Dance at Home with Me!

Hello beautiful dancers!

As promised in my newsletter, I'll be posting on my blog some of my YouTube "pandemic" videos from 2020-2021 when I was doing daily live classes from my living room. Remember those days? Thankfully they feel very long ago!

This one is from June 14, 2020:

Beginner Ballet

Enjoy! And keep on dancing! 

I'll post more in the coming days while I am out of town.

Use it or Lose it! A mantra for 2022

Hello beautiful dancers~

We're not yet finished with 2021 but I am starting to think about what 2022 will look like. If, like me, you were disappointed in 2021, I think it's because we expected "normal" to return. That, according to many experts, will never happen and we need to move on from that. 

But if you looked very closely, 2021 was a massive improvement over 2020!

~Miracle vaccines became available to everyone in the space of a few months. 

~Dancers in my area were able to return to the studio (with masks, but still, such a better place to be than in your living room).

~Some dance companies like mine performed in a theater with a real live audience (including Fred Armisen! What?!).

~Many people, including myself, traveled again to see loved ones.

Remember 2020? NONE of that happened. 

Okay, so let's think about 2022. We all wanted to use the pandemic as a learning tool, right? Some of you learned to bake or play music; some of you realized you hadn't been spending enough time with family or friends and made resolutions to see them more frequently. It's natural for us to want to come out of this (or make peace with still being in it) by creating new rituals or life lessons.

Honestly, I have a hard time sticking to promises to "be good to yourself!" or "seize the day!" or "live every day like it's your last!" Those are great things to remember but most of the time - for me - they don't stick. Something critical will happen - like an accident or a health scare - and in the moment, I will think, oh my gosh! that could have ended terribly! I'm so grateful it didn't! In reality, I think it's hard for any of us to live by those sayings because, well, life goes on. You have to work and buy the groceries, feed the dog and pay the rent. Everyday things tend to trump the big once-in-a-lifetime things because they press on you to get done. It's hard to tell the DMV you didn't get the smog check because you were seizing the day.

What's easier for me to use as a guide for living is a practical saying, something that is not just a personal philosophy or wishful thinking but actually something that I can follow. So this is one that I think can guide us all, whether we are dancers or just regular humans who want to dance:

USE IT OR LOSE IT.

The best thing about this very practical saying is that you can apply it to a huge range of things.

1. Your body (the obvious one, of course). We've long known that joints require constant lubrication which breaks down as you age. Movement = lubrication. Movement is what minimizes inflammation (i.e. arthritis) so if you continue to exercise daily, you keep your body - spine, knees, shoulders, etc. - going longer and with less pain. Daily movement also keeps your heart healthy, your muscles strong, and improves your balance - all of which are important for aging bodies. And no matter what age you are now, your body is aging. That's just life, lol.

 

2. Your brain (the second obvious one). Many of us experienced brain fog during the pandemic, whether we were infected with COVID or not. It comes from being quarantined, from not being able to get out and interact with others, and from never-ending Zoom meetings. Being in lockdown, uncertain and anxious for so very long results in depression. If you haven't felt it, you know someone who has. This is a sneak peek of what our brains do when we age: it's harder to remember names and places, harder to get excited about doing something we used to love, harder to envision a future that is different than what we are experiencing now. Keep your brain active through reading (don't just listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube video), fun puzzles like crosswords or Sudoku or word scrambles, and writing. Each time you challenge your brain with a new word or concept, it starts to form new grooves in it (remember, the human brain typically stops forming neural pathways by young adulthood but we can continue to forge new ones if we want to). Creating new pathways and forming new connections contribute to a healthier brain.

3. Your good dishes (or furniture or wardrobe or perfume). What are you saving these things for? What day are you waiting to wear them or serve food on them or sit on? The Queen of England is not coming to visit you any time soon. You can substitute any celebrity you like in that sentence. Seriously, though, why not use your candlesticks when you're eating a Wednesday meatloaf or a Friday pizza? Unless you have collectible Star Wars action figures that lose their value as soon as you open them, then you're wasting an opportunity to feel good, look good or smell good.

4. Your friendships (romantic, familial or just friends). The phone rings and we see the caller and let it go to voice mail. They're gonna want to talk forever and I don't have time now. Or there's a text or email that you don't reply to. They want to get together and I don't have time now. Well, what are you waiting for? What's more important? If we have learned anything from the pandemic, it's this: don't count on tomorrow or next week or next month. Not to get too morbid but, sad fact, you or your friend might get sick and that day won't come. Isn't it better to pick up the phone and say hello now? Or make a plan to grab a coffee some afternoon? If the person talks a lot, then tell them you have a "hard stop" so they know in advance you have to leave. Trust me, you will feel so much better when you do this. You will ask yourself why you waited so darn long.

