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Are You Still Immersed In The Process? How Content Culture Can Cap The Artist

 It felt so good to move, undulate, and slide into a deep second position to recoil into a contorted contraction. It truly felt like breathing. Surely, I adore codified technique. However, taking a contemporary class last night taught me way more than I bargained for. Get out of your headspace, get out of the mirror, ditch the "content concept" and just dance. I reckon that is my honest thesis. I felt like Jodie (without my Cooper) as I whisked across the floor. Throughout class I thought about the likes and wisdom of dancers like Robert Battle and Matthew Rushing. While dancing, I recalled both of their sentiments that included abandon and connection (to the floor, to the movement, to the work...) while dancing. Truly, I felt that. Suddenly, I am met with a challenge. Maybe it's culture or maybe its Maybeli — nope! It's definitely culture.  For about one minute, I wrestled with walking off of the floor, grabbing my phone, finding a proper angle to record, propping...
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The Greatest Ballet Training for Me, To Date.

Different teachers bring different training methods into a room. Along with it they have experiences that have played a role in their further understanding or one that ignited new discoveries. Different teachers in a room of different bodies is a totally different scenario. To date, for example, I have been taught over five different methods for successful pirouette turns. Four of them have played a part in my understanding of the step's methodology. On the other hand, I have been told things that did not work for me specifically due to my body's structure and frame. Something that is always laughable to me, for example, is the assumption that my straddle position is a 180 degree line. My splits are perfectly flat while my straddles need a little more TLC. I added that in for you to laugh at me but the point I was making is that not everything works for everyone. The greatest teachers are those who've invested in their craft passionately enough to teach or coach someone else beyond their current level. That is what my favorite dance teacher, Erin Jaffe-Gardner has done for me. There are a few others who are in that same boat but I am pointing her out because this article is about how Vaganova training improved my classical ballet. 

Masterclass.com gives an excerpt about the Vaganova technique expressed as progressive training working to build strength and flexibility while minimizing injury. This is a perfect summation of my experience with Vaganova training. Here is how that technique improved my classical ballet, personal artistry and connection to dance. 

Anytime Erin was scheduled to teach class I knew it was another day to learn more valuable information and more excitedly, to expand on the last lesson she had given. Developed musicality, a more expansive reach and lengthened movement, deeper plies, better balance and muscular endurance are all of the things I have noticed. The way Erin teaches, you can feel her passion as much as you can see her expertise. Adding the technique to her teaching qualities; at the end of a sweaty class, I have experienced the most thorough training.

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