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The La-La World of Reid Olson’s Ballet Class

Emmaly Wiederholt |
September 22, 2013 | 1:51 p.m. PDT

Contributing Writer

Emmaly Wiederholt is a professional dancer and dance writer. She trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and performed extensively for Malinda LaVelle's Project Thrust. She also started Stance On Dance, an online dance blog with essays, interviews, art, funny tidbits and more. Emmaly is a weekly columnist for Neon Tommy, reviewing dance classes she tries out in Los Angeles. 

Here in Los Angeles--known to some as La-La Land--there is plenty of La-La ludicrousness. I’m not sure who’s more La-La: the Hollywood fakes or the Malibu housewives. Both seem pretty out of it to me. But perhaps my favorite place to sightsee the La-La crowd is Reid Olson’s advanced ballet class.

Reid Olson looks like a surfer dude. He’s tan and muscular, with shoulder-length blonde hair and a gold chain through one ear. He’s also incredibly lax and easygoing--gone is the severe Russian teacher from my youth. 

But Olson is not the only La-La character in this setting. I spy an older Chinese woman who seems convinced that she’s still a full-fledged ballerina. This woman must be in her 60s or 70s, yet she dons pointe shoes, tights, and best of all, a full tutu. Tulle flowing around her, she proceeds to stretch on the side throughout most of the ballet class.

Or there’s the guy who shows up halfway through class (a big no-no) in a flesh-colored biketard. I kid you not–-a flesh-colored biketard. And as he begins to sweat, his biketard becomes see-through---lovely.

My personal favorites are the housewives (possibly from Malibu). They are in their forties or fifties and easily constitute sixty percent of the class. They range in ability – some are barely able to hobble through combinations, others showcase strong technique. What they have in common are their bling wedding rings, and that they consider ballet class a social setting. These woman are clearly here to catch up first, dance second.

Then, of course, there are the show-offs. These young’uns think ballet class is a mini stunt show. The combination might call for a double turn, but they will ostentatiously turn eight times. My advice is to get out of their way during the grand allegro (when the dancers leap across the floor) as the show-offs are liable to break out into full-blown gymnastics.

To be fair, there are some normal suspects--the hardworking dancers who improve their technique as the pianist beautifully accompanies each combination from the corner of the room.

And to be even more fair, this scene of La-La characters mixed with serious dancers is not exclusive to Los Angeles. Many of the same eccentricites are reenacted in advanced ballet classes all across the country. While the characters will vary, the La-La shenanigans will not.

But all fairness aside, Reid Olson’s advanced ballet class offers an opportunity for the most La-La of La-La Land to come and dance their hearts out. After all, I'm there, and I never give anything less than my best. 

Reid Olson teaches advanced adult ballet throughout the week at Dance Arts Academy. A single class is $22, though the price becomes cheaper if purchased with a class card.

Reach Columnist Emmaly Wiederholt here or follow her on Twitter here.



 

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