5. Your dance class (you knew this was coming, lol). Everything in the previous paragraphs - body, brain, possessions, friendships - is wrapped up in a dance class. Dance helps your body and brain stay young and healthy; a class is an opportunity to dress up for yourself; our dance community surrounds you with friends. You don't need to be a professional dancer to get something (some things) from a dance class. Lifelong learning keeps your brain engaged and regular exercise strengthens your immune system. Friends help keep you sane and fulfilled. And when you get your fancy leotard or leggings out, put a drop of your favorite essential oil on your wrists, and snap a selfie in front of the barre, you feel good about yourself for yourself. Mental and physical well-being all in one place: dance class.

I wish everyone a very happy new year! Please stay healthy if you can, try to avoid stressful situations that can tax your immune system and your patience, and post this motto above your desk:

USE IT OR LOSE IT!

My journey to jetes: from zero to grand in 7 months!

Beautiful dancers, like everyone during the pandemic, I was stuck at home in a small space with a slippery wood floor that had no give. Over the course of a couple of months, I brought in a portable barre, marley flooring, and some springy dance floor squares (which I liked so much I bought a second set to make the area bigger!). 

Also like you, no matter how I was able to modify my former dining area, I couldn't do anything big - no grand allegro at all and very limited petit allegro. I focused on maintaining strength in my quads and hamstrings as well as building core strength through sit-ups, pushups and planks. I also ended every class I taught over Zoom and YouTube with releves to keep calf and ankle strength up for all of us, including me!

Returning to my classes as a teacher (first outdoors on concrete last winter and then in-studio in the spring), I was cautious doing jumps. I didn't want to injure myself or my students! We began with very small jumps like sautes in first position, gentle glissades into jetes and assembles but no beats. For grand allegro, we did temps leves in passe and arabesque, some grand jetes and pas de chats and worked up to tour jete and sauts de chats.

I loved watching my students find their jumps again but for myself? Up until about a month ago, my progress followed my students except for sauts de chats. I wasn't quite at the point where I felt confident to really push myself off the floor and attempt a big jump. I worried that I would never be able to do grand allegro again, which was always something I enjoyed.

So how to get my jump back? Gradually and carefully, like all things. Here are some things that I did that might help you:

1. I added beats to my petit allegro which forced me to really push my body off the ground - something very important for big jumps, obviously.

2. I did lots of grands battements to work my quads and get my leg off the ground quickly.

3. I worked on my splits for hamstring flexibility.

4. I focused on developpe during adagio at the barre, especially en avant and holding fully extended for as long as possible.

5. I continued my planks every day to keep my core engaged so I could get extra lift on the jump.

No matter what you want to tackle, take it slowly, beautiful dancers. You don't want to injure yourself (believe me, hamstring injuries take forever to heal!). Enjoy the journey! Happy dancing!

 

Photo CC license

Will this be me in next week's classes? Hmmm....

Getting back to the studio! A guide to safe dancing

Beautiful dancers, it's been quite a year (or more!). For most of you, it has been a year completely devoid of ballet. For others, it's been ballet class in your living room with a makeshift barre on the rare occasion you have some bandwidth after work and other responsibilities. For a few, it's ballet with a real barre in your home, possibly a scrap of marley or even a raised floor, graduating to outdoor classes on concrete.

No matter what your situation, you have not been dancing in the same way you did pre-pandemic (PP). And no matter what, you can't walk into the dance studio and expect to see/feel/move anything you saw before. 

I've been in your position too. I have been working in my home, teaching on Zoom and then on concrete outdoors. I have a regulation barre, some marley and a slightly cushioned mat but it's nothing like a sprung floor with a wall of mirrors and SPACE!

Recently I've been lucky to get to a few in-studio classes so I can confidently give you some helpful information about YOUR safe return.

1. Lower your expectations. 

Nope, lower than that...keep going. There you go. Did you do triple pirouettes PP? Great! Now, don't expect anything more than a single. In fact, pat yourself on the back if you can balance on demi-pointe without falling over.

 

2. Make friends with yourself. 

For a year we haven't been in a room filled with mirrors in shape-revealing clothes. We might not be happy with what we see because it won't look like us PP.  THAT IS OKAY!  Do not judge yourself. Be happy you are healthy and are in a dance studio. Look at yourself in the mirror and appreciate that your body is alive and strong enough to be in a class. Many - many - others are not. Be grateful to your body that it made it through a VERY difficult time.

