Today’s verse of the Twelve Days of Christmas, are the eleven ladies dancing. Perhaps it’s the association of Christmas with the Nutcracker, but dancing seems like a perfectly Christmas activity. After all, for centuries, we’ve been celebrating with dancing, so it seems appropriately festive, don’t you think?
This emotional drawing is an original by Etsy seller, BalletArt, who has many beautiful and interesting drawings in the shop. It would make a gorgeous gift for a ballerina, or just anyone who fancies dance. Maybe you have a little one who’s been itching to take dance lessons? Why not sign her up for her first ballet class? It’s practically mandatory for every little girl, and even if she realizes it’s not her calling, it will provide lessons and grace to last a lifetime. For that matter, maybe you have a husband or wife you’d love to learn to dance with. There’s bound to be a local studio near you. How romantic to declare a New Year’s Resolution to learn ballroom, salsa, or any other form that interests you. Want to use ballet to get in shape yourself? Try this wonderful video – the New York City Ballet Workout. From personal experience, it’s fun to pretend you’re a professional, and for something a little different than your typical yoga or Pilates will give you a great stretch. Or a gift for the whole family — a Wii gaming system will all get you moving and dancing to many games.
Once you’re a professional dancer (or almost), you’ll want to support your new hobby by sporting appropriate attire, announcing to the world that your priority is to “Keep Calm and Dance On.” Or this beautiful tee features a simple ballerina in a graceful pink hue.
Maybe you just prefer to watch others showcase their skills. What about a pair of tickets to a traditional performance of the Nutcracker? Most larger cities have ballet companies that perform this and many other performances throughout the year. Check one out if you live near Atlanta, Birmingham, Orlando, Lexington, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Fairfax, Richmond, or a host of other cities. And if you don’t, you can always track down a copy of the Nutcracker on DVD. I recommend the performance featuring the Royal Ballet of London. Or for a funny take on more modern dance, Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom is a fantastic story.
And some of us are just dancers at heart, so whether or not you’ll be performing the dance of the Sugarplum Fairies this season or not, you can still flounce around town in your ballet slippers. So lucky for us ladies that flat shoes are chic again. They’re just everywhere, but my favorite ballet flats are from J. Crew. (Y’all know.) These little pink numbers are my absolute favorite, but if you’re looking for something with a bit of an edge, try some studs, or a back zipper.
And continue the trend indoors with these comfy looking, and totally stylish ballet house slippers.
As we’ve been exploring the legend that the Twelve Days of Christmas song was written to represent hidden tenets of the Christian faith, you might ask what does eleven stand for? The eleven stands for Jesus’ remaining faithful disciples.
