Tag: Globus Sensate

Posted on

Dinner and a Dance Performance While Blindfolded?

As all the restaurants in my neighborhood post their posh New Year’s Eve menus in their windows, I, currently planless, as I seem to be every year until just about the night before, am forced to wonder again, “uh, what am I gonna do this year?” Here’s something intriguing that I found on Gothamist. It’s a five-course dinner at West Village French bistro Camaje, with various performances scattered throughout the evening. Hook is that all guests are blindfolded the whole time. Waiters and aids of choreographer / performance artist, Dana Salisbury, who puts on the show, guide you to your fork, wine glass, and to the restroom if your raise your hand. I actually wouldn’t be all that scared of trying new food, but how would you cut it — I guess things come in bite-sized portions, or do the hosts decide how much each patron can fit into their mouths? Perhaps ridiculously, this is honestly a problem for me — I have an extremely small mouth and an ever so slight disorder that crops up from time to time, usually when least expected. Anyway, more quizzically (to me at least), how do you “see” the dance? Apparently you rely on your aural senses. In years past, the dancer has been a tapping man using his entire body as an instrument. Hmmm. Other aspects of this most audience participatory performance include artists blowing in your ear, running a feather down your neck, and the like. I don’t know if it’s for me but it sure sounds sensually stimulating!

On an unrelated note: for my fellow book lovers out there, The Millions has just published a most comprehensive best-of-the-year list compiled by its various well-reputed contributors. Click on each writer or blogger’s name and you’ll be directed to their recs, as they’re posted. I got the link from The Elegant Variation.

Posted on

Eight Interesting Things About Yourself Meme

I was tagged by a new blog friend, Virginia Lee, for this meme. Ms. Lee found me through an internet search on SYTYCD and I’m honored to be included in her and her circle of friends’ “game of tag” — so thanks Virginia!

It was really really hard for me to come up with answers to an open-ended questionnaire like this and I’m not sure if any of these things are actually interesting or just weird (or not), but here goes:

1) I suffer from two somewhat bizarre disorders: 1) TAC (trigeminal autonomic cephalgia) headaches, and 2) Globus Sensate, or, depending on whether you’re a Freudian, Globus Hystericus. Of course neither disorder may be all that unusual: the first is often misdiagnosed as migraine headache, and the second is psychological, so when patients show up at their doctor’s office complaining of a strange lump in the throat that won’t go away and makes it difficult to swallow, speak and sometimes even breathe and all manner of medical tests are performed that yield no results, the medical doctor often dismisses the patient with an “it’s nothing,” “it’s all in the head,” or “just don’t think about it and it’ll go away.”

2) My favorite thing to have for dessert is a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles 🙂

3) I’ve studied French, Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin but can’t speak any language besides English. I can read street and subway signs in Russia though!!! And, unlike the other three, I can semi-understand Russian spoken by natives, so even if you only know a little bit, it’s not that hard to be a traveler there. It’s a heavy language and therefore must be spoken very slowly, so even Russians themselves can’t go flying through their sentences at lightening speed!

4) My great grandmother was a Blackfoot American Indian.

5) I’m really sensitive to noise and so, when I am working or sleeping, am easily bothered by other people’s TVs and stereos (NYC is a GREAT place for people like me 🙂 ) So, I drown it out with … tango music. I have no idea why but tango music works ideally for that. Other kinds of music — whether classical, pop, or other kinds of Latin, involve me too much, further reducing my concentration. For some odd reason, not tango!

6) After 9/11 I didn’t fly for over three years (was looking up into the sky at the second plane from a little too close), and I love to travel. So I then fell in love with long train rides and cruises (favorite train ride from NY is to Montreal and cruise to Puerto Rico). What finally got me on a plane again was a ballroom dance competition! I couldn’t afford to take off the time from work required to Amtrak it down to Florida (30 hours each way), and NY to Miami is a relatively short flight, so it was perfect. Still, I’m a very nervous flyer, and, since then the farthest I’ve been is only London (eight hour flight when going against the wind). I used to fly all over the place… I’m going to have to go to Brazil or something. Will just have to down a bottle of wine before boarding (perhaps something stronger….)

7) I’ve never pumped gasoline into a car before. I guess this is on my mind since I’m about to take a road trip (to Jacob’s Pillow, in the Berkshires, in MA). I moved to NYC when I was just out of grad school and had never owned a car before, and now never drive, so it was just something I never had the lovely experience of doing. My friends enjoy making fun of me though. Are self serves legal though anymore? In NY and NJ they’re not, but they were in the West, where I grew up.

