Legsy: A Ballet Dancer

In “Showing What Is Possible,” Jacques D’Amboise reflects on an experience when a teacher helped him discover ballet. Madame Seda helped D’Amboise fulfill his talent. With ballet, he overcame the pressure to join a gang like his friends. D’Amboise was able to become a well-known ballet dancer with help from his teachers. When it was time to retire from dancing, he started the National Dance Institute. This project enabled D’Amboise to influence his own students around the world. An influential teacher can affect one’s future by challenging pupils to move past their comfort zones, teaching them to actively control their future, and setting up an environment where they can improve together.

The first experience of watching a ballet, for me or any little girl, can be fascinating and exhilarating. Wondering how a dancer can be so steady on her toes as she spins in circles and leaps through the air. Watching a ballet, there is a feeling of wanting to be graceful, as well as the warm sensation felt by a little girl as she slips into dream land. My mom had taken me to my first ballet when I was 11 years old. When we returned home home, she signed me up for classes at the local dance center. The expectations to become a prima ballerina would involve much hard work and concentration. I knew when I started it would take years of steady practice and commitment. Learning the history of ballet and the famous

I have been dancing since the age of two. When asked about my career aspirations, there is no hesitation before saying “I want to be a dancer.” Being a dancer means putting all other distractions aside, and focusing on my craft. Currently, I dedicate over forty hours a week to dance, which is a schedule that requires sacrifice. When I am dancing, the rest of the world fades away, slipping out of my mind with relaxed importance. For that moment in time, I am completely free, wholly focused on my goals, letting me know dance is what I’m meant to do. With this realization comes a responsibility to myself and the work I have put into improving my craft thus far, and I know I must seek out the best opportunities for growth and continued learning.

Dance demands the same physical skills that are required in other sports. Flexibility, strength, and endurance are key characteristics that most dancers need to posses. As with other “athletes,” most dancers are not born with these abilities but must establish them through practice and repetitive training. Similar to traditional sports practices, dance rehearsals are extensive and require diligence, dedication, and patience from the dancers as they will have to repeat exercises and stretches to perfect their technique and stay on

I had just moved to Washington state and I auditioned for the local dance studio’s competition team for fun. I had no idea how talented they were. And I was just an untrained recreational dancer…Not surprisingly, I didn’t earn a coveted spot on the team it the first time I auditioned. That didn’t stop me from training seriously and auditioning for the team each year until I made it. And here I stand, now starting on my sixth year on the team and as one of the last people from my original team who decided not to quit when they started high school. Dance isn’t just twirling around in pretty pink tutus. What the general population doesn’t picture when they think of dance is the tremendous amount of strenuous work and the blood and sweat and tears that goes into every performance and competition. Certain dancers can’t handle it and quit when they realize they don’t have the passion. My passion keeps me living and breathing and most importantly, dancing, when times get

The next requirement needed to be a sport is skill. Not everyone can start dancing and automatically be great at it. Aubree James says that “if you were to ask Sydney Crosby (Canadian professional ice hockey player) to

As I stepped onto the field preparing to be a ball boy, I could feel my heart pounding inside me. When I spotted the players walking to the field, I was nervous and super excited at the same time. I had been deliberating what I should or should not do before the onset of the game. For example, if our team (Atlanta United) was winning, I would take a moment to slow the game down. On the other hand, if the opposite team was winning, I would demand of myself to be nimble and get the ball back into play as soon as possible. Finally, my dream of being a ball boy for a major league soccer team was becoming a reality.

One of the strongest muscles that dancers need is the core. Since the core supports the entire body, dancers need to keep theirs strong to keep their balance, and to prevent injuries. To convince you even more, data collected from multiple tests conducted at the Science Institute showed that dancers from the famous show, So You Think You Can Dance, were ranked among many other professional athletes in terms of overall athleticism. Furthermore, even NFL football player, Steve McLendon, has taken ballet classes, and has admitted that “[Ballet] is harder than anything else I do”. The endurance and strength needed to be a dancer surely should make dancing

I have danced every year of my life since. I am humbled to say, that through long days and nights in the studio, sacrificing time with my friends and family, all of the blood, sweat, and tears, I have accomplished what I have been working for since I was a little girl waddling around swallowed in a big pink tutu. I was chosen for the lead role of Cinderella in the Danscompany of Gainesville’s “Cinderella Ballet.” This accomplishment is a reflection of my consistent and sustained work ethic. This tenacity is reflected in other areas of my life and will be a defining characteristic that I carry to

I’ve grown up in a ballet studio. Not literally, of course, but it is where I’ve spent the majority of my childhood. Throughout the years, the arts have followed me despite the different places life has taken me. Whether it be dance, acting, or music, performing has always played a role in my life. My experiences both on and off the stage have been rocky and unpredictable, but I wouldn’t trade this thrilling adventure for the world.

I decided to do the choreography track for this assignment. I chose to interview one of my favorite undergraduate professor. Dr. Dale Gunn is a professor of both history and psychology. The walls of his office are filled with multiple degrees. He is a US Veteran, and has had many interesting careers such as a diver for Jacques Cousteau, IBM computer programmer, FBI analyst, Police Psychologist, Criminal Psychologist, as well as a college professor. After emailing Dr. Gunn he agreed to answer my questions for this assignment. I called and ask “If your discipline (or your job), were a dance, what kind of dance would it be?”. His response was immediate and precise. As expected, Dr. Gunn began with a brief history of his family. He said, “my ancestors

So far many of them the states are high’. The judges are international starts; they are seeking for nothing but perfection and are highly strung. Though they have a very high ‘respect for dance’. We see triumph as reward for hard work but we also see despair. We discovered that ballet dancers are vulnerable to injury as esteemed athletes.

Competitive teams around the world practice for more than twenty hours a week, just to perfect their movements and sync them with the music. If you are still on edge whether dance is a sport, this may help. According to multiple tests conducted by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, dancers from So You Think You Can Dance were ranked among the most professional athletes in terms of overall athleticism. From my own personal experience, I know that Gatorade is a big sponsor for National Level Dance Competitions. They have all their products being advertised backstage before dancers go perform

In my childhood, I used to dream about wearing an exquisite pink tutu that shone with glitter, a jeweled tiara, and, most importantly, beautiful satin shoes that seemed to always remain flawless. As a child, my perception of ballet was limited, but now that I have experienced a dancer’s life, I realized that this is what I am meant to do. I have sacrificed my normal teenage life to dedicate myself to this profession, and I cannot imagine any of those sacrifices going to waste. One thing I want to accomplish in the future is becoming a professional ballet dancer because I love the pure, captivating art of dance, dancing makes me feel complete, and I truly love performing. I have always had a special connection with music whether it be musicality, or the way I am consumed and mesmerized by it.

In the short story "Showing What Is Possible" by Jacques D'Amboise, he informs us regarding how ballet dance classes kept him off the roads and gave him some train. In the start of the story his mom was forcing him to go and sit and wait on his sister at her ballet classes with the goal that he wouldn't be out in the city getting into inconvenience. The first few times he doesn't do anything and disturb the class by making commotion and moving around. At that point one day the instructor, Madame Seda let him know that he could participate in the jumps at the end of class if he promised to be quiet for the rest of class. She complimented him on how well he did and from that point on he didn't upset the class anymore.