3. New mantra: low and slow.

It will be very tempting to run around the studio. I know. I did it when I first walked in. Jumps should be very low, barely off the ground, and you should concentrate on rolling through your demi-pointe and springing up. Do the allegro half-speed for a while until you find your muscles and build back your strength.

4. Balance, balance, balance.

Prepare to spend a LOT of time finding your balance again. One of the most critical parts of balance is orienting our bodies in space. Think of it like being on a boat out at sea with no land to focus on. You feel woozy and nauseous because you aren't stabilized with a visual image. This is what has happened at home for a year. We need the barre, the mirror, and other people to stabilize ourselves. This takes time. Practice. And then some more.

5. Choreography uses muscles too.

And they might not be in the best shape right now. We joke about "pandemic brain" and being foggy and never knowing what day it is. When it comes to remembering combinations in class, our brains might not be quick to pick them up. Understand that this will also take practice. Don't worry if you have trouble with right and left. If you were on Zoom for a year, that was confusing.

6. Masks are not easy to dance in.

I wear 2 masks: a paper one under a cloth one and I pinch the nose to give me breathing room. The hardest part is turning because it changes my proprioception. A small price to pay for feeling safer than with just one. For now, masks are the rule in the studios where I teach and I personally don't mind them. I imagine that when I can finally take it off, I will be amazing! And so will you.

7. Take your time.

Everyone is different. We all had different pandemic experiences and we are recovering in vastly different ways. Some of us can't wait to do all the things. Some are still not ready to leave the home studio. All of this is fine. For now, I am doing some classes hybrid, some in-studio only, some online only. I would like to make it easy for everyone to return in their own way and at their own time. 

🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰

Dancing toward the light at the end of the tunnel

Beautiful dancers,

As I write this, the FDA is authorizing emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The initial plan is for frontline workers and people in assisted living facilities to receive inoculations this month with the rest of us getting vaccinated over the course of the next few months. If all goes well, most of the population will have access to it by spring 2021.

This is amazing news and should give us all hope for the not-too-distant future. In scientific terms, this is nearly-instantaneous; for the rest of us we've got a major case of HURRY UP, ALREADY!

How does this affect me as a dancer?

Okay, so we know there will be an end, even if we don't know the date. So let's look at it this way. Pretend I'm the artistic director of the company you're all in and I've called you into a meeting (on Zoom of course because there's a pandemic).

Congratulations! You all have been cast in a show that will be performed in the Fall. We don't have a theater booked yet but we know it's going to happen so we need to be getting in shape and rehearsing now. We can't wait until we put a down payment on the booking because that might happen at the last minute.

Ooh, exciting! Which show are we doing? Which role will I have?

The question is: which role do you want? Do you want a lead role, one that dances a lot on stage? Do you want a corps de ballet role, which is just as challenging but more community-involvement? Do you want to be partnered or to be a partner? Do you want to be en pointe or in flat slippers? 

 But I look terrible! I haven't been dancing full-out in months! I'm not ready to be on stage!

Focus not on what your body looks like but on what it can do. We are ALL in the same predicament. We have been doing our best - whatever form that takes - and it's been difficult for everyone. Now is not the time for body-shaming yourself. And no, of course you're not ready for the stage. Professionals are not even ready and many of them are back in the studio. It takes time and a slow return to our previous mode of movement. 

Here is my advice:

1. Keep looking toward the future. Stop looking at the past, at what was, at what was supposed to be. A new day is dawning but it will just take a while to fully arrive. Don't stop thinking about tomorrow (okay, okay, I just used a whole bunch of song lyrics but you know what I mean).

2. Invest in yourself and your body. If you don't have a space at home, carve one out, even if it needs to be carved out every day. Get a stable barre or barre substitute. Find flooring that won't hurt your knees and back or wear shoes with support.

3. Move every day. Every. Single. Day. Maybe it's a YouTube ballet class one day. Maybe it's yoga. Maybe it's a Zoom group class. Or a long walk or jog. But move your body on a daily basis and breathe deeply.

4. Speaking of breathing...practice exercising in a mask because YOU WILL WEAR ONE for a while, possibly until the end of 2021. Get used to it now. It's not that hard. I've done it - and taught class in it!

5. Commit. Say to yourself, "I want to be in the show in the Fall, whatever show it is, whatever role I'm given. So I will stay healthy, stay distant, stay masked. I will wash my hands and avoid large groups indoors. I will do what I have to."

I want you all to be in the show, whether that's a literal show or merely a figurative one. If you've been inwardly focused or have had a hard time getting or staying motivated since March, there is a future to dance toward now. If you've been keeping your dance routine, don't stop now! 

And you know what? You will be in the show. Happy dancing~