Oh no - not the vegans!

Thanks to funding cuts to the Tri-Councils, fewer and fewer graduate students are able to secure funding in the basic sciences and must live on departmentally-determined stipends. Luckily, in Alberta, we get paid at least on par with the national average. At $23 000 per year (not including the cost of tuition), however, we're not exactly rolling in the dough. Even better, our funding is not spread out evenly over a given year. I made $500 more per month in September - December than I did January to April. Similarly, I will get paid $600 May - August than I did January - April. The result? Skinny summers.

Anticipating skinny summer this year, I have come up with a number of strategies to reduce my grocery costs while still maintaining high nutritional value in all of my foods. Let's not kid - even with significant pay cuts, I'm still dancing 11-15 hours per week and I'm still running 20-30 miles per week. This means that I have to keep my caloric and nutrient intake up while still maintaining a budget within my humble means.

Being a vegetarian, I don't spend any money on meat but I do spend ridiculous amounts on produce. I eat a ton of raw produce, so, on a dollar per weight value, I don't think my major budget suck sits in celery and red peppers. Rather, my largest expenditures seem to happen in the dairy area of my diet. I have well-established staples: soymilk, yogurt, eggs, and cheese. Soymilk is one of my only sources enriched with Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 aside from my daily multivitamin AND I'm unwilling to compromise on buying Silk. It's the only brand whose "Original" flavour doesn't taste like crap, so I just make sure to buy more than one when they're on sale. I have decided to compromise on my yogurt purchases and switch from my fairly expensive Activia favourite to Safeway's Eating Right brand, which also offers a wide selection of flavours but for a lot less money (per gram). Eggs are an important protein source and I don't eat them everyday so that only leaves cheese.

Dear god is cheese ever expensive. I love cheese - on toast, on pasta, by itself - but on a dollar per gram value scale, it just is not worth it. Plus, eating cheese is just a blatant denial of my developing lactose intolerance (a gift, I suppose, from my South Asian ancestors). So, I sought out some inexpensive but equally delicious cheese substitutes that did not compromise either the protein or the calcium content of my "cheese". In other words, I decided to go vegan.

If you walk into Planet Organic, you can find BAZILLIONS of cheese substitutes. Rice cheeses, soy cheeses, real cheeses with awesome flavouring ... but I really wanted something that cost less than brand name cheese. So I picked up some nutritional yeast, which is what I have come to understand is the vegan's ambrosia, then I set about the difficult task of browsing my iPhone apps for cheese recipes. Trial and error resulted in both exultation and revulsion but two winners have emerged from my week-and-a-half long toil in the kitchen. (It's a discovery process, so ... this will have to be a running list).

1. Whole Foods Tofu Ricotta - this is an amazing cheese substitute that is CHOCK-FULL of vitamins, provided by the tofu, low in fat, and easy to make at home. I have used red onions in place of the shallots and a white wine/rice vinegar mix in place of the miso and it tastes just as good. I even used this in salads and it worked beautifully. Carnivore Boyfriend was impressed that my veggie lasagna contained no cheese. "But ... it doesn't taste like sand. Are you sure it's not real ricotta?" Sounds like a win to me.

2. Vegan YumYum's baked Mac and Cheese - even baked mac and cheese with real cheese did not taste this good. Seriously, there is some magic combination of seasonings here that resulted in better cheese sauce than real cheese can produce. Sharp cheddar is expensive; yeast and tomato paste is not. I added only 1.5 cups of macaroni and substituted the last 1.5 cups with frozen broccoli and corn. Ridiculously good. (Oh, and I added turmeric to make the sauce yellow and deceive my unsuspecting boyfriend but the tofu ricotta from the week before tipped him off. Damn. Looks great though, no?)

Bag of parmesan: $6.99. 1 cup nutritional yeast: $0.72. No brainer.

Best of all? These cheeses lend themselves well to pastas and other carbohydrates which comprise 65% of my diet. Lower fat content, increased protein content, great taste = happy and healthy athlete here. I think it's important to note that these substitutes were very economical for me because I keep most of these ingredients on hand already - tofu, soymilk, tahini, etc. are all built into my budget and already reside in my cupboards. Literally, I only needed to buy yeast. For others, the switch might not save you any money. Worked for me!

Am I ready to make the switch to veganism? Well, not yet. Eggs are still important to and economical for me. Plus, if I'm going to make a big switch in nutrition, I would prefer to do it after my next race (May 1). But I will say that vegans can eat like royalty with a peasant's salary and just a little bit of creativity. And maybe some tahini.

Free training is the best kind of training!

I am well aware that you have to stretch everyday to get more flexible. Similarly, I am well aware that I will have to run more regularly to comfortably run my second half marathon in less time than my first. These things are obvious and make perfect sense, however, I am rather reluctant to embrace them because I am ridiculously lazy.

In an effort to jumpstart my training, I have been on the hunt for something new to boost my morale and to keep me accountable to staying consistent with my workouts. My boyfriend, whose cute little retired parents teach classes at the William Lutsky YMCA, automatically suggested Zumba. If you don't know what Zumba is, click here.

If you know me, you know that Zumba is what I do while working on my computer or at my lab bench. My friend David suggested I start marathon training, which sounds terrible considering that my half-marathon training is pretty darn half-assed. Like I told the associates at my favourite Running Room store, I firmly believe that I need the time and the cause to commit to running a full marathon because I want to do it right. Now is not the time.

Then, like a beacon of light out of the shadows of laziness, came the voice of one of my fellow dancers. Kelsie is taking yoga teacher training with Lion's Breath Downtown and suggested that I try some free yoga on Friday nights.

Say WHAT?!

She said FREE yoga, yo. From 5:45pm to midnight, Lion's Breath lets you sample everything from flow yoga to acro-yoga (acrobatic yoga) to movement. How long will this free yoga streak last? Nobody knows. Best to get in on a great deal when its available, right? Free yoga will:
1. Help increase my flexibility and help me get in my daily stretch on a day during which I would rather be drunk.
2. Ease me back into activity that I enjoy and can feel the immediate benefits of right after class.
Sometimes, we just need a little help to see the rewards of our activity to motivate us to continue. Some people look for the loss of inches or pounds, some people shave minutes off of their personal bests, and then I just want to feel like I did something productive and useful for my body as both a dancer and a runner.

