Ballet Conditioning: No Tutu's Required

   Ballet is defined by Dictionary.com as "a classical dance form demanding grace and precision and employing formalized steps and gestures set in intricate, flowing patterns to create expression through movement." All the girls on my street lined up on a barre or two in their  youth and participated in the formalized steps and gestures with varying degrees of grace and expression. We all thought we were ballerinas but none of us went on to make a career out of it.
   Ballet conditioning is actually all that work we did at the barre to prepare our bodies for the rigors of the ballet dance and to earn our toe shoes. Toe shoes, the coveted acheivement of all aspiring ballerinas. Ballet conditioning, done without toe shoes,