I have been doing ballet since I was 3 years old.

The language of ballet is hard to

understand at first because everything is in French and sounds like gibberish to a non-

french speaker. In ballet, you must be both very flexible and strong with lean muscles in

order to do the necessary movements. You must work diligently to acquire the

necessary skills and strength before you can go en pointe. I was able to get my first pair

of pointe shoes when I turned 11, which was much more strenuous than I had originally

anticipated because before you can even attempt to dance with them, you have to learn

how to sew them and break them in. 

The nature of how I became literate in this secondary discourse is by exposure

because I just had to be exposed to the terms and their meanings until I figured out the

correlation. I think possible stages in gaining my secondary discourse would be being

exposed to the language used in ballet, learning which words correspond to which

moves, learning what the words actually translate to, and then being fluent in the

terminology used in ballet. The stages that I felt the most trapped in were the first two

stages, as the terms and moves were still new to me and it seemed very overwhelming

at the time. For example, everything in ballet builds on itself, so in order to do a

combination, you must first master the separate movements in that combination, but in

order to do that you have to master the positions in each movement. The way of

thinking that helped me get out of that trap was to break down each move and slowly

piece it together until I had it down.

There are so many different words and phrases in this secondary discourse,

however, some of the more prominent ones are plié, arabesque, battement, assemble,
barre, chassé, developpe, pas de chat, passé, relevé, bourrée, allegro, jete, pirouette,

adagio, tendu, and pas de deux. These terms all correlate to different positions and

movements within ballet, and are combined to make a variation. For class, I had to have

my hair in a slicked-back high ponytail, wear a black leotard, ballet tights with no runs,

and pointe shoes/soft shoes. For performances, I had to have my hair in a sleek low

bun with tons of hairspray, stage makeup, the appropriate costume for the piece I was

in, tights with no runs, and pointe shoes. I also could not wear any jewelry when I was

on stage or in class.

The main characters I interacted with were my instructor, Kevin Overbey, and

one of my friends, Ida Cacanindin. Mr.O was around 50, with white curly hair and an

average build. He was strict, but he still had a good sense of humor, as we would often

squint at each other when he critiqued me. He typically wore track pants, black ballet

flats, and a blue t-shirt with “Go The Distance” in bold white letters. He was taught ballet

by the world-famous ballerina Anna Marie Holmes, who was the first American dancer

invited to perform with the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia. Ida was always somewhat of a

prodigy in class, as she naturally excelled in ballet more than the average dancer. She

had tan skin and long black hair, as well as the ideal ballet body- long and slender limbs

with lean muscle. She was very nice and humble, even when accepted to UNCSA,

SAB, and eventually began her apprenticeship with the Miami City Ballet company. 

One aspect of the activity that implied a certain hierarchy was the different levels

of classes. You would start in beginner, then go to intermediate, advanced, advanced 2,

and advance 3. If you were good enough, Mr.O would even offer for you to take the
variation class, which was a class of the most advanced dancers who worked on their

individual performances throughout the class rather than on group performances. A big

part of this hierarchy relied on pointe shoes, as they were the most anticipated

milestone of a dancer’s journey and are coveted by everyone who hasn’t earned them

yet. Ida was 2 years younger than me, however, we both got our pointe shoes around

the same time. This is because I was ready for my first pair of pointe shoes at the

standard age of 11, whereas she was naturally gifted and was ready to begin pointe

work by the time she was 9. This meant that even though we were even in skill level at

that time, she was still above me in the hierarchy because she got her pointe shoes

earlier than most. Mr.O had the most power over me seeing as he was my instructor,

which both helped and hindered me because since he was so strict, he pushed me to

the best of my ability and helped me progress quickly and skillfully, but he also caused

me to get burnt out sometimes because he would push me too hard. There was a time

that I had power over someone else because I was an assistant teacher in a class for

little girls when I was a bit older, so I was helping to correct their form and help them

individually with their group performance.

Key incidents for me were my very first class, my first recital, moving up to

advanced ballet, getting my first pair of pointe shoes, my first variation, and my first time

teaching a class. My first class was stage one because I had no idea what I was doing

or what the words meant. My first recital was stage two because I had learned what

words corresponded to what move, however I didn’t actually know what the word meant.

Moving up to advanced ballet and getting my first pair of pointe shoes was stage three

because I had actually learned what the words meant and could use that to enhance my
dancing ability. My first variation and first time teaching a class was stage four because

I had become fluent in the secondary discourse and began teaching it to the next

generation. At my first class, I was nervous but my mom helped to calm me down while

Mr.O taught me the basics. At my first recital, my parents and grandparents were there

cheering my on because I had a bit of stage fright. When I moved up to advanced ballet,

Mr.O held me after class to let me know that he thought I was ready to move up and

then told my mom. When I got my first pair of pointe shoes, Mr.O and my mom set up a

time for me to come in and have him fit my pointe shoes since they have to be specific

to the individual dancer, I remember being so excited and how good but also bad it felt

to go en pointe for the first time. For my first variation, my parents and best friend were

there to cheer me on, but I was more nervous than usual because I would be the only

person on stage so everyone would be watching me. When I taught my first class I felt

so proud not just about how far I’d come, but how good and promising the young

dancers were.

The main settings in which my ballet experience took place were the ballet

studio, which occupied a small 2-story segment of a complex with other business. When

you walked in, there was a small lobby area with cubbies to put your bags, chairs for

parents, and a desk for the receptionist. There was a red curtain that divided the lobby

from the first floor, which was a room with large mirrors covering the walls, a black

dance floor, barres lining the walls, and a window where the parents could observe the

class if they wished. There were stairs to the second floor behind a door in the corner of

the lower studio. When you reached the top of the stairs, there was a small seating area

and another studio area with windows lining the walls and a huge mirror on one wall,
along with barres lining the walls and a bathroom in the corner. The other place I spent

a considerable amount of time over the years was where we would have our recitals.

This was a local church with a large auditorium and stage, which fit our needs for our

productions. The classrooms, which were typically for Sunday school, were converted

into dressing rooms which we were assigned to based on which class we were in.

These rooms smelled of hairspray and were always chaotic as people tried to find their

missing shoe, did their makeup, or frantically tried to figure out when they were going on

stage. When it was your turn to perform, some of the workers would round up your class

and bring you up a ramp to the wings of the stage, where you would stand silently and

get lined up as the current performers were wrapping up. Sometimes, we would have

back-to-back performances and would have to execute a quick change in the wings,

which I was unlucky enough to have to do on a few occasions. Once we got the signal,

we would quietly run onto the stage and take our positions, waiting for the music to

start. The lights that shined on us were so bright that you couldn’t even see someone

sitting in the front row of the audience, and they were so hot you would start sweating

before you even started to dance.

The values implied by this activity were to be graceful and light on your feet.

There was also an expectation for you to be thin and have long legs, as that is the

industry standard. This activity taught me to be disciplined and diligent in activities from

then on, as well as to be patient with myself as I push my body to the limits. This may

be different from the beliefs of my primary discourse because my parents never

emphasized being graceful or super thin as being of extreme importance. This is

especially true of my mom, who always taught me to love the body you’re in since she
was bullied as a child for being overweight. However, I don’t think she considered the

possibility of me being bullied for being too thin, as I was called flat Stanley and a twig

and told to eat more. I think we should just refrain from commenting on other’s bodies in

general whether you think they're too big or too thin, it’s not appropriate to make

negative comments on people’s appearance.