Today marks seven weeks of my marathon of dance intensives this summer; I spent three weeks at the American Ballet Theatre in New York and next week I will finish my fifth week at Foster Dance Studio in Chicago. ABT’s curriculum was heavily focused on ballet technique; we rarely ventured out of the bun-head realm. But at Foster, our classes include jazz, modern, and contemporary technique, in addition to daily ballet classes. Ballet comes with an extensive set of challenges. Tendon pain and sore muscles are no small burden to bear when you’re trying to achieve a triple (or quadruple) pirouette. But contemporary choreography comes with an entirely different collection of aches that I am not nearly as familiar with. My knees are bruised from all of the tricky floor work we’ve done, and my back is crazy sore from choreography that requires arabesques wacked to 180 degrees.
What has gotten me through these last seven weeks, and what will push me through the eighth despite my bumps and bruises, is the idea of a “lifted” modus operandi, or mode of operation. The artistic director of Foster Dance, Ronn Stewart, swears by this concept and reminds us of its power daily. The energetic place a dancer is in when they stand at the barre cannot feel foreign because being uncomfortable limits coordination. And dancers have to be coordinated to take advantage of their full physicality. I’ve learned that the feeling of lift and energy that I try my best to exude while executing a combination in class cannot be dropped when I am standing on the side.
Radiating a good attitude and representing myself with determined enthusiasm has a powerful impact on how others respond to me, and my personal ability to persevere whatever comes my way. If I am feeling too exhausted to do one more tendue, reminding myself of the power of an engaged and lifted M.O. will give me the momentum I need to finish class.
Perhaps even more importantly, this “puffed-upness”, as Ronn calls it, should be utilized in non-dance situations as well. It gives others permission to smile at you, it gives you the self-assurance to take risks and to grow, and it will inevitably come back to you in the form of reciprocal positivity. Whether I am walking to the grocery store or performing a variation from Le Corsaire, I try to let my M.O. project positivity, confidence, and grace. Of all of the wonderful strengths that dance has afforded me, the ability to live my life “on top of” an energetic, hard working mode of operation is one that I most cherish.