The summer breeze sauntering in through the window screen is intoxicating. As I participate in this study of the size of attitude, facing the window into the dimness of night, the parking garage across the street at our third-story level. Reflections of the new crop of dancers are background to my own reflection, whose shoulders I try to keep square and depressed, the neck long, kept cool by the intermittent breeze.

I've come a long way since last summer, but incredibly-- or not so--, there are plenty of moments when I perform a pass or combination as clumsily, awkwardly, and naively as I would have last summer. I am reminded every day (especially during Friday morning classes!) that I am still a beginner and have much to learn before I have gained the finesse to make even my mistakes appear graceful and controlled. He introduces alternating degagEs to the dancers, and even this I find challenging to perform, though this time with the added challenges of not having a barre and having to follow the port de bras arm at that.

After class, I pick up a teaching technique from Kip: to teach people starting with what they know. Twist from the torso, then later from the feet, then later from the hips/pelvic floor, which is the true answer to the question: where does the motivation for turns come from? It is like when they first start teaching you about atoms and as the years go by, you uncover lie after lie after lie to get to the truth, but the lies were part of the journey to comprehending the truth. We learn through metaphor; by mapping the known concept to the unknown one, and this is true of concepts in any field of knowledge, whether it be ballet, chemistry, math or anything else in the learnable world.

Everything has the potential to be a deep study; it only depends on how far you allow your curiosity to go, and whether you decide it is worth the time and the effort. One wonders about limits...do they exist, and what are they for me? However, whether or not they exist, or are or are not defined, I think actions should be least motivated by limits. One should act as if the limit does not exist, just as in the studio, one should dance as if space is limitless and expansive, and one should stretch out one's limbs and project the body outward as if to embrace as much of this great space as possible.