Hard Work Does Not Require Personal Suffering

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Second, fourth, plié, turn. Second, fourth, plié, turn.

I repeated this sequence over and over while my ballet teacher chanted it over the music. Each time, I pointed my foot out to the side (second), moved it about a foot behind my other foot while maintaining turnout (fourth), bent both knees (plié), and then tried to use that compressed energy to spring up, lift the back foot to the…