For fans of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Pig a Pancake who live in the DC metro area, author Laura Numeroff will be in town tomorrow, signing autographs and reading from her latest book, The Jellybeans and the Big Book Bonanza. We’re big fans of the books so the kiddies and I will be there! Details below:
WHEN: Thursday, April 1, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
WHERE: Sleepy’s, 5401 Lee Highway Arlington, VA 22207
Maybe we’ll see you there!
Good news/bad news:
Good: my hated ballet class is over for the semester. Finito. Done. No more late starts, bad combos that don’t start and stop with the measure, weirdly-choreographed allegros, ignoring the left side, repetitive adagios, and absence of normal studio etiquette.
Bad: no ballet at all.
For Karmela, a week without ballet is a week with no sunshine. My body needs it. So does my brain. For me, there’s nothing more satisfying than listening to my teacher dictate what I’m supposed to do, then being able to quickly internalize and execute the pattern into something akin to a routine. Mind and body working in perfect sync.
What to do, what to do…?
I’m seriously considering returning to my old studio. You know, the one that’s expensive and far away. 
Maybe for just once a week?
Sigh…decisions, decisions.
Last Saturday, I learned how to stand on my head. Sort of. While I learned the mechanics of how to stand on my head, I didn’t manage to to actually LIFT and HOLD. It’s a lot harder than you think, but not for the reasons you think it is.
From watching my dad do headstands for years and years, I always thought that the ability to do the pose came from strength in the neck, shoulders and upper back. From trying to do the headstand, I learned the truth–that success comes from perfect head positioning and incredible core strength.
Start from the beginning.
Dianne, our most fabulous teacher, first led the small class through a warmup practice. Then she guided us through tons of preparatory positionings and stretches. Then we went to the wall where she had us find our balance. THEN, we tried to do it.
First time I attempted to go up, I couldn’t do hold on to it (thank god we were doing it next to a wall) because from seeing my kids go upside down in gymnastics, I instinctively used momentum to kick myself up. Course I immediately hit the wall. Second time I tried, I couldn’t get my legs up because I was using my legs instead of my core to go up. Third time, I managed to bring myself up, but the balance wasn’t there.
Dianne was extremely encouraging throughout the whole class and even commended us on being excellent students. She said she’d never had a class before where all the students managed to get into the position. I think it was a combination of the fact that she’s an excellent, patient teacher who eased us gently into the position, and the fact that we were all experienced yoga students. And were willing to check our fears at the door.
I want to do more headstands but Dianne warned us not to do it cold and not to do too many of it (a limit of about five a day). And no rushing into the pose either. Everything about the headstand is deliberate, calm and controlled. And frustrating. I mean, how am I supposed to get better at it if I’m only allowed to do five a day? And not use momentum? And only do it after warming up?
Methinks perhaps that’s the whole point. Learning the headstand isn’t just about learning headstands. It’s about learning patience too. At the end of class, Dianne read us this most excellent quote from author Cyndi Lee:
“Inversions allow us to be suddenly free from the fixed mind. We learn from them that our perspective is never solid but dances with our ever changing world. Up is now down, down is now up. Then, when our world shifts dramatically, which it will, through the death of a loved one, a change in employment or even falling in love – our ability to stay centered as our world turns is already there. For we have practiced it by going upside down in Headstand.”
Namaste.
It’s recertification time for me this year which means I’ll be attending the DCAC Fitness Convention in Alexandria in August. The convention organizers recently released this year’s curriculum, and as one of the early registrants, they’re giving me first crack at signing up for classes. As I perused the list, I’m happy to report an abundance of dance-based workshops. I also noticed the following:
For me, I’m sticking with the basics. I teach dance and KB so the majority of classes I’m taking are in those two areas. I signed up for “Street Kata 1″ and “Street Kata 2″ (the only martial arts-based classes in the entire convention), a whole slew of dance classes (“Clubbing,” “The Groove Method,” “Groovalicious Dance Party,” “Dance Depot,” etc.) and some yoga classes in between to slow things down and stretch (I’m particularly interested in one called “Gym Yoga Can Be Real Yoga”). Oh, and I’m taking two lifting classes, one of them ballet-based (“Ballet My Way by Balletone®).
