Anyone Can Do Ballet!
I’ve decided that it’s finally time I do some serious meal prepping.
I’ve been doing a little bit of meal prepping by prepping my lunches for the week ahead by buying a bunch of veggies (carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers) and chopping them on Sunday ahead of time. I also usually make some spicy mayo dip to go with it like you get a sushi place. The rest of my lunch usually ends up being yogurt and some fruits like bananas and apples (as well as the occasional smoothie).
This week’s profile is of Krishna, who in addition to being a dancer herself, taught a ballet basics class to visually impaired women in NYC at Visions at Selis Manor last summer and teaches ballet to her sports medicine clients.
A plié is defined as:
Bent, bending. A bending
of the knee or knees. This
Pretty much every class starts with pliés and they’re usually the first thing we learn as ballet dancers, no matter what level we start at.
Suzanne Farrell said, “Plié is the first thing you learn and the last thing you master.”
After waking up one morning last week with terribly dry skin (after barely drinking any water the day before), I’ve decided to get my act together and start drinking more water. I’ve tried a bunch of things from apps to flavored water, but I ultimately usually just end up resorting to the same habits.
I also usually end up super dehydrated in ballet class and tend to drink more when I get home. Then I end up having to get up and pee several times throughout the night, which makes for a grumpy Kristen in the morning when she hasn’t slept well.
Like I usually do when I need advice, I turned to the various communities I’m a part of on Twitter and Facebook for some tips for drinking water throughout the day.
Monica from http://www.runninghappilyeverafter.com/ recommended Camelbak‘s website to determine how much water I actually needed to be drinking. I love my Camelbak insulated bottle I got from Core Power, so I went to check it out.
Camelbak has an awesome Hydration Calculator on their website:
The calculator unfortunately didn’t have ballet (or any type of dance) in their activity list. So I went with running for 30 minutes. You answer other questions too, like how much you sweat, what color your pee currently is, the temperature, etc. I love that it tells me how much to drink of my water bottle, too:
(I have the podium water bottle)
They’ve got a link to a more in-depth blog post about it, too, with a more detailed calculator.
Monica also said:
“I sometimes use Crystal Light instead of the drops. another thing I do in the summer, I’ll toss in frozen grapes, berries, pineapple, mango, or citrus slices, kiwi – really whatever fruit I happen to have on hand. Or even make ice cubes out of my favorite fruit juices and toss those in. It looks more visually appealing to me so I have bigger incentive to carry it with me and drink.”
Ashley of showmeashley.com had some great advice about fruit-flavored waters, too:
“I have a couple tricks I use. It is hard for me to drink water when it is cold especially. I always have a water bottle on me. I make myself drink one glass before I eat /first wake up. Using straws helps me drink more for some reason. I used to use flavoring but didn’t like the ingredients so I used a bottle with an infuser on the bottle I can toss fruit in if I am struggling drinking regular water.”
Thanks to her, I’ll be on the hunt for a fruit-infuser bottle at Marshall’s (where she got hers) and other discount stores!
Amber also shared this great blog post on How to Increase Water Intake and told me to take it slowly and not try to increase it by too much all at one time.
Others had similar recommendations:
“I keep a water bottle next to the bed. I sip every time I wake up (which is every few hours) and then before I get out bed, I drink a cup, at least. My bottle is 4 servings, so I usual get two before getting up to shower.
I also noticed I drink more with a straw, so I always use a straw water bottle.
I keep it with me and try to sip every hour when I get up to walk or stretch. That adds up quite easily.
I’m a big diet coke girl, which I use as a water challenge. I can’t have one at dinner if I don’t have a tall glass of water first. Same for refill. If we are out somewhere, I have to have a water in between. I always drink less diet coke and get the water in….”
–Susan of www.notsosuddenlysusan.com
I loved this recommendation because I’m a huge coffee drinker and often forget to drink water when I drink a lot of coffee. Starting now, I’m going to try to drink one cup of water before every cup of coffee.
Megan of http://www.thelyonsshare.org also had some great suggestions:
“Lemon water, cucumber and strawberry water, and plain cucumber water are great! I have my clients put rubber bands around their water bottle each day (depends on the size of the water bottle, but usually 4-5 bands). Each time they finish the bottle, they can take off one rubber band, and it has to be rubber-band-free by the end of the day! Setting a calendar reminder for every hour to take a few sips also helps if you’re at a desk!”
I’m definitely going to be setting a calendar reminder for drinking water, since I use my calendar for a lot of other things, too.
Twitter had some great advice too, my favorite being to associate drinking water with an activity you do frequently (like using the bathroom!) and holding yourself accountable by sharing results on social media.
Here’s what my next steps will be:
How do you motivate yourself to drink enough water throughout the day?
Kathy Mata is the director of Kathy Mata Ballet, a “non-professional, community-oriented dance company” for adult ballet students. The company was founded in 1988 and is based in San Francisco. Ms. Mata also teaches ballet at Alonzo King LINES Dance Center. Ms. Mata would like to thank Claire Vlach, a dancer with KMB, for her help with editing this interview.
Photo of Kathy Mata by Christine Fu.
I wanted to give professional working adults the opportunity to do community service work by performing for seniors and for benefits for worthy causes. When I was teaching at the Jewish Community Center, there were regular events there for seniors and my dance class was asked to perform. In 1988, the group branched out to perform at other facilities who had heard about us and requested us to come perform for them. The seniors were so appreciative that it became a part of our lives.
Did anyone ever discourage you from starting an adult ballet company?
What performance opportunities does your company offer to its dancers?
We perform 8 times a year. We perform multiple times a year for senior living facilities and community centers, and once a year we do a large theater performance for independent seniors and other members of the community. We also do fundraisers for causes such as brain tumor research and local dance facilities.
I ask students to become familiar with our group and to volunteer with us to learn about the experience of performing. We have volunteers who help us with several aspects of the show, including help with costumes, stage management, coordination with senior centers, publicity, and soliciting donations from local businesses. Some of our volunteers have then joined the performance group, and others continue working with us in their volunteer capacity.
People have the misconception that ballet is for children because of the physical preparation it takes to develop a dancer. It was believed that once the body was set and the skeletal structure and muscles were fully developed, it was impossible for adults to train. This is wrong. Many dance schools are now breaking that barrier by offering adult open classes and opportunities to perform. It has been shown by doctors and medical experts that ballet is one of the best exercises for physical injuries such as back problems, because it works both sides of the body evenly. Ballet is also a good therapeutic outlet for stress.
