random notion #1

I read a paraphrased version of this idea on a strength forum and wanted to repurpose it for dance, because damn if it ain't true--

As an advanced beginner, you'll start to notice your strengths. As an intermediate you'll get to know your weaknesses. Addressing those weaknesses is the only way to become great.

Just a thought!

my practice

In the comment section of my now not-so-recent rant about how people should practice their dance, a local dancer named Laura asked how I go about structuring my own practice. Being more aware and articulate about my practice is getting easier, since it's part of my Pewter curriculum and I've also started getting ready to take 8 Elements in April. So making this post is easier today than it might have been in the past.

To reiterate, I've always practiced dance, so maybe it's a brain muscle that's well developed for me. As I've mentioned before, it was a rule in my house that if I wanted lessons or classes in something, I had to show that I was working to get better. That idea has stuck with me, so I rarely pursue things that I don't have time to work on. I'm outrageously bad at being a hobbyist.

My practice is not always as long as I'd like for it to be, but I try to keep it consistent in terms of when, if not in terms of how long or where. Whenever I try to make sure my setting is "perfect" for practice (e.g. "I have two hours undisturbed for practice, I am not stressed about anything, my body feels great, I'm in the studio/gym/space with mirrors and adequate space, etc.") I get obsessive and get nothing done. I don't demand that level of preparation or exactitude for most thngs--I'll read, write, work, sit or socialize anywhere at any time, so I can only assume it's a particularly deceptive form of procrastination.

Scheduling-wise, I usually practice 5-6 days a week, between 20 minutes and an hour and a half. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes at night. When or where is way less important than I used to think. I don't beat myself up if I miss a practice. Anymore. I don't count taking or teaching class as practice, for obvious reasons. I count cross-training as non-negotiable, but again, not practice.

So here is a vague outline of what my practice might look like. Regardless of the length or focus of the session, I usually do something from each section, but in a longer session I might choose more than one thing, or do it for longer, or with more variations. In a smaller space, I might not get to do across the floor work, and if I'm really strained for time I won't do any static stretching. I usually foam roll before and after activity, it's for flexibility rather than safety.

Warm Up:
Cardio type things. In a larger space I might:

• run around
• some plyometric movements
• skip

In a smaller space I might:

• do jumping jacks
• burpees
• something else that makes me get warm and sweaty

On my laziest days, sometimes I've just done shimmy drills, but it's only marginally effective for getting super warm, super fast.

Activation:
Sometimes this moves around to after across the floor, but I keep it to before all my isolations/layering/technical work. I like to activate the core muscles that I'm going to use before isolating them (glutes, abs, obliques, quads, hamstrings, upper back) because it gets so much easier to be sure about what I'm using in my movements (just like with lifting)! It also gets easier to work muscles to technical failure later, which is something I try to do in my more ambitious practices. It usually includes movements like:

• air squats, sumo squats or static squats
• glute bridges
• planks/side planks

I hate crunch type activities. But you could use them if you were so inclined. I like to change it up now and then for fun.

Across the Floor:
This is probably my favourite part because it reminds me of being a kid/teenager in dance class. It was always my favourite part. I do all kinds of stuff across the floor, depending on my mood, what I'm working on, if there's anything pertaining to choreography that I'm drilling, etc. I wouldn't normally add "bellydance" movements here, I save that for later. This is more for full body movements or patterns (there are YouTube videos linked to many of the steps I mention below to give an idea of what I mean, but the list isn't exhaustive, it's specifically tailored to my current interests and needs):

• jazz walks, jazz runs
• kicks
• turns

My projects lately have been chaines turns, pose turns, and leaps  (I am pretty freaking rusty at leaps, but jumping feels super good). It can be as simple or as complicated as necessary, depending on just about anything. It's been a really long time since I incorporated a lot of jumping or kicking movements in my dancing, but I find myself wanting to lately, so I'm focusing on them here. That can and will totally change over time. And don't mistake the fact that the dancers I've linked to here being pretty good for some implication that I'm at that level with all these movements. I struggle more with some than with others.

To reiterate: while I don't consider this the time to work on traveling bellydance movements, neither does it need to be anything as technically complex or as classical/Western or ballet-ish as what I've been working on. This is an awesome time to do walks, runs, foot patterns, or any other traveling movement pattern that incorporates a full body cycle. 

