Ideal Dancer's Body: The Body Image

Everyone knows that dancers (especially ballerinas) strive for an ideal look: tall(ish), lean, toned (but not obscenely muscular), strong, and stable. Yet among all of this, you're expected to be delicate and graceful or angular and hard-hitting, depending on what you're being asked to do. Impossible? Probably.

This ideal is strangely unhealthy for dancers. I did a post about a month and a half back about the ideal feet, but I realize that this isn't the major problem. What the real problem is is image and learning to accept and work with what you've got.

There's a reason why there's a huge culture of nutritional issues and structural issues in dance: no other profession forces you to stare into a mirror as long as dance does. You're spending so much time looking at yourself, criticizing yourself, analyzing your every imperfection - you think that's not going to affect you? You've done it probably from a young age, and it's encouraged for you to look in that mirror and see the ugliness, not the beauty, in yourself.

Sure, not every dancer has an eating disorder or is working out beyond his/her limits in order to attain the perfect body, but every dancer has something(s) they would like to change. Whether it be the arch of your back, or your shoulder alignment, or the width of your waist, you can probably think of something right now that you want to change. Take a moment. Write it down if you like. One thing, the biggest thing you want to change.

Got it? Now, go to a mirror. Stand in front of it and note the things about your body that are good for dancing and/or aesthetically pleasing to you. Do you have high arches? Maybe you have an hourglass figure, or maybe you were born with the "ballet body" - lean and tall. Have you got strong, square shoulders or hips? There's something pleasing about every body.

Now just think, every time you stand in the studio in front of the mirror criticizing yourself, what if you took a moment to praise yourself as well? Or at least turn that "oh my god, my butt looks huge" criticism into a "maybe I'm arching my back too much and sticking my butt out" constructive criticism. If you're not pleased with what you see in the mirror, try changing your alignment. Odds are that if you're perfectly stacked head over shoulders over pelvis over ball of foot (or feet), you will look perfectly fine.

I could go on and on about positive thinking, but it won't do any good unless you also accept the fact that you have faults. There is no perfect body - the gumby ballerina you're jealous of most likely had to spend years building up her strength so that she could support her stretchy limbs. That girl with high arches in your class will have a much harder time balancing than you, with lower arches. Or if you're the gumby one, or the girl with high arches, you were naturally born with the aesthetic that dance seems to demand (and believe me, I'm jealous). There's a con to every pro, but also remember that to every pro, there is a con. Accept both your pros and your cons and use your pros to strengthen your cons. See the beauty, through everything. Once you change your outlook from criticizing to constructive, the mirror won't be so scary after all.

Dealing with Injury

Let's face it: you're a dancer. You will get hurt. It's only a question of time and intensity. Will you get hurt when you've got time to take time off and rest (unlikely)? Or will you tear a muscle/sustain a stress fracture the day before opening night (more likely)? Will it be a muscle pull? Will you dislocate a bone (hello! talk to me.)? Will you tear your Achilles tendon? They're all legitimate questions.

Why do I bring this up now? The dance department in my school has its fifth (my third) audition in two weeks tomorrow, and already I'm seeing people getting hurt. Today, in dance studies, we talked about injuries. Let's just say it's on my mind.

Anyhow, there are some major principles in dealing with an injury:

1. Don't be "tough." If you think you can stick it out and dance on it, you're wrong and you're being silly. Sure, dance on it, but don't say I didn't warn you when that injury gets worse.
2. RICE - rest, ice, compress, elevate. My teacher told us 20 minutes of ice on, 20 minutes off alternating. Never ice for more than 30 minutes at a time. If you have a sprain that's inflamed, compress it to reduce swelling. Again, if it's swelling, elevate it. That way, blood won't rush down into it and cause more inflammation.
3. See a doctor, or at the very least talk to your teacher. Don't try to hide the injury. And once you get professional advice about what to do, follow the advice. Don't see a doctor and refuse to rest when he tells you to - you're just wasting your money and threatening your body even farther.
4. Be careful in the last few hours of rehearsal. Most dance injuries happen when dancers are getting tired and sloppy. Know your limits, recognize when you're getting tired. If you just rolled your ankle while landing, don't do that leap again, or modify your technique.
5. If you have an injury that immobilizes you (you can't dance or walk...hopefully you're not bedridden!), make sure you keep up your conditioning. You don't want the rest of your body to get limp and lazy. See a physical therapist for some exercises you can do to help the injured spot and work out the rest of your body.

