STOP FIGHTING YOUR ANATOMY

“Dear Adult Dancer, Stop Fighting Your Anatomy”

- @theballetcode™

These words by The Ballet Code graced my Instagram Feed the other day and stopped me in my tracks. This quote was speaking directly to me. Yes, I am an adult dancer. I started dancing when I was five and at 61, I still haven’t stopped.

These seven words made so much sense to me. I am constantly talking about, or rather complaining about, how my body doesn’t respond to movement like it used to. It’s really basic, I need to stop fighting my anatomy.

No matter how hard I try to fight my anatomy, it always wins. I have been in denial about this, hoping and working toward the day when one day I will miraculously dance like I did 30-years ago. This statement told the truth – that’s not going to happen.

Now that the words were staring me in the face, it was up to me to come to grips with the situation and go from denial to acceptance. I have written plenty about the changes our bodies go through as we age, both physically and psychologically. I know there is no way to turn back the clock, but I have been grappling with this anxiety of not performing to my potential and it’s about time I say STOP!

I don’t want to stop dancing, and as long as I am able, I will pull myself up to the barre regularly. However, I must accept the fact that due to the normal aging processing, it will become more difficult to execute moves that I had no issue with as a young dancer. It’s just the way it is.

The day after I saw this quote, I went to a Lyrical dance class. I was having trouble doing an exercise in the center of the floor where I needed to balance on one leg. My younger self would have been undeterred, my current self, went to the barre to help with the balance. Guess what, this wasn’t a failure, other dancers weren’t laughing at me; it simply was a simple acknowledgement that today my body wasn’t fully cooperating, and I need to accommodate for that.

In the summers, I teach a Ballet Stretch class to women in their 80s. Some of them can’t lift their arms, others can’t sit on the floor, and we make accommodations to their specific needs. I tell them, the important thing is to keep moving and challenge yourself. Dancing isn’t only physical, there is also a mental component to it. So, what if you can’t do a high arabesque (which is what I was struggling with the other day)? Do what you can, put in the work, and keep going. If you need to lean on something, lean on something, if you can only get your leg one inch off the floor, so be it. You are still reaping the benefits of the exercise. That is what I had to take away from my Lyrical class.

Every day is different and maybe next time, I won’t need to lean on the barre. But, if I do, I have to stop beating myself over it. As I wrote in my Musing “The Mirror Has Two Faces,” it is very hard for me to admit that my body just will no longer advance in the way I want it to.” This is where tough love comes in. I need to focus on what I enjoy about dancing, be happy that I can still move as well as I can, and, frankly, stop fighting my anatomy. Thank you to The Ballet Code for succinctly saying what I knew along.