Isolations/Technical Work:
Bellydance stuff. Glutes, slides, squares, locks, lifts, etc. I'll keep track of what I practice or what I sucked at in class or what occurred to me to try layering as I was falling asleep. If I'm really bad at something, I'll try it again next time I practice. For example, twists have always been a major chink in my armour, so I worked steadily at them over the past month to the point where they actually look pretty good now. Granted, I had some guidance from my teacher on that, but I think it's a good strategy to spend the most time practicing the thing you want to practice least.

I usually choose a muscle group (like glutes, obliques, back/abs, etc.) or a movement type (squares, circles, slides, etc.) and then drill it through a bunch of different means:

• standing straight in the mirror
• en relévé
• on one leg (often with the other leg moving through a variety of positions)
• in a squat position
• layered over footwork (walking, step-touching, pas de bourré, chassé, cross-touching, box steps, etc.)
• layered with other body isolations

Focus:
I work in different ways on an area that I'm actively trying to improve--lately it's been hands. It can be something more abstract like a body part, but it can also be something technical. I don't get too worked up over what it is, as long as I'm working. I'll invent or find exercises to work on that one thing. Dance books are awesome, and taking lots of classes and workshops can give ideas about what to try and how to work on it. When I'm in heavy rehearsals for a piece or show, it can even just be running choreography or drilling the parts that aren't adding up.

Creative:
I work on making new choreography, experimenting with different movements that I've taken in a class or thought up, improvising with different concepts in mind. It varies from day to day and week to week.

So I think that's kind of the long and short of it. One thing I could probably do better in the future is log my practices better. I don't keep track well enough of how much I'm practicing or what I work on. I just do it. So I'll make that a goal going forward.

Hooray!

heather at the dark salon

My piece from the Dark Salon/Opening Party at The Dark Side Studio on December 10, 2011.

Choreography!

Music is Rihanna's "Only Girl in the World" covered by Ellie Goulding (the version from BBC live lounge, if you know it).

I had a lot of help from my kickass teacher Audra making, refining and dancing this piece. Having a kickass teacher is pretty much the best thing.

strong feelings about practicing

Here's what I think about practice and dance. Not even what to practice, when or how often. Just the concept itself. This obviously doesn't apply to people taking a class for fun, or for cross-training or just to try it out. I'm thinking more about the ever-growing number of us who more or less live for dance. And I know that there are a lot of us.

I'm grateful to my parents for continuously telling me, all through my childhood, that there's no point dedicating your time and resources to an activity if you are unwilling to practice.

Honestly, it sometimes felt like nagging when I was being dragged away from "fun" things to practice the piano, but what it taught me was that I wasn't that passionate about the piano after all. So after talking it over, I stopped playing. With dance, I was told consistently that I needed to practice, but I never, ever felt like I was being dragged away from something more interesting. Dance was the most interesting thing. Which is how I knew it was my thing.

I feel like it just might be the most valuable practical tool I ever developed. Not just the sheer will to practice, even when I super don't feel like it physically, emotionally or mentally; but the understanding of why that is important.

PRACTICE IS IMPORTANT. It is the most important thing. It is more important than getting onstage, it is more important than costumes, it is more important than knowing the right people or being in the right shows. In many ways, practice is more important than class. Practice is more important than anyone having heard of you, it is more important than having really awesome pictures on Facebook that 234,864 people "liked".

Why? Because if practice is less important to you than any one of those things, you're probably in this for the wrong reasons, and one day you're going to quit. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day it will fall apart, or it will be too much, or not enough. And there won't be anything to fall back on. Not in the sense of "being really good" because maybe you are and maybe you aren't, but nothing in the sense of having any real, lasting, personal connection with your own work. With the thing you care about the most.

At the end of the day, when the show is over and the students go home and it's just you, your own dance is what you're going to have left. And your connection with your personal practice is the foundation of that. It's about love. Not in a wishy-washy or flaky new age-y kind of way, in a literal, executable way. Practice is about loving your dance. It's about loving dance so much you dance all the time; loving dance so much that you want to be better and better; loving dance so much that dancing itself makes you a happier, more complete person.

