Are you ready to return to the studio?

It's been several months of lockdown for most dancers and depending on where you live, you may already be back in your old studio or will be very soon.

For my students, it looks like Inspire Dance Studio, where I rent space for my classes, will be opening its doors to renters by the end of June. As of this writing, assuming all goes well in LA County, I will open a few of my classes by mid-July.

So with just about one month until you can get into class, are you ready?

Many of you will answer with a resounding Yes! while others are taking a more cautious approach. Both are understandable after a long period of time away. The considerations are greater than they might have been back in March when we didn't know as much about COVID-19. I can't speak to your personal choice or your family and work situations but I can address your physical preparedness.

No matter how diligent we have been at home, we don't get the same effect from taking a class virtually versus in-person. Here are a few things to be aware of:

• Flooring can be uneven which means balance can be off.
• Non-sprung floor means you can't practice jumps; you can also lose speed and clarity in fast footwork.
• Lack of jumps means loss of cardio fitness, quad and glute strength and core engagement.
• Slick surface means you may not have been practicing turns or working en pointe.
• Without a proper barre, you may be hiking up your elbow or shoulder, gripping the surface or falling.
• If your space is cramped, you might not be doing anything full out.
• Prolonged sitting means loss of glute strength and hamstring flexibility which translates to loss of leg extension.

And now some things you'll want to be mindful of when you return:

• Do NOT expect you can jump as high or as far.
• Do NOT expect to not get winded.
• Do NOT expect to be able to do everything the same way you did before.
• Do NOT become upset when you can't perform a single pirouette.
• DO expect your arms/neck/legs to get tired.
• DO expect your feet to cramp.
• DO expect your inner thighs to shake.
• DO expect your eyesight to feel funny in a room full of mirrors and with other people.

MANAGE your expectations of yourself, your classmates and your teacher.

TAKE your time getting back into things.

ENCOURAGE yourself and others to keep going.

Dancers who have been following my livestream each day will have been introduced to some strengthening exercises I do: rises on one leg in parallel, small jumps in 2nd/1st/5th, wall squats and spring lunges. Are they exciting? Nope. They're boring. Do they give you big muscles? Nope. They're designed to maintain.

I would suggest you start thinking about your return from a safety point of view, not merely the hygiene protocols we will all follow but your physical health as a dancer. You can improve cardio with short jogs or swimming and you can take stock of what you haven't been able to continue with.

Now is NOT the time to judge yourself about what you have or have not been doing at home. Even if you had the most perfect home studio, plenty of time to yourself to take class, and no financial or emotional burdens, you might still have been unable to commit to keeping up your technique. That's okay. You will get back to it slowly; we all will.

Can't wait to see you all in class again! Happy dancing~