Not Knitting you know!…..

Well now, today was the first class for 2012 and we always start the year with the more advanced students. Everyone was clearly�excited to be back in the space and ready to take the challenge to a new level.��� However within a short time I was getting the pouts�and nervous side looks that generally accompanies the realisation�that the spirit is willing but the flesh is surprisingly weak!

�Isn’t it amazing the difference the Christmas and New Year break
can have on the body?� they say to me – and each other, smiling sheepishly…

It�is a common theme among returning students every year, and interestingly,�none seem to remember that the lament�is exactly the same each year……’I’ve lost it!’ and/or ‘my legs are so weak!’ and/or ‘wow!, this is really h-a-r-d’ .

Everyone deserves a holiday, a break from something, a full stop, an extended luscious time of nothingness…….right?��� Yes and no…depends on what you want….poor, average or exceptional. There are many pursuits that will�only demand�a part of you, and from those you can have one of those long, nothing�at all�breaks.� �But a long break from dance training, (especially at a high level – or when trying to achieve it)�the consequences can be devastating.

Chances are you love it so�much�your�spirit and body�scream for it�in any case, so…. what are you waiting for – dance!

Anything you want – from Go-Go�to Bollywood* in the�privacy of your home (or not)�is a great way to keep extremely fit and physically ready�during a break.� It is also a great way to inject some fun into the technical component of training hard.� Iyengar Yoga is fantastic for maintaining flexibility, stamina and strength.

I remember reading once that the extraordinary Margot Fonteyn had
only one real break from dance in her life before her retirement. It was for 6 weeks and she claimed that her initial return to dance was so challenging physically and mentally�she would never do it again (until retirement).

There have been a few occasions in my dance life where I have had to have lengthy breaks and to�move away from the studio and into the ‘everyday’ world. �I have found that a disconnection, a kind of ‘dimming’�occurs as I lose touch with that special magic that offers relief from the mundane….the excitement of transforming space and communicating through dance�…of-course it does return once you get back in there and start, but there is always that niggling fear the magic has left you… just being physically capable is not the same as creating dance.

One way I have of igniting the flame is going back to some of the most inspired performances I have ever witnessed.���It can be any�genre, but�it will�have one thing in common and that is the mastery of the performer.�� It can be raw and edgy�or�quite sedate, provided it is truly inspired and innovative.��There is something very special about the performance of someone who is truly a creator – they are the source and it shows!� Performances that transcend the mundane and fire your soul inspire you to also create and move! � Another way to get moving is to listening to music that has been similarly composed from the spirit,�the rhythms are too great a tease to ignore and before I know it you will be up and�holistically engaged!� Powerfully evocative�images can also do it, even more so – because your imagination�experiences the emotion,�the next moment – a whole�story.��A great book can do the same.�Lastly but not at all least, is immersing yourself in the culture of your chosen�genre�- chances are (like me)�that was your first inspiration in any case – and�it is your true�source.

And now�to my pouting, concerned and frustrated students, (until they find their wings again – which incidentally – never takes as long as they think it will),� I say: ‘don’t worry – just let the music carry you and dance with me, it will all come back’………….. but each year I also have to remind them ….’It’s not knitting you know – you can’t expect put it down and pick up exactly where you left off!’�� It takes time to reacquaint and recondition.

The body/mind/spirit phenomenon that is dance�is�a little unforgiving like that I’m afraid.��� The important thing is that you re-engage, as there�is nothing�of value that doesn’t require discipline,�but oh! how�that discipline is�sweetened when it is fired by the desire to dance. � �� Juliet x

� Feb 2012

*Go-Go and Bollywood would not�be enough�to keep�high level Classically trained dancers dance prepared�- and they already know it!