My Third Ballet Class

Well yesterday was my third ballet class! I can't believe I keep going back for more punishment. I am feeling a little more comfortable in the class with the structure and the warm up combinations, but I am still sweating like a pig! (where does that saying come from anyway - do pigs really sweat?)

I have to concentrate really hard on remembering some of the footwork exercises. I think that this is really good for my brain. By forcing myself to remember intricate or direction changing exercises, I think I will keep my old brain more active. Yay for brain exercises too!

My hamstring muscles are extremely tight, so I can forget about doing the splits. Even in the old days when I was in the best of shape the splits weren't always my thing. I also have a very had time doing any jumping exercises. I find myself huffing and puffing and hanging my head out the door for some fresh air.

I have one class left that I prepaid for, so that should take me into next week. Then I am off to a wedding and don't know when I will get back to take that class. They will probably assume that they scared me off. Oh well.

Here's a picture of me when I was young and dancing the Dream Ballet in Oklahoma at the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera. I even danced it on "Pointe".

That seems like another lifetime ago, did I really ever do that? Oh to be young again!

Ta ta for now....

Ballet Class #2
Ballet Class #1

2011 Festival of Children at South Coast Plaza

The 10th Annual Festival of Children will be held from September 3rd-September 25th at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Ca. 

Enjoy and participate in over 100 performances and activities while discovering new ways to get involved with over 70 children's charities. There is everything from face painting to puppetry and ballet performances!

For a full schedule of events throughout the month, CLICK HERE.

Enjoy the Arts on a fun and educational level!

Ta ta for now...

Dance Class Week 2!

Today was my second Ballet I class, my first having been last week. I have to admit, the soreness was not completely gone before I put my body through the workout a second time, so tomorrow should be interesting!

This week I wore a no-sleeve, modified turtle neck leotard, teal blue with tiny black polka dots. I don't have many leotards that have survived the test of time! Because I heard that temperatures were supposed to hit 3 digits today, and the dance studio we are in has no air circulation, I decided a long sleeve leo was out.

Once again I sweated buckets. I was completely drenched by the end of the first hour. It's kind of embarrassing when you sweat so much that the only dry spot is the outline of your bra. Yuck! I also decided that a definite drawback to wearing the sleeveless was that there was some visible flab hanging over the top of my bra in the shoulder area. Double Yuck!! Well, the purpose of my blog is to share my experiences of being over 50, and weight gain is definitely one of the drawbacks. :(

I told my husband that I look "solid". Meaning in a polite way that I am no longer the zero-fat-on-the-body 20 year old he married! I do feel in proportion, I just wish that I was a smaller proportion of myself!

Some things were easier today, some things just as hard. In a sick sort of way I am looking forward to next week to see if my muscles are rebounding! I hope that I have the courage to make dance class my new exercise routine. Ballet really tones you up and makes you keep a tight core - and believe me I need something to be tighter!

Ta ta for now...


Ballet Class #1
Ballet Class #3

Buckets of Sweat

Last night I decided that I should try to take a Ballet 1 dance class at Jimmy DeFore's Dance Studio in Costa Mesa. They have been around for a long time, and offer great classes in 3 large studios. I dragged out the old dance bag, dug through drawers to see if I had any wearable leotards and tights, found my dance shoes, printed the class list and threw everything into a tote bag for the morning.

My black Lycra leotard was un-apologetic as it clung to every last curve, bump and muffin on my body.  I cringed as I heard the sound of old elastic cracking as it forced itself to be as flexible as I knew I wasn't! I found a pair of sweat pants for warming up, an old ripped up pair of leg warmers, pulled my hair back and tight to my head, grabbed a hand towel and a bottle of water and I was ready to put myself out there.

The class was surprisingly large. Good, less people to notice me. It felt kind of nice to be in familiar surroundings. My mantra "keep things small, do them well, and don't over do it". Exercises at the bar went OK, my brain did a pretty good job of remembering the combinations and if I got lost I looked into the window reflection to see people behind me or followed the girl in front of me. Breathe, mop sweat, drink water, breathe, mop sweat, drink water. That was what I did for the first hour. Then it was on to exercises in the middle of the floor. Here was the real test. I was so tired, my legs were shaking and I was having a hard time balancing. Things really fell apart when it was time to do chenes across the floor. After I tried to stop after 12 counts of turns, the room never stopped spinning! It was worse than a bad night of drinking! What did I expect from not having danced in a ballet class in over 20 years!

I can hardly wait until tomorrow morning. Already my legs feel like lead. I don't dare do a squat, it is too hard to stand back up! Best to take a nice bath this evening and do a rub down to ease the muscles. I should be able to recover just in time for next week's class!

Ta ta for now...

Ballet Class #2

Ballet Class #3