Next steps

Class notes

So since the last dance diary entry several weeks ago, Level 2 of the absolute beginner workshop wrapped up at LINES. After the first few meetings I was starting to feel like the class was in a slow rut, but past the midway point the pace picked up nicely. Not only that but in the last two classes we’ve had live piano accompaniment, which is quite blissful.

At the final class this past Sunday I had some encouraging chats with a couple of the other students and the teacher about what to take next. It turns out that our teacher might not be teaching Level 3 until early next year, so in the meantime I’ll go to drop-in classes and may branch out and check out other schools in the city as well. She mentioned an advanced beginning class at ODC, which I had thought I might not be ready for, but she said that I had been dancing well in class and to check it out. Yay for confidence!

By the way I’m going to be on vacation in Anaheim starting tomorrow, so I’m going to try and carve out some time while we’re there to take a class at Anaheim Ballet. I’m totally excited about the idea of taking ballet class wherever I am, even on vacation.

Dance gear

I bought some new shoes. Thanks to Endless’s free shipping and free return shipping, I just ordered a few pairs in a range of sizes, kept the ones that fit, and returned the ones that didn’t. I ended up getting a pair of Sansha Pro 1 in black canvas. The Capezios I used previously were just a little too big. They were the smallest size in their men’s line (yes, I have relatively small feet, for a guy) so I needed to go unisex. So far, so good.

With my new Under Armour compression shirts (which are kind of flattering if I do say so myself; my workouts during the week are paying off), the dance belt, the tights, the shoes… I am looking very much the real deal.

Around town

Last week I saw a concert by Man Dance Company, an LGBT-focused dance company in San Francisco. This was my first time seeing them, and they seem like a good group of talented dancers. And let’s face it, you just don’t see male couples a lot in ballet or in mainstream dance for that matter, so their dances are kind of refreshing. The highlight for me was several pieces set to songs inspired by Brokeback Mountain. Singer Ryan Harrison and composer Shawn Kirchner were there to perform the songs live. I’d heard a couple of these songs at the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus concert earlier this year and really liked them. So it was neat to see them danced to.

I can’t find any video of the dance performance yet, but here is one of the songs, “Meet Me on the Mountain,” as performed by Ryan and Shawn at a Man Dance concert a few years ago: