modern dance

Dance It Out

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Well good morning butt, thighs, and hamstrings !

It’s all good though, I can walk just fine and a little stretching will do me good.

Just to clarify, it wasn’t the kettlebells yesterday morning that had me running to the bathroom with a queasy tummy, it was the high intensity interval training with the trainer yesterday afternoon.

And the hormones.  Turns out there are certain times of the month that it’s very common for women to get nauseous.  No, not pregnant in case you were wondering.

In any case, I am looking forward to working out again with Adam on Tuesday.  I think I will request longer breaks this time though, actually breaks at all.  Another thing that led to my demise was that he tried to get me to go from one high intensity, full-body exercise to another without rest or lower intensity exercises thrown in.  I guess I should be proud that he thought I could handle it…

I am super-excited for this afternoon.  It’s all about dancing!  I am driving over to James Madison University in Harrisonburg to take a master class with choreographer extraordinaire Monica Bill Barnes.

Check her out here and here (watch this one from :30 to see her in action).

After I graduated high school (back in West Virginia in 1999) I stayed in my hometown for two years to teach dance, choreograph, and perform with Trillium Performing Arts Collective.  During that time I had the opportunity to work with Monica several times when she was there as a guest artist.

A few days ago I was surfing the web for dance events in the area and saw that Monica is at JMU this weekend as an artist in residence.  Lucky me, I have a connection in the JMU dance department and Kate was kind enough to tell me I could join in today’s class!  Monica’s work is witty, original, and compelling and I am thrilled to be able to re-connect with her after 10 years!

Today is an active rest day, I am going to dance it out for 90 minutes (it’s like “shaking it off”) and do lots of walking around tonight for the First Friday gallery stroll should loosen the muscles but let them recover nicely.

Enjoy your Friday!

Delicious Delivery

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Comment Commit Day 1

Thanks, Bekah, for participating!  How was your class?

I committed to a strength training workout, yoga, and a walk and enjoyed completing all three.

My 35 minute full body strength session was with Steve Maresca on Exercise TV.  This workout was really fun, fast paced, challenging, and creative.  I don’t have a medicine ball 🙁 so I used 5 pound hand weights throughout.  The best part was that I feel like this workout is super efficient, my heart rate was elevated and I was working the major muscles of my upper and lower body nearly the entire time.

Yoga was positively delicious this afternoon.  I threw my mat down on the living room floor, I turned on some Ganesha Sharanam and I rolled with it, or flowed with it ;).  30 minutes later I felt like I had indulged in something healing yet luxurious.

As for the walk, when Tate got home from work we walked just shy of a mile to the library for him to do some faxing.  We hightailed it home for a quick turn around.  I needed to grab a change of cloths to go to dance class.

Yep, I am a dancer.  In fact “dancer” used to be one of my primary identities.  I taught dance, went through 4 years of one of the most respected university dance programs in the country, performed professionally, and had my own company.  Then we moved to Peru.  I tend to give Peru more credit than it probably deserves in this aspect of my life, I suppose it was a combination of factors that led to a two year break.

But now I am ready to get moving again!  There are modern dance classes offered most nights of the week here in C’ville but thus far I have only made it to one.  And it was flipping fantastic.  You can read about it here.

I tried to go to class on Saturday morning but it was canceled due to a big open house event at the arts center.  Which brings me back to tonight.  I grabbed my dance clothes and braved the 25 degree (before windchill, of which there was plenty!) evening and walked back downtown for class.   Unfortunately class was cancelled, “no heat in studio”.  I guess mid-December was not the best timing for my return to the dance world.

This afternoon there was an unexpected knock at my door.  Why, it’s the UPS man!  With a package for Tate and I!  I couldn’t imagine what it could be or who it was from!  There was no way I was waiting for Tate to get home from work to satisfy my curiousity (sorry love!).

Lookie, lookie!

A Hanukkah present!  And what a deliciously appropriate on at that!  Thanks New York family!

The aunt, uncle, and cousins who sent this really know their wine so no doubt these will be tasty!

I love consumable presents, they are some of the best kind!
Don’t forget to check in tomorrow morning to participate in COMMENT COMMIT!