Costume Department Pressures

As my last post indicated,
we have been spending many hours
at the ballet studio.

The costume department
started to get anxious last week
about having everything ready
for the board photo session
next week.

When the call went out for help,
many answered and the work
is getting done in a very
timely manner.

In the last couple of weeks,
I have been busy with several
different "detail" sewing projects:

1) Sewing sequins on a tutu-
not my favorite task
because they are very small,
round, curved, and shiny;
and, they only have one hole
to sew through them.
(They really should have
two holes, like a button.)

2) Sewing trim on various costumes.

3) Removing trim on various costumes-
yes, sometimes the trim that
was just sewn onto the costume
must be removed and redone
because the costume needs to be
re-altered for a better fit,
or the trim was sewn
onto the costume inside out,
or it was not sewn onto
the perfect spot.

3) Shopping for thread, ruffles, ribbons, etc.

and

4) Sewing on ruffles, ribbons, and more trim.

And, the work goes on, and on, and on....

Note: Attempts are being made
to take "before and after" photos
of my various sewing projects.

Free Pizza

Over the past few weeks,
our family has realized that
we are spending
more and more time
at the ballet studio.

This should come as no surprise
since we are in the midst
of rehearsals
and preparations
of props and costumes
for the spring performances.

However, this is the first time that
we recall having more rehearsals
after dance and ballet classes.

So, after up to three or four hours
of classes on the weeknights,
we are at the studio
for up to another couple of hours.

The other night,
this was to our benefit,
in that we got free food.

We had left the studio
just before 9:30 pm
and thought that
the pizza place
stopped serving around
that time.

The lights were still on,
but they were starting to clean.

The manager was on the phone
with his bosses
before he was able to talk to us.

He explained that the buffet
was closed for the night,
but we already knew that
we wanted to get some
pizzas to go.

He took our order,
the kitchen staff started baking,
and I started to pay
with my debit card.

Then, the manager realized that
he had already shut the computer
down for the night.

As, I had no cash,
he offered us our pizzas
for free!

He even gave us free drinks
while we waited.

It is so nice to know that
there are still good people
in this world,
especially when one is
near exhaustion
and have two teenagers
to feed after hours
of dancing.

En Pointe

Two years ago,
at the beginning
of the fourth decade of my life,
and having taken ballet
on and off
for about a decade,
I decided that I wanted to attempt
to go en pointe by my next birthday.

Mind you, I struggle with remembering:

1) the French ballet terms;

2) the warm up lessons
after the fourth or fifth exercise;

3) any ballet combinations that
require more than two parts;

4) not letting my other activities
interfere with going to ballet class;

5) and, basic proper alignment
for ballet dancers.

However, I set the challenge for myself
and attempted to attend
more than my usual one class per week.

Also, I was encouraged by
one of my children's ballet teachers,
who is also a parent
of one of their ballet friends,
who is an extraordinary ballet costumer,
and, a great friend.

She gave me specific exercises
to strengthen my feet
and
reminded me to use my core muscles.

Just before the end of the calendar year,
one of my friends that had been taking
ballet classes said that she had gotten
permission to start en pointe
in January, just around my birthday.

So, I went out and purchased pointe shoes
at the beginning of January.

And then, just as it looked like I would be
en pointe by my birthday,
a snow storm hit
and
closed down everything
for almost a week.

So, after sewing on my pointe shoe ribbons,
which I was supposed to have waited to do
after the teacher had approved
the first pointe shoes,
I got to go en pointe at the barre
just a few days after my birthday.

I would love to say that I improved
over the next year,
but I was unable to get in my
pointe shoes on a regular basis
and remained doing barre work.

In order to improve en pointe,
this January, as part of my make-up
classes for all the classes I missed
in the fall due to other activities,
meetings, Nutcracker duties
in the costume room and props,
I decided to take the class
for students (around 11 years)
who were about to start
en pointe for the first time.

Today,
after my fourth pointe class
this year,
I went en pointe
in the middle of the floor.

It wasn't pretty,
but I did manage at least
three times
to go on full pointe.

I only wish my children
had witnessed it
because at least one
of them seems
to be a little doubtful.

Oh, well, I know I put my
fear of falling behind me.

En Pointe!

Nutcracker- My Son's Roles

My son began performing
in Nutcracker in 2002.

The requirement for participation
was that one had to be
eight years old.

Sometimes, due to the fact
that there are few boys
in ballet, boys were allowed
to perform at seven years old.

The previous year,
my son had asked if he could perform
since he would be turning seven
during the performance weekend,
but was told that he could understudy.

So, he began as a seven year old
and turned eight
on the last day of performances.

The first year,
he was a
Small Mouse
and got to steal a prop-
the Nutcracker.

One of my favorite memories
of that year
was one of the older boys,
who was playing the Nutcracker,
took my son under his wing
and
I managed to get a picture
from behind
of the Nutcracker
with his arm around
a Small Mouse.

