A few weeks ago in my Tuesday night ballet class, our teacher was stretching our legs and "pop", I felt something pop in a funny way in my hamstring. I went home and iced it but it was definitely injured. I don't think I pulled my hamstring or tore anything in there, I just plain hurt myself. Still, the pain was terrible for about a week and I pretty much lost any flexibility I had built up in my right leg. Now, about 3 weeks later it STILL hurts, although it's much better.
The pain also felt deeper like inside my butt somewhere almost a sciatic pain, so Dr. Google told me I probably injured my "piriforis muscle". Especially because I read it plays a role in the outward rotation of your hip. HELLO, all of ballet is trying to rotate your hips outward for better turnout!
Well, whatever it was, here's where it happened. I actually have a picture of the moment it happened. Right after the picture was taken I knew I had injured my hamstring. How else do you think I could get my leg so high up there?
I was so close to getting all the way down in my right side splits too, now all that progress is gone!
Anyway, as you all may remember I took my first ballet class in September 2013. I estimate I've taken about 40 ballet classes since I started, and man do I still feel like a beginner. Which is normal, I mean what was I thinking taking up ballet at age 33 with absolutely no prior training? Still, I've progressed. In the very least I've learned a lot of the terminology and understand what a plié, tendu, and grand battement are. My turn out has also gotten a lot better over the last few months, although my flexibility is still lacking.
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| oh, to be 3 years old and impossibly flexible like my daughter |
Speaking of flexibility, I understand more now what my limitations are for ballet. First of all, I have really weak ankles. I've sprained them each several times. My left ankle I have had in a cast a few times due to severe sprains, so that's a big negative. As you can imagine, having strong ankles is pretty important for ballet, and I'm not even talking about being on pointe (which I think I now know I will never get to do). Just doing exercises on releve takes enormous ankle and leg strength. I struggle to rise up and hold any position on releve for more than a second or two. Next, I will never be able to do a beautiful arabesque. My flexibility isn't there and it probably won't ever be, and the strength you need in your lower back to hold a nice arabesque is ridiculous too. Turns are terribly hard for me too. I can possibly do one pirouette on each side and that's about it. Forget fouttes or multiple turns. Too bad too, since the reason I started ballet was to perform 32 fouttes in a row like in Swan Lake.
Still, I think I've found something I really like and I hope to keep getting better with each class I take.
Also, if you're in the Chicagoland area, we're always looking for more people to join our adult ballet class on Tuesday night in Niles. Let me know if you're interested!
