Testing new waters

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.

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.

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.

Thus I spent Saturday morning taking class with a new instructor in new surroundings.

What's next for me?

During The Maryland Nutcracker 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 corps de ballet. I got to do lifts in Midsummer and a brief waltz in Nutcracker.

Me as "Grandfather" in Nutcracker, center stage

 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.

Catching up after Nutcracker

It's been a couple of weeks since my performances as the Grandfather in "The Maryland Nutcracker". Here I am with my "nurse" and "Grandmother".

 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.

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.

My First Nutcracker

First a question for Nutcracker veterans: how long before the music stops playing in your head?

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 The Nutcracker year after year told me she still hears it.

Nutcracker 2023 Tech Week

We've entered "tech week" for The Maryland Nutcracker. 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.

Add on about 4.5 hours of driving back and forth, and I'm bushed.

Well, THAT hurt!

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.

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 saut du chat 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.

The Nutcracker claims another dancer

The Nutcracker may have claimed another dancer: one of the professionals suffered a sprained ankle during rehearsal this weekend. 

Maybe pointe shoes should come with a warning label?

A whisper in an ear

I wrote a post back in May about my experience in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Somehow I neglected to explain the accompanying photo of a bouquet of flowers.

These were a gift from Judy, a long-time friend who, coincidentally, is the producer of WETA Arts. She'd been reading some of my intentionally vague Facebook postings about Midsummer, 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.

After Midsummer 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.

Beginning Partnering class

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.

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.

Nutcracker's first casualty

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.

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.

Oct 8th Nut rehearsal: Inspired casting

Sunday was the first supporting cast rehearsal for Ballet Embody's production of The Maryland Nutcracker. Although it uses the traditional Tchaikovsky music, the choreography is non-traditional. For example, instead of Drosselmeyer, there is Edgar Allen Poe.

When we auditioned, we danced a bit to what most people would identify as "Mother Gigogne". 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.

Overdoing it

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.

When I arrived for class Monday I was feeling especially good. During the pirouette exercise I managed one or two (ragged) doubles en dehor. I skipped the jump preparations in favor of a bit more stretching, and the petit allegro was simple enough that I could keep up with the music. The grand allegro 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.

Remembering Frank Owens

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.

Frank Owens

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.

Frank was killed in a car crash in DC this weekend. He'd just turned 90 on September 1st.

The Audition: Nutcracker Edition

Having not learned my lesson this spring, I decided to audition for the supporting cast of Ballet Embody's production of The Maryland Nutcracker this afternoon.

Sticking needles into my feet

About six weeks ago I finally took action to address the pain I've been feeling in my left heel by visiting a physical therapist. 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.

During my last session, my PT commented that he thought I'd benefit from "dry needling". To quote the Cleveland Clinic website:

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.

I've had this before to address pain in my shoulder, and said I'd consider it.

Relearning the basics

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.

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.

I'm still having to really focus on what muscles I'm using any time I'm on demi-pointe, 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.

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 glissade too?

---

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!

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.

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 less nervous than I was the first time, since that was the first time I'd ever auditioned for a role in a ballet.

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 Midsummer 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 Midsummer. 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.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be done with my current issues before the audition.

Injuries from long ago

I suffer from Engineer's Brain (look it up). 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.

Physical therapy

A few weeks ago a friend from class and I went to see ABT perform Giselle. 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.

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.

Caught in the Annual Migration

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.

I asked one of the other class regulars if he knew what was happening he replied, "It's the annual migration."

Two kinds of ballet student

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.

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.

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.

Today I ran into a student who I believe is almost entire the second type. That's rare in the classes I take.

What's your nemesis?

 Every dancer has something that they constantly struggle with. For me, it's petit allegro.

Asking for it

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.

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.

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.

---

Speaking of corrections... The consequence of asking my instructors not to hold back is that I'm now getting a lot more corrections. This is good for me, but it's hard on the ego.

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."

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. 

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.

Post-Performance Depression

 I'm not prone to "the blues" or depression, but I wasn't expecting the massive crash I experienced after completing the performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

 

Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, Ballet Embody performed the locally-choreographed version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

This was the first time I'd been on stage since college, and the first time ever dancing in a ballet. Although I had but a supporting cast role, and was on stage for only about 5 minutes, I was understandably nervous.

The first act of Midsummer is all set-up for the second and third act. Although this is a comedy, the audience was rather subdued.

Act Two opens with the Actors Troupe "rehearsal" in the woods, which is choreographed to be nearly slapstick comedy. The character of Bottom is a know-it-all pain, tormenting the troupe director. Bottom was brilliantly danced by our choreographer/director. My role as troupe director is basically the straight man in this comedy duo. This started audible chuckling from audience. When Puck transforms Bottom into a donkey, the audience started laughing. When Queen Titania, under the spell of the magic flower, swoons over Bottom the donkey, the audience lost it

Act Three resolves the mess, with Oberon and a chastised Puck putting things to right. All ends happily, of course. 

