Hard and Steady

Work.

I have a hard time expressing to even those that know me well just how hard it is to dance and train day after day.  Typically, people are over-impressed when they first hear that you dance all day and treat you like an invalid, only to assume later that since you do it every day you must not be tired at all. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.  From the archives of Life Magazine, "The Hard and Steady Work of Dancers"

http://life.time.com/culture/the-hard-steady-work-of-creating-beauty-ballet-dancers-rehearse-1936/?iid=lf|mostpop#14

Photograph Courtesy of:

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/archives/peto/petosample.htm

It Ain't Over

I am in love with this Dutch artist's work.  Minimal and stark, Petra Vanderput's images speak to the present moment.  The image above, to me, says everything about dance and aging.  They say there is a sweet spot in dance a time in which you are young enough to have the virtuosity and mature enough to have artistry.  There is something ironic or even cruel to realize that just as one has the range of life experiences and strength of character to express true emotion in movement, you body begins to fail you.

But you still have now.  You have your body, today, just as it is.  And your dance, whatever it is, you should keep doing for as long as you can.  Because it feeds you.  Because it is your voice.  Because you love it.

To view more of Petra's images:

http://petravanderput.tumblr.com/