Born Again Dancer

June 2012, Big Range Dance Festival Choreographer: Yelena Konetchy Music: Nathan Laningham Photographer: John Clark, who owns these photos, so don't take 'em. :) 9 feet of silk form the common thread in this series of four dances by Yelena Konetchy "A Common Thread" in Big Range Dance Festival, Austin, TX, June 2012. Choreographer Yelena Konetchy. Photo by John Clark, all rights reserved. 

October 4, 2010 After an hour of tourist toystore mania at Hamley’s on Regent Street, I kiss my husband and kids good-bye at Piccadilly Circus. I will walk toward Covent Garden while they walk the other direction in search of a bus stop at Trafalgar Square to get back to Pimlico and our hotel. “Number 24,” I reminded him. He rolls his eyes at me.  I turn to walk up Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus and picked up my pace, like a horse to the barn. Class. I’m going to class. It has been over two weeks since my last jazz class, and that one was 5,000 miles away in Austin, Texas. I’m in London. And I’m going to class! I feel elation and anticipation in my whole body as I walk to Pineapple Studios. There's  some trepidation and slight intimidation, too. What will this class be like? Will I have fun?   This vacation-induced dance abstinence actually came at a good time. I am coming off a creative binge that included producing a flashmob , perfor...

Here we go again ... my dance card is full -- full of unused classes that I must use or lose by the end of May. "But you go to dance classes all the time," you say. "How is that possible?" Because I carry dance/fitness membership cards like Lindsay Loh@n carries credit cards. Because I'm dance diversified, like a well-balanced portfolio. Tap over here , Broadway Jazz over there , hip-hop, pilates and barre classes here and there . Because almost a year ago, I stopped going to ballet every week to make more time for exercises to strengthen my core (yawn). An ever-changing schedule of work and family activities and commitments requires Advanced Dance Class Calculus to create a weekly routine. (Its expression is obvious only to me.) And it is imperfect, hence the surplus classes on my dance card. But it's happened before , and here I go again. Nine classes in two weeks? I can do that. My diverse dance schedule created a collection of dance/fitnes...

For five months, I ignored a nagging pain in my hip, lower back and leg. When three ibuprofen didn't do the trick to get me through a ballet class, I decided to see the orthopedist. I'm now a diligent physical therapy patient and pilates student, doing my clamshells, pretzels, etc. on a daily basis. Until I'm back at the barre more often, here's some of what I miss about ballet class. "Oh my gawd." "Like when you’re training a dog not to pee in the house, when they pee, you take them outside to the grass. You’ve got to train your muscle memory the same way. Finish in fifth." "It's like baking cookies…if you leave something out, it doesn’t work. Same thing – being on demi point – if you’re just partway there, it doesn’t work, you must lock in the ankle." "How do I say this without hurting anyone’s feeling or getting fired? Keep your hips forward."  "It’s okay if you do it that way, I’ll just talk about y...

Wow. I had no idea the "dance blog" community was out there in force. So pleased to meet you all! I'm grateful for all the support that put Born Again Dancer in the Top 20 at Dance Advantage's Top Blogs of 2011. I've met several insightful dancers and writers who are sharing their dance experiences -- and there's many more out there. People like Adult Beginner , who braved her first ballet class at age 32 and did not cry in class -- I can relate to that. It takes a lot of courage to walk into a dance studio with expectations, whatever they may be -- I've written about the many obstacles we face when pursuing something new, especially in dance. They are financial, mental, logistical, and physical. Adult Beginner earned top votes in the Adult Dance category, and it's easy to see why -- her thoughtful observations, sense of humor, authenticity and self-awareness are magnetic. Looking forward to more! I originally found Dave Tries Ballet on Twitte...