movement of c

Okay, so it’s been a while. I’ve been in this funk…just a matter of not having enough calcium, or perhaps enough sleep?

Yesterday, a case of the Mondays. In the words of Arthur Mullen, I served 90 people yesterday. Except instead of serving, I taught 9 classes throughout the day, ranging from 9:30 am until 8:30pm. In a somewhat successful effort to drag myself from the warmth of my cacoon, I woke up Monday morning and went through the usual routine of making coffee and getting ready. I even managed to put some clothes in the wash (the finale of a 24 hour process I had started Sunday afternoon).

When I arrived at the preschool 15 minutes early for my class, I realized I forgot to get the house boombox from Ari, which she took on the retreat she was leading for her students. Since the boombox that came from the company was broken, I had to teach 4 creative movement classes without music. Well, it was creative alright. We sang songs such as Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (with the untraditional reprise, Eyes, Ears, Mouth and Nose), Itsy Bitsy Spider, and If You’re Happy and You Know It (Clap your Hands), among others.

4 classes in a row singing these songs, please don’t ask. After this marathon of nothing less than sheer ridiculousness I headed over to the JCC for my next order of business, 2 Baby Ballerina classes. I stopped at the Sub Shop to get a chicken salad sandwich, which was so great!

When I teach creative movement I generally dress kind of schleppy. I don’t wear my dance clothes because I’m usually rolling all over a church hall floor that is not very clean. So I had this t-shirt on, one I’ve had for atleast 8 years that has a little baby dawl tiger on it. It’s that soft gray material, the poly-cotton blend. That stuff is the best.

Anyway, when I go to teach ballet at the JCC or dance classes at the studio, I dress nice. I wear leotard and tights, I do my hair, I look presentable. I’ve learned over the past few years that the more put together a dance teacher looks, the more students admire that teacher, and want to keep looking at you when you are demonstrating steps. This is good because it keeps their attention and makes them want to work harder so they can look like you someday. Self-absorbed? Yes. Reliable Method? Heck yeah!

I came in the JCC, grabbed a Jewish Advocate and went in to one of the many secret conference rooms to eat my sandwich. Ahh, peace. A few minutes before my class was starting I headed to the bathroom to change in to my dance clothes, freshen up, etc etc. What’s this? No leotard or tights in my bag! Gosh darn, they’re hanging in the laundry room drying from the previous night’s laundry adventures! I had to teach my two ballet classes in those grungy black pants and that t-shirt which I have been wearing for the past week.

See, I have this obsession of immediately getting as comfortable as possible as soon I get home. I’ve been like this since I can remember. When I was little it was church, then dance, then family gatherings, then anything! No matter if it’s 10am, 2pm, or midnight, the first thing I do is go in my room, change in to sweatpants and some kind of super soft sweater or shirt, and put on new socks. Anyway, the tiger dawl shirt is my favorite shirt to change in to when I get home so let’s just say I wear it a lot and sometimes sleep in it.

So, I looked like a schlepp for my ballet classes. Okay, so I made up for it by teaching them kartwheels, which was super fun. The appearance thing is a big thing for a dance teacher though, it’s an image.

Luckily my last session of classes was in Melrose so I ganked some clothes from my mom and my sisters since we are the dancing family.

On my way home last night I had to return a phone call. The mother of one of my ensemble students called the studio and left a message that she needed to speak with me specifically. Her daughter, let’s call her Raj, is one of my top students but I have been very hard on her this year. She gives me about 80% in terms of her body, she executes steps but doesn’t always complete them with that extra OOMPH that it takes to make a good dancer. And her face is what I call, A Dead Fish .

In dance class a teacher has to come up with code words for things. There’s no time to say, “let me see the energy in your face!”. Instead I say, “Jonny, Dead Fish!”. Just hearing this makes them smile, so really it works like charm. Raj is a seriously Dead Fish and I have been working with her continuously for 2 years at trying to pull this energy out of her upper body.

So, when I heard that her mother called the studio and asked for me to call her back, I was thinking that Raj is unhappy in class because I’ve been so hard on her and I’m going to have to go through this long explanation-teacher-speech thing to her mother. Oy vay. Well, I left a message and she called me back this morning. Her reason for calling is even better than the Dead Fish issue.

Her mother wanted to know if she could miss her two dance classes tonight because it’s her brother’s birthday and they’re having family over the house. Raj was scared to miss because I’ve been cracking the whip in class and telling them that if they’re absent, I’m not taking time to re-teach things and it’s their responsibility to be in class and I need to see 100% from them. ROAR!

Well, I’m not really a mean tiger. I just play one in the studio. I called her mom back and told her that it would be fine, but I’m very glad to hear that Raj is taking class so seriously. If she’s worried about missing material, she can come 10 minutes early next week and my assistant can go over the new choreography with her.

Problem solved. Now, if I could only put some life in the face….