Method or Madness...or both?

Adrienne Fisher | May 05, 2008 | 0

Eva Yaa Asantewaa
Photo by Deborah Feller

Before I go off on the rants that have been simmering in my head, I want to mention something pertaining to a person in my last blog. I said that Eva Yaa Asantewaa's dance podcast, The Great Dance Audio Podcast is wonderful, but I said that I was sad that I didn't hear more from this podcast because of its quality content.

Well, lucky for me and all of my readers, I just found out that she has a blog, InfiniteBody, and a new podcast (well, it has been around for a while, I just wasn't aware of it) Body and Soul, in which she shares with the world her insight on the goings-on in the dance world and her in depth interviews with great dancers and other dance professionals. Her blog and podcast provide great ways for dancers to be knowledgeable of what is going on in the dance world and also to get inspired by all of the talent and brilliant creation that exists all around us, but sometimes seems hard to find or overwhelming to find unless we have some assistance and/or recommendation via a friend.

I think friend is the correct word here. I truly think that those whose podcasts and blogs you follow become friends. These are people who, when listened to at least a few times a week, become more than acquaintances in your life. As they laugh and have conversation with the person whom they are interviewing, you feel like more than just a voyeuristic fly on the wall-you start to feel like you are in that room with them, relaxing and silently participating in the conversation.  The same is true for some of our favorite television shows ( I am going to pretend as if I watch TV for a moment). You get hooked on a series because you fall in love with the characters, and you want to spend a portion of each evening "hanging" out with them. They are worth it to you. This is why I think a podcast such as Fresh Air with Terri Gross, This American Life with Ira Glass, Diggnation and Radio Lab are so much more fulfilling than listening to a monotone news channel in which the anchors lack much of the charisma and flow that you will get with these personalities.

Now, I will sing a different note-LaDuca character shoes-I think it is a D flat-hehe. I have a strong love hate relationship with these shoes. On the one hand, they make your feet look beautiful and you have a lot more range and control in your feet. On the other hand, the leather is very fine, soft italian leather that breaks easily. My current pair of LaDucas have broken in five different spots. After they broke the first time, I brought them to the Capezio shop to have them mended for $40. he guaranteed that this mend would last for years-not so much. I found out after the fact that you can bring your broken LaDuca shoes into the Laduca shop on 9th ave in midtown, and Phil or one of his assistants will fix the shoes for about $15. I wish I had known about this before. I don't think that he always did this, but considering how easily the shoes break, I think it is a nice gesture.

I can't tell you how many times I have been at an audition during which a dancer has hobbled off of the dance floor after one of the straps on their LaDucas has snapped. A snapped strap is not a good thing in any sense of the phrase (especially when  you are in junior high, and the boys think it is the an awesome way to flirt by snapping your strap that you might not have had the year before...boys have cooties! :o) Anyways, LaDuca shoes are kind of like pointe shoes in the sense that they need to be replaced very often if you dance a lot in heels. I was in David Marquez' musical theatre class the other day, and I was in fourth position plea rolling my upper body down to my knees when the inside snap of my left LaDuca snapped. With all of my weight forward on my left foot, my foot remained stuck to the humid floor as my knee rotated inward hopelessly toward the broken strap. At this moment, I joined the many "my LaDuca did me wrong" veterans of the past and hobbled off the dance floor ripping the culprit off of my left foot.

I sat and watched the final fifteen minutes of class, which was a wonderfully dynamic combination set to the voice of Ella Fitzgerald. David Marquez gave us some great advice in this class, which seems very simple and obvious, but I think all of us need to be reminded of this at times: "Don't fake it! If you are not actually enjoying yourself and in the moment, it is very obvious and un-enjoyable for the audience to watch."  He told us that we might not be reaching our goals simply because we are faking it and making funny faces that we don't really mean while we dance.  He told us that if we are getting hired by faking it, we should question the people who are hiring us. This made me chuckle out loud. The next thing I did (before becoming a broken LaDuca veteran) was look at my face in the mirror while I danced. I know that this definitely took me out of the moment, but, don't lie, you would do the same thing after a teacher gives a blanket critique like this one.

As I sat there in the back after hobbling off of the floor, I thought about the fact that I probably needed to invest in a pair of sturdier Capezios for class and rehearsal purposes. Your beautiful LaDucas could break when you least expect it, so I think that it is smart to save your LaDucas for auditioning and performing only.

I knew that my injury, thankfully, didn't seem to be that bad (just a minor twist), but it got me to thinking about what I would do if I injured myself badly enough that I couldn't dance anymore. Coincidentally, I got an email later that day from the lovely Eva about Cedar Lake Ensemble's contribution to the Career Transition For Dancers this coming season. A certain portion of each ticket that they sell will go to this organization. This is so wonderful because so many dancers forego college because of the youth factor of having a dance career. Especially in the company world, once you graduate high school, you sometimes only have 10-15 years to have a professional career. So, if a dancer injures oneself, it is so beneficial to have an organization help you financially and psychologically through the transition into a new career. Many of us prefer to stay in the world of dance by teaching and choreographing, but this isn't for all of us. Please educate yourself about this blessing of an organization. www.careertransition.org

Speaking of short careers, I was in ballet class the other day with Irene Kent, and she told me that I should start practicing a more American style ballet in comparison to the Russian Vaganova that I have been working on. Basically, her opinion, which has been proved statistically time and again here in America, is that American ballet dancers tend to have longer careers than Russian ballet dancers. The Russian ballet is very famous for their broad chest that is very expressive because of the training of the upper body that includes the "closing" of the upper back by pressing down the shoulders and pushing the shoulder blades very close together. This is aesthetically breathtaking as the females chest seems infinitely expressive. The problem with this technique, she says, which makes perfect biological sense, is that the spine is shortened in this process. In American ballet, one is trained to elongate the spine by pushing the shoulder blades away from one another, therefore, creating as much surface area as possible on the upperback. By doing this, lifting the spine upwards by reaching the head toward the sky and pulling up the tummy by shooting the belly button "underneath" the rib cage, you get a much longer, healthier spine. Also, Irene says that the weight is a lot more forward in American ballet. The Russians'  pinching of the shoulders and, hence, arching the back, causes the weight to shift back slightly. Apparently, the Russians have much shorter careers on average...so, considering I just hurt my knee, I think I should focus more on the American way...although, I will continue taking Natayla Stavros vaganova ballet class... I will just inject a little American into her Russian-making a healthy American dominant American-Russian hybrid!

Before I go, I want to say that today I was inspired by Marc Robin. He is a choreographer/director, who I have auditioned for four times this year! He works so much all around the country, and I always get a feeling of peace when I am in the room with him. He is always so happy. I think that he must have the Kathleen Marshall recipe that I talked about in my last blog, which produces health and happiness even when directing and choreographing, which could be an overwhelming burden for some. That recipe is 1 part method along with their 1 part free-spirited creativity.

Gotta have the method and madness be equal...otherwise...
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geronimo!!

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Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Broadway (all tags)