Ballet takes centre stage at Bliss
From a performer’s perspective, ballet is viewed as disciplined, competitive, and physically demanding. But this weekend, more than a hundred local dancers will showcase the other side of the art … its beauty.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Tonight the students of the Ballet Art School are putting the finishing touches on their dance moves as they prepare to show off the skills acquired over the past year to their parents, friends and fans. The one hundred and fifteen girls, aged four to nineteen, will take centre stage at the Bliss in scheduled performances on Saturday and Sunday.
This year, the students studied under professional ballet dancer Analays Alvarez.
Analays Alvarez, Ballet Dancer
“Ballet is very, very beautiful but it’s very, very hard discipline so you really, really need to be patient and work hard day after day so it’s not something that you get after one day so you need to practice a lot and really put everything on it.”
And to prove her point, Alvarez showed us one of the toughest moves in ballet.
Analays Alvarez
“Fouette is something you have to do thirty-two times, thirty-two spinnings…so you have to do this…(spins) thirty two times.”
Janelle Chanona
“And how do you do that without getting dizzy?”
Analays Alvarez
“Well you have to get a spot and then follow the spot thirty-two times. It’s like one…(spins) and then look at the same point thirty-two times and you don’t get dizzy.”
Janelle Chanona
“And that’s just coming from practice, you get that down.”
Analays Alvarez
“Practice, yeah it’s very hard so you start doing only one spin, then two, then three, it’s like practicing every day.”
Zenena Moguel and Kristin Marin have been practicing ballet since they were five years old but this year, they learnt to dance on their tip toes.
Zenena Moguel, Ballet Dancer
“For me it’s the point shoes cause they’re very difficult to stand in and it hurts your toes a lot.”
Janelle Chanona
“Show me what you mean by point?”
Zenena Moguel
“Like that…(stands on toes) so you can’t…we have to stand on it for long so it kind of hurts after a little while.”
Janelle Chanona
“So how do you get past the pain?”
Zenena Moguel
“You just have to bear it.”
Janelle Chanona
“And grin right?”
Zenena Moguel
“Yeah.”
Kristin Marin, Ballet Dancer
“Same thing with the shoes, you can’t wear no slippers anymore.”
Janelle Chanona
“So how the toes look at night?”
Kristin Marin
“Not very too appetizing.”
Despite that review, these students are ballet’s biggest promoters.
Kristin Marin
“I think it’s going to be enjoyable for everybody, including the dancers because anybody can go anywhere and see anybody dutty wine and the walla wine but it’s going to be like a treat for the Belizean people to see the true art of ballet.”
According to Director Mamie Martinez, the seventh edition of the Ballet Art School’s end of year show promises to please audiences.
Mamie Martinez, Director, Ballet Art School
“We have really enchanting music, elegant costumes, it really promises to be a lovely evening so I would really like to invite everyone to come out and really experience a beautiful evening of the classics.”
“I remember going to ballet classes from I was the age of four and it’s something that really you never forget, it’s something that really makes you a better person.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
Tickets for the show are twenty dollars premier, while general seating costs fifteen. Saturday’s performance will start at seven, while dancing begins at five on Sunday evening.
