The Cut - What Ballet Lessons Really Taught Me

My first fantasies of ballet began in the strip-mall studio I attended as a diminutive, pigeon-breasted 8-year-old with a Dorothy Hamill wedge haircut. Staring into the mirrors each class, I compared myself endlessly to my more talented classmates, to my teachers, a pair of beautiful, long-legged twin sisters who transfixed us all. Standing alongside these longer, more graceful and beguiling forms, I wondered how I would ever become that. And the “that” was not just a ballet dancer. It was, in part, a woman. Because the two were forever yoked for me, as they are for many young girls.

$110 billion for roads and bridges, $73 billion for modernizing the nation’s electric grid — these are some of the key details of the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure plan. We regret to inform you that Gwen Stefani wears Blake Shelton’s face on her shoes. Not one to be outdone by centaur Adam Driver, Jake Gyllenhaal’s got his own, earnest fragrance ad with Prada. What’s with people behaving even more horrible than usual on planes? Taika Waititi and Rita Ora are now red-carpet official, but continue to be a mystery to us. How The White Lotus satirizes rich people’s reading habits. As travel returns to pre-pandemic levels in Hawaii, some natives are saying they are tired of catering to visitors. And there’s a lot to say about Cuomo, but for the purposes of this newsletter blurb, we’ll just share this and this.

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