April has actually happened. A long, record-breaking, very cold winter is finally behind us. That's safe to say. Get ready for fabulous rewards to come: sparkling sunshine, warm afternoons, breezy summer clothes and flowers popping up all over the city.
We all feel the anticipation of Springtime. Just like the excitable birds nesting on tree branches throughout our neighborhood streets. Some of us more than others embrace these happier days, but all of us are affected.
I make it a point each April to recite (at least once during this season) the few paragraphs of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales that I was required to memorize in Medieval Lit class years ago. My favorite phrases are about the month of "Aprille" that Chaucer describes and those happy little birds that "maken melodye. " He writes that they sleep all through the Springtime nights with their eyes wide open because they are bursting with anticipation about the new season.
When our ballerinas and danseurs arrive to take class on these sunnier days, there is an undeniable excitement that is very 21st Century. Work-out clothes are more colorful. Conversation is bubblier. Friendships are blossoming. Warm-ups are, well, warmer. Ballet practice leaves us glowing, even more than usual.
I think our class is unique in that we all worked hard during the cold months and showed up regularly. Attendance was consistently high, even during those frigid, snowy months, when I expected to be teaching ballet in an empty classroom.
You showed up. We all did whenever we could. And now, we reap the rewards. We don't have to make mad dashes to the gym to get ourselves back in shape. We're already there.
The plíes and tendus we practiced throughout the dark days of January, February and March kept us fit as we maneuvered the icy city streets that never seemed to thaw.
Without a doubt, we have emerged with longer, leaner and more graceful Springtime bodies.
I've always been fascinated with how effortless ballet appears to the onlooker, yet how athletic and demanding it actually is. Most of all, I'm always quite smug about the effect of ballet training on our minds and bodies. It's all good.
So on this sunny, lovely April morning, I congratulate you on your toned, terrific bodies. You deserve them.
XXX
We all feel the anticipation of Springtime. Just like the excitable birds nesting on tree branches throughout our neighborhood streets. Some of us more than others embrace these happier days, but all of us are affected.
I make it a point each April to recite (at least once during this season) the few paragraphs of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales that I was required to memorize in Medieval Lit class years ago. My favorite phrases are about the month of "Aprille" that Chaucer describes and those happy little birds that "maken melodye. " He writes that they sleep all through the Springtime nights with their eyes wide open because they are bursting with anticipation about the new season.
When our ballerinas and danseurs arrive to take class on these sunnier days, there is an undeniable excitement that is very 21st Century. Work-out clothes are more colorful. Conversation is bubblier. Friendships are blossoming. Warm-ups are, well, warmer. Ballet practice leaves us glowing, even more than usual.
I think our class is unique in that we all worked hard during the cold months and showed up regularly. Attendance was consistently high, even during those frigid, snowy months, when I expected to be teaching ballet in an empty classroom.
You showed up. We all did whenever we could. And now, we reap the rewards. We don't have to make mad dashes to the gym to get ourselves back in shape. We're already there.
The plíes and tendus we practiced throughout the dark days of January, February and March kept us fit as we maneuvered the icy city streets that never seemed to thaw.
Without a doubt, we have emerged with longer, leaner and more graceful Springtime bodies.
I've always been fascinated with how effortless ballet appears to the onlooker, yet how athletic and demanding it actually is. Most of all, I'm always quite smug about the effect of ballet training on our minds and bodies. It's all good.
So on this sunny, lovely April morning, I congratulate you on your toned, terrific bodies. You deserve them.
XXX