The finale begins with the dancers coming out in small groups. The "actors troupe" group started with me running out on stage and signalling for the others to follow. As each dancer reaches me she jumps, which I transform into a lift and carry to the side. All except Bottom, of course, who pulls up short as I signal "No!". We form a line for a brief dance together, during which we follow Bottom around in a circle before bowing individually. Bottom, ever the ham, continues bowing and dancing as the others leave, which I interrupt and force Bottom off the stage with a kick before leaving myself.

Then we come out in different small groups for a bow, slowly filling the stage as we accumulate. My group is second to come out, which gives us attention before we retreat to the rear of the stage. When everyone is present we do a final group dance and take a company bow before the curtain closes.

All in all, I found the experience both scary and rewarding. I'm finally able to do something with my ballet training, even though the only true ballet move I do is a soutenu turn as part of the opening to Act Two. The professional cast and the other supporting cast members were nothing less than supportive.

The other side of such an experience, of course, is introspection. It's impossible not to notice the apparent ease with which the professional dancers learn long sequences, and compare it to the difficulty I felt memorizing my own few minutes of stage time.

Dress Rehearsal

Last night was the dress rehearsal for A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

First we ran through the entire show, including the recorded introductory narratives. With that done and notes given, we ran through the 2nd and 3rd acts a second time. From my point of view things went pretty smoothly.

My role is that of the leader of the "acting troupe"; the other supporting cast members make up the rest of the troupe, with the exception of the role of "Bottom" which is danced by one of the professionals. We open Act 2, with me giving "stage direction" to the troupe, holding a book that is intended to represent a script. This is followed by my only solo balletic move: a soutenu turn. Woot! I'm ready for the big time!

I tried something new last night, holding the "script" book open to make it more obvious what it is. I close it before the turn. This didn't cause me any trouble, so I'm going to keep it tonight. 

Cast call time yesterday was 4pm (yes, on a Friday). I left home at 2:30, stopping for a quick lunch on the way. I expected to arrive 15 minutes early (it's an hour drive at a minimum), but fire trucks closed the road a couple of miles from the theatre so I ended up arriving a couple minutes late. The student company had a mandatory warm-up, which we (the supporting cast) joined, while the professionals were left to do their own thing individually. Since the theatre doesn't have any barres, we used a balcony railing overlooking the lobby.

After warm-up I changed into my performance costume. This is basically my renaissance faire costume -- a loose white shirt and a green leather suede tabard -- with grey tights and slippers. The tights are brand new Wear Moi brand, fit like Spanx, and the crotch is forever trying to work its way down to my knees. The shoes are new white Só Dança canvas that I was told would be dyed grey, but were painted instead. I've heard of fabric paint but this is my first experience with it. It's made the canvas very stiff and possibly shrunk them a bit, which is not terribly comfortable.

Since I have nothing to do during the two short contemporary pieces that precede Midsummer, nor Act 1, the supporting cast and I stood around backstage and socialized. We're an odd bunch: four young women (26, 26, 20, and 16) and me (62). I found the discussion fascinating, though for much of it I just listened.

After opening Act 2, I again had nothing to do until the finale. So I wandered around, watching from the wings and keeping out of the way. I wish I'd spent my free time sitting  watching the show from the audience seating, because it looks like it's going to be a great show. There is going to be a recording for cast members to watch later, but I can't imagine it would be as much fun as watching it live.

Our first performance is tonight.  I've got the makeup down to about 30 minutes (more on that in another post when I have time), but I'm allowing an hour in case something goes horribly wrong and I need to start over. I've basically been stalling until it's time to start getting ready, and it's about that time.

Double pirouettes

 Since returning to the ballet studios last summer I've been taking as many as 4 classes a week from three or four different instructors. Each instructor has their own specific thing they seem to focus on: one can spot a bent knee under sweatpants from across the room; another is laser-focused on core alignment, etc. Between them, I get lots of good corrections. Some of them seemingly tiny, but never without good reason.

Mid fall I started to notice a significant improvement in my balance, likely related to how often I'm taking classes now. On rare occasions I found I could sustain passe releve seemingly indefinitely. Then "rarely" became "occasionally", and then more frequently. This paid off in more consistent pirouettes. Although some of my classmates seem to prefer sloppy double pirouettes, I've been concentrating on clean singles (with varying success).

