tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43457810511947584692024-03-05T16:05:26.247-05:00Dancing over the HillWhy would an otherwise sane 50+ year old man take ballet classes? Let's just call it my mid-life crisis!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger536125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-29708482275802492192024-02-01T15:33:00.004-05:002024-02-01T15:47:01.590-05:00Bilateral Achilles Tendinitis<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/achilles-tendinitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20369020" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="632" height="200" src="https://assets.mayoclinic.org/content/dam/media/en/images/2023/04/13/achilles-tendinitis.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Mayo Foundation</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>That's what the doctor says is causing the pain in my heels. Per the Mayo Clinic website:<br /><p></p><blockquote><i>Achilles tendinitis is caused by repetitive or intense strain on the
Achilles tendon, the band of tissue that connects your calf muscles to
your heel bone. This tendon is used when you walk, run, jump or push up
on your toes.</i></blockquote><p>Cuz ballet dancers don't jump or push up on their toes, right?</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>For those who are curious, here's a list of symptoms:<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>First step in the morning is usually painful and can be sharp</i></li><li><i>Hurts to touch the area above your heel</i></li><li><i>Pain with standing or walking, especially when pushing off with your painful side.</i></li></ul><p>Check, check, and check; I have all three of these. How about treatments? Per my doctor's print-out:<br /></p><ul><li>Stretching and flexibility exercises. These are key to helping your tendon heal without shortening and causing long-term pain.</li><li>Strengthening exercises. They will help you regain
strength you might have lost while the tendon was healing. And they will
help protect you from another injury.</li><li>Deep massage. It helps you increase flexibility and blood circulation in the lower leg. It can also help prevent further injury.</li></ul><p></p><p>But first on everyone's lists seems to be <i>avoid activities that hurt</i>.<br /></p><p>Getting out of bed in the morning hurts, but I think that's not something I'm willing to give up. I have discovered that doing some gentle stretching -- just extending and flexing my ankles several times -- before getting up helps a lot.</p><p>Avoiding ballet just isn't going to happen. The best I can do is back off a bit while ramping up the stretching.<br /></p>Among the stretching exercises recommended to me is the "calf stretch on a step". I recall coming across a list of ways to identify a dancer that listed: "<i>views every staircase as an opportunity for a calf stretch</i>". I guess this is why.<br /><p>For strengthening I've been given a "heel raise" exercise that is basically <i>relevés</i> in parallel that we all <strike>hate</strike> love to do. The only real difference is whether it's done on two feet or one. I did these for years as part of Susan's Beginner II classes, and only stopped when I switched to daytime Advanced Beginner classes. I guess I'll start doing them again.</p><p>Deep massage? I wonder if I can get the doctor to write a prescription for that so it's deductible as a medical expense. Please?</p><hr width="50%" /><p>So now I have two goals for the spring:</p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Treat (and hopefully cure) my tendinitis</li><li>Improve my <i>petit allegro</i> <br /></li></ol><p>I find <i>petit allegro</i> frustrating, but that's probably because I'm not good at it. Like most things, if I practice it I'll get better at it. Getting better should help with the frustration.<br /></p><p>You might note the absence of auditions from this list. Yeah, I've made the conscious decision <i>not</i> to audition for either TWSB or Ballet Embody this month. I find it difficult throttle back in these environments, and I need to let myself heal first. Maybe I'll audition for <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i> again in September. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-63110737810339565042024-01-15T20:28:00.001-05:002024-01-15T20:31:05.270-05:00The soundtrack to my dance career<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBj7oclY9XHhvqmYntNI7sn7i24j0RKSu8JaLvfTjaoqj8hwjCa7oVMo_TnmghS1qSGPcH-cgZ379hmokV6g1xdH4ZbfWded-jV0SkgLd0ZiWKvoAKdFgKolNUcJUE_Az69gOq0mNgQUlxHn7dJo4-HBhfZT4s_9YaEaWLcz8noWFwpEV3ArvAYbiqBssm/s1200/A%20Chorus%20Line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBj7oclY9XHhvqmYntNI7sn7i24j0RKSu8JaLvfTjaoqj8hwjCa7oVMo_TnmghS1qSGPcH-cgZ379hmokV6g1xdH4ZbfWded-jV0SkgLd0ZiWKvoAKdFgKolNUcJUE_Az69gOq0mNgQUlxHn7dJo4-HBhfZT4s_9YaEaWLcz8noWFwpEV3ArvAYbiqBssm/w200-h200/A%20Chorus%20Line.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In the mid 1980s I was taking an adult ballet class at a local community center, and a group of us regularly went out to dinner after class. When the 1985 movie <i>"<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088915/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Chorus Line</a>"</i> was released, there was much discussion of the pros and cons of the movie versus the movie and the Broadway production from which it was adapted. I remember our instructor, Eva, was highly disappointed in the movie, but I've forgotten exactly why. Having not seen either version I didn't have much to contribute to the discussion. I soon acquired the soundtrack on CD, and later the movie on DVD, but still haven't seen a live production.<br /><p></p><p>At various times during classes or rehearsals I've found myself hearing tracks or seeing snippets from this movie in my head. One recurrent scene where a male dancer is looking down at the stage as he dances. Zach yells, "Boy in the headband, keep your head up... Headband, head up!" The dancer responds by snapping his head up, but two seconds later he's looking down again. Yeah, I'm guilty of this too frequently, though I'm trying to break myself of the habit. As one of my instructors likes to say, "The floor and your feet are still down there even if you're not looking at them."</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>This past Saturday I went to The Washington School of Ballet's open house. In years past I've been known to give gag gifts to my instructors, like the huge <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2013/06/an-apple-for-teacher.html">Bubba Mug</a> I gave to an instructor who frequently complained she hadn't had enough coffee before class. Since I'd previously been introduced to the director of TWSB's adult program I thought it would be a grand idea to give her a Hogwarts sorting hat. Thinking she might place it in the studio where the demo classes were being held I arrived right at the start of the event. As you might expect, though, things were chaotic and the hat never made a public appearance. I received both a very nice email and a personal phone call the next day thanking me for the gift, which was really nice.<br /><p></p><p>The primary purpose of attending the open house was to see if I might be able to squeeze into the Intermediate group in their Adult Program Concert. I'd signed up for the demo class for Advanced Beginner and Intermediate level dancers, which left me with 90 minutes to kill. One of the studios had been set up as a social space with refreshments and a video projector showing the previous year's concert, while several of the adult volunteers wandered around chatting with attendees.</p><p>Another of my goals in attending the open house was to find out whether the rehearsals were sharply focused on preparing for the performance, as with the pro company I worked with last year, or was it combined with a significant instructional component. The volunteer I spoke with was part of the Advanced Beginner group, and he assured me the rehearsals included was a good bit of instruction. As much fun as it was working with the pro company this is one of the things I'd found myself wishing for, though curtain call before a couple hundred paying audience members is heady stuff.<br /></p><p>While chatting I got to watch each group's performance. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting. The Advanced Beginner choreography seemed simplistic to me, while the Intermediate group's was more complex but nothing really challenging. This reinforced my desire to be in the Intermediate group if I dance with TWSB, and raised the question of whether I'd rather try for another supporting cast role with the pro company.<br /></p><p>As the time for my demo class approached I changed into my dance gear and spent 15 minutes or so stretching. This was scheduled as a 30 minute class, and I didn't want to go in cold. When the scheduled time came we found the previous class (Beginner I/II) was running late. Finally we got in. As the instructors assigned us places at the barres in alphabetic order, the melody of "I Hope I Get It" began to play in my head.</p><p>The class itself is something of a blur. We managed to compress both barre (one side only!) and centre into maybe 25 minutes of frenetic activity. I thought I did fairly well, though my issues with petit allegro arose because of the pace of the music. Maybe they go this fast in their Intermediate II classes, but this was far beyond what I saw in the Advanced Beginner class two weeks ago. Tamás's evaluation afterward was a serious disappointment, though he did suggest I take an Advanced Beginner class with him so he could get another look.</p><p>Now I'm in a quandary. Can I slay my petit allegro nemesis before the Adult Program Concert auditions next month? Or should I audition for supporting cast with the pro company the weekend after? Both? Neither? All I can say is I'm glad it's only my ego on the line and not my livelihood.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-30260134953706305292024-01-06T15:05:00.003-05:002024-01-06T15:05:33.672-05:00What am I doing in THIS class?<p>Today I intended to take an Advanced Beginner ballet class with Tamás Krizsa. I've really been looking forward to seeing what his teaching style is like.</p><p>I always like to get changed and ready at least 15 minutes before class to have the time to do some solo stretching. Shortly after arriving I overheard one of the other students comment that Tamás was not teaching today; Brittany Bailey would be substituting instead. This annoyed me. I'm on the monthly plan at MYB (I can take as many classes as I want during the month for a fixed price), where as I pay per-class at TWSB. I could have taken a class this morning at MYB and saved myself $20. But I was already there and it was too late to cancel my registration. Maybe I might like Brittany's class?</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0SU46sDlU-gFhK5oR_Fe6vdVmtCxm0bQQw22Cb88_QtfAHSuuQpzMss9xVizOdFyDekGMT2Ajh9NCfT3Nd8Z27jktOv2Tom55RdomcmSaShTtVt8xOA2vyg31QAav3yTJx_68gM4jrhAl6u_rjbUM_WFP_mht7Ui9OmrFxLwegBx-W7UJ5biXjsZvmLp/s380/wtf.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="380" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0SU46sDlU-gFhK5oR_Fe6vdVmtCxm0bQQw22Cb88_QtfAHSuuQpzMss9xVizOdFyDekGMT2Ajh9NCfT3Nd8Z27jktOv2Tom55RdomcmSaShTtVt8xOA2vyg31QAav3yTJx_68gM4jrhAl6u_rjbUM_WFP_mht7Ui9OmrFxLwegBx-W7UJ5biXjsZvmLp/w200-h158/wtf.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span><a name='more'></a></span>There have been times I've taken an unfamiliar class and found myself asking "WTF am I doing here??" For example, the Tuesday noon Advanced Beginner class at MYB apparently is unofficially known as the "faculty class" because many of the instructors take it. The result is that it is far more challenging than any of the other Advanced Beginner classes.<p></p><p></p>It turns out that Brittany is a nice teacher, who gives very clear instructions and demonstrations, and takes time to give feedback to her students. However, the class she taught was <i>not</i> an Advanced Beginner level class. Maybe that's because she's really good at reading the room, as many of the better students I noted from last week weren't present; I can't tell. But I'd put the level of difficulty somewhere between an MYB Beginner 1 and Beginner 2 class.<p></p><p>I have no complains about her barre, but the centre exercises weren't what I've come to expect at this level. During <i>adagio</i> she waffled about whether to include a <i>penché</i>, finally deciding to include it while telling us to just go for it. We did a jump warm-up, then a simple <i>petit allegro</i> that included <i>assemblé</i> front and back but didn't have any moving steps (no <i>glissades</i> or <i>jetés</i>). In place of a <i>pirouette</i> combination we did <i>piqué</i> turns across the floor. The <i>grand allegro</i> combination was a waltz turn, two <i>piqué</i> turns, a <i>tombé</i>, <i>pas de bourrée, </i>a couple of steps and a "big jump" (I did a <i>saut de chat</i>, some others did <i>pas de chat</i>).