Hold Still so I can punch you

This is what Mothra says to me.
It’s toward the end of class, we’re in the center waiting, Smirnoff is fussing with the boom box, I’m using this time to do a few pliés in fifth facing the mirror because Smirnoff has been totally All Up In My Grill about staying even on both feet. He’s worried that I’m still favouring. He might be right, who knows.
So I’m like, plié…look in the mirror…shift left, shift right, feel the center…
And Mothra is like, “Hey. Hold still, I’m gonna punch you in the stomach.”
And I’m thinking, ‘well that’s weird, but ok, let’s see where she’s going with this…’
So I’m like, “Ok, go!”
And she makes a slow-motion gut-punch, while making a BOOM sound effect, fist travels through the air, contacts just below belly-button, pushes,
And I’m playing along so I’m like, slow-mo, “noooooooooooo!!!!!!” and, like, tightening stomach muscles and bending with the punch, and, like, pretending to stagger,
And then we both straighten up and I’m laughing and she says,
“See what you did there? You were all swayback when you were doing your plié just now. I have that problem too when I get tired at the end of class and I forget to hold my abs tight. And it makes my legs turn in and my feet sickle, remember how I was having all those problems with my feet? It was the damned Swayback!”
And I’m like, “Oh! Dang, didn’t even realize,”
And she’s like, “yeah, you gotta just imagine someone’s punching you.”
Which is, like, The Worst ballet metaphor of all time, I mean, the last thing I want to be thinking about in class is getting punched. That, like, does not mesh with my internal ballerina monologue of butterflies and moonbeams and candy floss.
But, gotta admit, been much more aware lately of keeping the ol’ abs engaged right up to the end of class.

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