Miss Bethanny walked into the Training Center today, black-and-turquoise jumpsuit and all, with the words, “I’m really tempted to give you guys a jazz-style class today” on her tongue.
A few of us were not quite prepared for jazz, so we compromised with lyrical-style dance— what an extraordinary idea!
After a solid, half-hour warm up and stretch, Bethanny dealt out a combination, one which expressed a commonly-felt emotion– grief. She explained that it has been a very long day for her, and I must say that my day was not quite superb either, so this exercise worked out well.
A major part of this combination was improv, and my sisters and I were able to truly put our emotions into movement. I felt my mind let go and my sixth sense– every dancer has it– take over. And suddenly, I was lost. So lost, that for an entire twenty seconds, I totally blanked on the entire combination. But it didn’t matter. Because in someway, somehow, I just… relaxed (which I actually don’t know how to do with any of my five senses).
There was so much emotion in that room, Allison began to cry. I, too, had my fair share of tears. Honestly, I don’t think that a single girl left class with dry eyes.
So the question is… why? What did lyrical bring in and ballet take away?
In my personal opinion, dancers tend to think “uptight” when performing a ballet piece. This is exactly why I love Miss Bethanny’s teaching; it forces us to loosen up! stretch out! take up space! dance!
And that’s the answer. Ballet took rigidity with it and left real emotion behind.
Now, bring Ballet back into the picture. Is it possible to send lyrical away and leave that emotion behind? I’m definitely going to try.
Sounds like you guys had a much needed break from ballet!