</p><p>In my experience this would have been a good, challenging Beginner 1 or 2 class. Frankly, and I say this without malice, I think this class was well targeted for many of the students who attended today. But for an Advanced Beginner class I expected more.</p><hr width="50%" /><p>I am rather proud of myself for two things. The first is the <i>piqué</i> turns. Laurice often offers <i>piqué</i> turn practice in her classes. At first I'd had trouble doing these at all, probably for lack of practice. More recently I've been doing reasonably well to the right, but still wobbly to the left. Today, however, I did quite well both directions, which really made me feel good.</p><p>The second thing I'm proud of is resisting the urge to offer suggestions after class to one of the other men in the class. He really belongs in a Beginner 1 class, as he don't seem to understand how to do some basic steps. You don't <i>plié</i> during a <i>penché</i> or <i>piqué</i> turn. A <i>soutenu</i> turn does not include a jumping <i>changement</i>. Don't tilt your whole body to the side in an attempt to get your leg higher <i>a la seconde</i>. And that just starts the list. Instead, I just smiled politely and wished him a good weekend.<br /></p><hr width="50%" /><p>Next weekend is TWSB's Adult Open House. I'm registered to take their free 30-minute "Advanced Beginner / Intermediate" demo class, hoping to find out whether I'd fit into their intermediate-level Adult Program Concert. What I <i>should</i> do is just take one of their Intermediate 1 classes, which I could do next week, and see how it feels. I guess I want to hear what the instructors say, which is part of the demo class program.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-59532431034677290162023-12-31T22:11:00.000-05:002023-12-31T22:11:10.186-05:00Testing new waters<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSa7YMF7ThYPLa8b97Raa5GJufyhbiZFw_5LmOAXtrxAxMaldNueN9x0BR9gjTVJX_xkd2itZXlSjzqDARmzePz8VAx-A4nhYda8WUzbSAg0Lshgcq57dRv9Tl4pPDhgBwHgH38S7D-DWTJEOQa7tVunKW7PA8I-f6YHaE16CnZ-L_fyzdvYHI1NsxUszi/s253/SortingHat.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="227" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSa7YMF7ThYPLa8b97Raa5GJufyhbiZFw_5LmOAXtrxAxMaldNueN9x0BR9gjTVJX_xkd2itZXlSjzqDARmzePz8VAx-A4nhYda8WUzbSAg0Lshgcq57dRv9Tl4pPDhgBwHgH38S7D-DWTJEOQa7tVunKW7PA8I-f6YHaE16CnZ-L_fyzdvYHI1NsxUszi/w179-h200/SortingHat.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>Before I decide to jump into the TWSB's adult program concert, I thought I ought to find out where I stand in their class structure. They're hosting what I'm calling a "Sorting Hat" event January 13th. This is a series of free 30-minute classes, observed by various instructors, intended to help sort students into the appropriate houses... err... classes.<br /><p></p><p>I've been taking MYB's advanced beginner classes for a few years, and figure if TWSB's classes are similar then I'd probably be fine in the advanced beginner concert group. But maybe I could fit into the intermediate group? I'm especially interested in this because the intermediate group will be choreographed by Tamás Krizsa, a recently retired member of The Washington Ballet's professional company whose work I've admired.<br /></p><p>While perusing their class schedule, though, I noticed an interesting wrinkle. Tamás usually teaches the Saturday morning advanced beginner class. However, this weekend's class was taught by Alvaro Palau, who will be choreographing the advanced beginner portion of the concert. This meant I could sample both instructors' styles on successive weekends.<br /></p><p>Thus I spent Saturday morning taking class with a new instructor in new surroundings.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>I've gotten spoiled with the live accompaniment at MYB. This class at TWSB used recorded music, and technical problems caused a significant delay in the start of class. My classmates ranged from "OMG you're too young to be that good" to "I hope I'm still dancing when I'm your age", which isn't much different from what I'm used to. There were a couple of other men, too. <p></p><p>The instructor spoke quite softly, which combined with a slight but unfamiliar accent to make his instructions difficult to follow at first. The barre had a different sequence than I'm used to, which isn't surprising. Once I got more used to his accent and the way he structured his barre exercises I didn't have much trouble following him. Of course it helped that I'd deliberately chosen a spot at the barre around the periphery that put me between two regulars helped!</p><p>For some reason I was a bit off-balance during the centre exercises. Maybe it was that this class starts hours earlier in the morning than I'm used to, or the lingering effects from having taken a rather energetic class at MYB the day before. More likely, it's having been mostly out of class since my injury in early November. Still, it wasn't terrible. My pirouettes have suffered, though strangely my <i>en dedans</i> turns are better than my <i>en dehor</i> turns.<br /></p><p>The <i>petit allegro</i> combination, usually my nemesis, was easier than my previous class. The most tricky was a sequence of <i>sissonne fermés</i> with <i>temps de cuisse</i> thrown in to change direction; this was challenging for some, but is fairly common in my classes. Similarly, the <i>grand allegro</i> exercise, while new, wasn't anything I hadn't come across in my classes. The most challenging for me were the <i>chaîné</i> turns at the end of the sequence. These are not new to me, but I'm way out of practice. Twice, one of the other men asked if we could mark a combination. The instructor declined both times, probably because we were already running over the scheduled end time. He instead suggested anyone who wasn't clear on the combination to go last and watch those who went before.<br /></p><p>Since one of my goals in taking this class was to see how I fit into TWSB's class structure, I wanted to see how I compare with the other students in this class. If I apply Olympic scoring (throw out the best and worst, then average the others), I'm at or above the median. I'm hoping to be seen as good enough at the audition in February to join the intermediate group, as I think that's most likely to have the sort of choreography I'd like.</p><p>In the men's dressing room after class, one of the others asked if I usually take the Saturday morning class. I'm not sure if he meant <i>this</i> class or the Intermediate II class that runs at the same time. Perhaps he usually takes an evening class at the same level, and wanted to know if this was a typical Saturday morning Advanced Beginner class? I don't know, as when I answered that I usually take classes elsewhere he didn't say more.</p><p>The really good news is that I've now taken three full classes without trouble from my heel/ankle. It still feels tighter than it used to, but it doesn't hurt during class nor stiffen significantly afterward. I guess that means it's back to work once classes resume in the new year.</p><p>Speaking of which... <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Happy New Year!</b></span><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-6952360191497735882023-12-30T22:40:00.002-05:002023-12-30T22:40:50.426-05:00What's next for me?<p>During <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i> after-party, two of the pro dancers asked
me whether I was going to audition for the company's next production.
It's a locally-created ballet with an Edgar Allan Poe theme. Although I'm supporting
cast, when I've been on stage I've frequently been positioned center stage. If I took a supporting cast role with a larger professional company I'd be lucky to have a
prop in my hand while standing in the back row behind the professional <i>corps de ballet</i>.
I got to do lifts in <i>Midsummer</i> and a brief waltz in <i>Nutcracker</i>.<br />
</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_d4RAuiAZfytxp9Qajf5hM0qnhcKq8IeePFRRUk6h7dSuPHxMTqJD7-umucYVeVHkko3zaOSq1YUF8VF0EWHxxWQf2Afu925s60gXzsS6PN-MMM3X-j-fwbtzaPtuby45ubozHnxGww-mhq8MJFkZTDZz_fhKH8RbnvVKi_Yar4ON1LBP-D6RGLzDOAX/s2666/BE_20231210_P0144.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1501" data-original-width="2666" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_d4RAuiAZfytxp9Qajf5hM0qnhcKq8IeePFRRUk6h7dSuPHxMTqJD7-umucYVeVHkko3zaOSq1YUF8VF0EWHxxWQf2Afu925s60gXzsS6PN-MMM3X-j-fwbtzaPtuby45ubozHnxGww-mhq8MJFkZTDZz_fhKH8RbnvVKi_Yar4ON1LBP-D6RGLzDOAX/w400-h225/BE_20231210_P0144.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me as "Grandfather" in <i>Nutcracker</i>, center stage<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> I have to say the adrenaline rush of being on stage in front of a live, paying audience is thrilling. Still, I find myself a bit frustrated. I'm performing with a professional ballet company, and the choreography obviously features the pros. I can't rationally argue with that. But I'm not a professional ballet dancer and never will be, which limits my involvement.<br /></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p>Eons ago, the ballet school where I usually take classes hosted what they called the Adult Weekend Workshop. This was a three-day fantasy camp for adults who wish they were professional ballet dancers. Over time interest waned. The final straw, I believe, was when The Washington School of Ballet hosted a competing event the same weekend. Post-pandemic I tried to revive interest in it, but that went nowhere.</p><p>Last year, TWSB held auditions for an adult program that would lead to a recital. They expected to get a small group. Instead, they found themselves overwhelmed by applicants and had to hurriedly develop choreography for several levels of dancers.</p><p>This year they're a bit more organized. There are separate tracks for beginner ballet, advanced beginner ballet, intermediate ballet and pointe, and modern dance. The rehearsal schedule is extensive, varying from 15 to 17 rehearsals including tech and dress rehearsals depending on track. All this kicks off with open auditions on February 10th.<br /></p><p>What does this have to do with me?</p><p>Well, I've had an opportunity to be a small fish in a pond full of big fish. It was thrilling. But maybe I'd do better as a small fish in a pond of other small fish? I'm not sure yet.<br /></p><p></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-51836384230007326832023-12-23T14:23:00.003-05:002023-12-24T13:22:48.231-05:00Catching up after Nutcracker<p>It's been a couple of weeks since my performances as the Grandfather in <i>"The Maryland Nutcracker"</i>. Here I am with my "nurse" and "Grandmother".<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrDSHmOk9hyphenhyphen_53TumySvSxEIn0owfwFPBirm05EED11d4JfCqun366VWpUVgwS3gDwpgP6O1NRXxo5Xq3QeJcugw2S3q0PBbgrF3KWdfxaki7cYTpsWFOQSPQtHJ95kjJPcyNiEKa6C_9DLPqDR7WriIMIRHK1W3stMXw1q_gKR_QR5UDhGzlQsXAvrj2/s2666/BE_20231209_P0136-136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1501" data-original-width="2666" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrDSHmOk9hyphenhyphen_53TumySvSxEIn0owfwFPBirm05EED11d4JfCqun366VWpUVgwS3gDwpgP6O1NRXxo5Xq3QeJcugw2S3q0PBbgrF3KWdfxaki7cYTpsWFOQSPQtHJ95kjJPcyNiEKa6C_9DLPqDR7WriIMIRHK1W3stMXw1q_gKR_QR5UDhGzlQsXAvrj2/w400-h225/BE_20231209_P0136-136.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> The "nurse" character is a hold-over from a bit of scripting that got dropped. I was originally supposed to hobble in like I was decrepit, then surprise everyone by "busting a move" in a duet with "grandmother". That was dropped in favor of me strutting in like the patriarch of the family, but the "nurse" character remained.<p></p><p>Personally, I'd rather they'd swapped the dancer who played the nurse into the role of the "single, independent woman" originally given to the supporting cast member who was injured in September. I thought it would have been more fitting, but that didn't happen.<br /></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>After the <i>Nutcracker</i> wrapped I was going to take another week off to let my feet and ankles recover from my injury early last month. But I've never been good at that "take it easy" thing, and the next day I was back in class.<p></p><p>Things started well, but by the time we got to the jump prep, about 70 minutes into the 90 minute class, my heel had started to tighten up. I collected my gear, and with a parting bow to the instructor I took my leave.</p><p>I decided to skip my usual Wednesday class last week but did go Friday. That went pretty well, but again I left before petit allegro. Saturday I attended a housewarming party for a friend of mine. Sunday I attended a friend's choir performing seasonal music, after getting assurances there would be nothing from <i>Nutcracker</i>. I probably could have gotten to class either of those days, but convinced myself that I'd be better taking the time off.