 
Balletlover - Balletmania
written by Tom on 15.07. at 03:40:56 - as answer to: I'm dancing!!!! by Dancer at last!!! 1. Discouragement. This is the beginner's worst enemy. Ifyou've been through your first class & still want to go back,you've gotten over the worst hurdle. But if discouragementshould hit later on, the only cure is persistence: go back there& try again. That's what all the rest of us have done. 2. Terminology. As you've noticed, the terminology is nearlyall French. Get to know the names of the steps you do; they'restandard & they're a part of ballet lore. There are a few on-line dictionaries (not as many as there used to be); there's asort of h@lf-@ssed one on my Web page (shameless plug), & it haspointers to all the others I know about. The standard hard-coverdictionary is Grant's, but it defines steps in terms of othersteps, so it's not much help to a beginner. When you'restarting, Kersley & Sinclair are better. 3. Reading. You're looking to become a dancer, not a scholar.Still, I think it's more fun if you know some of the backgroundof your art. The Joffrey Ballet School's Ballet-Fit (biblio-graphical information for all these books on my site) is also agood introduction. You'll never learn to dance by just reading,but an informed dancer is a better dancer. You can find a super-ficial introduction to ballet history from the FAQ on my site.(Another shameless plug.) Sketchy, but better than nothing. 4. Teachers. If you have any opportunity to do so, shop around.There are some ghastly teachers out there, & there are somewonderful ones. I found my current favorite by shopping around.If you're going on a trip, pack some dancewear & try to takeclass wherever you're going; this can be a terrific experience. 5. Shoes. They come with a pair of elastics in case you havetrouble keeping them on; some guys do & some don't. To findwhere to attach them, fold the heel forward so it lies flat andsee where the folds come; that's where the elastics go. I'mhopeless at sewing them on, so I use Weldwood contact cementbacked up with a couple of heavy duty staples on each side. Somedancers (& teachers) admire my ingenuity; some think I'm crazy. 6. Homework. My advice: don't do any. It's too easy to developbad habits & you can't tell when you're doing something right &when wrong. Once you know something about placement (alignmentof the body), you can do stretches, but that's about it. That's it for now; more tips when I think of them. Tom
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