OMFG, I really wish I’d taken a video camera to this. The child gets up on her tip toes, releves, and then falls over. She attempts the arabesque, and falls over. She pirouttes, and falls over. At no time is she self-conscious about falling over. In fact, the whole time she is falling over, she is still watching her teacher with awe-struck, undivided attention. She gets up and returns to her particularly bow-legged attempt at a plie. She smiles back at me after several of these falls as if she is the most graceful swan on the lake.
I sat there, rapt, for 25 minutes. I had spent the day fretting over a single mistake.