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I am the dumb
Van the Mad
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Lately I've really needed some release after work, I paint pipes for forty hours a week in the sun, so I'm a little tense. To relax, I started watching ballet (yes, that fruity dancing). I've been seriously considering taking up a ballet class, because I figure it will not only give me an outlet to vent my boredom, but it will also keep me in good physical shape and improve my balance and coordination. My girlfriend, who takes several dance classes a week, has offered to teach me everything that she has learned as will learn, which should help me get a little better before I start a class.
Here's the problem though. It's not really that its kinda gay for me to want to take a ballet class, I can deal with that for the most part. It's more the fact that I'm not exactly the ideal age to start dancing, and that I've never danced before in my life. I've got terrible stagefright, so if I were to start making mistakes, I'd go insane. I am genuinely interested in taking the classes, but I'm so worried that I'd do poorly, or that I'd do well, but fail when it came to the recital part.
What should I do?
and yes, inb4 ballet is for queers. The NFL often has its players take ballet classes to improve their balance and movement.
Here's the problem though. It's not really that its kinda gay for me to want to take a ballet class, I can deal with that for the most part. It's more the fact that I'm not exactly the ideal age to start dancing, and that I've never danced before in my life. I've got terrible stagefright, so if I were to start making mistakes, I'd go insane. I am genuinely interested in taking the classes, but I'm so worried that I'd do poorly, or that I'd do well, but fail when it came to the recital part.
What should I do?
and yes, inb4 ballet is for queers. The NFL often has its players take ballet classes to improve their balance and movement.
Van the Mad on
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Go for it.
Open a phonebook and see what you can't find. If you want to avoid stagefright, you can probably shell out the cash for private lessons. Ask your girlfriend if anyone where she goes for classes might offer them.
EDIT: Also, as you're new here, it's a good idea to make your thread titles actually relate to the topic. "I am the dumb" isn't going to help you find what you need. You can change it under the "Edit / Go Advanced button" at the bottom of your post.
2) if it is "gay", that's OK, because queers rock,
3) it might be hard to find an intro ballet class. if you strike out in your area you shouldn't have a problem finding an intro ballroom or salsa dancing class.
Life is too fucking short already. Suck it the fuck up and go.
PS you keep going around categorizing things as gay or straight and you'll drive away all of the open minded, interesting people you'll ever meet. Drop the horseshit, bigotted labels sooner than later.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
and frankly, you need to stop believing AND saying "ballet is for gay/queers"
because not only is it incorrect, it is a pretty abhorrent thing to say
As for stage fright, you can get private lessons, and just because you're taking ballet classes doesn't mean you have to do a recital. You can just take the lessons and vent/get in better shape/work on your balance and coordination and call it good there.
Private lessons would be an excellent way to start anyway, since it will likely feel very awkward being an older guy in a class full of young women and the occasional young man. This way you could build up your skills (and confidence) before dancing with a group, and you could do it in a much more relaxed environment.
Good god, I couldn't even really read the post because I was being barraged with "I'm not gay!!!" so much.
You should take ballet, and you may be able to opt out of any performances if you let your teacher know at the start that you are not interested in performing. (You should try to perform anyway. It's like the reward for all your hard work in class. You may even get to wear stage makeup ^_^)
If you take ballet, you will learn to be much more graceful and coordinated (except when you are on stairs). With any luck the physical grace will miraculously transfer itself to your speech as well.
Ballet sounds like it would be fun! Also it's probably a good one for stretchiness, which frankly comes up more often than strength for me. Stretching has made walking places hurt so much less.
Tapdancing!
And then you can be like Data and Dr. Crusher!
Pretty much every form of dancing improves core strength, which basically makes everything else you do in life easier. c:
I've never taken a ballet class, but I imagine once you start holding human beings up in the air for 10-15 seconds at a time, you better be a bad mf. That kind of dynamic range plus 90-120 ish pounds. Dang.
I never thought about it, but now I really don't want to pick on any ballet dancers.
now I want to go watch billy elliot (a great movie you should check out if you haven't by the way).
as others have said, there's no time like the present. if it is something you want to do, go for it, especially something so simple as taking a dance class.
And don't worry about knowing nothing when you start taking lessons. That's why it's a class man, you're there to learn. The teachers expect you to know nothing when you first show up and probably prefer it because you won't have any weird habits from other instructors.
About the recital part, who gives a shit? You're not there to learn to dance competitively, so that doesn't matter for that reason alone, but look at it as an opportunity to confront your stage fright and maybe learn a little about performance in general as well. The more you perform, the more you'll love it, the rush afterward is just awesome.
About being worried about failing, look at it this way: Every time you make a mistake, the next step is to learn to correct it, and when you do you are instantly quantitatively that much better at dancing. Every mistake is just the beginning of a small victory.
My point is do it, you'll love it. I'd love to learn dance myself but there are no good schools in my area that I have found yet. Consider yourself lucky!
I picked up playing an instrument as an adult, and didn't play anything at all when I was a kid in school. Not "looking at tabs," but like getting a teacher and actually learning the guts and technique for my instrument. I've had two teachers and both have had a lot of fun working with me because my own interest in the instrument comes through in our lessons; I actually practice, I can say what I want to work on, but they also know I have a job and don't really plan on being, say, a competitor. At least not anytime soon.
The only person you need to convince to take the classes is yourself. No one else's opinion should really matter.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
Exactly so.
The phrase "kicks like a mule" is also applicable.