Patricia McBride

There isn’t a ballet studio in my neighborhood. I’m still struggling to find a teacher, although there are at least two possibilities that I should hear about in the next few weeks. My “next door” is more metaphorical, made possible through the virtual neighborhood. I did a bit of research today and found out that the prima ballerina whose work I love lives only an hour or so away. I’m talking about Patricia McBride, in Charlotte, NC! I could actually get in my little car and buzz up the highway for tea with her, if she knew me. That’s what I call inspiration!

I find that oftentimes I make little mental excuses for myself, “Oh, you’re in Greenville, SC, honey. No one expects you to actually learn to really dance, dear.” By thinking such things I have an out in case I quit or worse, fail miserably. Now that I know that Ms. McBride is the associate artistic director of the North Carolina Dance Theatre (her husband Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux is the President and Artistic director), and a new facility is being erected (and rumored to have her name on it someway, somehow), I have more motivation than ever to DO (instead of try) in all earnestness. (If I may reference Yoda’s admonishment, “Do or do not. There is no try.”)

The bottom line is this, even if (G-d forbid) Ms. McBride said vile things about me (a fat chick wanting to learn how to dance), and we both go to our final resting place without ever meeting, I’m still making strides to be the dancer I could have been. Today I began using the NY City Ballet Workout dvd (part 1) and was surprised how much of it is like the yoga and Pilates I already know. I’m doing, and one day, I hope to thank Patricia for the inspiration, even if she doesn’t give a whit that at age 41 I finally learned to dance.