Ballet, the confidence booster

I realise I’ve been talking a lot about Andre lately, so to be fair, today’s post is about Lesley-Anne. One of Lesley-Anne’s biggest loves is ballet. Before you go, “wah, in GEP, take piano, take tae-kwon-do, still got ballet!” and think I’m one of those pushy, ogre-type mums, I must protest my innocence. It’s her decision, really!

When she was about 5 years old, I did casually ask her if she was interested in learning ballet, but at that time, she was unbearably shy and the thought of public performance horrified her. (At her first pre-school concert, she stood frozen on stage while all her little friends in butterfly costumes danced around her). So the subject was dropped and she went for piano lessons instead.

I’m no dancer myself, but I do admire the grace and impossibly beautiful movements of ballerinas. I love all the ballet classics – Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, as well as more modern works. When the Royal Ballet came to town for the Arts Festival in 2005 to perform Swan Lake, I brought Lesley-Anne to see the performance. The sets and costumes were breath-taking, and the dancing was impeccably flawless. Lesley-Anne was spell-bound. Despite the whole show lasting over three hours, she sat entranced throughout.

After that performance, she told me, “Mummy, I want to learn ballet.” She was still very taciturn then, so I was surprised that she would be interested in an art form that was all about physical expression. I was sceptical and kept asking, “Are you sure?” until she convinced me that she was committed to her decision.

It might appear that I always pour cold water on my children’s wishes to take on a new activity. The reason behind this is that Kenneth and I frown upon the idea of quitting. Basically, we believe that once a commitment is made, perseverance should ensue, except for extenuating circumstances, of course. Call me old-fashioned but I don’t approve of kids who flit from one CCA or hobby to another, quitting every time the going got tough or they got tired of it. How to develop tenacity otherwise? If our kids wish to take on something, we will support 100% but I’ll always caution them to think twice because quitting is not an option.

We signed Lesley-Anne up for ballet lessons at a community centre, upon the recommendation of a friend. This particular teacher has been giving ballet lessons for the last 40 years and she’s wonderful.

To cut a long story short, Lesley-Anne is still taking lessons from the same teacher today. She started off at Grade 1 and is currently doing her Grade 4. She enjoys it tremendously, more so than her piano lessons. She has so far taken two examinations and gotten Distinctions in both. As with the piano, examinations are not compulsory – all the pupils move up with the class and learn the syllabus although the non-examination pupils tend to get slightly less attention during the weeks leading up to the examination.

Learning ballet has had a dramatic effect on Lesley-Anne. Dance is a very open art form - you can’t hide behind an instrument or a canvas. Somehow, having to express herself physically through dance has enabled her to come out of her shell. Ever since she took up ballet, she walks and talks more confidently, and she holds herself up taller.

She is still an introvert but at least she now actively participates in social occasions instead of hiding in the shadows. Of course it could also partly be a process of growing up, but I saw the change only from the time she took up ballet, so I’m pretty sure it has no small part to play in her transformation. Quite a few people have commented that she’s very poised, again something I attribute to ballet.

This is a short video of Port de Bras - one of the centrework exercises for Grade 2 (back in 2006). When Lesley-Anne found out I was going to post this, she screeched: “Don’t put up any embarrassing videos of me!” But I think it’s cute lah, see how angelic all the girls look! Since it’s my blog, I get to do what I want, ha. She’s threatening to hack into my account, so if my post suddenly disappears, you’ll know what happened.