I’m still scratching my head about the dearth of KB classes, especially since they’re offering some truly exotic stuff this year. There’s one called Gymstick® Nordic Walking (what in the world is that?) and Peak Pilates MVe® Chair Pedal Progressions. For real? In years past, I’ve complained about the lack of dance-based classes and I’m glad they listened to me. There are TONS this year. But the lack of KB? Is KB on the wane and I didn’t know about it? I don’t know about the rest of the country but my KB class remains full. Hopefully this is just an oversight on their part.
IN A WORD: Cushy.
The good folks at Gaiam, after hearing how my yoga teacher essentially trashed their product in front of the whole class, weren’t about to take that lying down. One of their employees actually contacted me and offered to send me one of their premium mats so I could test-drive it myself and write about it here. Since I’m not in the habit of turning down swag, I enthusiastically said yes and awaited the arrival of my third yoga mat.
And arrive it did, on Friday, all purple and new in a box that also included a free Rodney Yee yoga DVD (thanks Nathan!). Right away I noticed (a) how much lighter it was than my Manduka eKO, and (b) how much thicker it was than my Gaiam Dragonfly. It’s kind of an in-between mat. I was actually a bit wary to see how much bounce it has. One the one hand, nice cushioning for the knees. But on the other hand, will I be wobbling during tree pose?
I gave it the run-through today during intermediate Vinyasa class, and here’s my condensed report:
OVERALL: It’s a darned good mat for an advanced beginner yoga enthusiast like myself. I think people with bony knees (like NDH) will appreciate the springiness. But I still prefer my Dragonfly Hydrangea. Which I will talk about in another review.
Just a short post here to tell you that I now am the owner of (count ‘em) THREE brand-spanking new yoga mats. Check em out:
Light pink: Gaiam's Dragonfly Hydrangea; Dark pink: Manduka's eKO; Purple: Gaiam's premium mat
So I now have three mats, and they’re all laid out in my living room just for this pretty photo. Anybody wanna borrow one?
IN A WORD: Slippery.
Was I not using this mat right? Was I supposed to wipe it down with something before using it for the first time? Spit on it or something? No? Then why were my hands ever-so-slowly sliding forward during downward-facing dog? I’ve read a lot about this mat. Supposedly, aside from the initial rubbery just-out-of-the-box smell, it shouldn’t have a breaking-in period. Supposedly, it’s got superior grip. Super-sticky. A little too sticky even. So why did I need to constantly adjust and readjust my hands during down dog, something I’d never needed to do with my supposedly inferior Gaiam® Dragonfly Hydrangea mat?
Must’ve been me, right? Couldn’t have possibly been this oh-so-expensive, highly-lauded yoga mat?
About two weeks ago, Science Boy came home from breakdance class roundly declaring, “Mom, Imma FREESTYLE dancer! I don’t DO routines!” To which I arched an eyebrow and tartly replied, “Oh yeah? Let’s see who gets enrolled in hop hop class next!”
Science Boy learning a move during breakdance class.
If I’m gonna have any say in the matter—and you bet your ass I’m already hard at work on this—my eight year old is not going to grow up to become your prototypical middle-class suburban American male who has (a) no rhythm, (b) can’t hear the beat and (c) is terrified of the dance floor. WHAT HAPPENED to American boys and dancing??? There used to be a time when dancing was not only a socially-acceptable activity for both women AND men, but it was a skill to actually cultivate and learn. One does not pick up the lindy hop and the west coast swing from an occasional foray onto the dance floor. Back in the 30s and 40s, boys actually spent time rehearsing outside the dance floor, exactly like soccer drills and batting practice. During that time, ALL guys danced, gay or straight, some better than others of course, but it was an activity that everyone embraced if they wanted to be part of mainstream society.
