Like any new mom, I too found myself overwhelmed with love and joy when I became one. I was, and still am, making promises/milestones and coming up with resolutions to become a better person, someone my girls will look up to and be proud of. My heart was full and the élan of life, despite the ugly antiquity, has overpowered me. I realized, this is my purpose; to give my girls the best life that I can, and nothing will stop me in that. That is what gets me out of bed each day.
Thus, the love and support that I have for all their endeavors is eternal, so long they have love and passion for it. As it turns out, they are in love with ballet and more passionate about it than anything else so far! For that I am thanking their remarkable ballet teachers!
As if being a teacher is not hard enough, ballet instructors get to instill knowledge of the art of ballet, in addition to having to explain and educate boys and girls about their bodies, physical abilities, muscle groups, musicality, flexibility, conditioning, art, a lot of terms in French related to ballet, which I am not even going to try to write here…and the list goes on and on.
A prodigious ballet instructor/coach also gets to talk to each dancer about their strengths and weaknesses. I do not know about you, but I am barely getting over the fact that I have weaknesses (and I am realizing that I have many), having to talk about them with anyone, is horrifying at best. Yet, we expect ballet teachers to address it with our kids. And guess what? They do! And they do it with aptitude and understanding.
They are superhuman! They never call in sick, they never have a bad day or show that they are having one, they provide consistent support, they address all sorts of issues, they make time for everyone even when it seems impossible to do so, all the while they are making it fun. They truly are remarkable!
I watch my girls admiring their teachers and write in their ballet journals about how much they respect them and appreciate all the feedback, enthusiasm and energy they have. They take all their words and knowledge and hold on to those like revered gifts that they are. I see them growing as they learn about how their bodies move, what areas to focus on and how to embrace who they are as a dancer, person and what makes them unique and different. All this is thanks to the pedagogical, stimulating atmosphere where dancers are appreciated for who they are and for what makes them diverse.
Dealing with rejection, positive feedback, constructive criticism, big wins and small successes is something dancers are up against each day. It is never easy, and their instructors are there to help them overcome it all, but more importantly they teach them how to embrace it, learn and grow from it. It is because ballet instructors believe in every dancer and they want them to succeed.
So, I want to thank you, ballet instructors for your undying love for the art of ballet and teaching! Thank you for having enormous amounts of patience, finding the perfect balance and a unique way to push, motivate and develop every individual in your class! Thank you for teaching discipline, passion, emotional intelligence, extremely strong work ethic, respect, encouragement and appreciation of everyone’s unique dance style and ability, showing vigor and tenacious encouragement! Thank you, for being a friend, parent, older sibling, younger sibling, psychologist, mediator, pedagogue, professional, doctor, designer, choreographer, organizer, and most of all a true inspiration!
Finally, for my selfish reasons I want to thank you for adding color to my world through beautiful music, movement and the art of ballet that my girls enjoy so much, and I delightfully watch. Thank you for having windows in your studios so moms like me can enjoy observing class and taking countless pictures and videos of my spectacular ballerinas! Thank you for having parents showing days, galas, productions, videos, photos, social media posts so that I can enjoy it at all times! Thank you for responding to my myriad of emails, Instagram and website enquiries, twitter comments, Facebook messages, long late-night texts, numerous phone calls and endless questions I always seem to come up with! Thank you for your patience, professionalism and continuous support in educating me about all that is ballet! Thank you for believing in my girls and for everything that you do!
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