Ballet

A lot of people are overly self-deprecating about how good they are at dancing. I’ve heard far too many people say they are completely terrible – only to find that I am, in fact, speaking to the next Billy Elliot. So, just to be clear, I’m not one of those people. The main memory I have of ballet is my younger brother running out of the room crying after our first (and only) lesson together. So when I’m told that I’m going to a ballet lesson, to say that I’m slightly apprehensive is something of an understatement.

 

All the same, I decide to put my preconceptions aside for at least one evening and arrive at J-Ballet Studio tightly clutching my borrowed ballet pumps. Despite my frequent phone calls to check that it was all right that I was a beginner, Wednesday night at J-Ballet Studio turns out to be advanced adult ballet night. A word to the wise: Monday is for beginners.

 

As I spy ballerinas ‘warming up’ by doing the splits, my heart sinks. But I’m not made to feel too uncomfortable; the teaching at this school is professional, succinct and, over the course of my lesson, the instructor takes the time to coax out my inner Darcey Bussell. A final word of warning, however: the website claims that the teachers speak English. They didn’t and the classes were conducted largely in Chinese – with ballet phrases, of course, in French. Le sigh!