It's also about taking the time to know your body, your art, your technique, inside and out. Not just trying to nail a fancy new movement or layer or combination, but going back to basics, consistently and with total intention. Feeling centered because every moment spent practicing is a moment spent improving incrementally and understanding your own dance better.

It feels like everyone else understands this already and we're late to the party or something. Classical musicians practice basic scales every time they practice, which is every single day. Ballet dancers always practice at the barre (every day!) Marital artists practice basic, simple katas, EVERY DAY. Not just once in awhile, but every day.

We are not too good to practice. We are not too advanced to practice. Practice isn't even necessarily about being good or advanced or whatever. It's about spending time with what it is that you do. And we're supposed to love that.

tendu

What's a tendu?
Well it is a ballet term, so you can call it something else if you want. Personally I think calling it "the one where you stick your leg out" sounds a lot less pretty, but whatever, right? In essence, a tendu is this (though the person who made this image appears to have spelled tendu with an -e):


Maybe that looks out of context.
Here's another tendu:And another:

This is probably starting to look familiar now. If you are holding your weight on one leg (we'll call it the "working leg") while you dance, you kind of have to do something with that other leg and foot, both for balance and for aesthetics, and whether it's lovely or awful, you are now in tendu.

Why do I care?

For ballet dancers, the tendu is a core barre exercise. Seriously. Being able to properly hit that position reliably with beautiful feet, perfect stability and an aesthetically pleasing path is really important, and not that easy. Not to mention the fact that it sets dancers up for more complex and demanding movements like arabesques and even jétés. I don't think I have ever attended a ballet class where I didn't do tendu at the barre, including my first one. It's a primary building block.

For belly dancers this is even more complex because on top of having to master hitting this pose beautifully and with stability, we often layer torso and arm movements on top. Why is this so hard? Because we need to divide the attention of our core muscles between stabilizing and say, undulations or glute squeezes or whatever the eff you want to do in tendu. We will also frequently lean into the hip or to the side like in the pictures above which can further upset balance.

It's not that I see dancers flying offstage or tipping themselves over on a regular basis when moving onto one leg, but there are two issues here. You could go lower and stronger with more confidence and grace if you practiced your tendu, and you also wouldn't end up with ugly feet, which is something I do see all the time.

Look at that picture of Zoe up there. There is so much energy coming through her right foot, it's crazy. I love that she's pulling the attention toward her extended foot with her gaze and the line there is just awesome. It completes the movement and matches the energy in her hands. It's crazy and not that common for belly dancers, but it looks so damn good and everyone should know how to make the most of that foot it even if they choose not to emphasize it in that way.

Anatomy of a tendu

There's a disparity between a strict, sharp looking ballet tendu and what we often do. For example, we may lean, like the belly dancers in the pictures above, while for the most part in ballet, the matching shoulder will stay directly above the working leg.

Ballet dancers also turn out when they dance, and you probably think I'm an idiot for pointing this out, but I'm sure not everyone knows. This means that their legs, from the hip (not the knee/foot!) are turned out such that the toes face outwards instead of forwards, meaning that the feet are somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees from "parallel" to each other.

Modern and jazz dancers (who are generally ballet trained as well) sometimes use tendu with traditional ballet turn out, but also have the option of leaving the foot parallel, for a different look. As belly dancers, we also have the option to choose how to use our non-working leg. Credit time: Samantha Emanuel really got me thinking about this while she was in town last spring and I've noticed that it's come up for me repeatedly since then.

With turn out, the knee and the top of the foot face outwards, showing the heel to the audience. It looks crisp and energetic and the heel gives the leg interesting dimension. Without turnout, the knee and the top of the foot face forward and the knee can sink inward, giving a sexier look. The absence of the heel can make the leg look really long.

Basically I think they're both awesome stances and I think it's important to know both so that you can use the one that works best instead of just using the one that you know or the one that you use be default.

Point your damn foot

In fact, not only point your damn foot, but point it in a way that works for what you're doing. And in the interest of full disclosure, my foot sometimes doesn't point the way it should. It happens.

Basically there are two ways to do this--pointing your foot, or pointing your toes and your foot. I'm going to draw another ballet/not ballet analogy here, because we have a lot of options. Ballet dancers don't get that beautiful look by pointing their toes. They point, or rather extend, their whole feet. Basically, a beautifully pointed foot starts in the ankle, moving to the arch, and then finishing with the toes.

