Ballet Stories, We asked, You Answered!

We asked for you to tell us their favorite memory from the ballet. In response, we received stories that are touching, sweet and funny. We hope you enjoy!

Ballet has played an important role in my life since I was 2 years old. I danced with the Moscow Russian Ballet for 8 years and being able to share the stage with Russian dancers who all value ballet as much as I do is something I will never forget. While dancing on stage it is as if nothing else in that moment matters. Ballet breathes life into me and being on stage is the one place where wrong answers do not exist and inner peace can always be found. Ballet is my safe haven, uprooting boundaries and awakening the creative instincts within me. Dance expands one's understanding of what is acceptable and what is innovative. It is a passion that drives ambition and condones the betterment of oneself.

Anonymous

The first time I went to the ballet, I went to see The Nutcracker on my birthday as part of a field trip in elementary school. I didn't know what to expect but I was excited and wore my big poofy pink dress with a tiara. It was a magical experience filled with music and incredible dancing. I was really inspired and told everyone about my experience watching the cast perform. I even got a picture with the cast after my teacher mentioned it was my birthday!       

Maria Pena

My favorite ballet memory happened recently(last month) in Minneapolis where I went to watch a Carmina Burana production. We just performed the work last semester in the Ford Center with the Ole Miss University Chorus and watching it cast with a ballet was magnificent and took my understanding of the work to the next level! It was a first time for me to watch live ballet, let alone a choral/orchestral/ballet work and it is amazing how the story is clear when these three beautiful arts are put together! Now I find myself looking out for any ballet performances around! I can't wait to come watch Sleeping Beauty!

Stellah Mbugua

I grew up very poor, but my mother always tried to make sure that my little sister and I still get to experience some special things. When I was 10, a lady we went to church with gave us 3 tickets to see The Nutcracker at the Gertrude Ford Center. My mom sewed me and my little sister new dresses and my grandmother took us out to eat at Wendy's and I got to drink a coke, which was a delicacy. We went to the ballet and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. The orchestra was loud and beautiful and the dancers were so graceful. I wanted to dance up there with them so bad. Afterward, all of the dancers came down and we were able to talk to them and get their autographs! I was so excited to be so close to such beautiful people, and a few of them even complimented the dresses my sister and I were wearing that our mom made, which made me so happy and filled me with confidence that I normally lacked. I think back fondly to that night. The night I got to feel special and not just a poor kid.           

Anonymous

As I reflect on my favorite ballet story, it isn't the one where I saw the Russian ballet or another professional ballet company, but it involves five and six year olds who took to the stage and showed a love and passion for life. One of those six year olds was my daughter who is now 17. I drove my daughter and two of her friends to ballet for lessons. All of the miles and time spent with them in the car laughing (and at times bargaining to go to the mall or Chuck E. Cheese rather than ballet class) were fun and frustrating, but now looking back they were priceless. As a parent, I had the opportunity to watch my child grow and develop into a beautiful dancer over the years. However, my favorite moment was probably her first ballet recital because at six years old, like many six year olds, she was free and not focused on getting every step just right. Her focus was on dancing and having fun. Her main concern was on making sure her parents and grandparents saw her on stage doing something fun. This is a life lesson for us all. Do we take time to be like a six year old and have fun when we are doing something we love or do we focus on getting everything just right and miss the fun along the way? Thank you for allowing me to reflect on a priceless and memorable moment.  

Jennifer Harris 

When I was a 3 years old, I was on the stage dancing ballet. I saw my mom in the audience and I left the stage to hug her and get my pacifier.

Anonymous

At my first ballet recital (at 4 years old) I didn't realize my class was performing, I thought we were just watching the older students. So when we went backstage and I realized what was happening, I got so upset that they had to go find my mom in the audience to calm me down. I was much better the next year.             

