Just Show Up.

Carpet Pointework and COVID

Yes, I did pointework on the carpet. Pointework on the carpet is highly frowned upon in the ballet community, as it’s a little risky especially if you’re on overly fluffy carpet, and ballet dancers are notorious for wanting only the most ideal environments. But, I didn’t have the right flooring, but still wanted to practice a little bit. So I did it, and here’s what I have to say about it.

Carpet pointework as a metaphor for this whole COVID time.

A metaphor for showing up, even though it is not our best.
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Showing up when we don’t want to, and have every reason not to.
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Showing up when nothing is going “right.”
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But something is better than nothing. Even if that “something” is 3 minutes of releves, or some days even just putting fresh clothes on.
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When we do manage to dance, might we pick up some bad habits? Maybe. Probably. But as dancers, our whole JOB in training is changing habits. The habit of being in parallel (because we are humans). The habit of slouching. The habit of our elbow drooping. The habit of making funny faces and sticking our tongue out 🤪
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We are trained to be able to change habits and build new ones, so if we develop some bad ones right now, that’s ok. We can re-learn later. And in the process of re-learning, we’ll still learn a lot, even if it feels like back-tracking.
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At least we are still trying. Still keeping ballet in our brains and bodies. Still keeping some semblance of normal.
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Right now, it doesn’t have to be about improving extensions or turnout, but more about improving our ability to push through hardships, show up when we don’t want to, and learn how to celebrate the small wins.
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If we can learn those skills now, they will ultimately translate into better extensions, better turnout, and more pirouettes, because we’ll be able to push even harder when we are able.
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So just show up, whatever that means for you today. Put on pants. Take the dog for a walk. Take a ballet class. Whatever it means for you today 🌟