8) I went to law school because I actually thought I could help change the world — through the LAW!!! So sad that this is a joke…

Okay, now I have to tag eight people:

1) Bellydancer Natalia, the very first commenter on my blog who I didn’t already know! (Thanks Natalia 🙂 )

2) My friend, of whom I am eminently jealous since she had the courage to leave law school: Parker. She’s a Bellydancer, Ballroom dancer, Ballet dancer, and possible future Burlesque dancer — if it’s a form of dance and it begins with a “B” she’s done it!

3) Theater dancer Erin, whose creative post titles have exposed me to all kinds of Broadway show lines and who has cracked me up many a time with her zany audition adventures!

4) My fellow ballet-lover, Oberon, who is perhaps even more obsessed with New York City Ballet than I am with ABT.

5) My fellow ABT-omane, Jennifer, whom I met here, but who now lives in CA and whose views from the West of our favorite ballet company I am really enjoying.

6) Ditto for Art, my newish blog friend, a fellow Marcelo-crushee and new Veronika Part admirer 🙂

7) M, my favorite ballet dancer / emerging choreographer to get into really REALLY funny dance fights with 🙂

8) open to anyone. If I accidentally left someone out who wants to take part, please do, just let me know when you put up your post so I can read it! (I left out people who look too busy gallavanting all over Europe, getting married, interning at big huge magazines in NYC, or who just haven’t posted in forever for whatever reason). Also, if tagees are too busy, don’t worry, I understand! This was ridiculously hard!

Posted on

Ugh, My Sinatra Suite Is Not Goin’ So Sweet…

 

Extremely corny play on words, I know…

Ugh. Last night I had another ballroom lesson with my private lesson teacher, with whom I’m working on a foxtrotish version of Tharp’s Sinatra Suites for the school’s next student showcase, coming up in April. I had a very stressful day at work, and I was so frazzled I completely forgot to eat, which, before a dance lesson, is just not conducive to success. At least not with me. About half an hour before I had to leave for the studio, I tried to scarf down some yogurt and granola, but ever since I developed my Globus a few years ago, scarfing is just not possible; I have to eat s-l-o-w-l-y. Anyway, I managed to ingest about 1/4 of the cup, while stretching and packing up some home-work for later in the evening (nothing like multi-tasking!). But, with only a bowl of cereal and small cup of coffee about nine hours earlier, that quarter cup of yogurt wasn’t enough to keep me focused.

I think. Or it could just be the increasingly weird dynamic I seem to be having lately with my teacher. He seemed to be yelling at me for everything. He kept telling me to look in the mirror at how bad I looked, how crooked and broken my lines were, and how horrible my posture was. And I couldn’t always understand what was bad. Maybe you just can’t see yourself properly in a mirror. (And, he told me to bring a camcorder to my next lesson, so I could videotape myself, which I think is a good idea, since I do seem to pick up on things I hadn’t seen in the mirror … as long as I don’t obsess too much over my flaws). But, in the mirror at least, I don’t always understand how what I’m doing is not right. For example, I’ve been told before — repeatedly actually — that, since I have hyperextended arms, they should be a bit softened (slightly bent at the elbow so as to look graceful and not harsh) — have been told that by both ballet teachers and Pasha, my erstwhile Latin teacher. But this teacher tells me hyperextended is good and I need to make maximum use of that and show it off by making sure my arms are completely straight out at all times, never the least bit bent. But sometimes I couldn’t extend my arms as long and straight out as he wanted me to — I was reaching and reaching and stretching, while he kept chanting “more more more” but they just wouldn’t go any farther out without pulling my blasted shoulder out of its socket! And, when he’d pull on an arm to try to help me make that line, that’s exactly what it felt like! Or, he’d twist my rib cage area if I wasn’t doing “cross body movement” properly, or slap my wrist down if it my hand was extended outward instead of down, or he’d twist my wrist if he wanted me to hold my hands palms facing up instead of down. And some of the ways he was handling me were a little scary. I know he was just trying to correct me, but I had to ask him, nicely of course, if he could be a little gentler, especially with my left wrist since I have a partially torn a ligament in that one, and could have to have surgery if it gets any worse, which I most definitely don’t want. He apologized and explained that he just didn’t want to have to keep repeating himself, and besides, if I didn’t learn how to give him my body weight properly and to maintain the proper push / pull connection with him, especially on a trick like a lunge or stretch, I could hurt myself very easily.

