Pointe taken

This year, we signed up Courtney & Erica for their first summer ballet intensive, which was a 3-week-long camp. We knew they’d learn a lot and be stretched – literally and figuratively - and boy were they. To say the first couple of days were rocky would be an understatement. Day 1 was a frustratingly difficult day for both as they tried to adjust to new faces, location, techniques, expectations, etc. Day 2 was even worse, and Rachel and I spent most of the drive home giving them pep talks while they stared out the windows, looking defeated and exhausted. I started fearing mutiny and mentally prepared the ‘ol “Do you know how much this thing cost?” speech. I don’t think it would’ve mattered. On the drive there on Day 3, just before we got to the studio, Courtney asked me what road we’d just turned off of. After I told her, she said “OK, I’m just trying to memorize the route in case I decide to walk home.”  She did not sound like she was kidding.

On top of all the newness of everything, they also had to try to get used to “zee Russian accents” of their instructors. All but a couple of them were from Russia. During the intensive, the ballet school posted this picture on their FB page:

Imposing bunch, no? The lady in yellow is the founding artistic director and, in spite of the beautiful smile, was quite a tough cookie. They did like her, however. In fact, the tall, intimidating guy at the right end, “Mr. Alexei,” was their absolute favorite. He told lots of stories of his incredibly-demanding life growing up as a ballet dancer in Russia. This was their favorite quote of his: “With American dancers, you cannot slap them or insult them.  You must find different ways to motivate them.” The girls thought this was pretty funny, actually – especially when said with a Russian accent, which seemed to improve each day, right along with their ballet skills. ;-)

After those first 2 rough days, however, Day 3 ended up being the turning point, and things started coming together. They started learning their dances and getting used to the heavy accents. And they especially enjoyed seeing good friends Emma and Isabelle during lunch each day, sharing stories, jokes and food. They came home each night and entertained us all during dinner with their stories and demonstrations of bits of their dances. They made friends with the Japanese dancers who knew no English. We looked up a few Japanese phrases online, but they were too shy to try them out. They did share the common language of ballet, plus some popular American songs that they sang together.

Through it all, they spun this elaborate tale about how good all the other dancers were and how awful they were. Being latecomers to ballet, I knew there’d be a learning curve for them, but when I accused them of exaggerating, they said “No, we’re not kidding Mom!” and “You’ll see!” On the last day, the school put on a recital, showcasing what they’d learned, and, well, what can I say? I was stunned.

From the contemporary dance. I need a higher resolution image so you can see the detail in Erica’s arms! So strong!

Courtney is in the middle of this pas de trois.

I mean, how beautiful are they?! It was all I could do keep from standing up and announcing to everyone they were my daughters! I was incredibly proud of them. They learned so much … and I did, too. I learned that they can definitely hold their own in a group of dancers who, in some cases, have studied many more years than they have. I also learned they are awfully hard on their own dancing skills, but these pictures tell the real story!