Reflections on the past week

The following is a summary of my scattered thoughts on this week’s dance classes and rehersals.

I’ve been lazy. Outside of classes, I haven’t practiced the choreographies, haven’t worked on my own choreos, haven’t done any strength training, and haven’t done any cardio. Oh, I mucked about once or twice with some choreo sequences, but that only lasted for a few minutes. Nothing serious, nothing real.

The week started with being sick, and I’ve been stiff, sore, and feeling a little weak. The sciatica has flared up something fierce, but that will probably subside; it needs to be worked on, though, as I’ve lost some flexibility in that leg. The loss of flexibility is frustrating. Stretching needs to be more frequent and disciplined, as does strength training – need to work on those quads and biceps. Actually, everything needs to be more disciplined.

Glen thinks I’m being too hard on myself. I think I’m being realistic. No personal beat-ups about my rather pathetic attempts this week, though – it’s okay to be sick.

Also, I need to eat more. I’ve dropped a few more pounds, which wasn’t intentional. Part of my employee benefits includes a variety of non-medicinal health perks, including free consultations with a nutritionist. That should definitely be taken advantage of.

Clumsy and stiff in class, messing up on choreographies left, right, and centre. Also forwards, backwards, and sideways. And turning. This makes me chastise myself for not practicing this week. I’m able to mentally run through the majority of the new choreographies, which is usually the sign that I’m very, very close to having them down pat. This makes me hopeful.

Tonight’s rehearsal was particularly awkward. I did get some nice compliments on my character, though, and everyone likes to be praised every now and then. I’m worried that my lack of knowledge about the old choreos will bite me in the backside. The old choreographies definitely need to be worked on, but I can’t remember some of them well enough to be able to work off my notes. I’ll enlist the help of one of my friends on that one. It’ll all be good in the end.

Still, though, I wish that I was progressing faster. Impatience rarely does anyone any favours, but it is a hard feeling to suppress. I want to be much better – I’d like to be good enough to perform solo in more than student shows. I have done a couple of restaurant shows before, but those were conceit, silly notions of my unready abilities. I wasn’t ready, but the flattery of being offered the occasional restaurant show and the idea of being able to have dance pay for itself here and there was too much temptation. Next time I perform like that, in more than a fun student show, it’ll be real. I’ll be ready not only because my instructors and peers think I’m ready, but because I think I’m ready. This line of thought was strong in my head all week long.

It’s strange, really – I’d classify this week as a rather bad dance week. And yet…

And yet I’m satisfied. Actually, I’m pretty darn happy about it all. Some new stuff was learned, I got great instruction, classes were fun, and I enjoyed the company of the assorted dance folk. They’re a marvelous group. And while I was stumbling all over the place this week, while I could barely touch my toes in my yoga class and couldn’t pull off nicely extended arabesques, I know that there are other areas in which I’ve felt some progress. It’s been a clumsy week, but a successful week. I’m not jumping over the moon with the joy of dance, I’m just quietly and calmly happy about it.

It’s a nice place to be.

Frugal Fitness

It is no secret that necessities indulgences* such as belly dance classes, workshops, DVDs for practice and performance, costumes, and so forth can rack up quite a charge. We dancers, of both oriental style and tribal style persuasion, do love our sparklies. It can be a fine balancing act to keep our budgets in check while still finding ways to afford those dance extras that make us smile so broadly.

As I tend to be rather hypervigilant with finances, I am well aware that keeping one's pocket book healthy helps to keep one's mind healthy. That, of course, translates into a healthier belly. My husband and I are currently saving very aggressively for a home down payment, so this term's class cost has got me thinking quite a bit about where I can cut back my dance costs. This term I decided to take three classes instead of the five that I originally wanted. I fully realize that taking three dance classes still represents a sizable investment, but axing those two other classes was still a conscious decision. Furthermore, out-of-town workshops are currently out of the question, and in-town workshops will only be attended if I am particularly impressed by the presenter.**

That being said, I think that it behooves everyone to find cheap, frugal, simple ways of working out. Simple training tactics and habits are the most sustainable, both financially and mentally. My primary workout tactics are to do most of my physical conditioning and training at home. I have found that this is the best way to make regular physical conditioning a habit: I don't have to drive to a gym, I don't feel guilty about fitness fees, I spend no time commuting. This saves me a packet in money and in time. Happily, my new workplace is within a reasonable cycling distance from my home, which saves me even more time and money by allowing me to save on transportation costs, bypass traffic jams, and turn my commutes into cardio workouts.

J.D. Roth, author of the fantastic blog Get Rich Slowly addresses the urge to spend on fitness gadgets/memberships in the post Frugality in Practice: Home Based Physical Fitness. There are plenty of links to more quality information at the end of that post, so I won't repeat them here. If you would like more inspiration and advice on starting and maintaining your own home fitness or dance conditioning practice, check out J.D.'s other blog, Get Fit Slowly.

You may even have the opportunity to have other people pay for your fitness efforts! If you have an employee benefit plan, I highly recommend becoming intimately acquainted with its features. With the increased awareness that fit, healthy employees are happy, productive employees, many companies have started offering fitness and wellness allowances. Because the university where I work has excellent benefits and development funds employees may apply for, they are currently paying for my two lunchtime yoga classes. Plus I have full access to the campus gym, which is something that I would never pay good money for but will happily use now that I have the access. If you have the good fortune to have benefits such as these, use them and use them well.



*Right, now most people consider dance classes an indulgance, but they've become what I would consider a "near-necessity." So does my husband, and my father for that matter. Classes help keep me sane, and that makes them a good investment.

**In case you are wondering, the decision to very carefully evaluate workshops before jumping in and forking over the fee (as I would normally do if one was on offer, assuming that I have the cash on hand) has led me to turn down one out-of-town workshop and two in-town workshops over the past three months. This has represented a saving of close to $500.