Here's a diagram that's for figure skaters, it comes from an article here, but I think it works to illustrate the difference:

Having elegant feet means having strong feet. I like the kinds of exercises in this video by Anna Botelho for strengthening the feet and often use similar ones. I also used to get really nasty cramps in the bottoms of my feet and have found that the combination of making them stronger and remembering to stretch and roll them (with a tennis ball or a rope) has really been helping.

my fitness and nutrition habits

Warning: So I'm not a certified personal trainer. I am YMCA certified in Group Fitness Leadership - Group Resistance, although I missed my continuing education hours last year, so I need to re-test. To be honest, I've been nervous about making this post, because I don't want it to come across as though I'm recommending anything. I've just been asked quite a bit about my lifestyle and habits, so I eventually decided to go for it. Read this, read some other things and then make up your own mind.

I've been told by my teachers over the years to consider cross-training in swimming, biking, Viniyoga, Ashtanga yoga, pilates, ballet, running, elliptical training, resistance training, thera-band training (a la Eric Franklin), and pretty much everything else under the sun. I don't currently do all/most of those things, but I've dabbled in each. They all offer their own benefits and advantages.

So for the record, this is not me telling you to do or try anything, just talking about what works for me.

___

Cross-training for dance, fitness, nutrition and overall conditioning are major passions for me. It's not right or wrong, but what I do is very efficient for my lifestyle while still producing the results that I need to feel good and perform well, in class, onstage, at work, in the gym and anywhere else I find myself.

THE GYM

Truth time: I didn't bother for a long time. I ran outdoors (I learned to run using the C25K protocol), I danced in class and at workshops, and looked to diet to manage my weight. During the winter I popped in to the gym to scoot around on the elliptical for awhile, but that was the extent of it.

I did lose and maintain a healthy body weight, but I also got kind of skinny fat. I lacked power and explosive strength, not to mention stability.

I started barbell training to develop in those areas. The aesthetic outcome has been remarkable too. I used a modified version Starting Strength protocol to get started. It is a time and energy efficient program that focuses on core movements are not only important for everyday life, but transform dance movement and posture, and overall body control.

• Squats have helped me improve my leg and lower body strength; my levels are better (getting down real low without wobbling), and I have been able to learn to stick some crazy turns a little better. This is hands down the best full-body movement for stability and strength.
• Deadlifts have enhanced my lower body and particularly lower back awareness. We all know the back is a tough subject for us as belly dancers, and stronger is definitely healthier.
• Overhead press has helped me nail my delts. I've noticed that my ability to separate them seamlessly from my traps, creating smooth, snaky arm work has been seriously enhanced.
• Bent over rows have given my upper back a boost in power to be able to drill in and maintain awesome "tribal" arm posture.
• Bench press has helped me develop my chest and complement my upper back strength.

I like to lift heavy, but that's just me. I do few sets/reps with high weight 3-4 times per week. There's a myth that for women this leads to a "bulky" or "over-muscly" look, but that's seriously untrue. For me it helps me create power and strength efficiently. I also prefer to train with real barbells and weights instead of on machines, but again that's just been a personal choice that really comes down to comfort level and interest.

I also work on accessory activities like pull ups, dips and ab work. I like to get my cardio outside or in the studio.

I like the way my body looks, and I've discovered along the way that in dance, beautiful flowing lines and effortless movement come from power in the body. Strength breeds grace.

FOOD

I eat weird, no argument there.

Over this past winter I flirted with the notion of intermittent fasting. What is that? (From Get This Ripped)

It is a way of fasting to lose fat that involves cycles of feeding and fasting.

1. Intermittent fasting will not slow down your metabolism, instead it will speed up your metabolism for the duration of the fast. In order for your metabolism to slow down, you will have to fast for 3 days straight (this is not recommended). To read about this study, click here.

2. Intermittent fasting will not cause muscle loss. Instead, you will have more strength during a workout when you are in a fasted state. You will also experience more muscle grains as a result. This is very counter-intuitive.

3. When you’re go on an intermittent fast, workout, and then eat after, your body will integrate protein and carbs more efficiently. This allows your muscles to recover and grow faster. Check out the study here.

