How Dance Can Save Your Life, Redux
Cross-platforming like a boss this week
Welcome new subscribers! Many of you are here because you read the essay I published Monday with
, on returning to a regular dance practice after being diagnosed with cancer in my 50s. I’ve been so gratified by the appreciative response the piece has received. I spent most of the day happily “liking” and responding to all the thoughtful and supportive comments — a real dopamine boost for these dark days.For the rest of you, who were here all along, the essay is below. If you’ve been with me for a while, the themes will be familiar; I hope you’re not bored with them yet, lol.
One comment on the piece asked how, in taking up ballet again at 55, I was able to shush the annoying perfectionist mind that the culture drills into you. This was such a great question, and I think I will elaborate on my answer down the road. But here’s my brief response from Monday:
“I'm not sure there's any one answer to it. For one, the judgement is definitely not 100% gone, it's just not crippling. I think that's just a function of some emotional maturity. I also have had the benefit of being involved in various art-making endeavors over the years in which perfection is not the goal -- things that are more process based, and messy. And also, sorry if this is morbid, but getting sick did mostly shock it out of me. I do truly feel privileged to be alive and able to move, with some grace and strength, and that's enough. But/and/also -- it's super important to find the right class and teacher. I think there are a lot of supportive studios/classes for older/"nontraditional" dancers these days, many more so that when we were young, so it may be a case of trial and error, but don't give up -- they're out there.”
This got me thinking: the dance world can feel closed and intimidating, even in, as I note above, our current golden era of supportive, inclusive classes for adults. So, what other questions are out there? If there’s something you’re curious to know about dance for nontraditional dancers (or circus arts, or body maintenance, dance and cancer, or or or …) please drop a note in the comments and I will aim to answer it in a later post.
In other and utterly unrelated news, the day after the Oldster essay dropped an essay I wrote in 2000 was, twenty-five years later, entered into the Congressional record, as part of the ludicrous show pony that was the “Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.” Which just goes to show, you never know where your work is going to wind up. Also: archives are important!
Last: Thanks so much to all of you, old and new, for reading and subscribing. Most of what I publish here is open to all, but occasionally I do put something behind the paywall. If you have the means to upgrade to a paid subscription — just $5 a month, or $50 for a year — you won’t miss a thing, and your support will enable me to keep this going on the semiregular basis longtime subscribers have come to know and love.
Have a great weekend — and see you on the barricades.
never bored with them! please keep writing!