<br /></p><p>This week started with my regular Monday class. I did the entire class, though I was very careful on all the jumps and tried to land them softly. I thought I might resume a 3 classes a week schedule, but Monday night I was informed that one of Saturday's party attendees had fallen ill and tested positive for COVID-19 Monday morning. During the following week two other party attendees also developed symptoms and tested positive. There was no way I was going to spread that sort of joy to my ballet classmates, so my plans for Wednesday's class went out the window.<br /></p><p>Fortunately for me, I never developed any sort of cold-like symptoms. An antigen test Friday morning confirmed that I'd once again escaped the plague, so I got ready for class. Before leaving home I was unexpectedly hit with a Charley-horse type cramp in my right calf. Although that passed fairly quickly, it never totally released. I took extra pains to stretch it before class started, but it still felt tight. I made it through petit allegro, but skipped grand allegro. </p><p>I'm taking today off and everything is closed through Tuesday for the holiday, so the next time I expect to be in class is Wednesday.<br /></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-29430324534570595672023-12-11T18:00:00.006-05:002023-12-11T18:00:36.958-05:00My First Nutcracker<p><br />First a question for Nutcracker veterans: <i>how long before the music stops playing in your head?</i></p><p>In addition to rehearsals, I watched rehearsal videos repeatedly to fix the timing of my (small) role in my head. In quiet moments I still hear it playing. A friend of mine who grew up dancing in <i>The Nutcracker</i> year after year told me she still hears it.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebF-sB17LZoBTtGOUZiOzms3jROOv7m2dFY897Vix0kjedGiUxAQUqNQCqjW0sVnRYQ0jLX8XWJbMSL4aNz871E-mywHNYDE4BajPe_hl2iefp3W91bj1yuFU3OIOiUc7yovk_wW5OugAtlTErQw4m4kvEJ8wDGtclgJWDbxf0_y3dpXaUeIDuqBXMJDV/s2152/PXL_20231118_183216740~2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2152" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebF-sB17LZoBTtGOUZiOzms3jROOv7m2dFY897Vix0kjedGiUxAQUqNQCqjW0sVnRYQ0jLX8XWJbMSL4aNz871E-mywHNYDE4BajPe_hl2iefp3W91bj1yuFU3OIOiUc7yovk_wW5OugAtlTErQw4m4kvEJ8wDGtclgJWDbxf0_y3dpXaUeIDuqBXMJDV/s320/PXL_20231118_183216740~2.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My costume as "Grandfather"<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Our performances were this weekend: one Saturday evening, and a matinee Sunday afternoon. Everything went well. No one got sick. No one was injured. No one made a serious misstep. The audience laughed at the funny parts and applauded the really good stuff.<p></p>Two of my friends from MYB came to the Saturday night performance; one brought her husband, who I hadn't met before. As I went out to meet my friends afterward many people I didn't know stopped me to offer compliments, but the excitement of friends is a sweeter intoxicant. Many thanks to Lesley, Michelle and her husband for making the not-insignificant drive.<p>The cast insisted to the artistic director/choreographer that she had
to come out on stage during curtain call Sunday. Thus she was watching
the second act from the stage left wing, near where I enter for call.
She was practically vibrating with excitement, taking videos with her phone, and her face was glowing
to beat the stage lights. At the end of curtain call the cast invited her on stage, and she and the managing director of the company (who was also dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy role) were presented with flowers.<br /></p><p>After the curtain closed she spoke to the
assembled cast. She told us that she was so excited at how the show had
benefited from adding the student and supporting cast, and how proud she
was of everyone. Then she broke down in tears. I guess we done good.<br /></p><p>We haven't gotten any of the professional photographs of the
performances yet, but here's one from my costume fitting. I didn't
realize the right side of my tuxedo coat was snagged when I had one of
the other dancers snap this pic with my phone.</p><hr width="50%" /><p>After injuring my heel in class two weeks ago, I stopped going to class for fear of making it worse. Now that the performances are done I decided it was time to go back. I made it through the pirouette exercises before noticing that my heel was beginning to tighten up in the same place as the initial injury, which prompted an early exit. I'll try to ease myself slowly back into my regular class schedule.<br /></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-89817180284645419622023-12-03T23:17:00.001-05:002023-12-03T23:32:48.852-05:00Nutcracker 2023 Tech Week<p>We've entered "tech week" for <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i>. After having last weekend off for the US Thanksgiving holidays, we spent both days of this weekend in rehearsals. Saturday's rehearsal was noon to 4pm, starting with selected dances and ending with a full run-through. Today, Sunday, was 10am to 3:30pm, including two complete run-throughs followed by some clean-up of some problems.</p><p>Add on about 4.5 hours of driving back and forth, and I'm bushed.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>As I mentioned in the <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2023/11/well-that-hurt.html">previous</a> post, I pulled something in my right foot or ankle that's made it painful to flex my ankle. I've been following my physical therapist's recommendations of gentle mobility exercises and using a massage gun on my calf muscles. This has helped the pain and stiffness to slowly subside to where I can walk fairly normally most of the time, though it's still not back to what it was last weekend. I skipped much of today's cast barre warm-up because my plié depth is very limited by my ankle, and I didn't want to aggravate it by putting too much stress on it.<p></p><p>I'm skipping all my regular classes for the next couple of weeks until this thing heals, but I'm committed to <i>Nutcracker</i> this coming weekend.</p><p>The injured dancer I mentioned <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-nutcracker-claims-another-dancer.html">previously</a> attended the rehearsal Saturday. Attended, but did not dance. Her ankle is still slightly swollen, but appears to be healing well. She'll dance on pointe again, but not in this production. She's not going to be replaced, so we're down one crab.<br /></p><p>This coming weekend is going to be brutal. We start with a rehearsal Friday evening between 5pm and 9pm. Saturday starts with company barre at 11am, followed by a tech run between noon and 2pm. After a 30 minute break to reset and dress, we launch into a full dress rehearsal from 2:30pm to 4:30pm. We get 90 minutes for dinner, then have a 6pm call before the 7pm performance that wraps up just before 9pm. Sunday we get to do it again, with a noon call time for a 2pm performance.</p><p>Will someone please remind me why I thought this was a good idea? <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-82681959455279777092023-11-29T00:33:00.000-05:002023-11-29T00:33:17.032-05:00Well, THAT hurt!<p>Monday's class was going well. I felt good. I'd managed to learn and execute the petit allegro combination reasonably well. My pirouettes were working well enough that I'd attempted a double in centre. We were doing the same grand allegro combination as on Saturday, and I was really having fun with it.</p>
<p>Then, as I landed some simple step in the grand allegro, I felt a sudden pain in my right heel. I half-assed the rest of the combination, skipping the <i>saut du chat</i> at the end completely. I found I could stand with weight on my foot without significant pain, but flexing my ankle resulted in stabs of burning pain in the heel. I skipped the rest of class -- all 3 minutes of it -- and did what I could as aftercare.<br /></p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>Tuesday morning my heel was still tender to the touch. There was no visible bruising, but it felt slightly swollen. Flexing my ankle caused pain in the heel, even with no weight on it at all. This is not good. In less than two weeks I'm supposed to perform a supporting cast role as Grandfather in <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i>. I'm only on stage for maybe 5 minutes during the party scene in the first act, but for those 5 minutes I'm literally center stage. The steps are simple, but I need to be mobile.<br /></p>
<p>I've canceled my registration for the class I was planning to attend tomorrow, and will probably skip Friday's class as well. In fact, I may skip class entirely until after the performances.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-54045283649402463492023-11-17T20:13:00.004-05:002023-11-17T20:28:16.415-05:00The Nutcracker claims another dancer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfUlhAnidpRnLJbM0YbW1DeRg3EGJsRWURSUmsCdMnEGIzfzZffxB9XsSSzJ0NM0jVGiDXpLyOe-C0NTp6KEGBPdajmqC9qqryLqDe5Lh3jtkiVJQbPTB3E3YIgZOCOJ6yey_vrbL8cNkeOGhy309S5whJgzCzE6COeShCIypqPrC1-mHII9qL27Zlezt/s675/product_warning.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="675" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfUlhAnidpRnLJbM0YbW1DeRg3EGJsRWURSUmsCdMnEGIzfzZffxB9XsSSzJ0NM0jVGiDXpLyOe-C0NTp6KEGBPdajmqC9qqryLqDe5Lh3jtkiVJQbPTB3E3YIgZOCOJ6yey_vrbL8cNkeOGhy309S5whJgzCzE6COeShCIypqPrC1-mHII9qL27Zlezt/w200-h153/product_warning.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p><i>The Nutcracker</i> may have claimed another dancer: one of the professionals suffered a sprained ankle during
rehearsal this weekend. </p><p>Maybe pointe shoes should come with a warning label?</p><a name='more'></a><p>This is the third year of <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i>, with an expanded cast and content. We're a bit more than three weeks out from the performances, but due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we have only two more weekends of rehearsals on the schedule. For the most part people know the dances and we're polishing details.</p><p>It's not entirely clear to me how it happened as I was on the other side of the room at the time. The pro dancers were running through one of the scenes, and the dancer in question was "off-stage". There was the clatter of pointe shoes from her location, followed by the thump of her falling to the floor with a soft cry of pain.</p><p>Immediately others close to her went to her aid. As a former EMT I looked to see if I needed to assist, but another of the pro dancers, whom I know to be an experienced Registered Nurse, was already assisting. When it became clear the injury wasn't critical (no blood spilled, apparently nothing broken), she was moved off the "stage" to an area where she could lay more comfortably and elevate her foot. Cold packs appeared as if by magic from a variety of dance bags and were applied.</p><p>By the time the rehearsal was over, the injured dancer was able to walk, albeit with some stiffness and a bit of pain, and she was able to drive herself home. Her status for the performances is questionable, with a decision to be finalized by the end of next week. If necessary, someone else will fill in for her.</p><hr width="75%" /><p>For myself, I'm recovering from the flu or something similar.</p><p>I'd skipped classes the first week of December because I wasn't feeling my best, but never developed a fever or other significant symptoms. I felt like I was back to normal for the <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2023/11/beginning-partnering-class.html">Beginning Partnering</a> class on the 4th and my regular class on the 5th. The afternoon of the 5th I went to see a friend from MYB perform in the play <a href="https://www.ssstage.org/blue-stockings-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blue Stockings</a>. There I ran into yet another old friend from MYB and we spent a a good while catching up. Monday morning I went to class as usual, and Monday evening I went to the WETA Arts <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2023/11/a-whisper-in-ear.html">premiere</a> at TWSB. </p><p>Monday night, though, I started feeling ill. By Tuesday evening I was running a 102°F fever, but Covid-19 tests were negative. My self-imposed rule has always been that I don't participate in social activities unless I've been fever-free for 24 hours, so I skipped classes Wednesday and Friday. By Friday night I'd met that mark. My role in <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i> is not physically strenuous, so with the agreement of BE management I attended rehearsal Sunday afternoon, while wearing an N95 mask to minimize any risk to others.</p><p>This week I skipped my Monday class to give myself a bit more time to recover. Wednesday I went to class, though residual congestion in my ears had interesting effects on my balance. Today, Friday, I again went to class and did okay, though my energy levels have still not completely recovered.