When you love to do something, you want to do it all the time. Ballet dancers are a particularly obsessed bunch—they’re always finding ways to incorporate the art form into their daily lives.
Whether you’re a closet bunhead, or a self-proclaimed ballet freak, here are 10 dead giveaways you’re obsessed.
1. You dance in the kitchen.
Or the park, or the grocery store…everywhere! For the longest time, I would feel compelled to practice pirouettes while using the microwave. And when the timer went off, I would try to balance in releve. Sometimes, I can’t even transition to another room without leaping into it. When it’s in your blood, you find a way to dance no matter where you are.
2. You were wearing a bun long before it became trendy.
2. You were wearing a bun long before it became trendy.
For years you’ve been wearing it high and proud, or low and sleek. You realize it adds a level of sophistication, and you sport it at all types of events, casual or formal. Messy buns may be all the rage right now, but the fashion police can take a seat. Ballerinas have been at this for decades. Please.
3. You actually like your jacked-up feet.
3. You actually like your jacked-up feet.
This is true especially if you dance on pointe. While flocks of women head to the salon for their summer pedicure, your beat up toes are your badge of honor. They work hard! If other women can die for their favorite stilettos, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that you have your own bruises and bumps. Rock your battle scars.
4. You dream in ballet.
4. You dream in ballet.
Don’t you just love those dreams where you nail 32 fouettes on pointe as if you’re dancing on a cloud? You could be spending your time in LaLaLand having your way with Johnny Depp, but instead, you are perfectly content prancing through the haze of lilac and powder pinks.
5. You know exactly where the dance section is at your local bookstore or library.
5. You know exactly where the dance section is at your local bookstore or library.
In high school and college (yes, before Facebook and the titans of social media), I devoured every single book about ballet in every single library and bookstore in the metroplex. If your shelves are stocked with more books about Balanchine than, well, any other book, you may be a little obsessed.
6. You make up combinations in your head.
6. You make up combinations in your head.
You could be walking down the street, or standing in line at the bank, and ding! A combination pops up in your brain, and you start to do a set of dégagés in the middle of Wells Fargo. Refrain. Someone may mistake you for having a seizure.
7. You’ve worn your leotard somewhere besides class.
7. You’ve worn your leotard somewhere besides class.
You love to match your favorite leo with a pencil skirt or jeggings. While your friends are shopping for camisoles and bodycon dresses, you’re totally cutting edge when you repurpose your leotard, tights, and warm-ups for everyday street wear. I used to wear my favorite black Bloch overalls everywhere. Who says ballerina-lumberjack-onesies are out?
8. You know more French than any other language.
8. You know more French than any other language.
So, you live in Texas but you know more French than Spanish? Oui! You appreciate the fact that your favorite art form is taught in such a beautiful language, and you’re the only one among your friends who thinks of slow squats instead of cheese when they hear the word fondu. Ditto for Russian. You’re addicted to YouTube, where Russian ballerinas, the Soviet gazelles with perfect feet and legs that start at their neck, rule the internet with hours of rehearsal videos and performance footage. It’s pretty sad when you have trouble abbreviating “OMG”, but you can flawlessly pronounce Svetlana Zakharova.
9. You break your leg falling in the shower and call it a “ballet injury”.
9. You break your leg falling in the shower and call it a “ballet injury”.
I’m pushing 30, and I have arthritis in my hips and a mild case of sciatica. Other dancers have bunions, torn achilles tendons, and knee replacements. If you trip over your own feet and fall down the stairs, you tell people it was a ballet injury when you know good and well that you take a beginner class once a week.
10. You never want to leave the studio.
10. You never want to leave the studio.
Balanchine once said, “I don’t want dancers who want to dance. I want dancers who have to dance.” Ballet is your passion. Instead of going fishing, your bumper sticker would read: “I’d rather be dancing.” You get an enormous sense of satisfaction and fulfillment from class, and you never want to leave.
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