To the Pointe Studio of Dance, Portraits by Point of Rocks Photographer

I am not sure where the time has gone, but seems like I've been wrapped up in photographing and editing and not any blogging.  Now that it really feels like summer outside it is the perfect time to sit in my cool office and put some images up to share.  

These were taken this Spring for To the Pointe Studio of Dance's recital, Away We Go.  The students were ages two and up and showed a lot of talent, personality and love of dance, music and theatrics.  I enjoyed being a part of the team and can't wait to see what the costumes and dances will look like for next year.  Don't you love all the bright colors in these portraits?

Growing up I took ballet and jazz and moved to modern while I was in high school.  As an adult I've gone back to dance and taken ballet, modern, hip-hop and practiced yoga.  The dance studio is a place I feel very much at home.  I can't wait to work with this group again.

Still Crossing

Being apart of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange's performance of Still Crossing as two of the "Community of Dancers" was one of the best mother/son experiences I have ever had. I am proud that Liam participated, learned the dance and finally performed on stage. But I was even more thrilled that he was part of the group rehearsals with all of the circle gathering, movements, singing, clapping and laughing. At one point I felt like I should be paying them for this experience-people would pay for this type class!

The fact that people of all ages and abilities were included in this performance opened up a wonderful dialogue about people with disabilities. I hope Liam grows up thinking this inclusion is the norm rather than the exception.

For me it was wonderful to meet and connect with several people . It was also nice to meet other Sandy Spring Friends alumni and current students. This year is my 20 reunion (glup!). And of course watching the company perform on stage. I really couldn't get enough of Ben who is a phenomenal dancer!

Several funny quotes and conversations with Liam included:

Friday before arriving and both of us needing to change clothes: "Mom, will I get to use the dressing room?" Andy and I pointed it our the night before and the dressing room idea must have stuck in his head. If you want him to perform again, his wants his own dressing room with his name on the door!

Late Friday night on the way home: "Mom, I think I'll be happy when this is over 'cause all we do is practice, practice, practice.....but I will be a little sad too. Will we ever see these people again?"

"Mom, why are we always doing this circle stuff." referring to all the circles we made as a group.

Just the fact that he now knows about Ellis Island, which turned into a conversation about slavery and so many other things!

http://www.gazette.net/stories/05122010/entemon152315_32549.php

Rond de jambe

Recently, I have had two major epiphanies. One of these sudden insights happened while I was in my second night of ballet class. I had not taken ballet for nearly twenty years, when I was a teen, although I have made up for it by practicing yoga, modern and jazz dance in the years since. We were at the barre working on our tendu battement followed by the rond de jambe. I was going through the motions of this exercise as if I were a child again, easily remembering many of the positions, even if my body was not as graceful as it had once been. My foot traced the uppercase letter D on the floor which was always the way I remembered this particular movement. But when it came time to do the rond de jambe counterclockwise my foot stuck. I realized I needed to train my foot to do the exercise backwards.

As a young dancer I struggled with reversing routines and movements. I could do them fine on the right side, but if asked to do the mirror image on the left side I had to work extra hard. But it was good exercise for the brain and even though in retrospect I’m sure my dance exercises were hampered by dyslexia. Of course symptoms of dyslexia include perceiving letters and number backwards or reversed or inversed. While dancing I would need to work extra hard to remember which direction my limbs were supposed to go in order to complete the exercise or combination correctly. I’m sure the extra work on my part was good for my brain function even though it was exhausting.

As my foot was tracing the rond de jambe I remembered a letter I had received from a friend last year. We had both struggled in school as children, and he went on to tell me about his sudden growth and development in his learning process during the time he was learning to play guitar. Up until that point academics were troublesome for him. He suspects that somehow learning to play the guitar forced him to think differently and soon after he became interested in literature, writing and other areas where he had once struggled.

The correlation between my experience while growing up dancing my friend’s learning to master the guitar are similar. Each skill worked on a section of the brain that academic learning did not touch, yet in the end I’m sure both of us benefited from learning dance or a musical instrument. These two art forms force you to think differently and possibly recalibrate the brain. I’m not an expert, but I know that everyone learns differently. After studying Dr. Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences I know that when it comes to working with my own students and now sons teaching them only through linguistic and logical-mathematical means may not reach everyone. Play to their strengths and you never know what may come out of it. And remember, you are never too old to start dancing again!

Dance in the Woods

This Thursday I am beginning something I left fifteen years ago. I am taking the mini-van by myself up near Harpers Ferry, riding alongside the Potomac River (on the Maryland side) down through the river town of Sandyhook and up into the woods for my modern dance class. Slipperyslope sits in the forest and the studio has views of the trees through the windows in the two story structure. My family and I visited it this weekend so I would be able to find it on my first day of class. She has two donkeys, a couple of wardering cats and of course dogs. I can't think of a better way to get away and to reconnect with myself and dance.



I have recently noticed that I am wandering back to the things that I left behind fifteen or so years ago. In between college and now, exercise included several Jazzercise classes and recently two years of yoga. Now suddenly I am a mother of two, but with the realization that if I don't do something creative for myself I may implode. Of course I have picked up my camera again this year, after a long time "off", but there is something to be said for dance. Maybe it's the fact that it is expressive, or the need to feel sexy and beautiful in my own space. But there also lays the challenge for me. Thérèse is an aerial dancer and instructor. If you don't know what that is about, then just look at the pictures. It looks easy and difficult all at the same time. Maybe I am past my time to experiment with this sort of thing, but I at least want to give it a try.



This leads to a whole other realm, of photographing the dance company, which I suggested and she is excited about. I have some wonderful, contemplative photos of a dancer I knew in college as well as my own self-portraits from that time (as a dancer). So who knows, maybe I am going back to my roots. Grow where you are planted.

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