Happy Dance Friday #90, Saturday at the Movies #89, More Real Life, and I am Going Somewhere With This, Trust Me

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Originally, I was going to let the real life interlude have this spot and not post today. Still dealing with the events that led to last week's ER visit, wrangling the home while the home team is a man down, reasonably optimistic that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a train, giving the writing doubt monster the stinkeye, needing a nice long nap, wondering if TBR pile could double as a pillow; all good reasons not to post today. Not to mention that it drives me crazy when my Happy Dance Friday and Saturday at the Movies numbers don't match, BUT....okay, two buts.

Second thing first (I'm punchy, just go with it) and reason for the triumphant baby turtle above. I realized that I do have some extremely minimal dance cred. Okay, more of a brush with fame. In certain circles. When my age could be measured in single digits. With pictures to prove, but they and I are not in the same place, so let's meet here again next week after I've had a chance to scan and upload, mkay? Thanks much. For now, I can honestly say that I took dance classes at a school founded by former Rockettes, sisters Romayne and Mary Ann Strilka. Ballet and tap, and while I did break my arm on the property, it was horsing around on the sidewalk outside rather than an injury for the art.

Which leads me to the first thing, which is where our Saturday at the Movies tag comes into play. I will admit to being a Degrassi fan from so far back that Mr. Simpson, the principal, was in junior high. So, when, during an airing of that show, I saw a promo for this one:



My first thought was, "hot dang, Degrassi with dancing." I wasn't far off. Our viewpoint character is Tara, a young dancer from rural Australia, who comes to the prestigious Dance Academy in Sydney to hone her craft. There, she meets students and teachers who all share a passion for dance -main discipline being ballet, but also including other forms, though I clear my throat and tap foot in annoyed fashion because there is no ballroom. Really, people? Really? Hip Hop but not ballroom? Really?- and have to navigate their own way through the vicissitudes of life.

While Tara has to learn how to go from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big pond, her fellow students have their own challenges. One must learn how to stand on her own and escape the shadow of her mother, a ballet superstar. Another must find a way to integrate his Jewish faith and dedication to dance. For another, dance is his one ticket out of an extremely rough life when even his last remaining relative wimps out on him. Plus there's a male ballet instructor who I know would have broken the heart of my time travel heroine oh so hard if she'd met him prior to the hero (after, pfft, he wouldn't even register.) Oh, and it's on two times per week, and what's this about season two already? (Possible shippy spoilers in clip below, FYI)



I'll be watching; will you? Does anybody else have ballet class memories to share?