On one hand, this spring rut has me discouraged because I haven't been doing as much running and/or dancing as I know I should be doing. On the other hand, motivational ruts like these also help me discover activities to love!! If you have any other suggestions to help me breakout of the winterspring hybrid blues, fire them my way!

As a side note, my modern instructor, Jodie Vandekerkhove is offering a nearly-free drop-in class at Mile Zero on Monday nights in May and June. She is super high-energy and trains her dancers like athletes (which is why I love her) AND the "final performance" is going to be AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! If you're interested, let me know and I'll refer you to Miss Jodie!

The rise of the recreational dancer

I dance with a passionate group of people at the University of Alberta who are collectively named Orchesis. The dancers who are part of this group are talented and dedicated to learning and performing modern and jazz movement. Our group varies in age, from high school students to undergraduate and graduate students to adults in the community and U of A alumni who want to continue their dance training after leaving the institution.

Hardly any of the dancers in Orchesis are aspiring dance professionals and that, I think, is what makes this group so unique and impressive. Most of the dancers lead dual lives, as teachers and lawyers and accountants and consultants by day, then they train and they rehearse and they perform by night. Though dance is not their career and they do not get paid to perform to the best of their abilities, they continue to show up for classes and rehearsals and devote their time and energy to performance.

Interestingly, since the advent of television shows like So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, America's Best Dance Crew, and movies like Black Swan, dance has become much more popularized and, perhaps as a result, more accessible to the general public. Audiences are becoming more open to watching and trying dance, from contemporary to ballroom to hip hop. Hence, there is a new generation of adult dancers who have already decided on careers other than dance but still want to participate in performance. I'm happy to see that there are more and more studios and institutions that are offering adult recreational dance classes in addition to their regular professional classes.

The recreational dancer must face unique challenges as compared to the aspiring professional. Professional dancers often train from a young age, developing the flexibility, stability, strength, endurance, and stamina to train for hours a day. Recreational dancers often come to dance later in life or return to dance after a long period away from dance, which means they must develop new muscles to support a new range of movement or they must rehabilitate long apathetic muscles. Professional dancers are accustomed to dancing through injury and their injuries are not related to improper technique as often as are the injuries sustained by recreational dancers. Perhaps the most daunting idea for the recreational dancer is trying something new. Walking into a modern class with a new instructor, working with a new choreographer, choreographing for the first time: these are things both dancers must face but the recreational dancer often feels far less prepared to confront.

I recently returned to dance after a long period away. The very first class I took in modern dance left me feeling discouraged and very clumsy. I actually thought I would not return but one classmate convinced me that the class would become easier over time: the best part about classes is that developing good technique requires repetition. She was absolutely right and I am overjoyed that she convinced me to stay. I performed in Orchesis annual Dance Motif that January. In the summer, I performed in my first "independent" dance show with the no/w/here project at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. This year, I am working on creating original choreography for myself and for others in various theatres across the city.

The Heisenberg Principle, choreographed by Celine Cattoen-Gilbert for Dance Motif 2011. Photo by Centree Photography.

I feel very privileged to be a recreational dancer and I feel very lucky to be in a city that affords me so many opportunities to perform as such. If I could offer advice to the aspiring recreational dancer, I would say that you should not rest on your laurels and wait for opportunity to come to you. Seek out classes that will challenge you, work with new and emerging choreographers, watch as much dance as you can, and, of course, find groups like Orchesis that will let you perform annually. Nike says it best: Just do it!

But you're a dancer now ...

One rainy rehearsal, I was sitting with my legs in second and stretching while eating one of those Fruitsource bars. Jokingly, my choreographer frowned my way and said,"You're eating? You're a dancer now. You don't eat." We laughed, I finished my 'dinner', and we danced. Her innocuous comment nagged at me a week later when I read a review of Frederick Wiseman's La Danse in the Toronto Star which claimed that Wiseman made no attempt to address the stigma surrounding dancers and their diets. Dancers are notoriously thin and the profession continues to be plagued with rumours of eating and body dysmorphic disorders. The truth is that dancers must work hard to maintain not only an aesthetically pleasing physique but one that is strong, flexible, and resilient enough to carry them through the intensely physical work that is dance. As a novice dancer, I have a vested interest in this topic and hope to clear up my own misconceptions about nutrition, about body proportion, and how diets contribute to these things. Thus, I am devoting several entries to the topic of dancer diets.

During my adolescence, ballet became increasingly difficult to pursue as my body went through changes that did not necessarily favour my art. The small group of girls taking Cechetti exams conspired to lose weight as a group through a combination of diet and group exercise. High protein, low carbohydrate diets and a rigorous running schedule were set to be employed, though nothing ever came of our plans. The value of low carbohydrate diets has been contested elsewhere but I found Linda Hamilton's advice especially useful on this subject. She reminds us that carbohydrates are an essential energy source for dancers because the calories from carbohydrates are metabolized more rapidly than those from protein and fats, thus making energy available more immediately. High protein diets were encouraged for a short while before dancers became concerned about adding bulk to what should be their long lean frames and, obviously, the high fat content of certain protein sources. Dr. Richard Gibbs, chair of the Dance U.S.A. Taskforce on Dancer Health, encourages dancers to choose complex carbohydrates that are not only wholesome but will help dancers feel full. Brown rice, whole wheat bread, and yellow vegetables, he says, are good choices to this end. Dancers should avoid high fat protein sources such as beef and choose chicken (without skin), tofu, and nuts instead. Taken together, the recommendations of professional dancers and doctors treating professional dancers alike suggest that it is not just the relative proportion of foods in your diet that will ensure a healthy, strong, and slim body but the choices dancers make on a daily basis, as well.

For the vegan/vegetarian dancer? Tofu and legumes can provide protein and a wealth of vitamins, but these dancers must be careful to ensure they receive sufficient vitamins and minerals, especially calcium and the B complex vitamins, either through daily supplements, enriched sources in their diet, or a combination of both. Regardless of whether dancers are omnivores or herbivores, consulting a dietitian and/or a physician will ensure all of your body's needs are met. This is my next goal, seeing as a Fruitsource bar for dinner is hardly the best fuel for a rehearsal.

What about hydration? Dancers can lose up to 2 litres of water per hour during a long hard rehearsal! As with any sport, it is important to consume enough water to support high level performance and a cup (250ml) of water every 15 minutes is recommended for those intensive dance training sessions. Water will aid the metabolism of all of those wholesome calories dancers have been consuming during the day as well as fuelling the body's cooling system while dancers sweat it out.

