Earlier last week, Madame Neumann surprised her French classes with a ballet lesson in the Karcher Center. As someone who is currently taking AP French, I was fortunate enough to do one of these lessons. And let me just say, it was awesome!

A couple of weeks ago, we began to discuss ballet and its origins, how it started in Italy but eventually moved to France, when it was brought over, who brought it over, etc.

Once the lesson finished, I certainly wasn’t expecting there to be anything else. So when Madame Neumann told all the French classes that we would need leggings and a pair of socks for our next class, along with the fact that she had booked the Karcher Center, we were all very confused. But once she told us what we were doing, our excitement began to kick in.

Madame Neumann shared her perspective on hosting a ballet lesson: “I love activities where the French language can be used authentically! The great thing about ballet is that no matter where in the world you take a class, the same French terminology is used for instruction. While many students have taken ballet at some point in their lives, even the ones who have not, could follow along with our guest presenters. This is not just because of the French vocabulary that they recognized from class when we discussed the French historical and linguistic elements of ballet, but because they were watching and imitating the movements that went with the French words.”

She brought three guests in to teach us ballet: Alec Mercado ‘23, Ryan Robinson, and Samantha Santos. Each of them are incoming students at UC Irvine as dance majors, and they are each starting up their own freelance careers. Needless to say, their talent was immense and their skills were impeccable.

Over the course of an hour and fifteen minutes, the three dancers taught us everything they could about ballet. They discussed its history, showcased some ballet moves, had us do ballet warmups, and ended with actually teaching us ballet combos on the gym floor.

When asked about his experience teaching the different French classes, Alec said, “Teaching the French classes at Rosary was a new experience. My previous teaching has been with students who were already studying ballet. It was very cool to see the students who had not danced before or had not danced recently learn some basic steps, ask questions about what they were doing, and try it out. It was very fun to teach them, and it was an enjoyable experience for all three of us.”

In my opinion, the lesson was so much fun. Not only was it just a nice change of pace from the usual day-to-day classes, but it was also hilarious watching us all try to do the ballet steps that the dancers did flawlessly. They were able to do pirouettes and tondues galore, whereas I was simply trying to do a plié without falling to the ground.

And I didn’t seem to be the only one who enjoyed the lesson. Caitlin Smith ’24 also had a great time, saying, “C’est très emotional — it was a great way to learn about French culture and reinforce French vocabulary.”

Overall, it was a great time for all the French students, a fun way to bond with our classmates while simultaneously still learning about and engaging in French culture, and I hope we do something similar in the future. To Madame Neumann, Alec, Samantha, and Ryan… merci beaucoup!