Facebook Sensitivity

A little more of a personal post today...

I had two auditions last week in school for two different shows. I wasn't expecting much of a return because I feel that there are much stronger dancers in the program than me, but I was lucky enough to be cast in one of the shows, and even in two different pieces! Even my mom told me that I could post it on Facebook to let people know, because it was so exciting for me. So that's great and I want everyone to know, right? Maybe not.

If something similar happens to you - you're cast in a production, or you get that featured role - be sensitive to the dancers around you. Please think before you go skipping through the halls shouting your ecstatic joy to the heavens, and before posting it all over your Facebook wall. There are dancers around you and Facebook friends that may not have made it, or whom may have had their hearts set on that spot. No, I'm not saying you shouldn't be overjoyed - you should! It's an accomplishment (and I'm proud of you, so be happy). But please think twice before telling the world - someone may end up resenting you or even hating you, and all you did was be happy!

If you really do want everyone to know, I'm not saying it's wrong! Go ahead, but please be aware of the feelings of those around you. Try not to rub it in their faces unknowingly. Be careful of how you phrase that Facebook post. All of this also goes for college admissions, competitions that you win...anything. Don't go posting "UCLA :D :D" all over your wall before stopping to think how many of your friends may not have gotten in. Just take a second and think before you post.

Me? I sent emails and called each person that I wanted to tell. Slower, but it gets the job done without hurting anyone's feelings. And I did this because I knew I had friends who were disappointed who I didn't want to hurt. Sure, they might find out, but they won't find out through an impersonal wall post.

What Makes Dancers Good: Tension (and Release)

In this series, I'll be discussing different aspects of dance that I think "good" dancers have or do. Please note that these are my opinions and I am in no way trying to force my ideas on you, and that I'm not an expert, so I'm just sharing my thoughts as another dancer who's noticed things. See my first three posts on "Soft Power" , Breathing, and Relaxing. Thanks!

I was at an audition a few nights ago and started watching what other dancers were doing, what dynamics they used to perform each combination. And what I really started to realize by the time we got to the contemporary combination was that many dancers didn't have dynamics. Of course, there were rises and falls, ins and outs, ups and downs, but they stagnated in the way they held tension. Either they were really tense the whole time or too relaxed. And no matter how beautiful their movements were or how fast they were moving (some of it was truly amazing), it was kind of boring.

I realized by the time that I got to the third (and final) combination of the night that I was really tense. I was trying and thinking too hard. The harder I thought, the harder I gripped my muscles and tried to push through things and hit them as hard as I could. Not good, considering the combination was fast, hard hitting, and intense. I was getting tired fast and I couldn't do the movements fast or clean enough. When I finally realized that I had to relax and only tense the muscles that needed to be tensed, it seemed so simple (but it was also almost time for me to go on). When I finally performed it, it came a lot more naturally (not completely perfectly though).

I watched other dancers power through the whole piece with the same level of tension throughout. Some of them managed to hit every single movement harder than I possibly could, and some of them just looked incredibly tense and awkward. Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the dancers that could power through the entire piece. Their dancing was beautiful and amazing. Yet, they weren't the ones that I wanted to watch for more than ten seconds. I wanted to watch the people who were able to tense one arm to whip it around, but stay fluid in the torso and hips so as to make the next move that much more crisp. Is that making sense?

I guess the moral of the story is to have dynamics. Don't dance every movement with the same level of fluidity or rigidity - vary it a little. Linger on that juicy arm swing and power through that tilt kick (but control the leg on the way down!). Challenge yourself to create different dynamics each time you perform the piece (maybe power through the arm swing and linger on the tilt kick? It could make you stand out from the rest). It makes dancing much more interesting that way, for both the audience and the dancer.

Pirouette Tip

If you're like me, you don't consider yourself a good or natural turner. Very few people really are natural turners, and if you are, the other 95% of us envy you with a burning passion.

Enter Anaheim Ballet (and my first ballet lesson of the school year). Watch this video, called Anaheim Ballet: Turning Tips, and even just watch the first 10 seconds. But look for what these two girls do right before they start the turn. Do you see them both go down a little? Plie a little deeper? Dip down a bit? However you want to say it, they both go deeper down into the ground before pressing up into a stable (and long-lasting) turn.

