Ballerina

The ballerina often appears as an image representing the beautiful idealistic self.  But this can be seen in different ways in the following examples. See: dancing.

Example: I was a ballerina turning around in a glass ball. I was dressed in white and blue snow was falling all around me. At first I was happy just spinning around, but after a while I became panicked. I suddenly had to get out. The ball would not break no matter how hard I tried, but the floor did and I went tumbling into white powder.

o Setting: In a glass ball. o Characters: No one but me. o Feelings and Thoughts: Angry, scared, worried, panicked. I believe sometimes I feel trapped in the mold I have at school which could be represented by this.

Example: One person, “looking for herself, came upon a tightly closed box. Tearing it open – in her fantasy – she found inside a lovely rose, and realised that she had been enclosed in a box of Puritanism, of self denial and physical shame. The outer petals of the rose, pink and mauve, seemed to whirl and dance; they sent her fancy spinning off like a ballerina into flowered landscapes of delicious sexual femininity. The inner petals were shaded from the light, obscure and mysterious. Here the colours darkened to deep crimson and velvet purple. They reflected her deep animality. These she avoided, until she realised that it took both the light and the dark to make a lovely rose. She could not have one without the other. Gradually the rose became a nourishing symbol in her life and growth.”

Example: “I’m walking through a marketplace with many colorful shops. I stop to admire many items–a weaving, some pottery, embroidered clothes. Now I’m walking down a hall, where my artwork is exhibited in a room. I look at it with excitement; I think my abstract of a ballerina is beautiful, but no one else even notices it. Why is it that I can appreciate other people’s creativity, but they don’t even recognize mine? I crumple up beside it and begin to sob.

Useful Questions and Hints:

What is my ballerina demonstrating or expressing?

Can I identify with what she is expressing?

Do I ever daydream or fantasy being or involved with a ballerina?

Can I act out what my dream ballerina is expressing – try using Acting on your dream.