Oh, the pain!!

Ouchies.

My dance studio is gearing up for the yearly recital, which will be next weekend. My classes (at least some of them...) are ready to perform, and all is right in the world! Except for my body.

The studio owner is a former teacher and "mom" of mine. One of her daughters and I grew up together in dance, goofed off together, and foolishly drank frappachinos while stretching at the barre. Both of us teach at the studio now and enjoy it very much (particularly the reconnection we've been able to share). There are a few other young ladies who've found employment with our former instructor. Missing how much we used to dance together, and believing ourselves capable of showing up the new group of teenage dancers, we've decided to choreograph a routine for ourselves to perform in the recital. A great idea, until you remember this gives us a week and a day to create, perfect, and perform. Also remember that none of us dance as much as we used to, and are not nearly in the same shape as we once were.

We had our first go of a rehearsal/choreography session yesterday after some other business we had at the studio, and now I am in pain. We want to make the dance spectacular, but realize we can't do some of the old tricks we had, because we're out of practice. I told myself as a dance instructor that I would be active-I didn't want to be one of those teachers who stays seated, having the assistant do all the work. I do consider myself an active, mobile instructor. But at the same time, I teach tap dance, NOT lyrical/jazz/contemporary/modern. I have bruises on places that have been pretty and clean for the past few years. My bones ache; my muscles ache; my neck aches. And I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!

Fig. 1: Not me.