So that's my short and sweet tip! If you don't want my story from class, you can stop reading now.

My professor gave us this tip today after watching most of the class struggle for perfect double pirouettes. He told us that natural turners do something completely different from other dancers. Other dancers (non-natural turners) do exactly what they're told - they prepare and press up into a turn, only to fall out after one, two, or three rotations. Natural turners, however, are more relaxed and dip down a little before swinging up into the turn, making that entire sequence one fluid movement. This tip completely blew my mind. There I was, struggling with my double like the rest of the class, and two minutes and one amazing tip later, I was landing stable, perfect triples. Okay, I'm not perfect yet, I have to work on doing it every time. I'm not landing those triples every time because I get excited and throw my hips off, or lean my shoulders back too far. But that first turn I did after he told us to put a dip in and go into the pirouette fluidly? Life-changing. That was the first turn I ever did that felt good. Stable. And not only did it feel good, but it also felt like it looked good. I've been looking for a pirouette (and a pirouette tip) like this all my life, and it's been a frustrating struggle/search. I believe that that search will be over when I perfect this method of turning.

So give it a try! I hope you understand what I mean when I say "dip." All I mean is that, in your fourth (or fifth, or second, or whatever you're doing) position preparation, find your balance on two stable feet on the ground, then dig a little deeper into your plie before you pop up into your pirouette. Don't think around, think down then up. And that's your perfect pirouette.

Goody Slide-Proof Hair Elastics UPDATE

I'm back! Do you remember this post about the new Goody hair elastics that I did before I left? I promised to do an update after using more hairties from the pack. I've been using a few more of them over the last week, and as promised, they are completely slide proof for normal use. I'm going to assume that the one bad elastic that I got (that snapped in 2 uses) was just a fluke, because the rest of them seem to be holding up just fine! They're not even stretching out yet, which is impressive.

After dancing in them for 3+ hours, I never once felt my hair slipping. These are really amazing. Much improved from the previous ones (and I loved those already). You might get one or two that'll snap like that (like that pun? Yeah, I thought so.), but even for those 8 or 9 in the pack that will work, it's really worth it. What do you think? Have you tried them yet?

Short Hiatus

Hi everyone :)

I'm taking a short hiatus from my blog :( Sad, but I have to go back to school and will be busy for several days, possibly all week. I'll try to make short posts here and there if I can! In the meantime, I'll still be checking for comments, so please feel free to comment/contact me :)

A poster I quickly threw together for my dorm room wall. Yes, the drawing in the background is a of a picture of my own feet.

Keep dancing!

Love, Daisy

I Tried It...The New and Improved Goody Slide-Proof Hair Elastics

You all know how much I raved about Goody's StayPut Hairties in my hair tips post. I. love. them. So I was at Target the other day with my mother doing some last minute back-to-college shopping when I spotted the hair aisle, so I wanted to stock up on some more! Turns out Goody changed them. You probably could hear my scream of agony from China. I'm only half kidding. Anyways, they look like this, compared to the old ones:

This is what the old packaging (above) looks like compared to the new (below). Yes, I still have a full, new, never-been-used pack of the old kind. I'm a hoarder, obviously.

Again, the old hairties close up (above) vs. new ones (below)

Look closely at the second photo. Don't the "new and improved" hairties look like they have 50% less rubber showing? Yeah, I thought so too. And that's why you could hear my scream of agony from China.

Really though? I bought them anyway and put them to the test. I put my hair up in my normal high bun (2 hairties) and left it there all day. I went out shopping, had lunch, came home and packed. Did everything that I would in a normal day (except dance). And you know what? They're great! I think they slip even less than the old ones did! I'm incredibly amazed.

Unfortunately, one of the two hairties I used did snap inside. I can still use it, but that was slightly disappointing. See?:

Good hairtie (left) vs. snapped hairtie (right) - both new version of Goody Hairties

Overall, I still highly recommend these hairties! They might even be better than the old ones, but I'll put them to the test the next time I get into a dance class. Have you guys tried them out? What do you think?

Update: After a second use, the 2nd hairtie in the photo above (snapped one) completely snapped. I'm assuming this is just bad luck...that I chose a bad one, because the other one is completely fine. It hasn't even stretched out much, if at all. Will continue to use more of the pack and let you guys know if I still recommend them after a few more.