Archives for March 2013

Back to the Barre

After over a month of sitting around (trust me, it’s been killing me), I FINALLY get to go back to ballet tonight. As excited as I am, I’m also super nervous. It feels like forever since I’ve been at a barre and that my body will have forgotten everything.

amethyst

amethyst (Photo credit: McBeth)

Things like….

What if I forget some of the moves?

What if I can’t keep up anymore?

What if I’m in pain again?

…keep running through my mind.

I know I’ll make it through the class just fine (my teacher is super supportive and so are the women I take ballet with!) but I tend to be a nervous nellie. I’ve returned from long gaps between classes before, and I know I’ll work myself back up to the level I was at before. Unfortunately things like jumps (even though I hate them anyway) and pointe are probably out of the question for a while–but I’m still excited to be back in a ballet studio!

I’ll post an update with how the class went tomorrow!

How do you get yourself prepared to return to an athletic activity you haven’t done for a while?

 

Inspiration is Everywhere: Silver Linings Playbook

Over spring break I both read Silver Linings Playbook and go see the movie. Jennifer Lawrence (famous for playing Katniss in The Hunger Games) plays Tiffany, the love interest of Pat Peoples (Bradley Cooper). In both the movie and the book, Tiffany builds a small dance studio in her apartment after the death of her husband so that she can start dancing, something her husband would never do with her while he was alive.

http://www.kcconfidential.com

http://www.kcconfidential.com

I was extremely jealous of this studio: it had nice hardwood floors, a wall of mirrors, and even a ballet barre.

She’s essentially an adult beginner dancer and so is Pat after she ropes him into practicing for hours at a time for a competition in exchange for Tiffany’s delivering of letter’s to his exwife Nikki. I won’t spoil the ending for you–but both versions of the competition (it varies between the book and the movie) were very inspirational for adult beginners of any style of dance.

Have any other movies or books inspired you to be an adult dancer?

Everything is Beautiful at the Ballet

midsummer ballet capture

Last Thursday, my boyfriend and I went to go see the Pennsylvania Ballet‘s performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream to review for thINKingDANCE, my internship. I loved it and it made me want to go back to ballet even more (I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to go back Thursday!)

pa ballet tweet

You can read my review here.

What performances have inspired you to dance?

 

Yoga, Pilates, Running and More!

It’s been really tough to keep up with this given that I haven’t stepped into a studio in awhile–but I should be back relatively soon. Lately though, I’ve been trying to get into better shape over my spring break with a little bit of pilates, some stationary biking, and some yoga. It’s been tough, but I’ve been feeling a lot better lately. I’m looking forward to both getting back to ballet and getting into some running (I just bought a fancy armband for my phone!)

yoga

 (Photo credit: GO INTERACTIVE WELLNESS)

Check out Do Yoga With Me for just about any yoga routine. I did their Runners Injury Prevention one this morning and it was awesome.  It was just challenging enough to help stretch out some of the issues I’ve been having.

What are your favorite activities to do besides ballet?