A Day of the Ballet Dancer’s Life

I wake up at nine o'clock most mornings because I usually go to bed quite late. As I get out of bed, all my bones click, reminding me of the familiar ache that follows exercises. Every day I have to go through a certain amount of pain. A ballet dancer's life may seem glamorous but most of it is very hard work. As you develop as a dancer, you stretch your body to the limit, and that means that you have to suffer a little more, too, mentally as well as physically, because you are constantly trying to improve your technique, discovering new things and struggling to master them.

Luckily, I live quite near the Ballet School so I can walk to work. I have to be there at 10.30, including Saturdays, because we perform almost every evening. A lot of my work is simply routine. The morning class lasts for an hour and a quarter. Then we have a quick break for a quarter of an hour before the rehearsal for the performance later in the day. We generally finish about 1.30 and I go home for lunch and a rest.

Ballet dancers have to look after themselves more than actors. I get myshoes ready when I arrive at the theatre and do my own hair and make-up. Then I change into my costume and do a few exercises. It is a ritual, the same every time, but the funny thing is that I always feel nervous before a performance. I'm no worried about worrying. A little stage fright helps to concentrate.

Of course ballet offers a lot of rewards. When things go well, and people come to the dressing-room after work, with bouquets of flowers; I feel happy, particularly like matinees because children come. It's lovely for them to see you in your make-up. You recognize their excitement in their eyes and at moments like that you forget all the routine and only feel the magic you have tried to convey to them.

After an evening performance, I go out with my friends and have a quiet, late dinner. I don't usually get home before midnight. Then it's not easy to get to sleep. I go over the whole performance in my mind, asking myself: "Was it all right?" And the next day, the same thing begins again.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Television

Television is one of the greatest achievements of the 20-th century. It is the most popular part of mass media. Today every family has a TV-set. TV has changed much since the time of its invention and so has its role. There have been numerous debates concerning advantages and disadvantages of television. When TV first appeared its main purpose was to give official information to people. It was supported by the government. Now television plays a big role in every civilized society. Today television gives people a possibility to be well informed and enjoy "civilized pleasures." The programmes are various and people have a chance to select what they want to see. Television provides great opportunities for education. There are programmes devoted to specialized subjects. With the help of TV it is possible to learn foreign languages, to know a lot of wonderful things concerning the world of flora and fauna. TV teaches the ideals of democracy and political argument. Watching television can be compared with reading books. It provides an outlet for creative talents. By the beginning of the 21st century TV had become a coloured world network. Numerous programmes people can receive by satellite or cable. Now this medium of communication allows people to see and speak with each other if they are separated by thousands of kilometres. TV is a unifying force and that our planet in reality is a small world. Previously innovations were promoted on TV. TV shocked, surprised and stimulated. It brought ballet, opera, and theatre to big masses of people. It was even in the vanguard of new drama. Moreover, TV can keep children quiet. If they are noisy their mothers turn on the set. If people do not like TV they do not buy it or switch it off.
At the same time there are a lot of arguments against TV. It is said that only three generations have grown up with television, but they managed to forget how to spend their free time without television. Its role is increasing not because it is an entertainer or informant, but because of the grip it has on many people. It is called a "living room monster" or "one-eyed monster." It is established that the biggest viewers are pensioners and housewives. The latter watch TV while their husbands are at work. In total they spend five hours daily sitting before the "boxes." Children watch commercials, horror films or films of violence. TV prevents children from creating their abilities. They get accustomed to TV to such an extent that they watch it all the time. To force their children away from their favourite evening programmes to their homework has eventually become the main problem of the parents of different countries.

Moreover, TV is damaging for health. It has bad effect on the eyes, particularly of children. The physicians proved that if children do not watch TV their eyesight improves. But if children do not watch TV they find themselves without anything to talk about at school, where comedians and singing stars are major topics during breaks between classes. The same is true about some adults. Sometimes TV programmes become the topics of common interest of the people and without, them they have nothing to talk about.

Nowadays some people watch television programmes from about six in the morning to the early hours of the next day. It means that contemporary people for various reasons depend upon television. They watch everything from news and sports reports to dramas, educational and entertainment programmes. Today some people become TV addicts and feel unhappy if they fail to find another way of passing leisure time. Free time is regulated by television. TV occupies our free time. Instead of going to the theatre or reading books people watch TV. People rush home, gulp food to be in time to watch their favourite programmes. Very often programmes are bad, as TV cannot keep pace with demand. People have stopped reading books and depend on TV pictures. Spoken words become more important that the written ones. TV cuts people from the real world. The virtual world becomes more important. TV is absolutely irrelevant to real living. No surprise that television is often called "chewing gum for men's brains." People become lazy, instead of doing sports they watch TV. Television takes free time of the people. Instead of joining a choir or playing football or reading books people watch various programmes. Dinnertime is often pressed by television if it is not in the kitchen. If people are deprived for various reasons of watching their favourite programmes they feel inconvenience. The best thing is to watch only selective TV programmes and not to be governed by them. Only few people today can live without television. It should be said that television continues to play an important part in the human life despite increasing influence of the Internet, video games and other high-technology sources of information.