Don’t Drink, Eat, And Dance

I am taking adult basic ballet lessons at Jo Emery Ballet School in South Tacoma on Wednesday nights. I just completed my third lesson.

I am your classic beginner’s beginner and I foul stuff up, but I am enjoying it regardless. And I am learning. And what I learned today should be taught in every dance class.

NEVER consume huge quantities of pizza, onion rings, and tater tots BEFORE dance class. EVER.

My hubby was getting his hair cut at the Azarra Salon in Tacoma in the Harmon Building in the heart of downtown on Pacific Avenue this evening. Ah, how convenient, that the salon was just above the Harmon Brewery and Restaurant. And how very convenient that it was a hot day and we had no stove as it caught on fire July 4th (the new stove has not arrived). So, the kiddies and I met hubby and I gorged myself on their delightful Pizza Margherita, filled with gooey, ooey cheese, lush Roma tomatoes, and large pieces of fresh basil. Yum! Of course, being happy hour, appetizers were half price, so I devoured some crispy, enormous onion rings, and washed those down with a Point Defiance IPA. And my son couldn’t finish his tater tots, so I did.

I had to be at ballet in 45 minutes after I ate.

Clearly, I felt stuffed and mildly sick. We got home and I ate four Tums and headed off to class. It was a big class tonight and there was Jo who looked spirited and positively smashing. Bless these people, as I knew I really stunk of garlic, onions, and perspiration. Bless them for talking to me and coming close to me. Hey, if I can smell MYSELF, the poor other dancers must have had quite the odorous experience.

I hung in there, despite the grease swirling in my stomach and my stench. I LOVED the barre exercises. I love it so much I could kiss it and keep it forever! But while it’s important, it ain’t dancing. The floor exercises, the real dancing, started out okay.

Then we did spins.

You can imagine how spinning was for me physically this fine night. Mix that in with spinning the wrong way. Fortunately, there was no disaster, thank God.

We moved into more steps and I got pretty fouled up. But I figured if I could just either have two lefts or two rights, I would be fine. You see, I am also wired backwards. Case in point—I handwrite certain letters and numbers BACKWARDS. Always have. Ask me to handwrite the word, “Mississippi” real time and it will blow your mind.

But despite it all, three things stuck with me at ballet tonight:

1.Jo said, “Don’t over think this. Stop counting and start dancing!” True! Isn’t that true of life? So, I imagined myself as an enormous dancing potato instead of counting and actually got a couple steps right! Maybe I should imagined myself as a giant Tums instead.


2.My daughter asked me how dance class was. I told her I liked it, but the last part was really hard. She said, “Maybe I should come with you to help next time!” Life strikes again! Always accept kind help (thanks fellow dancers and Jo for your tips and help and future thanks to my little Erin!).

3.Don’t eat, drink, and dance in short order.

And the Gritty City Ballerina endures!