Black beauty
Black beauty 2
Originally uploaded by shadeplay I like this serendipidous juxtoposition of soft dance shoes hanging next to a couple of collars. It's just where I hang things that need hanging, but quite an interesting and provocative combination of ideas no? After taking this pic, i ran out the door to my 1st (yes, *FIRST*) ballet class, only to run back in, since i'd left my shoes hanging right where you see them.
As it turned out, i didn't need them in class: class had been shifted an hour earlier for July, so I was right on time to just miss it! This was just as well though, since "beginner ballet", it turns out, really means something like "beginner class for people who can already dance ballet". Kindof like how "pre-preliminary" in figure skating is the level at which you can do at least two single jumps and a one-foot spin.
So I shall have to wait for tomorrow's "introduction to ballet" class which, I'm promised, really is for beginners. I don't mind being challenged, but the reason I'm taking ballet in the first place is to learn technique, and so blindly doing sloppy jumps and pirrouttes in a "beginner" class won't do me much good; i can already do the equivalent level of technical butchery on ice, where it's a whole lot more fun. I'd rather spend the whole class at the barre and focus on posture and arms and isolating the movement of body-parts from the core.
Part of me is a technique-slut: whether it's Jiu-jitsu, skating, computer programming, or entomology, i get-off on learning *how* precicely to do things. Another, equally strong, part of me is an undisciplined slob that likes to leave my room in a utterly chaotic mess; allow myself to fiscally hemorrhage in strip clubs in the hope of feeding my loneliness; and -- with far more productive results -- go with the flow on the ice, just enjoying the beingness of liquid motion, to hell with anyone watching, and to hell with honing technique.
Combining these two forces -- the anal retentive and the anal expulsive; the OCD beachcomber who gets lost in the details of a single sandgrain, and the ADD snowflake who's overwhelmed in a white-noise snowstorm of information -- and having them productively support and guide each other is a riddle i must struggle to explore. True freedom, for me, lies in the creativity of disciplined fun.