We are the champions my friends
I was so awesome last night! I did triple pirouettes in jazz class. Triples! Three turns around before you come to a stop, and falling out of it doesnt count.
And I didn't just do it once - We were doing a short combination across the floor, and every time I did the combination, six or seven times in all, I did a triple on the right side at the end of the combo, and I nailed them! That's huge for me, as I usually struggle with multiple turns, trying to keep from going off balance or hopping through them. On the left side, I did a few successful doubles, which is still an improvement, as I struggle with the left far more than the right. I was still pretty pleased. These were parallel turns, which means that, for those of you who aren't dancers, that I wasn't in a turned out, or ballet kind of position. My legs were pointing straight forward instead of in a V, with the passe knee pointed forward instead of out. They were en dehors turns, or outward turns. Just in case you cared.
But triples! I have never nailed them so securely before. It felt really good. I tried not to gloat about it, but it was so damn fun to get something so right. Could this be a turning point in my turns? (ow, please don't hurt me.) I certainly hope so, as I have struggled with these for years. We'll have to see. And Tuesday in class I did some balances pretty well. So maybe I'm just more able to ground down and be on my leg than ever before. That would be nice.
In not so happy body news, I think I might have a neuroma in my right foot. My mom had one, which is how I even know what one is. It's been numb between my third and fourth toes for years, but I never thought much about it. I just thought it was weird. Like my toes fall asleep sometimes, huh. But mom said that's how hers was, too, and then it got painful, and her podiatrist decided to do surgery. She says the surgery didn't really help, that she still has pain there. Well, mine is starting to hurt. Not all the time, and not I-have-to-limp painful, but like I have a little cramp in the toes, or a little rock lodged between them, or a bruise. Or tendonitis, which I would hope that it is, except for the numbness in the same spot. Which Sucks Ass, because I think I'll have to go to a podiatrist now, and I don't really have time or money. And I don't want surgery. Especially as Mom said it didn't really help. Dammit. Plus can you imagine how foot surgery would interrupt dancing? Man. Stupid nerves. I'd much rather they just stopped working than caused pain. It's not like I wear high heels or anything. In fact, I almost never wear heels at all. I wear Keds. Almost exclusively. And most of my nice shoes have at most a one-inch heel on them. My dancing boots not withstanding, any other pumps I have are two to two and a half inches, and I only wear them for special occasions and job interviews. So this? This is stupid. I shall have to complain about it lots. Sorry about that.
But it doesn't negate the happy dance stuff. In fact, for some reason through most of dance, even if my toes are hurting before, my foot is fine. There are a few places where it bothers me, but usually that's because of my own faulty placement, not the movement itself. If we're jumping a lot I have to be careful. But releve is mostly OK. Huh. Weird. Also, my back has been hurting me, and I'm not sure what I did to it, other than age. Stupid body.
Dancers - constantly injuring ourselves in a quest for self expression and a good, funky time. And with any luck, looking good doing it.
And I didn't just do it once - We were doing a short combination across the floor, and every time I did the combination, six or seven times in all, I did a triple on the right side at the end of the combo, and I nailed them! That's huge for me, as I usually struggle with multiple turns, trying to keep from going off balance or hopping through them. On the left side, I did a few successful doubles, which is still an improvement, as I struggle with the left far more than the right. I was still pretty pleased. These were parallel turns, which means that, for those of you who aren't dancers, that I wasn't in a turned out, or ballet kind of position. My legs were pointing straight forward instead of in a V, with the passe knee pointed forward instead of out. They were en dehors turns, or outward turns. Just in case you cared.
But triples! I have never nailed them so securely before. It felt really good. I tried not to gloat about it, but it was so damn fun to get something so right. Could this be a turning point in my turns? (ow, please don't hurt me.) I certainly hope so, as I have struggled with these for years. We'll have to see. And Tuesday in class I did some balances pretty well. So maybe I'm just more able to ground down and be on my leg than ever before. That would be nice.
In not so happy body news, I think I might have a neuroma in my right foot. My mom had one, which is how I even know what one is. It's been numb between my third and fourth toes for years, but I never thought much about it. I just thought it was weird. Like my toes fall asleep sometimes, huh. But mom said that's how hers was, too, and then it got painful, and her podiatrist decided to do surgery. She says the surgery didn't really help, that she still has pain there. Well, mine is starting to hurt. Not all the time, and not I-have-to-limp painful, but like I have a little cramp in the toes, or a little rock lodged between them, or a bruise. Or tendonitis, which I would hope that it is, except for the numbness in the same spot. Which Sucks Ass, because I think I'll have to go to a podiatrist now, and I don't really have time or money. And I don't want surgery. Especially as Mom said it didn't really help. Dammit. Plus can you imagine how foot surgery would interrupt dancing? Man. Stupid nerves. I'd much rather they just stopped working than caused pain. It's not like I wear high heels or anything. In fact, I almost never wear heels at all. I wear Keds. Almost exclusively. And most of my nice shoes have at most a one-inch heel on them. My dancing boots not withstanding, any other pumps I have are two to two and a half inches, and I only wear them for special occasions and job interviews. So this? This is stupid. I shall have to complain about it lots. Sorry about that.
But it doesn't negate the happy dance stuff. In fact, for some reason through most of dance, even if my toes are hurting before, my foot is fine. There are a few places where it bothers me, but usually that's because of my own faulty placement, not the movement itself. If we're jumping a lot I have to be careful. But releve is mostly OK. Huh. Weird. Also, my back has been hurting me, and I'm not sure what I did to it, other than age. Stupid body.
Dancers - constantly injuring ourselves in a quest for self expression and a good, funky time. And with any luck, looking good doing it.