</p><p>One of the things I've learned recently is that a flu-like bug had swept through of the cast of Blue Stockings, and some of those on stage the day I attended had still been showing symptoms. I understand the adage "<i>The Show Must Go On!</i>", but I really would have rather it hadn't. I'd worn a mask part of the time I was in the theatre, but foolishly had taken it off for periods to make conversation easier. Silly me.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-91950117775096771042023-11-09T10:04:00.002-05:002023-11-17T20:18:04.567-05:00A whisper in an ear<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggI07DptUgwwJv5_ta29ryRfmqgabF5EsqxkBGsrmWMnE_fIcoUZk_eguQ0Rt5KsBBJYoaZ7__z4f_GmZme8-XXAtUe0MYqUy-FrUcLpkd_-lvM2kSFUpB2msk4ROC_kLPPOiopg1bfdFNi7Li_i7AnFJWxWTFbKqPA7ulqyd3JoOW9dN5W651EpLZM4su/s2048/348568417_248971041045247_5999267764047038800_n.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1542" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggI07DptUgwwJv5_ta29ryRfmqgabF5EsqxkBGsrmWMnE_fIcoUZk_eguQ0Rt5KsBBJYoaZ7__z4f_GmZme8-XXAtUe0MYqUy-FrUcLpkd_-lvM2kSFUpB2msk4ROC_kLPPOiopg1bfdFNi7Li_i7AnFJWxWTFbKqPA7ulqyd3JoOW9dN5W651EpLZM4su/s320/348568417_248971041045247_5999267764047038800_n.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>I wrote a post back in May about my experience in <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2023/05/a-midsummer-nights-dream.html">A Midsummer Night's Dream</a>. Somehow I neglected to explain the accompanying photo of a bouquet of flowers. <br /><p></p><p>These were a gift from Judy, a long-time friend who, coincidentally, is the producer of <a href="https://weta.org/arts" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WETA Arts</a>. She'd been reading some of my intentionally vague Facebook postings about <i>Midsummer</i>, had tracked down when and where the performances were, and had not only taken time out of her crazy-busy schedule to drive 70 miles each way to attend, but also brought that bouquet. I was deeply touched.</p><p>After <i>Midsummer</i> I called her to thank her for coming to our performance. One of the things we talked about was how frustrating I'd found it to take seemingly endless classes but not have performance opportunities. This led to a more wide-ranging discussion of what motivates adult ballet students.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>Some time later she called, saying some influential people had suggested doing a segment on the adult program at <a href="https://www.washingtonballet.org/school-home/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Washington School of Ballet</a>, which is the school affiliated with <a href="https://www.washingtonballet.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Washington Ballet</a> professional company. This wasn't the first time she's called to talk about ballet -- when they did a segment on the then artistic director of TWB, she arranged for her show's host to speak with me to help her prep for the interview.<p></p><p>To structure a good TV segment, there needs to be a thread that ties the various shots and interviews together into a coherent story. As an outsider to the adult ballet community she wasn't sure what that thread should be, and over the course of nearly two hours we discussed possibilities. I, of course, thought the segment should be about adult ballet dancers in general, as there are many fine schools in the Washington DC area. Influential people have influence, though, and they wanted it focused on TWSB.</p><p>Over the next few months I heard little bits about filming and people. Then, a few weeks ago, she let me know TWSB was hosting a preview party to watch the segment a few hours before it was broadcast, and she invited me to attend. Joining a celebration of her work sounded like a fine idea, so Monday evening I trekked down into DC proper for the party.</p><p>An episode of WETA Arts runs 30 minutes, and usually consists of three 10-minute segments. To put together the 10 minute segment on TWSB's adult program, Judy and her crew recorded four 90-minute ballet classes plus interviews with students and staff. Then she and a video editor had to distill it to its broadcast form.<br /></p><p>After watching the segment, everyone turned to acknowledge this piece that so beautifully captures the spirit of amateur adult ballet. Although she's most used to being behind the scenes, Judy said a few words of thanks to the staff and students. She introduced her video editor, who rarely gets to meet the people he sees on his screens. Then, much to my surprise, she acknowledged me by name, adding that "He's from MYB, but it's all okay." </p><p>Watching the episode, I see hints of our conversations this summer. A couple of the unscripted comments made by students she selected from the interviews were almost word-for-word the same as comments I had made. I claim no credit, but maybe I had a little influence too.</p><hr width="75%" /><p>In any community you have to be careful of your reputation. That goes double in a small community like ballet, and triple if you're notable merely by your gender. I bumped into TWSB's Director of Schools, who recognized me from when she worked at MYB where I usually take classes. The Assistant School Director knows me from another school where I've taken classes, and I know some of their faculty. It's hard to be anonymous when you're a man in a ballet studio.</p><p>Like any rare commodity, there is competition for male dancers. I was reminded of this when the their head of adult programs tried to recruit me into their classes, generously offering a free class of my choice and suggesting the one taught by Tamás Krizsa. Yeah, that might be worth getting up early on a Saturday morning and driving into DC for! But probably not until after the <i>Nutcracker</i> performances next month.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-55929638575288638172023-11-06T21:47:00.003-05:002023-11-07T00:35:43.925-05:00Beginning Partnering class<p>For some years I've advocated for more options for adult ballet dancers.
I think many adult dancers reach the point where endless classes with
no options to explore further becomes frustrating. I've tried to
encourage the school where I regularly take classes to offer options
such as beginner pointe and partnering have been met with disinterest.
My suggestions to a neighboring school associated with a large
professional ballet company seemed to be having some effect, and after a
hiatus because of the pandemic they've started offering adult pointe
classes and even adult recitals.</p><p>The small professional ballet company I dance with (as supporting cast, not pro) offers a series of "Master Classes" each season. This fall there were two: a regular ballet class with one of the pros teaching and a live accompanist, and a beginning partnering class. I opted-out of the regular ballet class, as I have class with this instructor and accompanist every Wednesday, but I was very interested in the beginning partnering class.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a>At the time I registered they had maybe six pairs already signed up. Although I was assured it would be okay if I showed up solo, I was quite concerned that I'd be there with a bunch of teenagers from the student company, and that would feel awkward. I asked a friend from my regular classes if she'd be interested in attending with me. She and I had been talking about doing some partner work for years (see <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-30-second-pas-de-deux.html">A 30-second Pas de Deux</a>) but nothing really had come of it to date. I explained what I'd been told about the class: that it would be just the basics, maybe promenades, and likely no lifts or other more advanced moves. She enthusiastically agreed. <p></p><p>It's more than an hour drive for me, on two-lane roads with few alternate routes, so I always allow extra time. I arrived about 20 minutes early. When I walked into the studio I momentarily thought I'd walked into the end of a rehearsal for <i>Nutcracker</i> because so many of the pro company dancers were there. Then I realized they were there for the partnering class with their non-dancing husbands and boyfriends.</p><p>Max, one of the three male professional dancers in this company, started the class with the three rules for partnering. I had to step out to let my friend in the front door so I missed the first two rules, but the third rule was "Communicate with your partner." (I'll have to ask him what the first two rules are at the next <i>Nut</i> rehearsal).</p><p>We started with a bit of instruction on hand placement: cupping the lowest ribs, with the fingers to her front and thumbs on her back. Then tried a simple balance exercise: The women rose to sous-sus, and the men leaned them off-balance and then brought them back to balance. It's something of a trust exercise for the women. We did this to the front, sides, and back. It gave us a feel for what it feels like when she's off-balance, and what it feels like when she's back on balance. After this it became clear we needed to separate into two groups or the pairs would bump into one another.</p><p>Next we tried <span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">développé front, then side, and finally rear into arabesque. I didn't expect this to require me to do much, but I was surprised that it did. As her leg moved forward, I needed to lean her backward a bit to compensate for the weight shift. A solo dancer naturally does this, but in partner work it falls to me to anticipate and assist. A similar shift sideways is required for </span></span><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">développé to the side. For </span></span><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">développé to arabesque a change in hand position is required: the hand on her standing side needs to move down from her ribs to her hip, otherwise it limits her motion. It also probably gives better control if her weight starts to drift too far forward.</span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">Then we tried pirouettes. </span></span><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">I guess I thought
the woman initiated the turn and the man provided stabilization and
extra energy during multiple turns, but for this class at least I
initiated the turn too. </span></span><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">The instruction was for her to assume a r</span></span><span>etiré position on (demi)pointe. I</span><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc"> then moved my hand on her working side to her hip, and started her rotating by pulling on her hip while stabilizing her with my other hand. Once she started rotating I moved both hands to her lower ribs and kept her rotating and stable. Or tried to.<br /></span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">During this, the
women were reminded that they needed to resist the urge to try to balance
themselves, as the competing attempts often make things even worse.<br /></span></span></p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc"></span></span><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">Here we found ourselves at a bit of a disadvantage. All but a few of the women were wearing pointe shoes, and I'm told this makes it much easier to turn. My friend used to do pointe, but during the pandemic break she didn't keep up with the skill. That meant we were working against the resistance of the larger, softer, suede pad of her slipper. Our first attempt didn't get her all the way around, but after a bit of practice we managed several complete turns. <br /></span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">Next up were promenades. This looks easy, but requires the man to walk a circle while maintaining a constant distance from her pivot point. At the same time he has to hold his outstretched arm rigidly so she can use that to balance herself. Oh, and make it look effortless. This took more practice than I expected, and her feedback on what she needed me to do really made a difference.</span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">I kinda expected the class to end at this point, but we still had half of the promised one hour class left. What's left?</span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">Jumps and lifts. The women were told to do a deep demi-pli</span></span><span>é in fifth, then jump to changement or saut</span><span>é. The men were to follow the pli</span><span>é and</span><span> assist the jump, then lower her back down to a standing fifth. I've done this before, including a variant of it in <i>Midsummer</i> where we were facing, but it turns out there's more to this than I realized. When she's in front of me, I need to be as close to her as possible for best leverage. As she jumps she needs to arch her back, which brings her center of gravity closer to me. After several of these and got a passable result, the biggest problem being timing as my friend seemed to want to pause in the pli</span><span>é</span><span>. Also, I suspect I should have started with my hands lower on her ribs or just below them where her waist tapers in, as they often slid up her sides to about even with her shoulder blades.