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~

Improving your arch - actively!

100% True story: when I was in college, a fellow dancer who wanted a better arch used to place weights on the tops of her feet at night while she was studying and let them pull her toes forward and down to the floor, stretching the muscles and ligaments in the hopes of creating a more pronounced lateral arch (i.e. the side view of the foot in which the top rises like a mountain, what people in the ballet world call "a good foot").

We scoffed at her. How on earth could that passive stretch do anything to her arch, which was primarily due to bone structure? If anything, allowing weight to pull your foot would simply result in overstretched ligaments which - PAY ATTENTION HERE - do not snap back once they are overstretched.

Let me say that again: Overstretched ligaments do not return from whence they came. Unlike muscles, they do not have the same amount of give. DO NOT passively stretch your foot like this - e.g. using an arch stretcher. DO NOT. Bad dancer, bad, bad dancer.

It worked. I can't recall how long it took her but one day we noticed, "Hey, she's got good feet." She never had them before. At the time we all attributed the change to her nightly regimen. Fortunately we were all smart enough not to attempt to replicate her success. Today she probably has really weak ankles and wobbles in her releve.

HOWEVER - thinking back on it now, and with my years of experience as a teacher, I doubt the veracity of this. Instead I think she probably just learned how to get up on her releve and to use the floor and point her feet properly.

Some people have naturally beautiful arches and that's great. Some don't and that's great too. How feet work is far more important (as an adult or recreational dancer) than how they look. As a teacher, I show people how to get the most from their feet, how to work the floor and pull up, how to keep the bones in line and use the right muscles to lift, and so on.

But there's nothing wrong with wanting to improve your arch. And in doing so, increase your strength and range of motion.

In this post on her blog, The Healthy Dancer, Diana Harris writes about the best exercises for dancers to increase their arch. I think they are all terrific suggestions and I highly recommend students who want to improve their arches take a look for themselves and try to incorporate one or two on a regular basis. Thank you, Diana, for letting me include your post! (You can also click the caption below the photo to get to the article)

From The Healthy Dancer, "Exercises to Improve the Arch of Your Foot"

Happy dancing~