Now, when boys dance, it’s usually at the urging of their mothers (when they’re younger) or as a way to mack on a girl (high school/college/early 20s). Yeah, you know who you guys are. I’ve met very few young men who dance for the love of it. And even then, they don’t take the time to school themselves in the art. They just kind of bop along to the music when the opportunity arises, relying solely on their natural rhythm and nothing else. There’s no practice time, no control, no choreography. It’s all freestyle, with most of it just bumping-and-grinding and jumping up and down with arms flailing. Hell, there aren’t even any new moves these days for boys to pick up. At least in the 80s we had the running man and the snake. I remember some of my male cousins practicing both moves in their bedrooms in front of a mirror. Now? What do we have? This? It’s a routine, not really a move. Quick, somebody invent some new moves fast!
But I digress. This topic is near and dear to my heart and I like to wail and gnash my teeth over it from time to time. How is it that the general population of American men have devolved against dancing? What happened? Was it the introduction of breakdancing, a genre that’s all power moves and freestyle and totally removed from the vocabulary of classical dance? When did being a graceful male dancer = gay? Why has dancing been totally feminized? It hasn’t happened in Latin America (thank God), a place where men can SHAKE their hips (***Karmela fans herself***) without a trace of self-consciousness. What, you think these men were BORN knowing how to shake it? Some of them, sure. But I doubt the percentages are any more or less than it is here in America. It’s the culture down there, the environment that embraces dancing and has it intertwined into the national identity.
What’s the American identity? It’s certainly not dancing, not if we so easily got rid of it in two generations. But I aim to bring it back, one boy at a time, at least with my boy. SB already has the showmanship and comfort on the breakdance floor. And they’re currently working on stomping to the beat.
Now let’s see if he can learn some moves, put them together, and do an actual routine. Edward and Joven and the rest of the Six Step Crew: I’m counting on you guys to school him, okay?
So. (Aside: why do all my posts seem to start this way?) Anyway. So. When I lost my old 80GB iPod Classic, which I inherited from NDH after he got his iPhone, for sure I thought he was going to kill me. In my sleep. With a blunt hunting knife. But NDH doesn’t roll that way (thank god!). Instead he just forbade me from replacing it. Well, not in so many words, but at the time of the “misplacement” (I still firmly believe it’ll turn up one of these days), I was under a spending moratorium, and so couldn’t just run to the Apple store and pick me up a shiny new one.
Anybody seen one of these laying around?
After the spending freeze was lifted (coincidentally timed with the lifting of the federal government’s spending freeze), I strutted over to Apple and got me a shiny red one of these, the cheapest one in the store. It’s got hardly any memory but I figured it wouldn’t matter because I’d be forced to get really selective with the music I synced into it, and so it would only contain songs I really, really love (“At first, I was afraid, I was petrified…”). It would be mine, all mine (rocking it like baby), which would be unlike the old iPod that had been contaminated, er, I mean commingled with NDH’s music. When setting the old one to “Shuffle,” you’d get everything from the complete soundtrack to “Memoirs of a Geisha” (two thumbs up!) to Rush (two thumbs down).
My shiny new 5th-gen Nano. In red, naturally.
I also thought to put all my teaching music into it. That way I can stop lugging around my giant CD case, AND deduct it from our 2010 taxes as a business expense! Brilliant idea, right? So I synced up the new one with three of my kickboxing mixes and then proceeded to use it in class last night.
This is where the good idea fell by the wayside. One thing that the iPod can’t do is adjust the speed of the song. Belatedly, when I was already in the middle of introducing some fan kicks, I felt that the music was a little too fast for the moves we were trying to do. But when I instinctively went to the stereo to try to adjust it, I was like, damn! I can’t! The thing’s on my iPod. A quick glance back at my students confirmed that the tempo was indeedy too speedy. They were all flailing, flying arms and legs, with hardly any form let alone power and coordination. I had to make adjustments and redo the combos on the fly.
