Oh say, anyone dance out there? Ballet, specifically?

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As some of you know, I am writing a sequel to Red.  I've titled it ONE FALSE NOTE which absolutely fits Lee so well.  The other main character, Gevan, is a professional ballet dancer.  Am just curious if anyone on my list ever was a serious dance student, has suggestions for fics/biographies/whatever that would give me better insight to the inner world of dance, etc.   

I have a book on the way that was written by Mikhael Baryshnikov (in my user pic) , and another one about him, plus PRODIGAL SON, about Edward Villella.  Those three should help a great deal (plus what little I know of Rudolph Nureyev, as Nick and I learned via DANCER by Colum McCann.  I am going to reread that very unusual but marvelous book.

All helpful, but nothing would be better than having someone who has been involved to ask questions.  Probably not going to find anyone, I imagine...but hey, worth a shot, right?  Other books would be good too.

I am having so much fun with this fic. (see previous post--that applies here)  Am planning to go to the Ballet in March...dragging daughter with me. 

N is still up.  I am ready to go to bed, and he claims he is Not Tired!  Right.  Fine, I will go to bed, he can stay up.  Let's see, it is 5 o'clock in Germany...

In any case, done with the handwritten edits, now must transfer all onto the 20k, then it is time for more WORD WARS!!!!!!  :)

C

Comments

[elowena.livejournal.com]

I love dancing, but it's been way too long since I did it actively for me to remember, well, anything. Besides, I was never good or serious enough to know anything about what life is like for a professional dancer.

In short, I'm of absolutely no help whatsoever. ;P But I just wanted to cheer you on because yay! professional dancers! People should write more about them. I've always been fascinated by their approach to their bodies but also eg how quickly professional dancers have to grow up, how they peak at twenty. As a young person myself, I like the idea of a 19-year-old kid being the absolute world expert at something. (I'm mostly talking about dances like hiphop here.)

There are some dance-related discussion forums where you can see what injuries dancers bitch most about, what they're struggling with, etc. I found this one: http://www.danceforums.net/ I just glanced at it, but it might be worth checking out. As said, it'll give you an insight into the every-day life of dancers rather than technical details (I think).

Good luck! Oh and, your dance icons are absolutely beautiful!

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absolutely no help whatsoever? What do you mean?? You just gave me lots of insight I didn't have before! And a site to go to!

There will be more dance icons. When I was looking for a dancer poster for Nick I found nothing--I should've just looked for photographs. There are some more out there, tons of Baryshnikov, and since I've always been a fan of his, I'll probably find a bunch more. Grin.

The approach to their bodies....that perked my ears up. I would love to hear your thoughts on that, as I imagine Gev a certain way about his body and would be nice to see if I am spot-on with him.

[elowena.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I could be of some help.

As to dancers' approach to their bodies, I once more can only speculate and draw from my own experiences, which have little to do with professional dancers.

I personally learned to see my body as a tool, something that could be used to create things rather than as something that merely is. I gained some level of objectivity. Even now, in dance class I can tell who hasn't danced much by how difficult they find it to look at themselves in the mirror when they're dancing.

So, on one level, I think dancers have a fairly easy-going approach to their bodies. I'm sure there's great variation here, but all the semi-professional dancers I've known tend to slouch, slump and sprawl when they aren't on stage - the opposite of what might be expected from ballet dancers. There's a greater search for what feels good and comfortable as opposed to what looks good.

At the same time, dancers have to be obsessed with their bodies. Ballet dancers are all required to be seriously underweight and while practice obviously burns off a lot of calories, they still doubtlessly have to watch what they eat. Dancers tend to have disgusting-looking feet (like, seriously disgusting - or maybe that's just me, ha), but looking after them is also part of their profession. Having pedicures, massages and whatnot are not vanity but a necessity.

Obviously, a sprained ankle means something altogether different to a dancer than it would to most people. When your body is used to daily exercise, it actually physically aches to not train for even a day as your muscles seem to contract. (I have no idea what actually happens, but that's what it feels like. I always got an urgent need to stretch.) I could imagine dancers not being too keen to, I don't know, help carry move that washing machine up to seventh floor, no matter how big risks they're willing to take with their bodies on stage.

This is mostly superficial stuff and how dancers' attitudes manifest outwardly - I guess it's fitting in a way. The dancers I've known tend to not dwell on how they feel about their bodies. They will, however, dwell at great length on how their bodies feel. In short, dancers complain about pain a lot but don't let it affect their practice easily, they will suddenly grab their own ankle to stretch their thighs while talking to you in the middle of the street, and are kind of vain but at the same time utterly casual about their bodies. ;)

Let me know if you'd like me to explain something further, etc. Once more, this is mostly how I experienced dancing affecting my body image; I'm sure many people would disagree with me.

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Oh this is all so good to know. Thank you! Am already utilizing what you've told me. Yes yes yes yes. Excellent. I may ask for more later! But this helps so much! LOL.