Let us also not forget that dance is not a sustained aerobic activity (unless you take modern with my beginner instructor!). Light cross-training will ensure that dancers improve their cardiovascular health, burn fat, and build strength through activities other than dance to prevent overuse injuries. Dr. Gibbs suggested elliptical training and brisk walks three times a week. My modern instructor ran 30 minutes every day when she was dancing for other companies; other dancers I know swim daily to cross-train. Every person will have a different preference but every dancer should engage in some kind of activity that increases heart rate into the aerobic range for at least 30 minutes to ensure a healthy, strong heart that will carry them through their dance careers.

Many young dancers are curious about what they should be eating to ensure optimal performance and still maintain the body proportions valued in their profession and, fortunately, there are a lot of great resources out there. As with a good, strong, pirouette, a healthy diet for dancers is about balance!

Tune in next time for a discussion about the history of eating disorders in dance and how the industry is trying to fight back!

Additional resources:
International Association for Dance & Medicine Nutrition Fun Facts
Dance U.S.A. info on Dancer Health (check out the sweet pdf on nutritional guidelines!)
Linda Hamilton's book Advice for Dancers
Ballet Talk forum for young dancers

Don't wait until the next Nextfest!

Unfortunately, the month of May has been incredibly busy. Between working as a mad scientist and rehearsing for the upcoming Edmonton International Fringe Festival performance I shall be performing in (with the lovely and talented Kelsie Acton choreographing), I have been neglecting my blogging duties. For that, dear readers, I sincerely apologize.

Last week, however, I had the pleasure of seeing many of my dance peers perform in Raena Waddell's Five as part of the Dance First, Think Later series at dancefest. If any of you saw Waddell's "The Surrender Method", you already know what to expect. Legs, arms, more legs, and then more legs. Five distinct dancers with distinct styles dance one-at-a-time then altogether. Though the first night was fraught with a few technical difficulties, the audience did not even notice the seamless transition the group had to make from what was the beginning of the dance into a quicker ending than planned. Or, at least I did not. The opening sequence showcased not only the movements that each body was most comfortable making but each dancer's personality. Celine Cattoen's amazing arm strength and calm, Kevin Mohabir's extension and intensity, Phil Kloc's clarity and sense of humor, Jade Pruden-Doherty's beautiful lines, and Raena Waddell's use of the space and choreographic genius. The unison and semi-unison sequences were intense, vibrant, and beautifully danced. Whenever I watch Raena's work, I get the feeling that I could just watch the dance stretch for eternity. Sadly, it ends with a video and dance portion. Though I enjoyed the entire performance (and not just because my friends were up there!), I got the feeling that it was unfinished. The piece needs that last bit of closure, I think, but that could also be me selfishly wishing there was more dance to see.

The second number, a very lyrical piece danced and choreographed by Lauren Kneteman entitled Fall Back to Bed, had a "So You Think You Can Dance" feel to it. Her legs, hips, and spine move in ways that my body certainly could not but I have a slight disdain for lyrical pieces since starting modern. Is it pretentious? Maybe. There is no denying that she is a beautiful dancer and technically well-trained, but I felt as though the choreography could move away from the area of pantomiming and into the realm of inspired. A pretty, sweet, almost hit.

The third number was excellent and brilliant in its simplicity. Hands On, choreographed and danced by Emily Schultz, starts from the hands and just never stops. The sequence repeats to different music and the urgency of her movements appears to change even though her movement does not actually change when she repeats the phrase. From the simple black of her costume to the clean, sharp lines of movement carved by her hands and rolling down through her body to her toes, Hands On will make you wonder how she makes what is clearly hard work look so easy.

Finally, Eryn Tempest's Spaces Stammering: I am no distance, I do not turn my head was a long but lovely piece. One of my colleagues complained that the number was far too long and, reflecting on it, the audiovisual portion does occupy a lot of time. For about 5-7 minutes, the audience watches black ink diffuse across a white screen before the piece and during a pivotal costume change. While I could complain about it, I thought the last costume change was worth it. First, Tempest wears a suit and creeps across the stage wearing a lantern slung across her back. You will be confused, I am sure, though delighted that she is pointing her toes using her hips as she slinks back and forth across the stage. After disappearing stage right, she comes back in a black, flowy dress, matching the ink spiralling upwards on the screen behind her. Girl can dance, yo. Next comes aforementioned five minutes of ink diffusion and a strangely unimpressive lights show from the house but THEN she emerges covered in little lights. The lights were so effectively placed that the slight movements of her head made me smile more than once. Mind-bogglingly cool visuals to follow. Everything in blue, broken only by the tiny white lights that slowly disappear from her outfit and make it to the stage floor, only to be picked up by the first suited character at the end. Tempest's was probably my favourite piece of the night.

Dance or Die is my next destination, assuming nothing goes horribly wrong in my life over the weekend. Since I have been away from this blog for so long, I owe you a proper post and not just a review. Thus, tune in next time for a discussion about dancer diets!!

The flashy and the fantastic Elton Fan

Taking on the life of Elton John would be no easy task, which is likely why Alberta Ballet's Jean Grand-Maitre opted to choreograph a semi-biographical piece on the pop star instead of a concrete biography. Sir Elton John, frankly, is larger than life and the burden on the dancers who portray his character would be immense as they would have some onerous acting to do. Thankfully, Grand-Maitre had the good sense to allow the music to inspire movement rather than force movement into imitating real life.

The dance program started with a flashy, jazzy Bennie and the Jets, complete with rotating stage and metallic cobalt blue bats. Cheers to Kelley McKinlay who managed to perform on the rotating stage for nearly the entire program and still maintain the ability to stand up straight and, even, throw in some grand jetes and saut de basques. Ladies (men?) in black catsuits, complete with feathered shoulders and Charlie Chaplin style hats sauntered about the stage after Elton Fan, transitioning somewhere into the "inner demons", feeding Elton Fan cocaine and caressing him lustily. The costumes are breathtaking and effective: leather thong cups for everyone? Gender bending was the name of the game and the game was highly entertaining. Rocket Man was both playful and impressively technical. Sustained and repeated lifts lit the stage in an unearthly red glow as the dancers futuristic costumes winked at the audience in near darkness.