Anonymous

When I danced with Mary Alpha School of Dance, my favorite dance was a trio of my sister and Robbie Thomas. He was a phenomenal dancer and entertainer - I was glad to get to do a piece and work out choreography with him before he passed away.                                                

Elizabeth Tettleton

Winter in southeast Texas, a cool 85 degrees. 20 Kindergartners, six parents, two teachers, and a partridge in a pear tree. There we were at the Julie Rogers Theater, all wrapped up, ribboned, and slicked in our best dresses and trousers for the annual class pilgrimage to see... THE NUTCRACKER! Sitting up in the balcony, in the nose-bleed seats, watching the pretty dancing girls with the rouged cheeks, the Christmas garlands, and those wicked rats--we were thoroughly enraptured. The story and magic had taken us away to a whole new fairy world. This bit isn't so much a story I'm telling as it is a memory I'm sharing, a very vivid and special memory when the ballet made everything seem as though it were full of wonder. Just a little memory to keep in your pocket for a rainy day. 

Stephanie Gobert

I didn't have experience in ballet before I got into the Ballet2 class in Ole Miss this semester. I was an only man and there were all white-dressed ladies around me. I was a little overwhelmed by them, but tried hard to do my best. After the first class, I had no choice but to drop this because of the difficulty. It's a shame, so if I'm available, I want to register in Ballet1 course. I wish it'll be easier than Ballet2.

Seth

My favorite memory from the ballet is going with my grandma. It was the last time we were together before she had a stroke and passed, and seeing another ballet with a close friend would be wonderful.          

Anonymous

I took one year of ballet when I was 5 years old. I was what you might call a "one year wonder". Ballet wasn't my strong suit, and I didn't take it again after that year. However, I am continually amazed at my younger sister who has pursued ballet and is a beautiful dancer. The poise, strength, and discipline required by ballet is incredible.

Anonymous

In 5th grade, someone gave my parents Nutcracker tickets to the Orpheum in Memphis. That was the first time I'd ever been to a real show. I was so amazed.           

Catherine R. McLeod

I remember vividly the day I was a party girl for the Russian Nutcracker Ballet. I had practiced diligently for many hours every week, and the performance had finally arrived. As we rehearsed on the stage I was amazed to see the perfection of each of the Russian ballerinas, and I could only hope to be anything like them one day. As I performed my short ballet dance with the other party girls I was so thrilled to be a part of this magnificent performance. Everything about the performance was magical: the music, the costumes, the flawless figures of the ballerinas, and each faultless movement. It was truly a night to be remembered!

Rachael Nelson

My favorite memory in all my 15 years of ballet classes I took would have to be my solo performance I did my senior year of high school. I got to choreograph my own dance and pick my own song and costume. I chose to wear white and dance to "There is a God." I have never been more proud of myself than in that moment as I shared my faith through my favorite art form in front of an auditorium of people, and yet I was completely humbled as I walked off stage. I couldn't hold back the tears. I knew it would likely be the last recital dance I ever did.      

Abby Null

As a child I couldn't wait until Saturday morning for my grandmother to take me to my ballet class. I anxiously dressed in my tights and tutu, and sit down on the front porch to wait for her to pick me up. I was 6 years old. I had been in ballet for three years already. My ballet teacher called me a natural. I had the height, the gracefulness, and the desire to dance. By the time I was 11 I was performing in the malls around the area. I loved the beautiful costumes and outfits. I felt like a princess when I wore them. On one certain occasion I was performing a solo in the old Tupelo mall. I had a yellow, lacy satin outfit on with tassels on my sleeves. My routine was going wonderfully. Then all of a sudden in mid-dance the music stopped. A loud ruckus sounded behind me and a man had tripped over the cords that plugged the stereo system in. I held my pose, afraid to breath. As if waiting for the music box to re-open I stood as still as a statue. When the music resumed so did I. A loud applause from the surrounding audience put a huge smile on my face. My love for ballet grew more and more from that day on.                                            

Julie Bogue

I was blessed to grow up with a beautiful and graceful sister who began her career as a ballerina at the age of 7. One of the people who inspired her to dance was the Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Although I don't think he has ever danced for the Russian National Ballet, I will always associate Russia and ballet perfection, and I have never had the opportunity to see a Russian ballet company perform.                                                   

Audra Trnovec

I was six years old, and it was the day of my ballet recital. As per usual, my mom and I were running late. I was already dressed in my pink leotard and matching pink tutu as we ran--as graceful as ballerinas, of course--from the car to the back entrance into the school auditorium. However, my thick, bushy brown hair had yet to be slicked back into a ballerina bun. It bounced around me as my mother tried desperately to tie it back with a big pink bow, but hearing the music for my group playing out on the stage, I pushed her hand away and ran onto the stage anyway. The music continued to play as my fellow ballerinas completely froze mid-twirl and stared at my wild hair. I ignored them and began to dance my routine, bushy hair flowing with every delicate twirl. Eventually, the other girls joined back in, but the show had already been stolen by me and my hair. The crowd stood and clapped, cheering and laughing loudly. My mother and I shared a laugh about the whole incident once the event was over, but as we were leaving, we saw some of the girls crying. One told her mother with a pout on her face, "How could anybody even see me? Charlotte's hair was so big!" It was, indeed, big--my hair.