Last week, while marking a centre routine that included a pirouette en dedans, I found myself over-rotating. Just for fun, I decided to see how far around I'd get. To my surprise, I completed a fairly decent double. I'd never even attempted a double pirouette en dedans before, let alone completed one.

Monday, before we started the pirouette combination, I decided to try a double pirouette en dehors. I tried four or five and landed most of them, which really surprised me. After class the instructor commented that she'd noticed them and thought they were a good start. :-)

Of course, Wednesday I had trouble landing clean singles, let alone attempt a double. *sigh*

Something unexpected

I've often said that adult ballet students fall into one of two categories: those who are looking to improve, and those who just want to dance. I'm definitely in the first category, and I make sure to let my instructors know that I'm here for the corrections.

After receiving some subtle tweaks in body positioning during barre, I found myself having a good balance day. Later, during a centre exercise involving a mixture of pirouettes, I realized I was putting too much energy into the turns and that was causing me to rotate further than the single turn called for. Just for fun, I let an en dedans turn continue and landed a fairly clean double. I've never even tried a double en dedans pirouette before!

Naturally, I couldn't do it a second time. Trying it on the other side didn't work either, nor did attempts at double en dehor pirouettes. But, as one of my instructors observed, the first time something like this happens it's a miracle. But then the miracle happens again. And then it happens more frequently. Eventually it becomes something you try to perfect, rather than it being a miracle.

Three Weeks 'til Showtime!

I haven't been onstage in a production since my college days, some 40 years ago. But in three short weeks I'll be opening Act 2 in a locally-choreographed ballet of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the role of Peter Quince, the leader of the actors troupe.

The Audition

Today, I auditioned for a supporting role in a ballet production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

I haven't auditioned for any sort of theatrical production in over 40 years, and never one that involved dancing. It's an odd feeling. In class, the instructor is watching to provide corrections. In an audition, you're being evaluated for suitability for a performance; basically a job interview.

Injured!

For the last couple of months I've been taking three and sometimes four ballet classes every week, aside from holiday interruptions. I've been doing pretty well, with satisfying but irregular progress. Until a couple of weeks ago.

I'd come home from my Wednesday class, eaten dinner, and was relaxing in my recliner chair while watching TV. Suddenly there was a snap and a momentary stab of pain near my right hip. Not in the joint itself, but in the upper front of the lilac crest (hip bone)

Fearing I'd done something really bad, I eased myself out of the chair and carefully checked that I could support my weight on that hip without instability or serious pain. Then I gently checked range of motion. Finally I took a few steps. Nothing really hurt, but the area was sore, like I'd strained a muscle.

Courtesy Wikimedia

Although as a former EMT I'm pretty familiar with skeletal bones, I'm not an expert on muscles. Fortunately I know someone who is, and she suggested I might have strained the tensor  fascia latae (see pic). That seems to attach in the spot that hurt, as does sartorius.

Frankly, I find it pretty embarrassing to have injured myself relaxing in a recliner. 

I read some informative articles on such injuries, which all recommended starting with rest, ice (or heat, depending), and an anti-inflammatory (NSAID). I canceled my next scheduled class reservation, giving myself three full days off, and took care not to do anything that might worsen the situation. It was a bit sore when I walked for the first day or two, but that seemed to subside by the third day.

Four days after this event I went to my regular Sunday class, ready to stop if anything felt wrong. I was careful to warm up gently and slowly before class, and the class itself was uneventful. There was a bit of lingering soreness in that hip, but nothing unusual.

My next scheduled class was the following day, Monday. I notified the instructor of the situation (saying this was "don't pick on Reece day") and warning her that I might need to quit class unexpectedly. She, of course, told me to do what I needed to do to take care of myself. Pre-class warm-up seemed fine, but about half way through barre the side of my hip began to ache. I picked up my stuff, and with a bow to the instructor I left. The ache went away, and I decided my hip just wasn't ready yet.

Two days later I gave it another try. Again, I warned the instructor that I might have to leave, but this time I felt fine. The same on Friday, and again Sunday. Ah! I'm healed!

Nope! Monday came and I got through the first exercise in centre before I started feeling sore in the hip. Seeing no benefit to pressing my luck, I bailed out of class again. However, I felt file after the following Wednesday and Friday classes. From this I concluded that I needed the day off between classes.

This weekend I had something else to do on Sunday (yesterday), so I wasn't registered for class. I thought about going to class Saturday, but decided against it. So after two days off I was back in class today. Aside from being out of breath after the petit allegro exercise, I really had no problems with class. I felt really on balance during pirouettes, completing three single turns en dehor in rapid succession, though I was getting a bit sloppy toward the end. 

As much as I enjoy the Sunday class, I think other activities will keep me out of it for a while, and I'll probably skip the Saturday classes until my hip is fully recovered.