Yukichi Hattori, who played Elton Fan at the Calgary premiere of Loves Lies Bleeding, is admittedly a better jumper than McKinlay and oozes theatricality out of his pores, but McKinlay truly came alive during the duet between Elton Fan and "Dave" (Mark Biocca). In just white shirts, the men kiss passionately at the beginning and the end of the number, setting the stage for a moving and tortured pas de deux. The extension and the height of McKinlay's jumps seemed to grow as Cross the Bridge crescendoed and Biocca stayed as solid as ever. I found myself grasping at my chest at the end of the number - the choreography, the dancers, the emotion of John's voice was perfectly synced and heartbreakingly moving.

Finally, I feel as though I should stand and whoop for Patrick Doe's energetic and death-defying drag queen performance in six-inch stripper heels. The entire time, I was gnawing at my fingernails, thinking I was going to watch his ankles break, but he managed to do not only pirouettes but Cabrioles and land them both solidly. The whole company received a standing ovation from the sold out house that night, but Doe received thunderous applause and more than a few cheers upon taking a bow.

Some criticize the company for losing the technique and the artistry in ballet by pandering to a commercial, mass media audience but I think the versatility and the eclectic, diverse talents of the Alberta Ballet were showcased in a unique and fun manner through Love Lies Bleeding. True, some sequences seemed a bit repetitive and mildly forced to look like a cabaret, but those were only minutes long and there was always another spectacle happening simultaneously to dazzle the eye. The ballet was never lost but neither was the feeling of being star-struck by the life and music of Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin.

Who knew such a show could take place and succeed in the heart of staunchly conservative Alberta, with only modest provincial arts funding? I congratulate Grand-Maitre, the Alberta Ballet, its partners and collaborators, and Sir Elton John on a spectacular production. I wish AB the best of luck in seeking permission to tour the performance internationally and hope that this inspired production can be shared with the rest of the world. As at the performance at the Olympic opening ceremonies, I think AB will be well received on an international stage and they deserve to be recognized for their tireless efforts to push the boundaries of dance and performing arts into new and exciting frontiers.

Calgary Herald Review
Toronto Star Review

It's all about the hips!

This past Sunday, I was invited to see my friend Shannon's second spring bellydance recital which is a joint production between the Edmonton Bellydance Academy and Aldiya Middle Eastern Dance schools.

The fun of watching bellydance, I think, includes how colourful and elaborate the costumes are and how confident each dancer seems as she is dancing. Shannon tells me bellydance was intended as a dance both for entertaining men and for communicating and celebrating women, though the latter definition is oft forgotten in North American society. Dances on the bill included everything from slow, sexy dances meant to entice a lover to quick traditional tribal dance to modern-theatre-bellydance fusion conveying suffering. Every single woman - and there were many beautiful women of all shapes and all sizes - seemed poised, graceful, and joyful in their movements. The recital was indeed a celebration of sisterhood and womanly wonder!

I am always amazed at the amount of control required to complete bellydance moves. While I like to think that modern has conditioned my body to be fit and strong, especially around the abdomen, I can't say that I could easily do undulations or belly rolls or hip slides or anything my friend Shannon can do seemingly effortlessly. Every woman seemed to know how to manipulate their lower abdomen versus their upper abdomen versus their obliques at any given moment and all of this was separate from the use of their gluteals and their legs, which is what I would have to use to move the same way!! It is all about practice, I have been assured, and a love of movement, so anybody can pick up bellydance if they just spent the time to learn and practice!

The other aspect of bellydance I found interesting was the facial expressions of the performers. If the movements were to be enticing, the face was quite alluring and mysterious, with a hint of a smile and sparkling eyes. In fact, some types of dances required a veil to cover everything but the eyes and charm still oozed through the veil, which I consider a skill. Sorrowful dances were conveyed through downturned eyes and pained expressions, while happy, fun traditional steps were matched with exuberant, smiling faces! What a difference, I think, from modern where facial expressions are often kept neutral so that nothing distracts from the movement of the body. I'm not sure that I even possess the coordination to keep my face from two extremes while dancing: a neutral, expressionless face (for modern) or a wide, cheek pain-inducing smile (a remnant of childhood dance competitions). Not every dancer had the same expression though moving in unison, which puts a really personalized touch on the moves of each performer. Certainly, bellydance represents a unique approach to expression and quite enjoyed watching all of the dances that night, especially the poor sword-wielding dancers whose performance was plagued by technical difficulties. (Way to persevere, ladies!)

The recital was a significant departure from the performances I had attended of late and change, as always, is good. I applaud the confident and expressive dancing of each one of the dancers that evening and the hard-working choreographers who laid the plans for an enjoyable evening. Who knows? Maybe one of these days, I'll dabble in bellydance myself.

Maybe after my abs recover from my last modern class, though.

Where Theatre Meets Dance

The Edmonton Journal's preview of The Effects of Sunlight Falling on Raw Concrete included a biography of established choreographer and dancer Brian Webb. Sitting forever (as always) on a bus, I read that Webb didn't find dance until his degree in theatre at the University of Alberta forced him to take a dance class as part of his degree requirements. He never looked back (thank goodness!!).

I often forget that choreography constitutes a time-consuming and, often, tortured process for dramatists because they have to integrate body movements along with spoken, video, and prop elements without the movements coming across as pretentious or merely an afterthought. Whereas most movement can be appreciated as a stand-alone element in a dance performance, choreography for plays has to fit a specific context and be more directed to a specific understanding on the part of the audience. Tonight's performance of Beth Graham, Charlie Thomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic's The Drowning Girls at the Citadel reminded me that movement is just as important to drama and acting as it is to a dance performance. The play allows the victims of one George Joseph Smith to tell their stories of love, loss, and last thoughts before he mercilessly drowned them. Each woman was wed, insured, and subsequently drowned in the late 1800s by Smith so that he could collect their life insurance before he was caught by Scotland Yard and hanged for his crimes.