I discovered that it really agreed with my body and my lifestyle and in July of this year I committed to the idea on a more permanent basis. I've been happier, healthier and less hassled about having to track down snacks every two hours. I don't outright recommend it to anyone, because it's a huge break from what is "normal" and although it works incredibly well for me, I am once again vastly under-qualified to recommend any diet to anyone. But that's what I do.

Basically I eat the same amount of food as anyone else, but I fast for about 18-19 hours a day. Usually I eat between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. I've lost a good amount of fat this way, and once I psychologically adjusted to the idea, I felt like I had a lot more time on my hands throughout the day. It also allows me to eat the bulk of my food right after I work out, preserving and promoting muscle growth while still helping me get leaner. I have not experienced dips in energy or mood, even towards the end of my fasting period.

I eat a lot of protein. Like a lot. On weight lifting days, I eat less fat and more carbohydrates. On non weight-lifting days I eat more fat and fewer carbohydrates. My eating and training habits are along the same lines recommended by Martin Berkhan and the Leangains protocol. I have seen dramatic results following this in terms of aesthetics, endurance, strength and overall quality of life.

I eat lots of chicken, eggs, almond milk, greek yogurt, sweet potatoes, asparagus, mixed greens, mozzarella, salsa, tilapia, turkey, quinoa, and other stuff. On the other hand I don't worry that sometimes my diet has "junky" or "processed" foods in it if they fit my macros and calorie goals. So I still eat rice cakes, protein bars and all that good stuff too as needed. Low stress eating.

SUPPLEMENTS

You probably don't need to take all of these things, and everyone has an opinion about supplements, so do your homework and form yours!

• Multivitamin - Everyone could probably benefit from one, and anyone who is eating a strict or calorie restrictive diet should definitely take one
• Calcium/Magnesium - I take extra calcium for my bones! My multivitamin has a little less than I need
• Vitamin D - Again, my usual multivitamin has a little less than the daily recommended dose, and there is evidence that it supports neurological health (there is some MS and ALS in my family, so this is important to me)
• Fish oil - It's just overall great for you, and could probably benefit anyone. It's good for your heart, your skin, your hair, your teeth, your joints, your vision, your brain, and overall prevention of a huge number of diseases
• Whey protein - Although I eat lots of meat and eggs, it can still be a challenge for me to get enough protein in my diet every day. I use whey protein to make sure I get enough to help me make and maintain muscle
• Creatine - I use creatine to feed water into my muscles. This helps me lift better in the gym, and good gym performance leads to better muscle growth!

So that's what I've been up to. Again, I felt mega-weird about making this post, because I realize that people's attitudes towards fitness and nutrition vary wildly, especially in this community where we strive to be body positive while still feeling that pressure as women and dancers to look a certain way. But to me, it's about a lot more than looks. I want to be strong and able to execute anything my crazy brain can come up with. And I want to be happily dancing along when I'm 100.

Essentially: my view is this: as a dancer, I consider myself an athlete. If I want to present myself as a professional dancer, I believe that makes me a professional athlete, so I feel that learning to treat my body like the incredibly precious, valuable tool it is is absolutely necessary. I am constantly reading, researching and tweaking my own routine and my views, just as I'm constantly looking for new inspiration, movement, music and ideas.

I'd really like to hear what your thoughts and habits are!

teacher? read this!

I just read a very insightful, well developed post by Lori, co-owner and operator of Wild Lily Dance Centre. It's about the qualities that make a great dance teacher. I found myself reading and nodding and thinking "yeah, totally!" and I wanted to share this with you.

In the future, I know I'll be passing this post around to anyone when this topic comes up.

My favourite bit:

We all take a little of our teachers with us into our classes with us, and if we are complimented on our teaching, we have our ‘ancestors’ to thank.

At the end of the piece, she thanked her teachers. This is something Rachel Brice has also done whenever I've studied with her. We tend to put our teachers on pedestals because they're amazing, and so it's nice not only for the acknowledgement, but for the reminder that even the greatest teacher should still be someone else's student.

And thank you to my teachers, right from the beginning of my dance (and in very random order), whether I've studied with them once or a thousand times--Lisa, Linda, Marie, Monique, Dounia, Mardi, Lynn, Heather, Andrea, Meagan, Rachel, Rhonda, Mira, Margaret, and Audra.