So I think I gotta go back to using my old CDs for teaching. Boo. There goes that tax deduction.
First, a big hearty welcome to everyone here who arrived via the old karmelajohnson.com site. I’ve decided to consolidate my writing blog and my dance/fitness blog into one because (a) I’m no longer writing fiction, and (b) because I’m dancing/teaching/choreographing/rehearsing much, much more, which means I’m blogging here way more often. Which tells you what activity is more paramount in my life. So hope you enjoy my musings here on things ranging from fitness to kids’ dance classes to music to why ballet and yoga are surprisingly similar (see below). I might throw in a book review here and there (reading Cory Doctorow’s Makers right now), but I don’t really plan on blogging about writing unless something BIG happens. Like if I meet Ken Follett.
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So onto today’s blog musing: the surprising similarities between yoga and ballet. First, let me dispel two myths:
MYTH #1: People who have never yoga’d before are under the mistaken impression that yoga is “relaxing.” I don’t know about you but my idea of relaxation is not to contort my body into a pretzel and hold it there while I try to see if my lungs still work. For relaxation, I myself prefer a folding chair on a beach with a margarita served by a guy named Julio. But that’s just me.
MYTH #2: Although dancing is a cardiovascular activity, there is the mistaken impression that ballet is “a good workout.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Learning and dancing ballet, while grueling, does not conform to the American Council on Exercise’s definition of optimum cardiovascular activity, one that starts out with a good warmup, then bell-curves your heart rate up to 80 percent of your target rate, and then slowly brings you down to a nice stretch at the end. Anyone who’s ever taken a ballet class knows the first thing you do is a plié, a move done when you’re totally cold and oh, btw, is completely contraindicated by any and all of the major exercise bodies out there, not to mention your local orthopedist. You stretch in the middle of class instead of the end, then you do jumps without the benefit of a cushioned mat or even cushioned shoes, which is all the better for my joints, no? And let’s not even talk about dancing en pointe.
Taken together, ballet and yoga seem like two opposing forces: they were born in the opposite sides of the world; one is an internal practice involving self-awareness and inner peace, the other an external discipline involving performance. Yoga is also about achieving at your own pace while ballet has exacting levels and progression and involves the critical eyes of teachers.
But upon closer examination, heck, you don’t even have to look that close, they both have plenty in common. Both have devotees that worship the disciplines like a religion. Both require years and years of practice to be really good. Both encourage flexibility and grace. And both require extreme control of one’s body and the engagement of the bandhas or the core.
In handstand class over the weekend, my teacher kept repeating the fact that to succeed, we not only needed upper body strength (shoulders/neck/arms), but that we needed bandhas of steel as well. What are bandhas? It’s your core, but in yoga, it involves not so much your abs but your ribcage, your pelvic floor muscles and your glutes. When lifting into a handstand, she wanted us to lock in all three parts, and let me tell you, when you’re afraid you might fall on your head, doing kegels and locking in your ass cheeks is the last thing you’re thinking of.
In turn, this reminded me of a story one of my old ballet teachers said about Russian male ballet dancers. Evidently, as part of their training (and apparently they can do this sort of thing without embarrassment because, well, they’re European and all), they have to hold in a coin between their ass cheeks and do a hundred sautés (rapidly jumping up and down in first position) without dropping the coin. Don’t know if that’s entirely true, but it would explain why the Russians are tops in the ballet world.
Now let me just say that while yoga is good for ballet dancing (as it is for lots of other athletic pursuits, stress relief and general flexibility), ballet dancing is not good for anything. Except maybe sprained joints and painful feet. Wait, no. I seem to remember a study somewhere that said the only type of physical activity that seemed to stave off Alzheimer’s is, yep, dancing. That’s because your body and your mind are both engaged together, lockstep, in doing movement. So there.
In any event, I am going to continue doing recreational yoga and ballet until I can’t do it anymore. I love both activities, and the longer I do them together (not at the same time, mind you), the more I see how they both benefit each other.
Namaste, dancers.