Stark blue light floods the floor, on which three immaculately white ceramic bathtubs contain three ghostly white women. The leftmost lady (Vlaskalic) sits up choking and coughing with little ceremony but the second, the rightmost lady (Beth Graham), swings both of her legs on either side of the tub, pulling herself up and out of the water in a splits-position, using her buttocks and core to hold herself up and rigid. The third (Natascha Girgis) does not emerge for quite a few minutes in. The way the ladies perpetually fall back into the tubs full of water re-enacts their deaths over and over, while hinting at the murderer's MO. Slipping into their wedding dresses and white stockings as they recount their whirlwind weddings, getting checked by a doctor for epilepsy, and applying for life insurance all required meticulous choreography and some fantastic unison sequences by all three women. In fact, the women are almost constantly moving, spraying the first row of people with drops of water coming from their skin, their drenched hair, their soaked wedding dresses. Somehow, the women managed to cry real, hot tears for the love they never saw realized in their lifetime and this too joined the water flung around the stage. All of these wet and wild gesticulations only accentuate those moments when the women walk to the front of the stage, light in soft white or translucent blue to make a bleak exposition or candid admission directly to the audience; the silence of their arms and limbs seemed to convey a humourless sincerity not perceived when they were moving. Stillness carries weight in pure dance performances as well, but the use of stillness seems more utilitarian and emphatic in theatre.

The choreography of The Drowning Girls was obviously well-thought out and, I think, really made the macabre humour of the play. Dance is everywhere, readers - you just have to stop to appreciate movement in all of its many forms!!

"It would be sin"

"There's an advantage to coming alone to the ballet," said the young lady who sold me my ticket to the Saturday performance of Songs of a Wayfarer/Seven Deadly Sins. Indeed - my rush ticket put me on the main floor in the center section, quite close to the stage. I should fly solo more often!

Great seats to a great show! I had the good sense to attend the pre-show talk on the first balcony, where Brian Deedrick, Jean-Grand-Maitre, and Yukichi Hattori chatted about the creative process, the intricacies of instructing both dancers and singers, as well as the inspiration behind this year's collaboration. Deedrick was lively, entertaining, and pro-German (as always) while Grand-Maitre and Hattori smiled reservedly and replied quietly into the microphone. Ballet dancers speak with their bodies, primarily. Deedrick and Grand-Maitre stressed that Sins/Songs was their effort to bring dancing and singing ever closer to each other, blurring the lines between each profession and setting a new precedent for this unique collaboration. Yukichi Hattori apologized for over-spending on his elaborate costumes and set design.

Curious, I settled into my seat to read the program. Songs features the music of Gustav Mahler, sung by Allyson McHardy and danced by five couples. McHardy entered the stage in golden splendour, walking easily down a ramp lined with bare trees. The soft lighting contrasted sharply with the brightly-coloured dancers, who looked surprisingly casual, as though they were auditioning for the cast of Rent. A hawaiian blue Tara Williamson started the show with a contemporary solo, hitting her chest and covering her mouth between easy turns and smooth arabesques, establishing an internal conflict of sorts. But the music sweeps the other dancers into a dance of greeting, where partners are exchanged and both men and women leap happily in the air toward and away from one another. First blush love - a couple dancing in their own separate spaces and coming together on occasion to establish a connection. Partnership - a couple dancing as one entity, essentially, with lifts galore! Finally, loss - how strong and articulate each of their limbs are! Principal dancers Kelley McKinlay and Tara Williamson conveyed both the sensuality and tortured nature of love that was never meant to be. McKinlay exits, leaving Tara to repeat her opening contemporary solo. All the while, McHardy sang atop her tree-lined slope like a goddess watching over her people. Where is this interaction between dancers and singers Deedrick and Grand-Maitre promised? To me, it seems like the singers have their part and the dancers theirs.

I need only wait until the end of intermission, when the stunning audio-visual display for Yukichi Hattori's choreography for Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins zapped the stage. Anna, one woman played by two people - a dancer (Williamson) and a singer (Patricia O'Callaghan) - wants to be famous. Her journey to stardom is full of temptation by the seven deadly sins, which she seeks to avoid but, ultimately, cannot. Hattori's lavish expenditure was well worth the spectacle, from the integrated captions built into the stage set all the way to the junk food costumes, getting pummelled by starved, gluttonous dancers. O'Callaghan gets a gold star for her mild dancing while maintaining a steady, strong voice to narrate her sister Anna's spiral into fame and [mis]fortune. Williamson, for her part, does speak German on occasion, though she is mostly occupied with getting her bright red clothing ripped off by her sister or raving fans, leaving her tiny dancer's body bare and vulnerable. My favourite part of the set, though perhaps not the most exciting, was the great white door in the center upstage. After Anna gives in to pride, she screams at her fans who leave her in a dilapidated heap on the floor, half lit by a spotlight on the white door and half shrouded in darkness. Her eyes are dull but her feathered and sequined body continues to sparkle, even when lying still. All for what? That door gated her entry to the stage when she was flying high, giving her a sense of belonging and ownership. The same door prevented her exit with her family at the beginning of the play and stayed shut when she realized that fame was not exactly what she wanted, physically excluding her from her ideals. Despite some minor technical difficulties in the middle of Anna's struggle with lust, the performance seemed to go off without a hitch and I was almost sad to see it end.

I wanted to see dancing and singing intertwine and I got it! A lovely bill on both sides, with beautiful singing and beautiful dancing, complementing one another perfectly on stage. What in the world is next for this collaboration? Perhaps Alberta Ballet will start training their young dancers to sing and vice versa ... whatever the next collaboration may entail, I hope to hear and see more from both the ballet and the opera together very very soon!

Dance is like sleep - you can't really bank hours.

It's been a tough two weeks at work, which means that I have been neglecting my dance classes. Unfortunately for my core, modern class is usually the first to go because the class takes place on a Wednesday night, sitting smack dab in the middle of the week where work can easily find priority over dance. What this really means is that, come Saturday morning, I attempt to get all of my dance in one morning to make up for the lack of activity during the week.

So, I start at 9:30 with a beginner jazz class then move straight into the intermediate class at 11:00am. While I would like to say that I am not phased by the 3 hours of class because of the amount of hours I logged in rehearsals this past autumn for Dance Motif, I am sorry to say that I am simply not conditioned for that kind of activity. Actually, three hour classes have been great for my flexibility because I get 10-15 minutes of stretching four times in one morning. But by the end of the three hours, I was feeling exhausted and hungry.

I read an article in the newspaper about the idea of banking sleep. The idea was that you simply take short naps and expect so many 30 minute napping sessions to add up to 8 hours of sleep and feel well rested. Most neurologists will tell you that it is impossible to bank sleep: you have to get 8 hours of continuous, uninterrupted sleep to get the regenerative benefits of sleep. Why is it that we cannot simply bank hours of dance? Log our hours when we find it convenient then come back and simply improve? I suppose, like sleep or any other, the act of regularly doing dance however many times a week you choose to do it is what allows you to improve and get stronger. I definitely have not been getting stronger or better over the past two weeks.

