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.

After the Nutcracker 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.

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.

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 Nutcracker. I probably could have gotten to class either of those days, but convinced myself that I'd be better taking the time off.

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.

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. 

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.