"...stomach in...torso lifted...pelvis turned under...flat in the front...squeeze thighs...heels forward...toes to the side...chest out and shoulders open...feet in first...left hand on the barre...right hand in preparatory...chin up...head side...listen for the counts...breathe...

...sometimes it is difficult to feel the beauty of dancing...i am so focused on everything that i need to be doing with my body that i forget to enjoy the sequence that i am performing...at some moments i catch the beauty of my pointed foot or the extension of my arabesque...and for those moments i am remembering why i do this...why I force myself to hold my leg longer and higher this time than the last...why i walk away with every muscle fiber in my legs shaking...why i wake up sore every day after...those moments of beauty are the moments that make me feel as though i am a dancer...when i am in the absolute bliss of the moment and wanting more from myself...knowing that i have it in me...that i can perform..."

copyright© 2001 Mackenzie Fogelson