JetUNsetter

I was recently blessed to be in the company of one of the greatest ballerinas of our time. To me, ballet (I love all types of dance but consider ballet to be the queen of them all) is one of the things I love most in life. It’s not just the music or the musicality, it’s something a lot more vital.

This is where I was shocked to hear the ballerina speaking words that usually come out of my mouth: she said she feels lucky to have found something in life (ballet) that keeps her grounded and lifted.

This is the paradox: ballet can bring the greatest of joy and bring me (and presumably the ballerina I am talking about) up to a cloud of magic, music, art, spirituality, connection with fellow dancers, yet at the same time is my anchor to real life. Not necessarily to every day kind of real life, but the life that is worth living kind of real life. It is my ballet moments that I feel connected to my true self. Or rather, my best self. I cannot be the judgmental jerk that I can be when I dance for instance.

The real question I guess is, why? What is about ballet that can be such a wonderful thing, and, as the ballerina put it, if discovered early in life, also a blessing of a space to travel back to when all other destinations in life are either distant or painful or meaningless.

There is the obvious combination of exercise of mind, body and soul. Unlikely pilates, it’s art. Unlike art, it’s active. Sweat and pain kind of active. Having given it lots of thought, however, I think it comes down to how natural it is. Perhaps like singing, dancing is just our bodies. No equipment really needed and music can be just the sounds of nature to dance to. Sound of waves or leaves rustle would work.

I guess, if ballet is the vehicle for some of us to travel to meet our true and best self, it needs nothing but a few notes and no real equipment, it should be taught at schools! Imagine a word shaped by our truest and best and full of music. Please help me make sense of this one too…