Chassés are in the Air

It's that time. Spring is finally starting to show it's buds. This is the time of the year when dancers start planning what they are going to do dance-wise for the summer.

Some decide not to do anything. They figure, "I've been dancing all year, so my body needs some sort of break!" Although this is partly true, a complete break will not help your body. Yes, it is alright to take small breaks from dancing, but you must still keep in shape. If you do not stay in shape through the summer season it will be that much harder to get back into it in the fall. So, resting your body from dancing can be helpful, but only in certain situations. Those such as an injury of any sort are all acceptable reasons to take a break for a couple of months. If you continue to work through your injuries, they will only get worse as time goes on.

It is safe to say that the best option for your body during the summer is to keep dancing. Maybe at a lower intensity level, but still make sure to be dancing. That way, your body is still comfortable with the movements and it will take less pain to get back into the techniques. If you plan to take on a lower intensity level of classes for the summer, make sure that your body still stays in shape. Meaning, make sure that your cardio endurance stays at the same level or even increases, and that your muscle tone still stays the same, or gets better. Again, this continuing of training throughout the summer will help your body out a lot more when it comes time for the next season of dance in schools. The less amount of time that you have to spend on getting yourself back into shape, the more time is able to be put into working on your technical ability throughout the year!

Tech Week!!

It's here! Tech week. This is the time when EVERYONE goes crazy. Whether you are a teacher, a choreographer, a dancer, or someone in the tech crew, this week always holds some sort of suprise that will change something about the impending show. The added stress of these changes such as a different costume or a new formation then results in the stress that turns everyone crazy throughout the course of the week.

So, I decided to give some pointers that might help those of you who are going though the same thing...
1) Sleep. If you do not schedule in time for yourself to sleep every night, then the week is going to be very hard on you. I mean, you are already asking your body to do a lot, and then not sleeping just becomes too much.
2) Make sure that you eat healthily. This will help give your body the energy it needs from the proper nutrition. That will then increase your overall energy level which will help your performance.
3) Try to do your work as early as possible. This will decrease the added stress of too much homework along with extended rehearsals. The sooner you get it done, the better!
4) Keep your life as stress free as possible. Meaning, if you have had an issue with your friend for the past month that you are dying to argue with her about, this is not the week. You should give all your extra energy into focussing on your tasks ahead in the week, not yelling about a missing hairbrush. ;)
5)Check your schedule. There is nothing worse than missing a tech for a dance because you didn't know that it was happening. That then causes an inconvience to everyone participating and will not start the week off well.

Well, those are just a few to get you started, but I hope that they help! Remember, although tech week can be a very crazy time, the more time that you spend thinking and really preparing for it the better you will be able to perform!

If you don't put gas in the car, you can't go to the mall.

You wanted it, so here it is Cate :P

My dance teacher here at college is quite a character. She has a few jokes that she tells very often in class to try and illustrate points that she is trying to make. One of them is "If you don't put gas in the car, then you can't go to the mall." What she means by that is you have to eat in order to perform at the best of your ability.

No matter how many times she says it, you have to admit that she has a point. Proper nutrition is an essential to daily life. If your body is not healthy, it restricts many areas of your life. Meaning, if you do not eat enough, or if you are eating unhealthily, then you are not treating your body with the respect that it deserves. The problem that occurs more often in dancers is that they do not eat enough, and this is the problem that my teacher is most concerned with. If you are not eating as much as your body needs then it is hard for the dancer to get the maximum energy that they need. Dancing takes a lot out of the dancer. So many muscles are used that without the proper nutrition to give them strength it can be near impossible.

These days, the image of a dancer is very thin, but still very strong. If the dancer decides to not eat in order to achieve this then it is pointless. Especially since muscles can not be built on a diet of nothing.

The point is, teachers can be right sometimes, no matter how much you might not like that to be true. And really, "If you don't put gas in the car, you can't go to the mall," so eat. Keeping a healthy body is one of the best things a dancer can do to to improve in your dancing.