Whatever We Want Ballet Blog!

I wanted to take this free topic blog assignment to talk about the experience I am having in this ballet class on a more personal note. This is my first quarter that I can honestly say I feel my body working in new ways. I was taught towards the end of last quarter how to work properly. I was taught in a way that I could comprehend and somewhat apply. However, this year I feel that I can feel my body dancing in a completely different sense.

The energy from Jessica, Michael, and all of my fellow colleagues is inspirational and uplifting. I can feel the entire room willing to work each and everyday. I know we are all exhausted and tired most of the time, so the positive attitudes in class help me stay energetic. The teaching source is encouraging and highly energized. Finally, the musician always is willing to accompany us in our dancing to make us as dancers reach our full potential. The respect and honor we give to our fellow dancers, instructor, and musicians is what makes me love this class so much.

I can leave class feeling positive about the way I performed. No matter the mistakes I am making, I feel that I take something from each and every class. I have found a new love for ballet. It is such a difficult art form. Many people find ballet boring and stressful. For me this stereotype is lifted when I attend ballet class here at OSU.

I want to take this blog to let everyone know how much I appreciate you all. You guys make me want to work to my fullest potential, want to come to class everyday, and want to fulfill my goals in life and on stage. I want to thank the staff at OSU as well for being encouraging and helpful. They cater to dancer's wants and needs as individual people rather than a mass population.

Thanks so much everyone for making this ballet class the best it can be!

Aimee Heslop

Since we've been granted the privilege to write about whatever we would like, I just wanted to talk about how beneficial this class has been to me and why. I originally signed up for this class by the advice of Melanie Bales to get more technique. On the first day I started I realized this was the perfect class for me. Like others of you, I started dancing when I was older and was put into an intermediate class from the beginning, missing out on some of the basic essentials. Having this class, which engages and explains proper alignment and goes through the details and mechanics of steps has been extremely helpful to me. I've learned not just about how to do steps, but what muscles should be working in them, and that's made all the difference.

Another aspect I'm enjoying is being in a class with so many other guys. I haven't really had this opportunity before so having good male dancers to watch during the exercises and see how they fix the same problems I have has been very helpful. Not just the guys, being able to watch an upper class has been helpful to me, and the advice about classes in general has been great. Thanks Sophomores.

Now that we're five weeks in, I'm really glad that I took Melanie's advice on taking this class. I'm learning all kinds of new ways to think about exercises and the muscularity of the body which are already helping me in my other classes. I'm looking forward to the remainder of the quarter and what kind of dancer I'll be by the end.