I love to dance but am not built like a ballerina. I should have been a pole dancer. Here's me at 16... I'm too fat to be a real ballerina so they cast me as Arabian coffee addict. ( Act II Divertissement: Nutcracker).
If pole dancing were okay for virgins at a Catholic High School for girls I'd have been all over it. Instead I spent years playing roles like the tart, a man, the Princess Mother, a big-boobed member of the corps de ballet in most classic productions (Swan Lake, Waltz of the Flowers, La Bayadere, - you get the picture.) Very occasionally I got a solo because I could move and the skinny dancers couldn't make the quick change. I was trying so hard to be something I'm not: Long and lithe. But a dancer: I am. I'll never forget going to the soda machine for a drink during rehearsal one time (I know it's an oxymoron - like a nurse on a smoke break.) and the Director says:
"Clair, I hope that's diet."
It wasn't.
Now, I wasn't grow-to-the-couch huge just curvy and as my beloved Mother would say "Earthy" and "Perfectly Proportioned" (Whatever that means.) I was not created for point shoes but tap shoes, that's a whole other story. Instead of chasing my groove-on and the bass and the attitude which came naturally, I lurched for the tiara of the Sugar Plum Fairy - that sweet petite, airy creature who made people cry in a good way. It was not to be. She is not me.
Fast forward 25 years. I run to keep my weight down and because I love The Race. I teach exercise classes because I love The Performance and the wellness and the People. I practice Yoga simply because I love The Life. I dance every chance I get because I am.
Hmmm.. I hear Pole Dancing is fun and big boobs are an asset instead of a liability. I think she's beautiful
Be what you are. Are you?
4 comments:
Nice picture of me on the pole.
You will always be my favorite dancer. Screw the diet soda. That director was a dick.
That's probably a comment that you'll never forget. My grade 5 teacher once weighed and measured us all for a maths exercise. When he saw my weight he said "Not as heavy as I thought" I wasn't even big! It's a comment I've never forgotten
I remember a photo of me taken during a cross country match in high school. Next to a skinny runner I looked like a brick shithouse! I don't have a runners build but I can hold my own. I practice yoga but I'm definitely not a super bendy yogi. hey, that's all okay cuz i'm happy with me just the way I am! Dance on girl! Luv the blog!
Erase that brainless comment from your mind...you are a beautiful and graceful woman! I read back a few posts (catching up) and I think there's a lot of great in you! :)
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