Madeleine+R’s+OpEd+Article



People have always told me that ballet isn't a sport.  …

 Yeah, imagine that. Well, let me challenge that idea.

Yes, ballet is an art form. We dance to famous classical music, from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s //The Nutcracker//, Igor Stravinsky’s //The Firebird//, or Léo Delibes’s //Coppelia//. We also dance to contemporary composers and occasionally a new score. We wear beautiful costumes of chiffon, tulle, velvet, satin, etc., the normal extended – and pink – tutu, and wear our hair in elaborate buns and braids. We wear the stereotypical pink pointe shoes, with the satin ribbons and our pink tights [Of course, your pointe shoes are black if you are a witch].

But ballet isn't about the pink leotard or tutu. It’s about the performance. We have to become the character and bring it to life. We have to carry the story with us, or else, we would lose the audience. We have the constant stress of showing the right emotion, and some of us tend to frown, make faces, bite our lips, or show no emotion at all, but we have to learn to control our facial expressions while dancing and express a certain emotion. We have to work on always displaying the emotions of the character and our character must interact with other characters while “telling” the story.

“The actor should know how to use his body, and have every part of it completely under his command, that he may use the whole of himself to interpret any character in its own rhythm. Conversely the dancer should study emotion and character in order that his every movement may have meaning.” – Ruby Ginner

Ballet takes a lot of hard work. My ballet academy has certain levels, and therefore, with every level, you have to spend X amount of days during the week at the studio taking classes. Since I am in level six, the second-highest level, I have to be there six days a week. Let me quickly describe my regimen: omitting Mondays, I have ballet Tuesday-Saturday, ranging from one and a half hours to about six hours in our studio. And all of this is spent to chase after perfection, all the while knowing you won’t ever really achieve it, as there is no such thing. Still, we reach, stretch, work.

“Poise is the finest point of balance it is possible to attain, both mentally and physically. The various parts of the physique having been adjusted truly to the centre of gravity, poise lifts the whole being to a point so delicate that it almost defies definition... Poise, the great law of equilibrium, is that second in infinity when action ceases and there is rest.” – Ruby Ginner

It is work. If we aren't sweating within ten minutes, ballerinas believe they aren't working hard enough. There is a constant pressure from our fellow ballet dancers and teachers to dance to our fullest extent. Usually, during the school week, we head out of one class, a technique class mainly, and have about five minutes to take a water break and change into our pointe shoes for pointe class. A usual ballet day is spending 2 ½ hours in the studio. And it increases when we are preparing for a show.

We work out just as much as any football, baseball, basketball, etc., player does. Other than doing the obvious crunches and push-ups, we also have to learn about the art of balance. As some of you know, when dancing “en pointe”, we have to dance on this tiny platform that is as small as the base of a tiny paper cup. And, balance comes hand-in-hand with core (abdomen) strength. And the constant awareness of lifting yourself up and out of your shoes. And using parts of your arms in a way that is unseen by the audience. And straightening your legs and knees, and using those muscles to support the whole body. All the body weight is crammed into a tiny little platform of a tiny shoe that is actually made of layers of fabric and glue, covered in satin. And even though you probably scoff, and ridicule the idea that it is difficult to dance in these, let me tell you a fun fact: a brand new pointe shoe, freshly made, when used to hit something, has the full force of a hammer. They are extremely hard to break in, and it usually takes days of painful dance to finally make them malleable.  We use contraptions to make our feet look “perfect”. One end is of a thick, sturdy rubber, and the base is a simple board of wood. We put our foot into the rubber, and our heels on the board of wood, and have to straighten our knees. It stretches the tendons, ligaments, and strengthens the muscles in the feet. And it’s painful. And we keep it like that for 1-5 minutes. And then, we switch feet.

We work ourselves, our bodies, to the utmost limits, to the point where our toes are permanently stubby, with calluses galore, ingrown toenails, and peeling skin; to the point where our toes scream from being stood and jumped upon too many times, and out stomach hurts from constantly being used to support ourselves; to the point where our knees rub together, and we need knee replacement surgery (well not until we’re older); to the point where we constantly break our toes, twist out ankles, bruise our hips, arms, and back from infinite times of falling; to the point where many take Advil to cope with the pain; to the point where we have to visit the chiropractor and physical therapist on a daily basis; to the point where every movement hurts. But you keep dancing, because you love it, because it makes you feel free. Because it’s beautiful: Because it is who you are.

“A dancer, more than any other human being, dies two deaths: the first, the physical when the powerfully trained body will no longer respond as you would wish. After all, I choreographed for myself. I never choreographed what I could not do. I changed steps in Medea and other ballets to accommodate the change. But I knew. And it haunted me. I only wanted to dance.” – Martha Graham

And, all the while working our bodies like so, we have to take criticism. Most of you hot tempered people would probably explode if someone was so nit-pikey about the way your leg was aligned with your shoulder, or if someone said that your arm was two degrees off to the side when it should have been perpendicular to your body. We have to learn not to cry or get mad when receiving criticism. We have to learn discipline from the wee age of three, and it will serve us well throughout our years.

So tell me ballet isn't a sport. I dare you. And if you do tell me, I’ll make another dare. I’ll dare every single one of you athletes of football, soccer, track, baseball, basketball, water polo, etc., to come and take a ballet class at our studio. But it won’t just be for a few minutes. I dare you to do it for six hours straight, with only 2 minute breaks in between every hour. And when you’re done, you can complain to me about how hard it is

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are many professional athletes that train at the barre. This is not new, and most coaches know all about it. I dare say most high school boys do not know. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The Steelers’ nose tackle Steve McLendon says he has been taking ballet since his senior year of college. “It's harder than anything else I do," McLendon told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. McLendon enrolled in a ballet class during his final year at Troy. His instructor suggested that this would be an easy way to earn credits and would keep him in football. He fell for it and continues to take class to this day. “I work him harder than the majority of women will ever work in a ballet setting," his current instructor, Stephanie Kibler told the paper. "He does it well. He might have sweat dripping off him and looking at me like I'm crazy, but he does it. He really works hard. It's almost like he's mastering the craft of ballet. He's not in there just for football." And he's trying to keep himself injury-free. In fact, he says ballet has strengthened his knees, ankles and feet so much that he can tell the difference when he hasn't taken ballet in a while.” Here is the fun part; McLendon finds himself practicing even when he is not in class. "I still do some of the same things, the Plié, walking barefoot on your toes," McLendon explained. "I just walk barefoot doing the lateral." He is not the first NFL player to cross-train with ballet. Herschel Walker and Lynn Swann also took ballet. You only need to see McLendon sacking the quarterback to know that those pirouettes did not make him any less than manly. (Katzowitz, Josh. "Steve McLendon: Ballet Is 'harder than Anything Else I Do'" CBSSports.com. CBS Sports, 31 July 2013. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ballet is my sport and requires not just a fall or spring season, but all twelve months to train, perform and grow. It’s not for the faint of heart.