It was one summer, eons ago.. I might have been seven or nine years old and we were in Finland for the duration of my school holiday. I was staying with my grandparents in a lovely wooden house situated next to a small forest. It was the kind of carefree summer that makes me go all nostalgic; the long days, the sun and trips to the beach, the freedom, the pancakes my gran made, almost quicker than we could eat them. My second cousin, Tiina, lived just a holler away and we spent most of time running about outdoors, playing and pretend-playing. Then one day we decided to put up a dance performance..
I had seen lots of Hollywood musicals, which I loved, but neither of us had had any previous experience with dance lessons. Nor did we have dancing siblings or ever seen a ballet performed. What we did have, was a huge lawn as the stage, the sun as our stage light, a thankful audience of parents and grandparents and our unbridled joy to move with the music! It must have been an interesting "choreography", a mix of musical influence a la "Singing in the Rain" with some Isadora Duncanesque movement thrown in.. But, there was no inhibition, no technique nor style to adhere to, no judgement. We were as innocent and naive as you could be.
I remember that feeling still, the thrill of letting the huge string sections take over, my feet jumping off the ground and being airborne.
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| Cyd Charisse, one of my early idols. |
Our dance received the appropriate applause and accolades, as you would expect from gran and moms. Sadly, it did not result in ballet classes, though neither Tiina or me had a clue that such things even existed! Actually I´m not sure whether I would have loved dance classes as much as I do now. I was too much of a tomboy, more excited by climbing trees, jumping fences and doing general mischief. Ballet would have to wait..
Want to read more? Dancing Down Memory Lane, part 1
Want to read more? Dancing Down Memory Lane, part 1
