25. In the Mirror

Still based on my same journal entry from February 25

In the last blog post I was talking about my solo item from the programme for my Ballet school concert of 1991.

Looking back through the programme that year, there were the usual pretty ‘Waltz of The Flowers’-type of items for my ballet students. But I must have been on fire with my new insights, because I also choreographed these dances: Here are the programme notes. Make of them what you will.

 “Magic mirror” – this one had a young girl who kept coming back a few times to look in the magic mirror at the carnival (it was a clever one-way mirror, which when lit from the front showed her reflection, and then when lit from behind, showed someone else standing there.) Depending on what appeared to be her reflection, what she seemed to be in the mirror, she went off and became that person.   Yeah, I know …. Deep.                                     (Have you ever reflected on what was mirrored back to you as a child? What if you had been told that you were hopeless? Or that you were wonderful? Or that you could do absolutely anything you wanted? Or that you should not get too big for your boots or be too conspicuous? Or ….. I wonder what else was or could have been mirrored to you, and I wonder if you’re still holding that same image of yourself? For me, I feel that I’ve maintained and cherished the very best bits I was given, and created new aspects of my self-image that are a ‘better fit’ for me.

Another item on the ballet concert programme was called “Trusting’”–

‘The self-reliant ‘people-ponies’ find that the magic begins when they finally trust their drivers to guide their journey.’    This ‘sweet little fantasy story’ had the kids dressed as ponies. Once they gave up their resistance to being driven, they turned into magical unicorns. Pretty cute. (! ? ! )

 “Anything is Possible” – I used a song by Davies/Kretschmer, and quoted these lyrics:   “Hey, yeah, I never could explain we’re all playing a game we never could win ….. We just wander all over the same old ground.   Oh, I had the strangest dream and you shook your head and you looked at me and you said, ‘Open your eyes and maybe you will see ….’ Anything is possible in this world.”                                                  I seem to remember that in this dance I had some ‘toughies’ who turned into soft, gentle people when reunited with their childhood teddies, and some ‘bowls-ladies’ who kicked up their heels and became can-can dancers and did the splits. Pretty funny !

Then there was a dance that I had originally choreographed at the tender age of seventeen, when my own ballet teachers encouraged a few of us to choreograph. It was about two people with totally different styles (Classical and Jazz Ballet) having a dance-argument about their way being better. They flatly refused to have anything to do with each other, until finally they started to see some common ground. The last part had them still dancing their own unique style, but complementing each other’s movements at every turn. At the time, in my teens, I called it “The Compromise”.

For this revival of my dance, and with greater maturity under my belt now in my 30’s, I renamed it  “Acceptance”.