Ballerina

Topic: A professional ballet performance and everything that a ballerina puts into it. Title: A Professional Ballet Performance Organizational Pattern: Topical Pattern General Purpose: Inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience on what goes into dancing in a professional ballet performance. Central Idea: The life of a ballerina while preparing for a performance, regarding costs, rehearsals, and the scene backstage. Introduction: I. Attention Getter: Would you spend around $100 on a tennis shoe that is only going to last for a week' II. This pointe shoe serves the same purpose to a ballerina as a tennis shoe does to an athlete. Maybe some of you have attended a ballet performance, but surely you are not aware of all that was put into that performance, including the many months prior. The details are beyond the audience’s perception. III. I have been training in ballet since the age of four and have performed in at least 90 performances throughout my life. I have also performed with many professional ballerinas throughout the years and have learned a great deal from them. IV. I am going to be discussing today three aspects of a ballet performance that many times are unknown to the public, such as: rehearsals, the costs paid, and the behind the scenes back stage during a performance. Body: I. There are many reasons for the countless rehearsals required for a successful performance. A. A dancer does not only rehearse to learn the choreography, but also to increase their stamina and flexibility, perfect the steps, and learn to take on the role they were given. i. Regarding group numbers, rehearsals teach dancers to dance as a whole rather than individually. B. Rehearsals also serve the purpose of bringing the storyline together through run-thrus and tech. rehearsals. ii. Run-thrus allow the dancers to run through the entire performance to make sure the storyline is clear and the choreography is fluid. iii. Tech. rehearsals are rehearsals that take place at the theater in order to make sure that the music played by the orchestra suits the choreography and timing of the dancers, as well as making sure that all the light cues, curtain calls, and different backdrops work successfully without any glitches. TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT and Internal Summary/ Preview II. The price for a ballerina to dance in a performance is much more costly than the average non-performer is aware of. C. The average dancer needs at least the following personal items during a performance season: seven pairs of pointe shoes, two pairs of ballet flats, twelve pairs of tights, three leotards, elastics and ribbon for each point shoes, and toe pads; these items amount to a total of about $730. iv. The cost of each individual item is: $64.45 per pair of pointe shoe, $14.60 or $23.25 per ballet flat depending on material (leather or canvas), $10.90 per pair of tights, $20.00 at least per leotard, $4.90 per pair of elastic and ribbon, and $13.45 for a set of toe pads. D. Each dancer needs their own costumes for each number they are dancing in, which usually requires altering them and washing them. TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT and Internal Summary/ Preview III. An important sign of reassurance that the performance was a success is when the audience is not aware of the hard work and chaos that goes on prior and during the performance, especially backstage. E. Before a performance many dancers take a warm-up class on the stage in order to get accustomed to its size and type of floor, and many take a moment to pray for a successful performance. v. Personal Story about the prayer circle. F. Before and during a performance most dancers have a million little details they need to take care of in order to be fully prepared to go on stage and make it on time. vi. This includes: quick changes, being sewn into tutus, sewing pointe shoe ribbons after the shoes are on the dancers, etc. Conclusion: I. In conclusion, there is a lot more to performing on stage as a dancer than meets the eye. For a dancer, preparing for a performance is physically and mentally draining, but the end result is absolutely worth it in the end. II. Although preparing for a production is so strenuous, including rehearsals, costs, and backstage chaos, the feeling one feels once on the stage is impossible to describe in words and very rewarding. III. So, remember that tennis shoe that would cost about $100 and only last you a week' Well, to a dancer, that price cannot outdo the sensation one feels after having successfully put on a performance. The time, dedication, and hard work are worth it. IV. “There comes a moment in a young artist’s life when he knows he has to bring something to the stage from within himself. He has to put something in order to be able to take something.” –Mikhail Baryshnikov