Finding a beginner ballet class for kids over like 5 is really hard. I begged my mom to let me take classes when I was in grade school, and when she finally gave in, I was the tallest and oldest girl in the class. They had us doing warmups meant to captivate a young child, and I felt rather silly pretending to be a butterfly prancing and fluttering around the room when I so obviously loomed over them so awkwardly. And there's nothing like being awkward in ballet class to set you apart from the others. XP
Needless to say, once they started making us record our home practice with a parent's signature I wanted out. I wanted to learn ballet because I wanted to learn and be pretty. Not because I was aiming to be a world class ballerina.
The teacher in charge was such a snobby person. Made all sorts of faces looking at me, kept commenting on how they didn't normally take beginners as old as me.... and then expected more of me than the others? Yeah, not my environment.
Maybe an adult class would be different, but I'm betting it would be hard to find one that actually was run by people who knew what they were doing.....
... The jr. college I was going to in Sacramento had ballet classes. But that was before I discovered Princess Tutu so I was interested but not interested enough to take it instead of ballroom dancing.
I remember taking a class like that once when I was really small, all I remember from it was running around the edge of the room waving a sash in the air. Is that the kind of warm ups you were talking about?
Boy did it die in here, eh? Nothing like school season to slow things down in the forums.
I'm not even IN school and I'm running around trying to set up my home study course to take the JLPT this December.... :XD
I'm not in school right now *sigh* instead we're trying to move! Though it's still in the beginning stage, hubby's trying to find a job up in Seattle. It's so full of fail right now. -_-
Oh, I wish you both luck. O__O;; Anyways, yeah. I got back from a gaming thing about an hour ago. With Rock Band and stuff. I sang. 8D And played drums until my hands hurt. XD
Hey, SunShine, doing quite well, you? I've gotta shower and go see an opera in about an hour. ^__^ Yay! I've never been to an opera before, so it's exciting.
It was Madama Butterfly, and it was pretty good. At first I wasn't that into it, but I got more into it around the second act. 8D It was very well done all around, I thought.
Oh wow, an opera! I want to go see one, they sound so interesting! I've only ever seen the Nutcracker Ballet and Fiddler on the Roof live, both were awesome but the Sacramento ballet does the Nutcracker so amazingly! Not that I remember much, I was in grade school when I saw it, but I remember little snippets of it very vividly.
What is Madama Butterfly about? What's it like? How was it? Did they sing in English?
Okay, so if you want to know what the opera's about, click on the SPOILER thing below. If not, ignore it. =P
SPOILERX
Madama Butterfly is about this American military guy who marries a geisha on a lark (at least that was the impression I got). Then he goes off and leaves her for three years, while she waits devotedly for his return. She spurns offers of marriage from richer guys, until finally her husband comes back. But what's this? Oh NO he didn't; he married someone else, an American woman! So the geisha (Butterfly) commits suicide after agreeing to give the guy the son that was born while he was away. The military guy calls her name, rushes to her and holds her in his arms as she dies.
It's very sad. :( It took me a while to get into it, because apparently in operas they sing about EVERYTHING they're feeling, but by the second act I was more into it (perhaps because of the coffee I bought during intermission), and then by the third act I was calling the military guy names (in my head) and everything.
HIM: "I feel so guilty!"
ME: "YOU SHOULD, YOU CAD!"
Etc. =P
It was very well done; the set, costumes, acting, singing, etc. I enjoyed it in the end. ^__^ I'm assuming that it was being sung in Italian (not knowing much about foreign languages or opera in general, I can't say for certain). But they showed English "surtitles" (like subtitles only shown on a screen above the stage), so it was all good.
Anyways, I highly recommend going to see an opera if you get the chance, just for the experience and to see if you like it or not. 8D
I have to admit, singing about your feelings in English is a little silly. I think because opera tends to be serious and we're used to musicals being so happy that hearing someone sing so intently is a little... unusual. Plus Italian and French sound so pretty!
That poor woman! that's just terrible... I want to watch it anyways. Ah... if only I didn't live in this dinky town where the only kind of culture we get are the high school plays.
I used to live in a dinky little town like that, too. But now I'm in college in a big city, and it's awesome! Culture and stuff going on everywhere! XD I'm going to help build a house this Saturday. Lucky I have a baseball cap to keep the sun out of my eyes, and working jeans and a shirt I don't mind getting dirty.
Wow, that sounds like quite the experience! Madame Butterfly is one of the few operas I actually have an interest in (mainly because of the geisha, I admit)
I'm glad you liked it. ^_^ I doubt I'll get the opportunity to see anything nifty out where I live.
Wait, you're going to help build a house? Is that one of those housing charity things? I think they've got one of those in my town, where you put yourself on a list for pretty much a free house, but you have to help everyone else on the list build theirs before everyone gets together to build yours. I've had people tell me I should do that, but being a petite easily burnable lightweight, I can't see it actually being fair.
Oh cool, helping to build a house! Now is the season because winter's just around the corner. Is this a charity where you build houses for the homeless?
Yes! In fact, it is the very charity that Jez was talking about; it's called Habitat for Humanity. It's a national thing. 8D
Dude, I had such a hard time getting to sleep last night. D= I didn't fall asleep until around three-ish. >__>;; And then my roommate was all, "Who were you fighting in your sleep? You were hitting the wall and everything." (my bed is up against the wall.) I do have a scrape on my hand that I didn't have last night. O__o;;