Copyright © jonniphillips2008

Its 1968 and I'm Wearing a Ballet Dress

I can't believe this, its 1968 and I am wearing a lyrical ballet dress. I have on a white lace strap leotard with a pink sheer chiffon empire waist skirt, satin ribbon belt and sheer puffy princess sleeves at the elbow. The skirt is below the knee length and the leotard has a satin overlay at the chest and drops low on the back. Underneath I am wearing a Capezio dance belt with a wide elastic band that hugs my waist. On top, I am wearing a tissue padded cotton girl’s strapless bra. Covering my legs is a pair of nylon/spandex Danskin capri tights in white. On my feet is a pair of wedding ballet type slippers dyed to match my gown with ribbons laced up my bare calves. I'm about to perform a three minute routine to Mendelson's scherzo, A Midsummer's Night Dream.

Mom was royally pissed at me. I was caught in the back alley with my friends with a marijuana joint in my hand. The fact that I hadn’t puffed, but was only passing it on didn't matter. I hadn't protested all that much knowing it wouldn’t do any good. As punishment, I had to take ballet lessons that summer.

I have two older sisters, Claire and Connie. I was born somewhat as a surprise to my mother and father. Claire was fourteen years old and Connie was twelve when I was born. In 1968 my father, a marine, was on duty in Vietnam, and my mother was a stay at home mom except on occasion, she would also fill in as a dance instructor at a local academy. I took a few lessons when I was younger but didn't have much to do with the studio for the past few years.

The day after my freshman year was over my punishment began and I was required to wear an old oversized leotard and a pair of tights with runs and snags in them. They were quite baggy at the knees and ankles. I also had to wear on a pair of large black tap shoes with extra large pink ribbon ties. To the amusement of everyone in the academy I had to look like the biggest queer ever for the next two weeks as I practiced plies, bending my legs to loosen and promote elasticity in the muscles. I also used the barre, a wooden pole fastened horizontally on the wall to help with stretching exercises.

When ballet lessons finally started I wore more appropriate attire for ballet practice, for a girl that is, a black leotard, pink tights and pink ballet slippers with pink elastic across the instep. Mom also brought along a short chiffon character skirt to be worn as a cover up or as part of my outfit worn during certain movements. Mom was really enjoying this.

The lesson were quite difficult. I did't know if I would ever be able to do a full turn out. Mom held my hips and said to turn through the hips and lock my bottom and not just turn out the ankles and knees. Constantly she reminded me, "If your posture and turn out are correct, you should flow smoothly from position to position."quot;

Eventually I moved to center work and practiced jumps called sautés and jetes. The turns were called piourettes and tour en l'airs. My hand movements had to be precise as I practiced spheres and arc movements called pot de bras. I finished with some traveling steps known as demipointe. This was like walking on tiptoes. Full pointe techniques would be for more experienced ballerinas.

"You need clear movements from the heart, from the center of your torso, through your body and out to the tips of your fingers. Keep your head high, like you were trying to lengthen your neck. Be graceful.";

By mid summer I was introduced to Lyrical Ballet where the emphasis was on interpreting the music with soft flowing movements similar to ballet but not necessarily following the exact forms.

The practice attire for lyrical class was a pink leotard with tights. The leotard had princess seams down the front and was made of cotton and Lycra. It stretched to fit tightly across the chest. The shoes were tan half sole lyrical shoes. Sometimes I performed the dances barefoot. A short skirt and a long flowing skirt of Lycra and chiffon were included. The skirts help to convey the effect of the dancer floating through space. Mom brushed back my hair and held it with barrettes. I practiced performing the skills while moving to the music. There was a lot of floor work and combinations. There were graceful jumps ands splits and soft flowing movements with the arms.

At the end of summer, the Academy held a recital. I helped out a lot backstage with costumes and makeup. I also performed with one of the Lyrical classes. My training continued into the fal..... I really enjoyed myself. I'm not sure if mom was really punishing me or just wanted since Connie and Claire no longer lived with us to have a daughter once again around her for awhile.