Luckily, classes extend well into April and I still have a chance to condition myself for a summer full of dancing. During May and June, I will be participating in a mixed-level modern class which caters to everybody, from beginning students to advanced students. I think it will be a really interesting and exciting experience. Look forward to some posts about a lot of learning!

Don't get frustrated!

Sometimes, choreography simply escapes me.

Actually, memorizing sequences of movements in a split second is not my strength but for some students in my jazz and modern classes, it seems to be easy. I like volunteering to go first when we do phrases across the floor so that I can turn around and watch other people dance beautifully and with so much more grace than I can! I find that I build myself up to do the phrase once proficiently and then fail to do it again when the time comes, so I end up walking some distance across the floor with a rather frustrated look on my face.

Yesterday in jazz, I encountered such a moment. My jazz instructor was demonstrating a phrase that she wanted to put in our combination at the end of class and it was not particularly long or complicated but my limbs simply would not do as my brain told me to do. That, and I started on the wrong foot (literally) ... so 3/4 of the way across the floor, she shouted from behind me, "Don't get frustrated! You'll get it next time!"

Such simple advice, I mused. Don't get frustrated. Don't give up. It is so easy just to feel embarrassed and defeated when you don't get the moves right away and then walk the rest of the way to the other side. Yet, it is just as easy to step aside, wait for the next count of eight, and try again. On the left side, I messed up again at halfway across the floor, but I simply stepped out of the way of other dancers, waited for the next musical cue, and tried it again.

No, I didn't perfect the movement but I used the entire floor and I got three repetitions of the phrase in on the left side. Eventually, my disobedient muscles will develop a kind of memory that will make that movement familiar and, perhaps, second nature one day. For now, I'm happy just to work on keeping myself from being upset with my inefficient brain-limb connection and focusing on what really matters: the movement I love so much!

Injuries

Whenever somebody questions the athleticism of dance, I simply show them my battle scars. Ballet leaves little visible scars - most of the damage is invisible, hidden in the overstretched tendons, torn ligaments, and rolled ankles left behind by poor technique. The dry, cracked, and red feet left in the wake of hours and hours of rehearsals in pointe shoes could also serve as a testament to the high tolerance for pain most dancers possess.

Yet, when I started modern, a whole new set of visible injuries started to appear. I do not leave modern class without at least one knee bruise but, more often than not, two knee bruises. We work our bodies symmetrically, you know. Last week's class incorporated a move where we spun our bodies around on our sides, walking our legs in a circle. There is a nice, blue and purple bruise on my right shoulder where said spinning occurred. Since I have terrible problems translating movement from my right to my left side, my left shoulder is pristine. Similar bruises appear from plough rolls and various kinds of throws to the ground. Expulsion falls usually turn my hip bones interesting colours. For some reason, I found a bruise on the left side of my sacrum. I must have laid on someone else's toe - I can't think of any other reason for a bruise in such a place!

Bruises are hardly serious and they leave after a while (except the permanent knee bruises) so I pay little attention to such injuries. Last week in ballet, however, I was having an increasingly hard time pointing my left foot. The ankle feels okay to stand on most of the time, but stretching the front tendon hurts like a mother. Similarly, soutenus and relevees are quite painful, though flexing the foot does not hurt. Stretching my IT band ("runner's stretch") also hurts my ankle along the radial side of my calf. Tendonitis, I wonder? A dancer does not mess with their ankles. I am paying a visit to a physiotherapist, just in case.

Also, I seem to have shoulders that frequently pop in and out of my shoulder girdle. I have seen a physiotherapist about this problem and it seems that half of my humeral head likes to dislocate on occasion. Maintaining good posture constantly and lying on a rolled up towel was recommended, though I still have problems from time-to-time.

Most recently, I have been having hip-popping problems. These are not so painful as they are annoying and, I am told, the foreshadowing of pain to come. Unfortunately, I am rather unfamiliar with the idea of seeking medical treatment for injuries because I have always been of the "take it like a man" attitude. But dancing is a whole body activity and requires a healthy, strong, uninjured body for optimal performance. My tendus will never improve if I can't even stretch my foot at the barre without wincing in pain. Plus, my body has carried me through so many experiences. It's time I start treating it right.

Time to see the physiotherapist, I suppose. If anyone has any recommendations for any of the aforementioned problems, give me a shout. I need all the help I can get.

The white flag weekend

What a fantastic weekend!

Close on the heels of Wen Wei Dance's spectacular Friday night performance at the Timm's was my attendance at the Saturday night showing of "Muscle", a collection of movement pieces for the Expanse Movement Arts Festival at the Roxy Theatre. I was eagerly anticipating The Surrender Method, choreographed by Raena Waddell, but Brian Webb had brought my attention to David Raymond's solo performance at this show as well, so I had numerous reasons to be excited for this particular show.

My companion and I arrived too early, so we had some pita and dip at Koutouki's restaurant across the street. Upon our return, there were two naked men sporting Sharpie-d arms that read: DaShit. Inside the doors, people milled about, weaving between painted portraits and a magician building a red plastic beer cup tower. The theatre was blasting Foreigner's "Cherry Pie" while a woman in an American Apparel-style gold spandex romper with suggestively placed gold decoration slithered her way across the stage toward a man in a suit holding a sword erect. A rather large masked man in a cape jumped aggressively about one corner of the stage while the DJ clad in S&M costume bounced to her own beats. Did we just walk into the Rocky Horror Picture show? Wait ... bodybuilders were flexing vigorously all over each other. I don't remember that part of the movie.

The first act set the tone for an entertaining evening. Tall, thin Richard Lee walked wearily out of stage right holding a burger in one hand and an unopened beer in the other. A greedy, self-indulgent mess ensued, ending simply in "Well, I'll never do that again." After a brief mop of the floor, in walked a female magician who managed to convince a reluctant male volunteer to help lock her in a strait jacket. The act was a lighthearted but unfortunately forgettable break in the night's performances.

