IF, when young

 Dear Reader,

The history of ballet begins around 1500 in Italy.  Terms like "ballet" and "ball" stem from the Italian word "ballare" which means to dance. When Catherine de Medici of Italy married the French King Henry II she introduced early dance styles into court life in France.

History credits Madmoiselle De Lafontaine (1665-1738) as the first professional ballerina.  Collaborating with composer and dancer Jean-Baptiste Lully, De Lafontaine played a pivotal role in opening the Paris Opera Ballet.

Ballet is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of dance with it own vocabulary.

The core principles of ballet techniques focus  on balance, co-ordination, strength and poise.  Every exercise and step builds on these, creating a strong and capable dance.

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From John Ruskin  April 2nd 1885 in Lancashire

......Quite lovely spring day.   All the working time in wood without greatcoat.   Fullest gush of streams with the night's rain I ever saw.  Now....lovely sleet showers with melting sunshine.

From Dorothy Wordsworth    April 6th    1798  in Somerset

Walked a short distance up the lesser Combe with an intention of going to the source of the brook, but the evening closing in, cold prevented us. The Spring still advancing very slowly.  The horse-chestnuts budding, and the hedgerows beginning to look green, but nothing fully expanded.

                                                               

From Gilbert White  April 11th  1790 in Oxford

Thames very full and beautiful, after so much dry weather; wheat looks well; meadows dry and scorched; road very dusty.

                                                                              

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 IF, when young

 

I had had a good figure

long legs and ample bust

I would have worn

riding boots and breeches

and a silk shirt

 

I would have been a

ballet dancer, twirling

and whirling about the

stage, on tiptoe in satin shoes

 

I would have sung

in a sweet and gentle voice

inducing emotion

from the audience

 

I would have played the guitar

belted out Beatles songs

gone clubbing

danced my heart out

 

I would have cooked

beautiful sponge cakes

made Greek salads

of nutmeg and honey

 

 

But, If truth were told,

I am short, plump, and old,

and happy now to be

alive, well, and simply me.

 

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With very best wishes, Patricia

 

 

 

 

 

From Gilbert White    April 11th 1790 in Oxford

Thames very full and beautiful, after so much dry weather; wheat looks well; meadows dry, and scorched; roads very dusty.

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