Back when I was a dance major at San Diego State University, I didn’t always feel like going to that morning modern dance class with other dancers who hadn’t danced nearly as long as I had. My training had begun as a young child and I had been working on technique for most of my life. I was a trained classical dancer and felt held back by the lack of experience which surrounded me at the university. By the time that class would begin I had already taken an advanced ballet class over at American Ballet in San Diego and driven like a mad person to get here in time for a much more basic class, which was required for my degree. What got me about the place was that there was a mindset against ballet. And I represented that world to the establishment. Anyway, enough of my past bitterness.
I had to find a way to survive this in as positive of fashion as possible. That is: if I wanted to graduate with a degree in dance. So I looked upwards – toward the wall of windows above the mirrors in the front of the studio. The light coming in was beautiful, so much so that I was transported to a more uplifted state. I’d watch the clouds float by, or see rivulets of rain running down the panes of glass reflecting different hues of the gardens outside. We were in a beautiful old building with creaky wood floors. The place had soul.
My attitude improved and I found that I liked most of the people there. I worked on embracing the experience by using this morning class as a therapy session for myself. I pulled the skills necessary to channel my energy into flopping around like a rag doll, trying very hard to minimize my turnout, and learning Martha Graham contortions… I actually began to look forward to my “sessions.” That is, until my senior year when they told me that I couldn’t graduate without taking beginning ballet. Really? Anyway, they finally let me teach the class to get my beginning ballet class requirement satisfied. Go figure.
Sometimes we just have to figure out a different way to look at the issue at hand, huh?
