Day 1 for NYSSSA 2014!!!
We welcomed 30 of New York State's finest dancers back to Saratoga Springs today, and began with our first day at The National Museum of Dance. This summer in addition to teaching several Dance Conditioning workshops, I'll also be setting a new piece of choreography. I'll be keeping up with the blog again this summer, so check out postings featuring photos and videos of the students, interesting articles, and fun facts! Today we began with some assessment and wonderful conversation. Lots of excitement-- let's get to work!
Check out Dutch in an overhead squat with his partner, Lucy:
In the assessment we're looking for any deviation of the arms, head, lower back, knees and feet. This will give us information about any muscle imbalances and help to guide our sessions. We also investigated joint mobility, and strength testing.
Most importantly the students shared some of their summer goals, which helped to spark a conversation about what someone looks like vs. how strong they might be. We often think that the grass is greener on the other side, without really knowing the grass, personally. We see high legs and think, wow - that's so beautiful. What we might not realize is that the dancer with an incredible amount of flexibility may have other issues, like developing strength. It is about finding the best YOUR body can offer to you for what your goals are, not someone else's.
It's a tall order, to accept the things we cannot change about ourselves -- like the skeleton we were born with or previous injuries -- and to improve the things which we CAN control. That's our summer goal. Not to be someone else, but to be our best self. And it starts today!
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