After the masterclass Blossom was full of smiles. It was fun, she said. Our teacher was really nice, she said. Phew, because when we first arrived and saw the other girls she was about to share a class with Blossom had a small anxiety attack:
Blossom: I'm not going in
Mum: Why?
Blossom: I'm the only one not wearing hair gel and diamantes
Mum: No, you are wearing a practise bun. Hair gel and diamantes aren't required at 10am in the morning.
Blossom: The girls look mean.
Mum: They can't help it, their faces are contorted by a too-tight bun and hair gel [seriously, you can give yourself a face lift with that stuff].
Now, I can do a fair job with ballet hair and I think that neat hair for ballet shows respect for the art. I help out with hair during ballet exam week and for the end of year concert. I am a dab hand with hair gel and all manner of hair accessories. But at 10am in the morning that stuff is just not required.
To calm Blossom down we looked around to see if we could find any girls that looked friendly. After counting four or five near us she relaxed. The friendly-looking ones, incidentally, wore their hair in a practise bun and they didn't prance around pirouetting or doing the splits.
Blossom is going to encounter the over-gelled Lolitas at every ballet event she attends from now on. I'm glad she's getting a handle on it and I hope she realises that the froth and bubble doesn't equal performance.
10 comments:
Oh, I need you to come and help me over here with Guerita's hair! Maybe after she's been doing ballet for a few more years (if she keeps going) I'll get better at doing a bun. :)
Glad to hear Blossom enjoyed her class. It must be a pretty exciting experience for her. I have a friend who studied at the Ballet School for quite a few years and she said it was very intense.
Yes, the ballet school is totally intense, made worse by the knowledge that out of a graduating class of 20 only 5 or so contracts will usually be offered to the Aussie Ballet... I'm all for a normal high school experience.
I was a fringe dwelling ballet mother. I could only discuss my daughter's eyelashes and cheek bones for a few minutes before I gagged. As for hair - so long as it was up it was fine! Ashleigh didn't much care for the gel - it was too hard to get it all out the next day.
As the aunt of a current inmate of the ABS there are many points of agreement between us. I was also a professional dancer for 2 years and did all the ballet/ theatrical/ concert/ exam things for 19 years of my life so I understand the hairgel drama!
My niece is hoping for an offer to come back to the west!
Its a pretty hard life to adjust back to once you leave the stage... The greasepaint never quite gets out of your system.
But Blossom is quite right to count friendliness as a considerable asset to one's comfort in class. Shame some girls fake it so readily.
As a teen I competed in equestrian events and there was definitely the gel and dimante equivalent present at these events.
Just because some had the most expensive gear and the most beautiful horses, didn't make them any better riders.
There's some good life lessons to be learned in these experiences.
Well done Blossom. The class sounds great.
Hair , gel, glitter etc is why I encouraged Kingsley to do sport. I can manage runners and trackshoes but am in awe of you all who can whip up a hairbun that stays put and looks great.
I think this is what freaks me out about Margot doing ballet. Those other girls!
Hair gel and diamantes at 10 years old sounds bad enough, let alone at 10am.
I think one must have standards. And 10am is definitely too early for diamantes.
This post exemplifies why I consider you a friend. Some principals just can't be fudged.
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