A Dream and New Year Resolution

   
A Dream and a 'New Year Resolution'!


Last night I dreamed I was a novice- ballerina still! Oh, my God! Even after all these years I am dreaming about those days of ballet classes!!...Well, my hair was peppered like it used to be then and my body was lithe and moving in ways it used to in those days, some  four-five years ago. The interesting thing is that my dream was not of a recital or a performance. I was in the studio. Hand on the barre, trying not to grip it too tightly. Perspiration running down my forehead. Piano music I've heard so many times. Lengthened spine. Turned out hips and feet. Worn leotard and tights. The smell of the dance studio. The barre exercises. The floor exercises:

"Plie, tendu, ronde-de-jambe, repeat."

"Glissade, assemble, pas-de-chat, repeat.".....

So many years from childhood up to my fourteenth birthday  spent in wood-floored, mirror-walled rooms! So many memories. So many hours. I remember only a few performances. But the studio work is as vibrant in my memory as if it were yesterday. I woke from my dream amazed at how real it was. And I thought:

At the end of our days, perhaps it is not the accolades, performances, exhibits or published work which will stand out in our minds. Perhaps it will be the daily practice, the rehearsals, the sketching and drawing, the trials and errors, the repetitive work of being creative.
 In the wee hours of early morning light, I thought that this is what I want in 2014: to show up to the page, the sketchbook, the drawing table, class-room, and my college. I want to have my hand on 'the barre' of reality every day, and try not to grip it too tightly. I want to perspire in the effort of achieving perfection in whatever I will do.. Yet, I also want to revel in the music, smells, and movement all around me. I want to take it all in moving gracefully through my days.  I want to be disciplined in and to enjoy the repetition of everyday life, of practice, of good work. I want to trust myself and hope that my efforts  will prepare me for the challenge ahead.

Here's to 2014--A Year to sing and dance to celebrate one more God-given beautiful year in my life!

 -Portia Burton