All of a sudden, the house lights went out and an altered voice came over the speakers, instructing us to surrender ourselves to The Surrender Method. Raena Waddell's legs were the only thing I could see, their white length sliding, creeping, bleeding across the walls over Brennan Campbell's solid grey girth. The chemistry between Raena and Brennan was instantaneously recognizable and strung the two from the back of the theatre to the stage. Here, the dance bloomed, unfurling into black silhouettes on cobalt blue and limbs upon limbs upon limbs. I wished, for one second, that the dance would just slow to a crawl so that I could savour every moment but that would take away from the incredible athleticism that shone in the piece. As the tension built, the lifts became swings and the contact more intimate. There was so much sensuality yet there was very little explicit allusion to sex. In the end, I heaved a deliciously satisfied sigh. The piece was beautifully performed and just brilliantly choreographed. I vowed to do more floorwork and learn to radiate energy right into the floor and out of every extremity.



After thunderous applause, an ominous pulsing sound hailed David Raymond's entrance. On the floor, his limbs ticked about as he strained, struggled, and collapsed. He was some kind of monster, bathed in amber light and clad only in black shorts. His face was human, at times, but held in a kind of perpetual terror or state of catatonic paralysis - I couldn't decide which. Perhaps my favourite image, and the most frightening to me, was a sequence where he was on his feet, bent over from the hips. His massive shoulders rocked slowly, like a propeller failing to make a single rotation but trying pathetically to spin. He jerked forward, his head down and his shoulders moving. A faceless Quasimodo of sorts. His final exit was reminiscent of one of his exits in "Cock-Pit", where he receded into fading amber light, shimmering as he disappeared. A haunting performance and an excellent end to the set.

What a great way to showcase Edmonton's fantastic talents! (And our Vancouver guests, of course!) I congratulate all of the performers and choreographers who participated in Expanse this weekend - thanks for the inspiration and breathtaking imagery. They have long, bright careers ahead of them and I am excited to see future performances!!

(By the way, Tracy Kolenchuk is a local photographer who seems to be everywhere I want to be. You can check out his photographs of local arts and culture - including yours truly in Motif this past January! - at his blog)

WHAT WHAT?! Wen Wei Wang

Check out the feathers on that dude.

I do not think I fully understood how much I love watching men dance until I saw a nearly all-male cast dance brilliantly for one hour straight. There is a sense of power and sheer force men exude when they dance that contrasts quite sharply with the power that women portray on stage. I find that women maintain a sort of vulnerability even when performing strong, sharp movements. Perhaps my perception of women dancing is tainted by traditional gender roles in our society, where women are thought to be soft and emotional while men are thought to be hard and non-plussed. Perhaps, I am swayed by a personal bias where I feel quite vulnerable when I dance, mostly due to a complete and utter lack of experience performing as an adult. Nevertheless, I felt a different energy when the four men entered the stage to begin Wen Wei's piece, aptly titled "Cock-pit".

The dance is somewhat autobiographical in the sense that it abstracts the camaraderie and awakening sexuality of the boys Wen Wei attended professional dance school with in China. A single sentient female presence pervades the piece with a palpable sensuality - her movements are elegant, graceful, and sweeping. The men are vital, loud, and, at times, animalistic. At once, their movements are both comical and poignant. And those feathers. Long, swaying, phallic feathers that compliment beautiful dancing with an aesthetically pleasing movement all their own. Of course, I thought the dance was exquisite.

After the show, I lingered to hear the choreographers and dancers chat with the audience about the piece. One woman thought the feathers were an "exclamation mark" for whatever body part to which the feathers may be attached. Brian Webb suggested that the theme of discovery - as in discovering friendships, discovering conflict, discovering sexuality - really served the movement well as dancers 'discovered' how to relate to their props and how to carry their characters through the dance. One man asked what the significance of feathers attached to the knees of dancers might mean, since feathers attached to the pelvis was somewhat self-explanatory. Wen Wei replied,"It's just about the image. It's a beautiful image."

I am fairly new to contemporary dance but I do know that movement does not necessarily have to be motivated by some sort of agenda, like conveying a significance with societal or political weight. "The body is a clear place" said Eric Hawkins and I believe it, though I find it harder to live it. One particular dancer, Edmond Kilpatrick, did a superb job of dancing a solo free of sexual, political, societal, or psychological agenda. His solo consisted simply of his body, the feathers, and the space. It's a beautiful image.

In short, Brian Webb Dance Company has brought another inspiring performance to Edmonton and I couldn't be more grateful. Perhaps in return, I can persuade a few male friends to look into modern dance ... because I hope to see many many more performances like "Cock-pit" in the future.

Click here for a review of "Cock-pit" from a Vancouver e-zine.

Cancellations

My job is a bit stressful this month, so when I receive e-mails about cancellations, I am usually overjoyed to have the extra time to finish experiments, start new experiments, go for a run, or take another yoga class. Last week, I received an e-mail informing me that my modern class would be cancelled due to a women's volleyball tournament and I found myself surprisingly upset.

Volleyball is a great sport, but, frankly, my modern class is fantastic. Before modern, the intermediate ballet class spins, leaps, and brushes their way across the same floor that I will eventually traverse, creating my own movement or attempting to perform the phrases my instructor Jodie teaches us. I am lamenting the fact that the floor is free of these movements this week, only to be scratched, scraped, and squeaked up by the athletic shoes of the volleyball teams in the tournament, grinding dirt and gravel from the sloppy streets into our floors. *single tear*

Funny, but the weekly ritual of "coming into modern and leaving everything else at the door" (as my instructor's mantra serves me well to remember) has become an integral part of my week. To maintain my sanity, I need to cleanse my mind by focusing on just movement, if even for only one hour and a half, and cleanse my body by sweating out those movements. Sure, I could repeat all of our technique exercises in my living room but I would miss the new phrases that we get every week. For some reason, I like watching Jodie invent phrases that look confusing, complicated, and that force me to train my body to move in ways I never even thought my body could move. I missed that sorely this week.

So what's a girl to do without her weekly modern class? Yoga? That would certainly help improve my core strength and flexibility in an active way. Running? That would improve my cardiovascular abilities and, let's face it, nearly all Albertans need a boost in this capacity every spring. Work? I certainly have enough of that to keep me occupied for the designated 1.5 hours normally allotted to modern class.

