Two Cecchetti exams

This weekend, I begin the preparatory classes for my first two Cecchetti exams.

There are six exam levels offered at my studio, and with each level typically taught over the course of a year, I can't help but think that (considering my old age) six years is an awfully long time. (I'd be thirty by the time I finished my student exams.) So, I asked my teacher about the possibility of preparing for more than one exam at once. She said that normally she would say no, but in my case, she would allow me to prepare for the first two this year.

However, the preparatory classes, which meet twice a month, are normally taught with a complementing weekly class, and I soon realized that my schedule conflicts with the level that correlates with the second exam. My teacher told me that while I was still welcome to attend the preparations, without taking the corresponding second level, I would probably not be ready for the second exam by spring. She then said I may surprise her.

I hope and plan to surprise her.

Either way, though, I'm so happy to be involved in something so official. I began ballet late in life and therefore cannot say, "Oh, I've been dancing since I was little," but if I pass these exams, then I will have something tangible to prove to the world (and myself) that I do more than loaf around a studio in pretty pink shoes. There is also the possibility of one day taking teaching exams and becoming certified to teach ballet, which is obviously on my mind.

Though I am a little nervous, I can't wait for the thrill of working towards a goal and the drive that results from doing so.

Anyway, it's the weekend! Wherever you are, whatever you do, I hope you have a beautiful time.

(Illustration by Sharnee Taylor)