).

7. It took my stubborn, teenage brain too long to realize this one, but there are adults out there that really care about you.  I used to dislike one of my teachers, Ms. Susan.  My reasons for disliking her were because she always made me push, try harder, work harder, and do it all over again.  Her expectations were high.  It was not until my senior year of high school that I realized how much better she knew I could be if I would just push myself to the level she was trying to get me to.  There are people in our lives that are going to expect greatness out of us, because they know we can be great.  Believe that they have your best interest at heart!

8. Ms. Susan and all my teachers taught me that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing right.  We were not allowed to do something halfway.  We were expected to give it our all during practices and dress rehearsals.  If we did not, then how did we expect to be ready to give everything we had during a performance?

9. Goals, short and long term, are very important.  Without goals, we are aimlessly living life.  One of my first goals was to be able to get my pointe shoes.  I will never forget the feeling I had trying those on for the first time.  Other smaller goals were to be able to turn a little faster, jump higher, and in general dance better. 

10. Lastly, it is important to thank those who have helped you along the way.  We ended each ballet class with révérence.  This could be a simple curtsy as we walked out the door or some type of slow, cool-down dancing.  We always ended the class clapping.  All of this was to show respect for our teacher and thank him/her for teaching us.  After I graduated high school and moved to South Carolina, I wrote Mr. Peter a letter of thanks.  Thanking him for all the years he poured into my life teaching me to love ballet, love life, and love myself.  Last summer, he passed away unexpectedly.  Losing someone who taught you so much and played such a big role in who you are is not easy task.  Yet, I know that he knew that he made a difference in my life.  And that makes things a little easier.

I typically have at least one ballet dream a week.  I think it is where my heart and mind are most comfortable and I find rest. 

So, if you ever find the urge to get up and dance, do it. 

-Rachel Burton