[As soon as the photo
is located and scanned,
it will appear in this post!]

My son played a
Party Boy
from 2003 - 2006.

The first couple of years,
he really loved it.

The next couple of years,
he liked it,
but was ready to move on
to other parts.

In 2006,
he was finally able to get
a part in the Second Act
as a (French) Mirliton
with the Junior Company dancers
and
had the role for two years.

He began partnering
with a couple of the girls
within the piece.

In 2007,
he was a little reluctant to play
Fritz,
due to being tired
of the Party Scene,
but did a great job.

Also in 2007,
he loved his role of
Nutcracker
because he got to
sword fight.

In 2008,
Ms Meg
(who has a feature
in a January post,
but I cannot figure out
how to link)
choreographed
Chinese
and
my son performed
with two girls
with rhythmic ribbons
while he carried
a dragon head that blew smoke
(that Ms Meg created).

Another highlight
of the piece was the
Chinese stage make-up
(that Ms Meg researched
and applied).

From 2008 - 2010,
my son was an
Animated Toy Soldier.

His performance in 2009
earned him a local
performance award.

In 2009,
my son was in
Spanish
with two girls.

This was the year
that I really started
helping with costumes,
especially the details
on the Spanish tops
for both the female
and the male costumes.

Another first in 2009,
my son was asked to perform
as a guest artist
in a town about thirty miles
from us
in the role of
Nutcracker Prince.

This added extra rehearsals,
extra driving,
and
an extended Nutcracker season
by a week.

Still, our family loved it
because
we made more ballet contacts,
got more ideas for Nutcracker
props and costumes,
and
enjoyed the family time together.

In 2010,
my son got his first role as a
Cavalier
(Orchid Cavalier).

He got to partner
and
have a small solo
within the piece
(meaning-
he did not have
the stage to himself,
but was the only one dancing
for a few minutes).

When watching him
in one of the final dress rehearsals,
I realized how far my son had come
in his dancing abilities
and
I had to cry
on Ms Meg's shoulder;
She remembered his first year
of class
and trying to refuse
to rehearse
because he
"knew the dance."

He was also nominated
for a local
performance award
in this role.

In 2011,
my son was
Sugar Plum Cavalier!

One of my favorite things
was hearing the compliments
about how far he had come
as a dancer
and
how professional he looked
in his dance;
especially since he plans
to become a professional
ballet dancer.

[There will be photos posted
as soon as snapshots are
found, scanned, uploaded, etc.
and permission is obtained
from the professional photographer.]

Pardon my French

I love ballet.

I love watching performances and classes, and participating in classes.

I also love the the Behind the Ballet Barre scenes- costumes, props, etc.

However, the one thing that I absolutely cannot stand about ballet is the language.

In first and second grade, I had some basic French.

For high school, my parents encouraged me to take Spanish since we were living in Southern California at the time.

So, I had three years of high school Spanish, a little practice with my Spanish speaking friends, and then audited three or four classes of Spanish in college.

I love the simplicity of the Spanish language, especially the easy pronunciation and readability.

Now, hearing French terms in class is difficult enough for me to interpret.

Trying to later look the terms up is even more difficult because the spelling doesn't always match the pronunciation.

And, to make things more difficult, I have trouble hearing the correct pronunciation anyway.

My friends in high school thought I spoke Spanish with a Southern accent.

At least they could understand what I was saying, ever so slowly.

With French, let's just say that I've been laughed at by my children and ballet instructors for my pronunciation.

On one occasion, my instructor liked my pronunciation better, even though it was incorrect.

Let just say,
"Pardon my French"

There are Girls in Ballet

When my son began ballet classes, he was the only boy in the class.

He was fine with this because at home it was just him and his younger sister.

With the exception of one substitute teacher making a big deal about how special it was that he was a boy in ballet, he was never really self-conscious about being the only boy in the class.

He did like the fact that he got to bow when the girls curtsied at the end of class.

By the end of his third year of ballet, he was definitely ready for a boy's class.

Jumping and Leaping, oh Boy!

Now that my son's a teenager, some of his friends like to tag along to ballet events because...
There are Girls in ballet!

About Behind the Ballet Barre

The intention of this blog is to share my memories and things learned through and about ballet since my son began taking ballet at the age of 4 1/2 in 1999 and my 2 1/2 year old daughter tagged along and begged to be included in the class too.

A few years later, I began taking beginning adult ballet classes.


As the children became more involved in more ballet and dance classes, our time at the dance studio increases and other activities slowly decrease.

After the first several Nutcrackers, I finally convinced my husband that watching from backstage was so much more enjoyable, especially if one is helping; and, now, being at the ballet studio is a family affair- including building props and helping with costumes.

While my son and daughter love performing and helping behind the scenes, my husband and I have no desire to be on stage when the curtain is up.

As my son pursues a career in classical ballet and my daughter applies what she learns in dance to other aspects of her life, my goal is to make sure that we have more than a few memorable "Behind the Ballet Barre" memories.