I know that’s true, and that if you don’t have proper technique, both partner-dancing and alone, you can incur serious injury. But on the other hand, I have a very hard time learning when I feel like I’m being yelled at. I just get all flustered and can’t do anything right. And, we were going to put this overhead lift into our routine, and I know myself, and if I’m the least bit scared of the guy I’m dancing with, I’m not going to trust him and I’m subconsciously going to be pulling myself down while he’s trying to get me up into the air, and we could both hurt each other. I need to feel very comfortable with the guy in order to trust him, and in order to do hard things properly. I actually don’t see how anyone can dance with a partner they don’t feel completely comfortable with. It makes me feel for professionals who have to partner someone they’re not comfortable with.
Anyway, I don’t know if it was the lack of food or the pressure but I just couldn’t do anything right, and I couldn’t even remember the rather simple choreography we’ve done so far. I really thought at one point he was going to kill me! I mean, I know he wants me to dance well, and of course I want to be the best I can be, and I appreciate that he is serious and not lazy. But, on the other hand, I am never going to be a professional dancer, and this is supposed to be fun. I think for the first time, after leaving a hard day at work behind to head to the studio, I did not feel my stress-level lessened. Maybe I should put this routine on hold for a while and save the showcase for next October when they have it at a Manhattan theater (as opposed to Long Island, where it is in the spring), when all of my friends can attend again. In the meantime, I can lighten up and maybe learn some standard ballroom from the standard teacher, reducing my private lesson to every other week instead of every week to decrease expenses…. I hate to abandon some of the pretty Tharp-esque choreography I was trying so hard to learn though … although what we’re doing doesn’t look much like what Baryshnikov and Elaine Kudo were doing on the tape anyway… I guess genuine foxtrot ballroom and balletish ballroom are two completely different things. I hadn’t realized that. I have a lot to learn about dance, apparently.

Anyway, I guess I will be thinking about this — where to go with my ballroom dancing from here — over the long weekend, since I don’t have my next lesson scheduled until next Friday…

But, the GREAT thing about last night was that I saw a very good ballroom friend: the always sugar-sweet, always full of motherly advice, the splendidly charmingly wonderful, Elaine, whom I haven’t seen since our October showcase! She was having a coaching with the studio owner. When, after my class, I practically fell right into her open arms crying, like a ridiculous baby, she insisted I accompany her to her favorite nearby diner for a glass of wine and some much-needed comfort food, and a pep talk. Funny thing about food though is that, when I haven’t eaten all day and I’m completely stressed, I seem to have no appetite. Well, I ordered some very greasy, very tasty fries, and a glass of the house red (just to cut cholesterol levels from ingestion of said fries, of course 🙂 )

Elaine

And here, Miss Elaine is being her silly self 🙂 (Notice my ever so nutritious dinner in foreground):
Elaine II

Anyway, it ended up being a very good night after all, full of catching up on life, receiving sound motherly advice on managing work stress and dealing with dance teachers (!), and enjoying good, trashy comfy food. Thanks Elaine 🙂 🙂 🙂

Posted on

Very Serious Trouble…

Okay, I have given up trying to steal my cousin’s internet connection on my wireless. So pics of my lovely North Carolina trip, that I downloaded onto my computer, will have to wait until my return to NYC, very shortly now.

I have been here for a week and, since there is nothing to do in a small town but eat, I am in serious trouble. I am so fat I can literally barely walk. My stomach feels like it is full of a NY-Thanksgiving-parade-balloon-sized shot of helium. My mom took me to her doctor’s office to get a flu shot today and the nurse asked if I was pregnant. I said no. She turned around and looked me up and down and said, “are you sure?” I have my next dance lesson Wednesday night. Jacob is going to SCREAM when he sees me…

Well, it’s been a delicious trip. I have eaten biscuits ‘n gravy (milk gravy, that is; I don’t eat sausage) every single morning for breakfast at this lovely local diner called “Grill Worx” here in Burlington, N.C. My mom kept wanting to take me to IHOP or Bob Evans or somewhere that she considered good, but I prefer the local joints where you can get real insight into the town denizens. And practically every evening I have had delicious Mexican food — crazily I can’t seem to find a good, down-home-style Mexican place in NY, and, I guess because of the migrant workers who came to work first on the tobacco farms, now on the large wineries that are cropping up everywhere around here, North Carolina is now boasting some excellent authentic Mexican food. Fortunately, last night my Globus (more later about this lovely choking disorder I sometimes get…) began to kick in, forcing me to hold back a bit…

Anyway, since I can’t post pics myself, let us visit another blog and view Matthew Murphy’s David. Why? Why why why did he do it? Is he trying to be black (as in Othello)? Did he get tired of people calling him Golden Boy? Is he trying to distance himself from his past as a dance thong model? Will we ever know? Will he ever post again on the Winger?