Actually, I ended up skipping rope. I felt like it was an excellent alternative to modern because it increased my heart rate in no time, I could work my core by twisting my body from side-to-side while jumping, if I made a mistake I felt it (because the rope would either hit me in the face or tangle itself beneath my feet), and I ended up on the floor laughing at the end of it. It was so much fun that I did not regret annoying my neighbours with half an hour of pounding on their ceiling. I mean, I landed through my entire foot, so I could not have been that loud ... The reason anybody returns to an activity every week is because they find that activity really enjoyable. I have tons of fun in modern class and I was upset about the cancellation because I thought that would mean I would miss my weekly dose of active fun. All I had to do was get moving and I found that my body just responded instantaneously with smiles and happy thoughts. My dance instructors always refer to 'muscle memory' as the way your body reacts when it encounters a movement you have done before: the movement becomes easier as you build muscle memory. In this case, my muscles remembered the emotional association I made with specific movement - like jumping - and allowed me to conjure those same emotions when I got moving again. Jumping making me smile = muscle memory in action!

I will be happy to return to modern class next week, but I was happy to have some time to rediscover some Wednesday night joy without it this week.

Arrogance leads to weak ankles

There is an advantage to being a beginner ballet student with 12 years of ballet experience behind you. Instead of frantically memorizing the foot positions at the barre, I can focus on improving my tendu and maintaining my turnout. I can add arms to my leg movements without hesitation. I can ignore all of the technique tips given by my ballet teacher before and after the exercise, right?

Wrong. For some reason, I thought that a few years of experience ending six years ago qualified me to become my own ballet instructor and I fidgeted with my nails while our substitute ballet instructor went over the proper way to perform a glissé or a pas de bourré. I thought that my prior knowledge of how to complete a movement proficiently made me the expert in the class because, frankly, I've done it all before.

True, past experience helps. My muscles have developed a specialized memory that make some movements feel like second nature and will require little to no brain power to pull off in a technically proficient manner. Yet, there is no point at which my technique (and especially MY technique) will be perfect. There is no point in my life where I can sit back and say,"Now I am the best dancer in the world and I don't need the feedback of anyone else." There exists an endless list of movements, steps, and phrases that I stumble through and generally mess up. There are jumps and turns that I cannot do to save my life. The solution? Back to basics.

I must always return to the most basic steps and movements and improve my form. When I do a single pas de bourré, I must remember to keep my leg straight from the brush of the foot to the soutenu. I must strive to keep on my weight like every single other dancer out there, beginner or professional. My ears and eyes should be open when my instructor offers useful tips, from analogies that include raindrops falling off of arms to understanding the grounding of a sequence of jumps. I shouldn't beat myself up about mistakes but I shouldn't let my head inflate to the size of Jupiter when I succeed either. Balance, it seems, extends beyond arabesques and developpés.

Today reminded me of what I love about dance: I have a lot to learn.

A weekend to get inspired

Hello fellow movement enthusiasts!

Just thought I would advise you that the Expanse Movement Arts Festival will be showcasing some of the very best talent in E-town starting March 4 and running until March 6. I also thought I would tip you off (read: shamelessly plug) some of my own acquaintances and fellow dancers from Orchesis.

I had the privilege of working with Raena Waddell during the maintenance rehearsals for Josh Beamish's piece "Faceless Headwoman" for Dance Motif 2010. Raena is a stunning dancer, a talented choreographer, and a fun person!! Working with Raena helped me to re-focus my energy into every extremity while on stage, even while standing still. Her acclaimed piece "The Surrender Method" has been re-mounted for Expanse and I am looking forward to catching her own work in action!

Kathy Metzger-Corriveau is an established modern dance teacher and I am currently taking a ballet class under her direction. Her sharp-eye has helped me identify some of my weaknesses in technique and her patience is helping me turn those into strengths. The piece she has choreographed for Expanse sounds incredible as it details her pregnancy and all of the changes that come with bearing her two children.

Finally, Kelsie Acton is talented dramatist and an amazing dancer. We have danced together in Josh Beamish's piece for Dance Motif 2010 and I look to her for direction every jazz class! Countless hours of rehearsals have gone into Kelsie's piece - I know because she was often running to them after 3h of jazz class! - and I look forward to seeing all of those plans come to fruition as she choreographs and dances a piece that draws on multiple visual media for inspiration.

Regardless of whether you care for any of the aforementioned pieces, I suggest you check out Expanse at the Roxy next weekend to get inspired and get moving! I know I will hardly be able to stay in my seat!!

Click here to read the Edmonton Journal's preview of Expanse.

Click here to find details about Josh's piece for Dance Motif 2010.

Welcome one and all!

When I was six years old, my mother drove me to a dance studio twice a week to participate in tap and jazz dancing classes. Tap wasn't my scene (I need a better inherent sense of rhythm) but jazz made me feel like I could fly! When I turned 10 years old, the dance studio required me to take ballet to supplement my jazz training. I was not enthused. My skinny little sister took ballet and I hated having to watch slow adages set to boring music. After two years of ballet training, however, I was hooked. The aesthetic of an unfurling developpé was unparalleled by even the fastest chaîné turn. Turning out my legs became second nature and participation in exams was a necessity. Year-end recitals were full of sequins, chiffon, red lipstick, and bright green eyeshadow and I loved every second.

Dance is an expensive sport and I was forced to choose between jazz and ballet in my teens. I chose ballet because I had advanced faster in ballet than in jazz and, truthfully, my preference had shifted from fast-paced, fun-loving jazz to slower, intensely focussed ballet. By high school, I had to choose between school clubs and dance class and I decided, perhaps regretfully, to pursue running and volunteer work at school.

Seven years later, I noticed an advertisement in the newspaper for a performance by a student group - Orchesis - at the theatre on campus. Curious, I bought a $10 ticket and attended the show. The dance was breathtaking. I had never danced contemporary nor had I watched an excess of contemporary choreography but I longed more than ever to dance after watching the show. I purchased a year-long Orchesis membership to receive two weekly dance classes from September 2009 to June 2010 for a more than reasonable price and plunged back into dance once more.

This blog is dedicated to chronicling my journey. It's about a love for movement and a growing passion for dance. It's about learning to feel comfortable in my own skin and learning about the amazing and unexpected things my body can do. Best of all, it's about my adventures with new, up-and-coming choreographers as well as established, critically-acclaimed choreographers and dancers. I may never be a professional dancer but dance has surpassed the status of a mere 'hobby' in my heart. It's a love I hope I never find myself apart from again.

Thanks for coming along.