...and now for something completely different

Before I had my baby, I danced on a semi-regular basis at Dance101. My favorite class was taught by a woman who ended up having a baby of her own a few months after I had mine. When I heard she was going to be subbing for a class at the studio near my house, I took the opportunity to get back over there. Of course, when I went to sign up for her class, I saw a lot of others that caught my eye… so I turned it into a whole evening last night.

I danced growing up, taking ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and modern classes at a studio, competing with my school winter and colorguard units, and then continuing through Clemson Dancers in college. It was such a joy to rekindle my passion last night, even though I have definitely lost a lot in my two off years. 

winterguard state championships 2004

Clemson Dancers Pom 2007

Contemporary Ballet w/Rachel: this was EXACTLY the sort of class I’ve been dreaming about. We had a barre warm-up, followed by beautiful and emotional choreography that gets you completely swept up in the music… well, once you know the moves :P I found myself struggling to recall all the technique and terminology for the barre warm-ups, but pretty proud at how much actually did come back, since I haven’t had a true ballet class since I was, uh, 14? Watching myself in the mirror, I couldn’t escape the fact that I definitely looked like an athlete instead of a dancer. I had strength and stamina, but not the easy grace that the other students had. Still, I hope I can come back and do this class again.

Hip-hop w/Tanya: YASSSSSSS. The instructor for this one was incredible, and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how much easier this style came back to me than ballet. I was able to nail the warm-up choreo as well as the routine, and even be the student that was interacting with the instructor during the performance part of the class, as if we were putting on our own show. While I’m in pretty good shape when it comes to strength/circuit training and excellent shape for running, though, I was definitely feeling fatigued halfway through class. One of the other students, who was also in great shape and killing the choreography, joked, “I just realized I need to do more cardio” as we hit the 30min mark. My cardio was fine, but my legs and back (muscles I thought I used, but clearly don’t) were sore and heavy. Still, SO MUCH FUN.

Stilettos w/Sahrit: This is a fun character sort of class. I have the character down, but there is SO much technique that I’m missing. The choreography was simple, but the timing went with the music, which was a song I’m unfamiliar with, so that was a challenge. I tried to do part of the class in my 3” heels and found myself pretty embarrassed that I wasn’t able to execute the choreography as well in them, partially due to fatigued legs, partially due to my tailor’s bunion acting up (has been since I put it in a too-tight shoe in Cincy—boo), and partially because I don’t normally dance in heels. I ended up taking them off and going barefoot for the last few run-throughs and doing much better.

I came home a hot, sweaty mess, with sore legs, back and obliques. The evening was a great success… though I had a hard time getting to bed, slept terribly, and struggled to get up for 10KTuesday. Fortunately, the hashtag was enough motivation. :)