Charlotte McBride

The first time I ever saw a ballet was when my mother and godmother took me to see the Radio City Rockettes as my early Christmas present when I was six years old. While I acknowledge that the Rockettes is not a traditional ballet, they do incorporate ballet into their modern dance routine, and I can vividly remember at one point a few of the dancers were out on stage doing a ballet routine to an upbeat song and they asked for a volunteer to come up on stage. I was young at the time, so I genuinely believed they were taking volunteers from the audience; I was devastated when I wasn't chosen. I began to cry because I wanted so badly to dance on stage with the Rockettes. My mother, in hope of ceasing my crying, told me that the girl who was chosen to go on stage with the Rockettes was not an actual volunteer; she was planted in the audience. "How else would she have known the ballet routine beforehand," my mother questioned me. I was still distraught. As soon as school began again after Christmas, I begged my mother to enroll me in dance classes so that one day I could be planted in the audience and the Rockettes would call me on stage to do a ballet routine with them. Within a week, after my incessant begging, my mother enrolled me in a local dance studio where I took a joint ballet/tap class for the next two years until I moved on to other forms of dance. While I never stuck with my dream of becoming an audience implant for the Rockettes, dance is still something I love today, and if they had not inspired me to pursue my own dance career, however short lived it may have been, I would have never met the friends I did, had as much fun as I did dancing in the studio in front of those floor to ceiling mirrors, or become captain of a dance team that put on shows for young children about the harms of tobacco.             

Anonymous

I was 4 years old when I started to take ballet and dance classes. I vividly remember learning how to hula-hoop and trying on my tap shoes for the very first time. I had always loved to dance, so ballet class was right up my alley. However, I absolutely did not enjoy my ballet tights. As much as I loved to dance, I loathed my ballet tights even more. Every Tuesday and Thursday before ballet class, I would whine and complain about putting on my tights, and once they were on, all I could do was pull and pick at the tight fabric around my legs. I even recall sneaking into the bathroom during ballet class and removing my tights before continuing to dance. My mother would always scold me for such matters and insist I ‘act like a big girl.’ Before my very first public debut, the Winter Wonderland dance recital, nothing had changed. I continuously griped and complained about wearing my tights before going on stage, and once on stage, the whole audience was aware of how uncomfortable I was in my tights..picking and pulling…picking and pulling. Before long, I had had enough. Right in the middle of “Deck the Halls” and the solo performance of another ballerina, I hopped directly off the front of the stage and marched my way to the dressing room. Needless to say, that was the conclusion of my ballet career. The video performance of that recital remains a family favorite, and although, I, myself, did not thrive as a dancer in the world of ballet, I continue to be amazed by the art of dance and all that it has to offer. 

                 Carlie Vowell

I went to the Baltimore School for the Arts as a dance major back in the 1980s. Sleeping Beauty was my favorite ballet, so I hope to win in order to bring my youngest daughter to show her who I was when I was young. When I was in this ballet, I danced the role of Violente Fairy and I remember the choreographer telling me that that character was essentially the "Electricity" Fairy. She has a unique finger pointing gesture that comes with a flick of the wrist in time with the staccato music. Electric lights were invented in 1879 and this ballet debuted in 1880, so Violente was a nod to what was a modern revolution.

Shanna Flaschka

My favorite memory from the ballet took place when I was 6 years old. I had the opportunity to try out for the Moscow Ballet's production of the Nutcracker that winter in Tupelo, MS. After tryouts, my twin sister, our friend, and I, were all cast as little snowflakes. We would drive between Oxford and Tupelo for a few weeks for rehearsals and eventually the final performance. It was quite the experience to dance onstage with professional ballerinas as a little girl.

Allie