Once a Dancer...Always a Dancer

So I've been told by many students over the years about their love for jazz, lyrical and contemporary.  These are the students who remind me that they are not in ballet because they love ballet, but because they want to be better at the other forms of dance.  While this is a valid reason to take ballet classes,  I am always surprised.  I am in that studio hours each week, shaping and molding these young dancers into ballet dancers.  We work together for 6-9 hours each week in some cases for years.  I cannot be convinced they work this hard because they "kinda like it".  Whether they admit it or not, I know they love it...somewhere deep in their gut, in a part of their soul they just haven't tapped into yet.
I remember it in myself, years ago.  I've always loved ballet, but I have not always wanted to work hard. (by the way, that was my problem - not one of most of my current or previous students).  Throughout junior high and high school I buried myself in so many activities I never really learned what it  meant to work at something.  I didn't really have the time.  In college stopped dancing to pursue my music career (Violin performance).  It was without a doubt, the most depressing time in my life!  I lost self confidence, doubting myself even in academics or in friendships.  I didn't feel like myself.  I wasn't myself! 
When I went back to ballet (a short 18 months later), it was like breathing again.  I felt whole again, even though I hadn't realized part of me was missing.  Suddenly all the corrections and pedagogy of the ballet class made sense.  My love was renewed, and I once again undertsood my place in the art and in my life. 
When a young dancer stops dance for college, or for outside pursuits I always tell them "You'll be back.  Once a dancer...always a dancer!", and I wish them the best, hoping they will come back to it sooner than later.  Either way, they'll be back.

Smile and Pointe your toes!
Jenni