</span></p><p><span>There's a reason male ballet dancers have well-developed upper bodies. It's been years since I've worked with weights, and it's clear I'd need to work on both strength and shoulder range of motion if I were to be given the chance to do any partner work on stage.</span></p><p><span>Next we did a combination on the diagonal. The women were to do a glissade followed by an arcing saut de chat; the men were to follow through the glissade and lift and carry her through the arc of the saut de chat</span><span>. Again, figuring out the right time to do the lift is something that requires practice. Of several tries we managed it once; it wasn't pretty, but she was off the ground in the jump and I brought her down on her front foot. Here I suspect having her in soft slippers was an advantage, as I saw several of the pros landing with the appearance of skidding on ice.</span></p><p><span>The finale was a shoulder-sit. For the men, this approximates doing a weightlifting snatch from waist level: she pli</span><span>és,</span><span> jumps vertically, and sticks her butt out; as she does this he lifts her as high as he can, does a shallow pli</span><span>é to get </span><span>his shoulder under her butt, then stands back up. Despite being told it was a "safe" lift, my friend and I both said no. I'm not a weightlifter, and my friend is maybe an inch shorter than I am. The reward for attempting this wasn't worth the risk to either of us. One father/daughter pair managed it to much applause, though.</span></p><p><span>I have to say that I haven't had that much fun in quite a while, and my friend really enjoyed it too. I'm told they will probably have another such class in the spring, which I'd really like. But what I'd like more is a proper, periodic, partnering class for adults. Not even a weekly class; maybe once a month? As long as it's often enough that the students could really learn the techniques, rather than it being great for a giggle.<br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-37750166511152248622023-10-21T20:34:00.003-04:002023-10-21T20:34:42.277-04:00Nutcracker's first casualty<p>Our little group of adult supporting cast has suffered its first casualty. One of our members has torn ligaments in her ankle, and will be off her foot for the next 6 weeks. Since our performances are in 7 weeks, she's out of the production.</p><p>We all wish her good healing and a speedy return to dance. I hope we see her in the audience in December, or the next audition this winter.<br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>As for the rest of us, things are going well. While it's the supporting cast's first time in this production, most of the rest have done this for several years. I've learned that the woman cast as "Grandmother" is a professional dancer; she's in the supporting cast for this production because she's recovering from an injury. She attends the same ballet school I do; I passed her in the hallway yesterday as she was leaving her class and I was entering mine.<br /></p><p>In my role as "Grandfather", my entrance originally was choreographed as hobbling in, leaning on a nurse on my left and a cane in my right. That's (thankfully!) been changed, as it's inconsistent with the dancing I do a few minutes later. My entrance is still with the nurse and cane, but it's now a dignified, strutting entrance as an elder gentleman with a walking stick.</p><p>With this in mind, I dusted off my top hat (yes, literally) and walking stick from my Victorian/Edwardian costume and brought them to rehearsal today. Melissa immediately broke into a massive grin and said she approved. Emily didn't react at all (to my disappointment) but integrated them into the production without hesitation.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr_FOH4f7WE88zklmP-Xnfy7jTHhoI4uF8c0YYPieoCKy1nU7LLSLUlthCoGj1XJu_G7LW_ZOOXhJklap0H8wxHe4rO6GpaFOUDho-utmc07V9ziQZMzNWyGzdYEO7YxMJ91YxIoCQsEvIIiiGZqNrfx3IKYlAgYCzeoyVY3620Z0W7uXWVgGiMIVyO_m/s695/71vPb0b1UuL._AC_UX695_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="695" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr_FOH4f7WE88zklmP-Xnfy7jTHhoI4uF8c0YYPieoCKy1nU7LLSLUlthCoGj1XJu_G7LW_ZOOXhJklap0H8wxHe4rO6GpaFOUDho-utmc07V9ziQZMzNWyGzdYEO7YxMJ91YxIoCQsEvIIiiGZqNrfx3IKYlAgYCzeoyVY3620Z0W7uXWVgGiMIVyO_m/s320/71vPb0b1UuL._AC_UX695_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The one part of my costume I'm really frustrated by is my shoes. I thought I'd buy a pair of Bloch jazz shoes, as they'd look more like something a man would wear to a party than ballet slippers, yet they're flexible enough to dance in. I don't do any turns in this production, so the grippy sole won't cause problems. The website recommended starting one full size smaller than street shoes, so I ordered size 9.5. Nope, way too big. Then I ordered a pair of size 9, which arrived this morning. They're closer, but still longer than I'd like. I have pairs of size 8.5 and 8 on order that are supposed to show up next week.<br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-81287949572923856442023-10-10T20:55:00.000-04:002023-10-10T20:55:10.389-04:00Oct 8th Nut rehearsal: Inspired casting<p>Sunday was the first supporting cast rehearsal for Ballet Embody's production of <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i>. Although it uses the traditional <span>Tchaikovsky music, the choreography is non-traditional. For example, instead of Drosselmeyer, there is Edgar Allen Poe.<br /></span></p><p><span>When we auditioned, we danced a bit to what most people would identify as "</span><em>Mother Gigogne</em>". In previous years this has been a dance performed as a male solo, but now will have supporting cast backing. My reaction to the supporting cast choreography for this piece was that it was clearly "girly", but if they wanted me to dance those steps then I was going to do my best.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>As part of the acceptance letter we received a tentative rehearsal schedule. About a week before each rehearsal we get an update by email giving specific call times for each group (pro company, student company, supporting cast) and sometimes individual dancers. The update for this past weekend's rehearsal called for the four adult women in the supporting cast to arrive at noon to practice the piece we did during the audition. The rest of the supporting cast didn't need to show up until 1pm. I guess I'm not doing that dance after all.<p></p><p>I arrived at about 12:45 and watched those four finish their dance. Shortly after 1pm we started blocking the party scene. I've been given the role of The Grandfather. This should have been no surprise -- I'm in my early 60s, grey-haired, and the only male supporting cast member. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoC-HTXewiAd1a6IgqxifqbjDQtMWtnjHkurrWtkX7kfTCkETIVNULIh6IONytqVdwd8trswC_LAh3a35AZL8alrhOLNeMbYQZP_6Jn3DfgvuzZLI4S4RAiM0C86SX6wKiCoyS69Wgojzzuz0q8lYNdVimc7D8eHJfbM2NQRyCUGdgnEZFWjsi7yP-bWZ/s220/bugs-bunny-hat.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="220" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPoC-HTXewiAd1a6IgqxifqbjDQtMWtnjHkurrWtkX7kfTCkETIVNULIh6IONytqVdwd8trswC_LAh3a35AZL8alrhOLNeMbYQZP_6Jn3DfgvuzZLI4S4RAiM0C86SX6wKiCoyS69Wgojzzuz0q8lYNdVimc7D8eHJfbM2NQRyCUGdgnEZFWjsi7yP-bWZ/s1600/bugs-bunny-hat.gif" width="220" /></a></div>I must have looked displeased when I was told I would enter the party using a cane and assisted by a nurse, because our director, Emily, assured me that I'd get to ditch the cane and "bust a move" later. When she turned away, I pretended I was holding a cane and did a little fake tapdance, which elicited laughs from the other cast members.<br /><p></p><p>My role as the put-upon Theatre Troupe Director in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> was basically straight man opposite the comedic Bottom. I played the role absolutely straight, and I think I let that seriousness bleed into my own attitude. This time my role is choreographed for comedic effect, and I fully intend to have fun with it.</p><p>Another change I want to make is to suppress my competitiveness as best I can. One of the challenges of being supporting cast to a pro company is that the pros get all the good roles. In <i>Midsummer</i> I felt like I needed to prove I was worthy of meatier roles, and that took a lot of the fun out of it. This time I'm just going to do what I can, have fun with it. If I get a better role in next year's productions then that'll be fine and I'm not going to lose sleep over it.</p><p>After rehearsal I wanted to ask our director about shoes. Ballet slippers seemed inappropriate for a formal party scene, and I asked if some jazz shoes I'd seen online would be appropriate. She thought they would be fine, and we talked a bit about the rest of the costuming. I mentioned that I own a Victorian era costume frock coat, shirt with a high collar, and puff tie. She broke into a grin and said, "I was talking with Melissa about your costume, and she said 'He probably has that at home.'". Okaaay...<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-31371405249548544052023-10-08T18:03:00.000-04:002023-10-08T18:03:28.944-04:00Overdoing it<p>The exercises and insight my physical therapist has given me has completely resolved my original problem. Unfortunately, I've continued experiencing pain on the back sides of my heels, likely from excessive tightness in my calf muscles, possibly aggravated by my heel spurs.</p><p>When I arrived for class Monday I was feeling especially good. During the pirouette exercise I managed one or two (ragged) doubles <i>en dehor</i>. I skipped the jump preparations in favor of a bit more stretching, and the <i>petit allegro</i> was simple enough that I could keep up with the music. The <i>grand allegro</i> combination was particularly fun. Not only did I join the first group to go across the floor in each direction, but I tagged on to the last group a couple of times. I was really quite pleased.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>By the time I got home, though, I was having trouble walking. I could stand flat-footed feeling only a bit of tension in my heels, but attempting to flex my foot beyond that <i>hurt</i>. Okay, maybe I overdid it a tiny bit.<p></p><p>I was still sore enough Tuesday that walking down the stairs was better done by hopping. I resolved that if I wasn't markedly improved by Wednesday morning I'd skip class. </p><p>Wednesday I was a little better, but decided to give my legs a day off anyway. By Wednesday evening it felt like things were finally starting to relax, and had hopes for Friday's class.</p><p>Friday morning, though, I was feeling the effects of a pair of vaccinations I got Thursday morning. I probably could have gotten to class if it had been important, but I doubt I would have had the energy to stay beyond barre. I decided not to waste the time driving down and back (about 30 minutes each way), likely exhausting myself in the process.</p><p>Saturday morning I woke up early feeling rested. I was a little stiff on the stairs, but nothing like earlier in the week. Time to get back to class!</p><p>Some day I'm going to learn to throttle myself back. During barre I kept telling myself I could do things flat-footed rather than demi-pointe, but I did it anyway about half the time. I did skip the jump prep and <i>petit allegro</i> segments, but got back in the game for <i>grand allegro</i>. Who doesn't like leaping into the air?</p><p>Overall, I think the break was good for me. Even in the evening I'm not as sore as I had been earlier in the week. Sunday I start rehearsals for <i>The Nutcracker</i>, and I don't want to be hobbling around like a lame horse.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-4989560415359302642023-09-18T16:32:00.002-04:002023-09-18T16:50:01.506-04:00Remembering Frank Owens<p>One of the great privileges of taking ballet classes at the Maryland Youth Ballet is having the most amazing piano accompanists play for our classes.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNDKgpAZZyST6YP1uyH-mHt2NYxLN59R43kCejVwsbvM-AdwdOJEegx_YxiOnXqR1zWVjMuNwIYJSnhfUy6O0OlGjCc-Bh4isWIduoQX69PPlvFHIKPlljZ2qxCST-zLx2NQ4oYKEvjReFcw4VkEHu7v5zMiGmYNZ5N7k_IYdaWJ7jqg4E7XSFa5jLjMV2/s1280/Frank-Owens-Obituary-A-renowned-pianist-and-music-director-died-in-a-car-accident-on-his-way-to-perform.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNDKgpAZZyST6YP1uyH-mHt2NYxLN59R43kCejVwsbvM-AdwdOJEegx_YxiOnXqR1zWVjMuNwIYJSnhfUy6O0OlGjCc-Bh4isWIduoQX69PPlvFHIKPlljZ2qxCST-zLx2NQ4oYKEvjReFcw4VkEHu7v5zMiGmYNZ5N7k_IYdaWJ7jqg4E7XSFa5jLjMV2/s320/Frank-Owens-Obituary-A-renowned-pianist-and-music-director-died-in-a-car-accident-on-his-way-to-perform.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Owens<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>One of them was a gentleman named Frank Owens. He played for some of the classes I took, and when passing him in the hallway I always made a point of acknowledging him with a smile and a nod. He also played at The Washington School of Ballet.