My name is Jasmine, and I am a ballerina. At least, I like to believe I am a ballerina. I am 23 years old and currently I am taking classes at my local community college and at studios. I consider myself an intermediate level ballet dancer. I'm not very flexible ( I can't do my splits on either side -.-). My balance is mediocre at best. And, I need to work on my port da bras. But, I can't say I don't try.
My ballet journey started 4 years ago at community college. It was the summer of 2011, and although I had danced for a year in high school, I had not kept up with it since I had graduated in 2010. I had a few friends who had taken the summer beginning ballet class at our school and they recommended it to me. I had only recently discovered the world of ballet and all its beauty and was captivated by it. I new a professional career was not an option, but learning ballet for the heck of it was certainly an option.
So with little experience, I enrolled in beginning ballet and started a journey that, I did not know at the time, would change my life forever. Tendu, plie, degage, glissade, jete, tour jete. These terms were all knew to me, but I caught on quick. I was falling in love at an alarming rate. I wanted to do dance everyday; I lived in leotard, and dreamt of ballet. By the end of the summer course, I was ready to tackle the Intermediate level in the fall. Or, so I thought.
My first semester of Intermediate ballet was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my entire life MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! I literally cried. Mainly, because the jump from beginning to intermediate was greatly out of proportion. At the time, there were only two levels of ballet: Beginning and Intermediate. So all the super beginners were in beginning, and then the pretty amazing dance majors were in Intermediate. I, of course, was not aware of the leap I was making.Within the first two weeks I contemplated quitting. The teacher pushed us so hard, and everyone around me seemed to keep up with her. I knew I looked like a damn fool trying to do the petite allegro in class. But, never in my life have I been a quitter. I pushed back just as hard. I gave my everything and then some; And, it was worth it in the end. That semester I fell in love with ballet all over again. I fell in love with grand jete's, and assemble battu's and double pique turns, and I fell in love with the person that ballet brought out of me.
From that semester on, I went at dance full force. I look ballet, modern, jazz, and even tap. I even became a dance minor. Now a days, I still take class at school, but I've started venturing out and discovering local studios. I even started pointe at the studio around the corner from school.
My beginning with ballet is a story I love to tell. I am not your average ballerina, and I have not been dancing since I was 3. But, that does not mean that my love for this art form is any less real than anyone elses.
Dance on my friends!
-Wulfe
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