So yesterday we went to the beach. It was a several hour trip to Spring Lake NJ, a truly gorgeous affluent beach community, where we've day-tripped for years. It was a picturesque day and the beach was lovely (minus cold water!), but today I'm regretting missing class at my home studio (which was at 6PM last night). The desperation for the daily "meat" of class kicks in once in a while when you're off for too long... as all seasoned dancers know. The body gets "lazy" on certain days, and you say to yourself as you sit for many portions of the day, "I can't believe I was doing that! Absolutely crazy! Distasteful hard work!" But then, (at least I) get ancy and that little brain talk becomes absurd. It's an unable-to-be-suppressed craving from deep inside, it's "oh my gosh, must dance", it's what the body can both hate and love at the same time. So to YouTube I desperately turn to dig up dance/ballet videos. Some are documentaries, from a long time ago, and some are current performers and artists - or more appropriately, athletes - of today. Some are current ballet companies' channels, or on the more instructive side, Yoga, pointe shoes, stretching... the list goes on. You can find just about everything there, but it can sometimes patience, time, and a whole maze of videos to reach a certain deeply embedded treasure. And then sometimes, when I want something a bit more familiar, I bring out the old DVDs of performances and recitals. I analyze and study - you can learn so much by pure absorption - and I think, this is why I do what I do - because simply, I love it and there is a sense of wanting to be nowhere else - true happiness. And so after a few weeks' vacation after the 8 week summer intensive program I'm ready with full energy and longing to take the plunge and continue my dance training. Of course, I'm going to smack myself for ever thinking such thoughts in about a month when I'm knee deep in an intense dance program and Nutcracker rehearsals... but for now, the thought seems very nice.
There is a most beautiful quote of author Bertha Damon which sums up an artists' spirit and gives any goal or focus perspective. "Getting what you go after is success, but liking it while you are getting it is happiness."
It's what every artist strives for. Don't compromise and it can be attainable.
Until next time,
Bunhead
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