<p></p><p></p><p>Frank was killed in a car crash in DC this weekend. He'd just turned 90 on September 1st.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>What few of the students who enjoyed dancing to his music knew was his background. He was the first band leader for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q2z3JCELVo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The David Letterman Show</a>. For seven years he was the music director for NBC TV’s "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showtime_at_the_Apollo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Showtime at the Apollo</a>". He created the opening tune of Tony Orlando and Dawn’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxG9XFqHSFw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree</a>” for which he received a gold record. He played piano on Irene Cara's hit "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6KbaDqEsrM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Out Here On My Own</a>" from the movie Fame.<br /></p><p>A search on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22frank+owens%22" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a> for "Frank Owens" will lead you to several worthwhile videos, including this excellent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKyPhMUS_cQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">interview</a>.<br /></p><p>Rather than attempt to write a proper obituary, I'll suggest this link to <a href="https://memorialhaven.online/2023/09/16/frank-owens-obituary-a-renowned-pianist-and-music-director-died-in-a-car-accident-on-his-way-to-perform/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Memorial Haven</a>.</p><p>Frank, you touched more lives than you can possibly imagine. I'm sorry to see you go.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-76742840081811732172023-09-17T23:29:00.005-04:002023-09-19T16:25:41.093-04:00The Audition: Nutcracker Edition<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdJu0WYQ0e7sezDcYmIr3rdtKywns7LRJZe9xxHuIVxMCZ65HxuwVXB9mkabYBeE6MxjmrKb8E3Cmo3XNxfgMp-KsQ7AH3ECtcTqMIuH7CxLnS_7eD5zORtSLQWKJsRSTp7rK_fyBCwaxeZjG0_fGhYJLm3jpSVveZ2Y0XwwCOKl7N8baSvqms8uJ0JJi/s287/2023-Nutcracker-Audition.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="287" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdJu0WYQ0e7sezDcYmIr3rdtKywns7LRJZe9xxHuIVxMCZ65HxuwVXB9mkabYBeE6MxjmrKb8E3Cmo3XNxfgMp-KsQ7AH3ECtcTqMIuH7CxLnS_7eD5zORtSLQWKJsRSTp7rK_fyBCwaxeZjG0_fGhYJLm3jpSVveZ2Y0XwwCOKl7N8baSvqms8uJ0JJi/w200-h200/2023-Nutcracker-Audition.png" width="200" /></a></div>Having not learned my lesson this spring, I decided to audition for the supporting cast of <a href="https://www.balletembody.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ballet Embody's</a> production of <a href="https://www.themarylandnutcracker.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i></a> this afternoon. <br /><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Like the cast of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> this past spring, the <i>Nutcracker </i>cast is composed of three groups: the professional cast, the student cast, and the supporting cast. The professional cast auditions were held mid-summer, and the student cast shortly thereafter; these groups started rehearsing earlier this month.<br /><br />The supporting cast is subdivided into children ages 8 to 15, and adults (ages 16 and up). The children's supporting cast audition was held this afternoon, and the adult supporting cast auditions were after that.<br /></p><p>I arrived about 15 minutes before our auditions were scheduled to begin. As I arrived, one of the other adult supporting cast members from <i>Midsummer</i> also arrived. Walking in, we found the remaining two familiar faces from <i>Midsummer</i> waiting for the audition to start. Although I should have spent the time stretching, we occupied ourselves catching up.</p><p>We got our call a few minutes late, as the kids' audition had run over time. As we entered the studio the kids filed out, and I recognized a few of their faces from <i>Midsummer</i>. Waiting for us were Melissa and Emily, the managing and artistic directors of this company respectively, both now very familiar to the four of us. Unlike the <i>Midsummer</i> audition, where we were all pretty much strangers to each other, the greetings were friendly and relaxed.</p><p>We were asked to fill out a simple form showing our availability
Saturdays and/or Sundays -- the pro cast rehearses Saturdays, while for <i>Midsummer</i>
the supporting cast rehearsed Sundays. I think they may be looking at
having us rehearse with the pro cast more this time, which would be fine
with me. They also asked if we would be available to start rehearsals this coming weekend. I'm pretty much available whenever, so I
said yes to all three questions.</p><p>Like any class, we started with a warm-up at the barre, led by Melissa. I take class with Melissa just about every week so I'm a bit more familiar with her style, but the barre routine was different from what she usually gives in my class. </p><p>After about 15 minutes we moved to the centre. We did some simple <i>changements</i>, and then a simple allegro combination that included a couple <i>pirouettes</i>. Then Emily explained the choreography she wanted us to learn. Although this is not the first time they've done <i>The Maryland Nutcracker</i>, it will be the first time they've had an adult supporting cast, and she's still working on the choreography. This particular segment has previously been a solo by one of the pro men, but this year the supporting cast will fill in behind him. She broke the choreography into three parts, and we worked through each part a couple of times then did the whole sequence.</p><p>Aside from the usual confusion of trying to remember what goes where when, the most challenging bit is a sequence of two <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVkcaDBnkZs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>cabrioles</i></a>, the first to the rear (derrière) and the second to the front (devant). I feel reasonably comfortable with cabriole devant, though I think I can get my legs higher with practice. Cabriole derrière, though, I don't recall doing; I can sort-of do it, but I barely get off the ground. I don't have a lot of elevation to the rear in the best of circumstances, so I'll definitely have to practice that one.</p><p>Then, suddenly, the audition was over. Unlike the last time, where I definitely felt like we were asked to do specific steps for evaluation, this felt much more like we were starting rehearsals. This may well be true, as we're more or less known quantities this time.</p><p>They promised to let us know within a couple of days if we would be
asked to join the cast. Last time this happened the next day, which
really cut down on the anxiety. I'll be disappointed if I don't get a role, especially because I'd really like to be in their spring production next year, but having had the chance to dance on stage already I'm less anxious about it this time.</p><p><i>Edited to add: I've been offered a role in the supporting cast! We start rehearsals October 8th.</i><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-25302380256768518602023-09-16T16:51:00.003-04:002023-09-16T16:51:50.587-04:00Sticking needles into my feet<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Sobo_1909_310.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="570" height="200" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Sobo_1909_310.png" width="143" /></a></div>About six weeks ago I finally took action to address the pain I've been feeling in my left heel by visiting a <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2023/08/physical-therapy.html">physical therapist</a>. Since then I've been able to resolve my initial complaint, which was pain on the lateral aspect of my left calcaneus. However, I've continued to experience stiffness in both lower legs, which results in a different pain in both heels.<p></p><p>During my last session, my PT commented that he thought I'd benefit from "dry needling". To quote the <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/16542-dry-needling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cleveland Clinic</a> website:</p><blockquote>Dry needling is a technique that acupuncturists, physical therapists and other trained healthcare providers use to treat musculoskeletal pain and movement issues. It’s almost always used as part of a larger pain management plan that could include exercise, stretching, massage and other techniques. During this treatment, a provider inserts thin, sharp needles through your skin to treat underlying myofascial trigger points. <br /></blockquote><p></p><p>I've had this before to address pain in my shoulder, and said I'd consider it.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>I had another session with my PT yesterday. He prodded around the sides of my heel and on the underside of it. He said he believes the pain I now experiencing is related to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abductor_hallucis_muscle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">abductor hallucis</a> muscle, and that it would likely respond well to dry needling. I consented.</p><p>In Maryland, dry needling is licensed under a separate regulations than physical therapy, and thus required a separate consent form. After I read and signed the form, he said, "Your safeword for this is STOP. Not "ow", but STOP. Understand?"</p><p>I find it amusing that the concept of a "safeword" has penetrated so deeply into general usage that it now appears during medical procedures, and it's kind of assumed that the average person would know what it means. I chose not to make the joke that came to mind.</p><p>He then asked me if I wanted to see the needle. As someone who was a hospital ER volunteer between the ages of 16 and 18, then an emergency medical technician from 23 through 33, I'm not squeamish around needles. However, didn't really feel the need to see it so I declined. Instead, I lay back and thought of England. (That's a joke.)</p><p>I can't say it was pleasant. For something we stomp around on and abuse as much as a dancer does, feet are sensitive. On my pain scale, where 0 is relaxed bliss and 12 is a kidney stone, this was a 7. My PT kept fiddling with it, asking if I felt it twitch. I used different words to describe it until I realized that the correct answer was "YES, IT'S TWITCHING". Apparently that's the gold standard for the needle being correctly placed. Then he removed it.</p><p>He asked me to get up and walk around a bit, and see if my heel pain was reduced. To my surprise, it felt like I had more mobility and less pain that I'd had a few minutes before. Of course, that could just have been the endorphins.</p><p>This morning the muscle he'd needled was still a bit sore, even more so when I put my shoes on. But I'm not experiencing the pain in my heel I have every morning for the last several weeks. Maybe there's something to this technique after all.</p><hr width="75%" /><p>The supporting cast auditions for the production of <i>The Nutcracker</i> put on by the ballet company I danced with in <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> this spring are tomorrow. Before the audition for <i>Midsummer</i>, my only exposure to dance auditions was watching the movie <i>A Chorus Line</i>, and I was very nervous.</p><p>This time is different. I feel like I know what to expect, and I'm pretty sure I can do what they'll ask of us. I'm also no longer an unknown quality to the company. I take class weekly with their managing director. I rehearsed and performed on-stage with the artistic director in <i>Midsummer</i>. They know I'm reliable, and have a pretty good idea of what I can and can't do. Other than totally flaking out, I probably can't do much in the audition to affect their casting decision. And the bar for supporting cast is probably pretty low.<br /></p><p>There's also the little matter of gender. Male ballet dancers are scarce as hen's teeth, even if I'm overweight and can't reliably land a double pirouette. Especially those willing to drive an hour each way for rehearsals. Some months ago I mentioned to the managing director that I really hoped I was good enough as a dancer to justify being given a role, and not just because I'm male. She replied, "Couldn't it be both?" Diplomatic, but not exactly the answer I wanted.<br /></p><p>Of course, I still want to do the best job I can, and that has me just a little on edge. I had no trouble going to sleep last night, but woke up early this morning from an awful dream. In my dream, as I was about to sign the cast contract, I discovered that the production was pornographic, like something you might see on stage in a sex club. Not only that, but the lead role was being played by Tom Cruise. Just as I was refusing to sign the contract I woke up. Sheesh! Maybe the audition is on my mind than I want to admit.