En flate

Ballet is one of my favorite art forms and ways to exercise, so when I had the chance to be in a production of Giselle I was like, 'Sweet, I'm going to get in awesome shape, and be so good at balleting and toe standing!!'

And that sort of happened because of all the practicing/rehearsing; however, ballet is a cold, hard pit of ways to look ridiculous.

Two seconds without practicing means starting again is worse than rude children. Eventually things come back, but this only leads to a perilous sense of achievement. 'Maybe I'm doing good and people might even want to watch!'

This is not true.

But it's okay. Ballet is the best because it's about how everything is done - timing, musicality, expression... You'll never do exactly the same thing twice, or be perfect, so it's always interesting and the pain is embraced in a never ending quest for DOMINATION (and grace and beauty and it looks like things are effortlessly easy breezy.... tiptoeing through tulips.... but also STRONG and POWERFUL, because no one wants a weakling flopping around).

 

Dressing room

 I had to buy this sort of gross fake hair to better achieve the famous ‘Giselle hair'. This style was all the rage in 1840s Paris when the ballet premiered. Google it. I wouldn't bet a dead dog on a comeback.

The hardest part of this show was maintaining tragically sad expressions while Giselle is taking FOREVER to ***spoiler alert*** die. All the friends and peasant people have to stand around for 27 minutes trying to think of new ways to mime pain and devastation. Sometimes I would hug someone in 'anguish', turning my face upstage to roll my eyes. (Not because Giselle the dancer was boring, she is, truly, really great, but, 'Heeeellllloooo 19th century choreographer, we get it and need to return to our smart phones.')

 

Here is me in costume. The picture is small because... the Giselle hair.