I Should Have Been A Ballerina By Now...

"Ma, why didn't you send me to ballet class when I was young?"

"Aiyo, no money lar. Send you for taekwondo class, English class, art class and piano class! Very expensive lo" she would answer.

"Ma...I would have been a ballerina by now if you did send me to ballet school since I was a tiny tot".

My ma's usual response to my lament. Bygones.

So here I am - with this violent streak in me wanting to beat up people ( of course I can't really do so, but it's the intention that matters) instead of every little girl's dream to be that Barbie figure twirling in some kind of musical.

But, wait a minute. Who said I couldn't be a ballerina?

All I had to do was to take some dance classes and see how things went. Easy - peasy.

Modern Dance, Ballet & Hip Hop Here I come...

Signing yourself up for some 'self-help' course to appease that little dream that you had is easy enough. But doing the actual task is a totally different experience. I realised that my hands and my legs REFUSED to cooperate with me - when I had imagined turns, pointe, step ball changes and pirouttes to be relatively easy. Effortless.

Boy was I wrong.

Ending up in a heap most of the time and I even remember one comment by a dance instructor.

" Jade, what are you doing?" he said with a bemused look when I ended up on the wrong side of the floor while everyone else was on the other side.

Paiseh.

Bottom line is - it's not as effortless as it looks like.

But the good thing is...I can

Play The Piano Like I want It To Be Heard...

It's not like dance where I have to think thrice before striking a pose - hoping very much that I don't look like some mutant

Playing the piano feels very natural. Like home actually. Imagine listening to a song on the radio - and wanting to play that on the piano. That's possible.

It's called playing by ear. Listening more than learning by hard - the notes, the chords. Figuring out those chords there and then. Experimenting with the many sharps, flats and minors - hoping that you'll get lucky by striking a  really jazzy chord. Using and reusing those notes to play a mixture of tunes.

I suppose if I had learnt dance from a young age as I had done so with piano - dancing would have become second nature. Because when you're young - you can't complain of the discipline your parents put you through, the nagging of your tuition teachers etc.

 Because at the end of the day, if you truly love the the subject, you'll definitely continue to develop and hone that talent. Perhaps I have a teeny weeny bit for piano and English.

Thanks ma for putting me through those classes !