Every young kid has their “thing”. Some play a sport, a few play an instrument, a couple might even learn karate or jazz. But I practiced classical ballet.
When I was 5 my mom asked me a very serious question: Do I want to play soccer or do ballet? And to that, I answered, “ballet!”, because I was deathly afraid of soccer balls. I ran out with my mother and bought my first leotard, a pair of tights, and tiny black ballet slippers. And I spent every Saturday attending a class that soon began to shape my life.
As I grew, so did my skills as well as my hours spent at Brae Crest School of Ballet in Lincoln, RI. By the end, I spent three hours of class time, plus almost 10 hours of rehearsal time a week. And I loved every moment of it. My ballet family was my second family.
Ballet taught me many, many things. It taught me manners, patience, respect. It taught me rhythm and how to count music. I learned how to improve my memory by remembering choreography and pantomime. I think without ballet I wouldn’t be the way I am today.
During my last few years with the State Ballet of Rhode Island, life started to come at me fast. I was finishing highschool and getting ready for college, as well as traveling a lot more. I wasn’t finding enough time to practice ballet and i eventually had to give up on my childhood passion. For a while, I felt different because I was no longer running to the studio four or five times a week.
But now that it has been 3, maybe even almost 4 years since I’ve danced for SBRI, I feel sad. I think about how incredible the people were and how it helped me grow. I lived and breathed ballet, it practically was all I knew. I miss the feeling of balancing on my toes and landing that perfect pirouette. I know that if I ever want to dance on my toes again I’ll have to work so hard to gain that tremendous strength back into my legs and ankles. It’s a lot harder than it looks, people!
I took a course at school my second semester freshman year that was a ballet class combined with history lectures about the greats such as Balanchine and Pavlova. It was nice to hold onto a bar and practice a plié. But, I compared every variation to how I was taught at Brae Crest and I must say I was a little biased as to who taught their variations best!
I try to attend as many shows that SBRI performs each year. Usually they fall during exam time, or for example this year I won’t even be in the country to see Coppéila. I will, however, get to see a rendition of Giselle in Italy which will be both beautiful and tear-jerking (favorite ballet and beautiful story). But my heart will surely be with SBRI family while I’m in Europe.
So thank you SBRI family and the world of classical ballet, for you have shaped me into the girl I am today. Thank you for teaching me kindness, manners, and most importantly thank you for fueling the fire that is my love for the arts and art history. I’ll never forget my time spent rehearsing and learning. Really, I mean it.
“And the curtain is coming down…it’s down.”
*Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com
Ana Marsden Fox says
Sarah, Your BCSB & SBRI family are so proud of you. Your words mean so much to us. My Mom teaches us all the true meaning of giving – "to give of your self to others" is the true meaning of giving.
Now you have passed it forward – thank you Sarah.
Please stop in any time to check up on us. We love our alumni. We are where we are today, because of all of you.xoxoMiss Ana