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-37315765702213828562023-08-19T21:20:00.002-04:002023-08-24T12:43:46.374-04:00Relearning the basics<p>My second post-PT class went better than the first. I was able to do everything up through the pirouette combination with no pain. Instead of the jump combination I did the heel raise with a ball, as described in my previous post. I thought about attempting the petit allegro, but decided to skip it and the grand allegro.</p><p>We had a few minutes left at the end of that, so we did pique turns across the floor. I've been having difficulty recently doing these on my left foot. This time I could do them without falling out of the turns, but only if I did them at about half speed.<br /></p><p>I'm still having to really focus on what muscles I'm using any time I'm on <i>demi-pointe</i>, or really any time I lift my heel. It's almost like learning to walk again, and in a way I probably am. For the moment, this is throwing everything else off. However, I figure once this becomes the norm rather than something new, the rest will come back as good or better than before. Certainly my pirouettes are now more stable, even if I'm having to do them more slowly and more deliberately.</p><p>My next PT appointment is at the end of this coming week. It'll be interesting to see what he find and suggests going forward. Maybe he can fix my <i>glissade</i> too?</p><hr width="75%" /><p>I got an email from the ballet company I performed with this spring reminding me that supporting cast auditions are just a month away. No pressure though!</p><p>I'm trying to take the attitude that the audition is mostly a formality. The artistic director of the company saw me regularly in rehearsals all spring and I performed with her on stage. The managing director of the company is one of my instructors; she sees me in class every week, and she knows about my current issue. If they want me, they already know what they're getting; if they don't, there isn't much I can do in the audition to change their opinions.</p><p>That doesn't mean that I won't try to do my absolute best at the audition. Nor will that let me escape being nervous about it. Maybe I'll be <i>less</i> nervous than I was the first time, since that was the first time I'd ever auditioned for a role in a ballet.</p><p>I do hope I'll get a role this fall, with the hope that it'll lead to more in the future. I really enjoy working in a team. Sometimes in class, like when I get into a small group of good dancers for grand allegro, it almost feels like we're dancing together rather than as individuals. Being on stage in <i>Midsummer</i> this spring made that real, if only briefly. My hope is I'll get more chances to do some sort of partner work with other dancers like the lifts we did in <i>Midsummer</i>. I really enjoyed that, and I think the others did too: they asked to practice several times after I thought they'd gotten it down pat.</p><p>I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be done with my current issues before the audition.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-64736065679899960942023-08-17T19:01:00.003-04:002023-08-17T19:04:03.227-04:00Injuries from long ago<p></p><p>I suffer from Engineer's Brain (<a href="https://interestingengineering.com/culture/5-great-tips-and-warnings-for-dating-engineers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">look it up</a>). This means I automatically analyze everything in great detail -- picture the Terminator in the original movie figuring out how to drive a truck. This helped greatly in my career as a software engineer, but it's not something that gets turned on and off. This accounts for my (muffled) snarky response when my ballet instructors tell the class, "That was really good" -- I've already identified a half dozen things I've done wrong, and don't get me started on what I saw others doing.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>It also applies to my physical therapy. In addition to pummeling my legs with my massage gun, my PT gave me an exercise to strengthen my <i>tibialis posterior</i> muscle. This exercise involves standing with my feet in parallel with a ball between my ankles, slowly rising to <i>demi-pointe</i> and lowering back down, all while squeezing the ball.<p></p><p>Here's a video on Youtube demonstrating this exercise. This is <i>not</i> me; it's merely a video I found that demonstrates the exercise clearly and concisely.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IjoSXiL-dO0" width="320" youtube-src-id="IjoSXiL-dO0"></iframe></div><p></p><p>My PT had me do this exercise with my fingertips touching the wall for balance, though a ballet barre also works just fine. This is also the exercise where he pointed out that I'm arching my back to move my hips forward, rather than just shifting my entire body forward slightly.</p><p>While researching this exercise online (remember, Engineer Brain), Google started showing me exercises for shin splints. Intrigued, I looked deeper to see what the connection is. Apparently shin splints are also caused by overuse injuries to a combination of <i>tibialis anterior</i> and <i>tibialis posterior</i>. This caused me to flash back to my sophomore year of high school, when I was member of the indoor track team. We practiced on the second floor of the school, where the hallway formed a large square. Running on concrete gave me (and most of the rest of the team) really bad shin splints in both legs. I wonder whether this might help explain why these muscles are so tight 40-some years later.<br /></p><hr width="75%" /><p>My first ballet class after my Friday PT session was the following Wednesday. Although my PT gave me the OK to go to class, I thought it would be smart to minimize the things that might aggravate this problem (pain avoidance!). For example, instead of doing the jump preparations in centre with the rest of the class, I stood at the barre at the back of the room and did the heel raise exercise. (After class, my instructor said she thought this was a really good exercise for this problem).</p><p>My first attempts at a pirouette on my left foot were failures. There's nothing more effective at telling me that I'm allowing my foot to roll out than a sharp pain in my heel. My first thought was that I might have to skip the rest of class, but then I tried one while really focusing on the position of that foot. Not only did it result in a pain-free turn, it was a cleaner turn than many I've done recently. Splitting my attention isn't good for my execution of the rest of the steps in the exercise, but that's a trade I'm willing to make in the short term.</p><p>I still haven't figured out how to do a pain-free glissade to the right, though. I'm guessing that I'm doing the glissade wrong, which wouldn't surprise me in the least. I'm intending to bring this up with my PT during our next session. I'm really glad I won't have to explain ballet terminology to him!<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-45249644464907639872023-08-12T13:09:00.003-04:002023-08-12T13:09:53.701-04:00Physical therapy<p>A few weeks ago a friend from class and I went to see ABT perform <i>Giselle</i>. At dinner before the performance I was whining about how the pain in my heel didn't seem to be getting better. My friend commented that she'd started seeing a physical therapist. Her PT was a former dancer, had really helped her dancing in ways she hadn't expected. I asked for contact info for her PT, which she happily provided.</p><p>As I was researching her PT, it occurred to me that in 2020 I'd started working with a PT who was associated with The Washington School of Ballet, and thus very familiar with ballet dancers and their injuries. I'm friends with some other dancers who'd worked extensively with him, and my first couple of sessions with him were good, but then the world shut down due to the pandemic. Patrick's office is much more convenient for me, so I booked an appointment with him.</p>
<span><a name='more'></a></span><p>My first session with Patrick was yesterday afternoon. I attended class a few hours earlier, and I tried to take note of what caused my heel pain to flare. Barre was mostly okay, though there were some tiny twinges when I raised to demi-pointe with my weight on that foot. The adagio in centre caused some more twinges, and when we got to the jump preparations I called it quits.</p>
<p>At the start of the appointment I recited my relevant history, including a pain in my left instep that developed in March for which I had X-ray and MRI imaging, but resolved itself with no specific treatment. We then did a couple range of motion tests, which showed that my back and hips have gotten a little <i>more</i> flexible over the last three years — how many 60-some year olds can say that?</p>
<p>Then he got down to examining my leg and foot: manipulating the joints in my foot and feeling the muscles in my lower leg for tightness. Some of this was briefly unpleasant but never actually painful. The verdict? He doesn't believe that I have an actual injury, which has been one of my serious concerns. Rather, he thinks that the tightness in my lower leg and lack of flexibility in my forefoot is causing my foot to supinate (roll outward). To compensate for this the peroneal muscles tighten, which explains the pain where the peroneal tendon turns around the heel.</p>
<p>So how do I fix this? Firstly, I need to work on the flexibility in my foot and tension in my leg muscles. For example, during the initial exam the extension of my left big toe was very limited. Even at the end of the session, after he'd worked my foot and leg, he could only achieve about 70° extension. This well short of the 85° extension he said is needed for a good demi-pointe position. Lack of flexibility is a problem not just in my big toe but throughout both feet, though it's worse in my left than my right for some reason. In fact, the reason I sought out physical therapy in 2020 was my limited foot flexibility.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4izk0PYGL1JPDe2XSNW3-jBduuqX-wA8z2liXCZONo_TU9nidfB1Dp33Ouuk0uF8y2LGqgYC8Fy6BqTPC35_IsutbWLSbz8koTHnmyWbFV1_f6OewRFXrcecuzuuWrbskCE1Mf4I0-0pc2nBEIaNvW-6ONGKg8J1ek6S6VeQo6Q6uT09ssVs_Y-Jk1Hm/s1019/Lower%20leg%20anatomy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="1019" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4izk0PYGL1JPDe2XSNW3-jBduuqX-wA8z2liXCZONo_TU9nidfB1Dp33Ouuk0uF8y2LGqgYC8Fy6BqTPC35_IsutbWLSbz8koTHnmyWbFV1_f6OewRFXrcecuzuuWrbskCE1Mf4I0-0pc2nBEIaNvW-6ONGKg8J1ek6S6VeQo6Q6uT09ssVs_Y-Jk1Hm/s320/Lower%20leg%20anatomy.png" width="320" /></a></div>Secondly, he feels certain muscles in my lower leg are not strong enough
to handle the stresses imposed on them. He specifically mentioned <i>tibialis anterior</i> and <i>tibialis posterior</i>, relatively small muscles next to the big bone in the lower leg.<p></p><p>To begin addressing these issues he suggested lightly working the muscles in my legs with a massage gun. I'd started using one recently, but he gave me specific areas he wants me to work. He also gave me an exercise which involves placing a ball between my ankles and rising to demi-pointe on both feet while squeezing the ball. </p><p>While demonstrating this last exercise he noted that I'm moving my hips forward to balance rather than my upper body. This results in a slight arch in my back. I'm speculating that this may help explain why I find myself falling backward out of turns. Maybe I'll improve my turns at the same time I fix the pain in my feet? That'd be a real bonus.</p><p>One of my questions going in was whether I should continue taking classes. I'd taken two weeks off after the initial event last month, and when I went back the pain seemed worse. Patrick indicated that I could continue but should let my body be my guide, not pushing when the pain said I should stop. I've already dropped back from four classes a week to three, which avoids having classes on consecutive days. I think I'll continue this pattern and see how things progress.</p><p>I have my next appointment in two weeks. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-37535399475622082432023-08-06T13:23:00.005-04:002023-08-06T14:51:50.142-04:00Caught in the Annual Migration<p>When I walked into the studio for class Friday, I was shocked to find 30 other students when there are usually maybe 15. Five of them were men, which is the most I've ever seen in any of my classes. Many had skills far above the norm for the classes I take, executing double, triple, and even quadruple pirouettes as part of centre exercises.</p><p>I asked one of the other class regulars if he knew what was happening he replied, "It's the annual migration."</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Apparently there's a short period between the end of summer intensives and the start of fall classes and company rehearsals where advanced students and professional dancers look for opportunities to keep their skills in tune. During this period, local classes swell with these migrating dancers.</p><p>In some ways this is inspiring, but it's also a bit depressing. Wednesday evening I'd finally managed a few double pirouettes before class, and was feeling pretty good with my progress. Then I'm sharing the floor with someone who effortlessly spins like a top in perfect balance. <br /></p><hr width="50%" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9nI48o1SyqLygoumlZxqiGOFpybTS4jJVLvRgKXJuKIfnlzFiHqVjofeVKBuD7z6-Xn9X8HY3o7c1U5rXJM69_jKoGi7B4bRtNOO7Lsye6uRoTAECVJBkw55A3z7yC4PJc_YKFvBOp7J-F0073c3g8j3p5cLfrabSjEE8g2ZSRnXLMeZnduYcw-F2Bd3/s1024/Peroneal%20Tendonitis.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9nI48o1SyqLygoumlZxqiGOFpybTS4jJVLvRgKXJuKIfnlzFiHqVjofeVKBuD7z6-Xn9X8HY3o7c1U5rXJM69_jKoGi7B4bRtNOO7Lsye6uRoTAECVJBkw55A3z7yC4PJc_YKFvBOp7J-F0073c3g8j3p5cLfrabSjEE8g2ZSRnXLMeZnduYcw-F2Bd3/w200-h200/Peroneal%20Tendonitis.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p> I've also been doing more research on the cause of the pain in my left heel. Previously I'd thought it might be plantar fasciitis, but the symptoms are wrong. Plantar fasciitis typically presents with pain on the underside of the foot, whereas mine is on the lateral aspect of the calcaneus (outer side of the heel bone). These symptoms are more characteristic of peroneal tendonitis. The stresses that result in peroneal tendonitis also map better to what I do with my legs and feet in ballet.<br /></p><p></p><p>If this was just occasional soreness I'd shrug and say "You're in your 60s and taking four ballet classes a week. You're going to be sore some days." But this is persistent, seemingly worsening, and I'm concerned that it could develop from an inflammation into an injury. I have an audition for another supporting cast role coming up in mid September, and I'd like this to be improving or resolved before then. Thus I've scheduled an appointment with a physical therapist with extensive experience working with ballet dancers. I'm hoping he'll be able to pin down my problem and suggest ways to fix it.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-38170926339707473372023-07-08T16:12:00.002-04:002023-07-09T14:49:59.806-04:00Two kinds of ballet student<p>I've come to believe there are two basic types of ballet students. The first type is the sort who wants to understand the steps and motions in detail, and takes classes to learn to execute them perfectly. Of course, we all know that perfection is impossible, but that's the goal we strive for. <br /></p><p>Students of the second type are in love with the idea of ballet. This is kind of like a little girl who dresses up in a tutu and slippers and dances around with her arms in the air and thinks that's ballet, only older. The accoutrements play a critical role in creating the proper image.</p><p>I doubt many people fall strictly in one category or the other. Everyone is some mix of the two. I'm primarily of the first type, drawn to the futile attempt to achieve perfection, but I'll admit to an element of the second.</p><p>Today I ran into a student who I believe is almost entire the second type. That's rare in the classes I take.<br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>It's not terribly uncommon for a couple of students in my classes to wear pointe shoes. These are often former academy students who are now taking adult classes, and thus in their late teens or twenties, but there are also some older students too. I always take note of these dancers, as they're often good to watch when I'm trying to understand a sequence of steps.</p><p>Today, as we arranged ourselves for barre, I noticed an older woman wearing pointe shoes I hadn't seen before. What really caught my attention was that she seemed to be having trouble following the routine barre exercises. Sometimes this is the sign of a very advanced dancer who is intentionally doing their own warm-up routine rather than following the instructor, but that didn't seem to be the case. Instead, this student was noticeably struggling. This seemed to me to be a bad combination.</p><p>There were some other cues that concerned me. I've been getting corrections to keep my shoulders down and back (entirely needed for me), and I noticed her shoulders were hiked up almost to her ears. The barre work included some <i>pas de bourrées</i>, and she seemed unsure of these and unsteady doing them. Still, she seemed stable enough en pointe that she didn't appear to be in immediate danger.</p><p>After barre, as we assembled for centre work, I noticed that she'd swapped the pointe shoes for soft slippers. This reduced my level of apprehension a bit (my injury potential radar is a hold-over from being an EMT/Firefighter), but I was still curious how she'd do in centre. The answer was, not well at all. She had real difficulty balancing on one leg in any position. She attempted the "pick-up" style <i>pas de bourrée</i> rather than the simpler style favored by most students of this level, but she lurched badly in the process. She was definitely not confident doing any of the exercises, and was clearly following others to see what she was supposed to be doing.</p><p>After class, I chatted with the instructor. She, of course, had also been concerned about this student during barre, and was very relieved when she saw the student switch soft slippers between barre and centre. Otherwise she likely would have felt the need to tell the student to do so. Apparently she knows this student a little bit, having seen her in some classes at this school in years past, but the student had switched to taking classes elsewhere. A school where they teach adult pointe, I believe.<br /></p><p>My take is that this student is strongly of the second type: she's dressed for the role right down to the shoes, but isn't really interested in doing the detail work of developing the skills. </p><p>Most of my concern for this student's own well-being, as it's well known that mistakes in pointe work can easily result in injuries. Secondly, I'm concerned for the other students dancing near her. A class of 30 students only works if everyone moves in the same direction at the same time -- "at least move with the herd", as this instructor admonished everyone during class -- otherwise bodies collide. We have enough of a problem with the dancers who somehow manage to do an entire grand allegro exercise without moving more than five feet from their starting spot, without having people moving the wrong direction.</p><p>Thirdly... yes, I'm being judgy. If you can't do the basic steps, take a lower level class until you can. There's no shame in that; that's why they're offered! But if you're going to take a class at the level of this class you shouldn't be at risk of falling over when doing something basic like a <i>sous-sus</i> or <i>pas de bourrée</i> in centre.</p><hr width="75%" /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/-/media/kcms/gbs/patient-consumer/images/2013/08/26/10/08/ds00508_im00939_r7_fasciitisthu_jpg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="632" height="154" src="https://www.mayoclinic.org/-/media/kcms/gbs/patient-consumer/images/2013/08/26/10/08/ds00508_im00939_r7_fasciitisthu_jpg.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p><br />On a more personal note... I've been dealing with a lot of tightness in the heels of my feet, possibly <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/plantar-fasciitis" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">plantar fasciitis</a>.</p><p><i>"Tension or stress in the plantar fascia increases when you place weight
on the foot, such as with standing. The tension also increases when you
push off on the ball of the foot and toes. Both of these motions occur
during normal walking or running."</i> </p><p>Somehow I suspect dancing ballet might also qualify, given how much time I spend on demi-pointe.<br /></p><p>I've been trying to deal with this by moderating my class schedule. I usually have a day off between classes, and I take time to carefully stretch my calf muscles before class.<br /></p><p></p><p>Today, at the end of the grand allegro exercise, I felt a twinge in my left heel when I landed an <i>assemblé.</i> I finished the exercise, then noticed that it still hurt as I walked back to the starting position. Hoping that this was transient, I skipped the last few minutes of class. However, it remains stiff and a bit painful several hours later.</p><p>I'm not scheduled for class tomorrow, and I may skip Monday if it doesn't return to my "normal" before then.<br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-75311149995136386372023-06-28T20:21:00.000-04:002023-06-28T20:21:04.200-04:00What's your nemesis?<p> Every dancer has something that they constantly struggle with. For me, it's petit allegro.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>It's not that I have trouble doing the individual steps. Sure, there are some I don't do all that well, but that's nothing compared to the trouble I have remembering the small steps in rapid sequence. And I often have trouble moving smoothly from one phrase to the next.</p><p>This is nothing new: I <a href="https://dancingoverthehill.blogspot.com/2022/11/four-classes.html">commented</a> on it last November.</p><p>Friday I asked this same instructor if she had any suggestions for remembering the steps in a petit allegro. She agreed that this can be a challenge, and suggested that I say the names of the steps as I see them, and again as I do them. While I understand the benefit of reinforcing one memory system with another (physical with language, in this case), I've seen so many instructors struggle to match words and actions I had my doubts.</p><p>I've taken four classes since then, and I'm feeling better about this suggestion. Sometimes I can remember the names of the steps and sometimes I substitute something shorter ("temps de cuisse" takes longer to say than to do). Either way it feels like I'm remembering more of the sequence faster than before.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4345781051194758469.post-77171562537515712612023-06-23T22:48:00.002-04:002023-06-23T22:48:14.685-04:00Asking for it<p>After having a brief moment of success with double pirouettes, I had several weeks of difficulty landing clean singles. Each time I've fallen backwards out of the turn, a problem that gets worse as I tire. But I may have
figured out the problem.</p><p>Just prior to my successes,
the instructor had made a general observation that some weren't getting
our working foot all the way up to the standing leg's knee, and we'd do
better if we did. I think one of the things this did for me was cause me to get higher on my standing foot too. This causes a tiny weight shift forward, which appears to be just enough to make me balanced in the turn.</p><p>I've started making an effort to really get up on my standing foot during turns. I'm still not doing double pirouettes, but my singles are getting cleaner. I've also gotten some corrections on my spotting technique, which are helping too.<br /></p><hr width="50%" /><p>Speaking of corrections... The consequence of asking my instructors not to hold back is that I'm now getting a <i>lot</i> more corrections. This is good for me, but it's hard on the ego.</p><p>Last week one of the other instructors got in on the act. It's pretty common for off-duty instructors to take classes they're not teaching -- it's a job perquisite for them. We were doing a centre exercise that included a sissonne from fifth to first arabesque, and this instructor happened to be standing just to my right and a bit behind me. At the end of the exercise I heard her say "No, don't do that." I didn't know who she was speaking to or about, so I turned to see. She looked at me, rolled her shoulders, and said, "Don't raise your shoulders when you jump."</p><p>At first I didn't understand what she meant, so my first reaction was to try to understand what she was saying. I didn't realize I was raising my shoulders during the jump, which is why we need corrections from instructors. My second reaction was a bit of annoyance: I felt blind-sided, as this was not someone I'd asked for corrections from. It can be hard enough to be told you're doing something wrong by the class instructor. Then I realized that her suggestion was offered in good faith, and it would be to my benefit to take advantage of whatever help is offered. </p><p>It's tough on the ego to get corrections. No one likes being told they're doing something wrong, even when it's true. Sometimes it feels unfair, like when I get a correction regarding arm position while I'm focused on remembering where my feet are supposed to be going. My recent experience of being on stage with professional dancers has left me with a touch of imposter syndrome, so I'm a bit more sensitive than usual. Then I remind myself that instructors generally do not offer corrections to students who do not make use of them, and I feel a little better.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0