Can you believe that 2014 is almost over!?! Every year about this time we all proclaim, ‘where has the year gone?!’ Indeed, where did the year go. It was an outstanding year and a lousy year. I didn’t do much dancing myself – injuries, illness, work, and stress kept me sidelined for most of the year but I got to see a lot of wonderful dance and meet some incredible people, so I can’t really complain. Physically, I’m doing better, getting stronger little by little. Work is starting to balance out. And stress… well, someone very wisely told me that things don’t have to be easy to be okay so I’m holding onto that right now.

I like the end of the year though. It gives me time to reflect on things and to start gearing up for a new year. I’m not one for resolutions. Instead I love planning and organizing. I enjoy setting goals and work plans to meet them. I like to account for the reality of my situation and dream big all over it.

Here are a few of the things that I like to do at the end of the year!

It’s time again to go through my ballet gear – throw out the old and destroyed; mend what can be salvaged; give everything a good cleaning; restock and replenish.

It’s time to start a new ballet journal and calendar – I like to journal and calendar everything. This year I’m actually planning on expanding my journaling. This year’s journal will be part how-to manual, part training log, part workbook, part diary. I plan to use it to find my best training, my best thoughts, my best dancer, my best self. “Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded. But once mastered, no one can help you as much.” ~Buddha. If you are interested, I thought that I would share worksheets as I create them, I’d love your feedback, so let me know.

I want to calendar my blog this coming year. I’ve been so spotty about it this past year. It’s mostly reflected of my not dancing. When I don’t dance, what do I have to talk about…

I want to really consider my goals for dance this year. I want to see and experience a lot of live performances. I want to expand my knowledge. For my own dancing, setting goals is harder. I forever feel like I’m starting all over again. I know that I want to get back to class regularly, I want to feel like I’m dancing again, I want to fall in love with it again. But I’m not sure those are ‘goals.’ I really need to think about it and maybe sit down with a teacher and talk about it.

So here I go, ready to end this year strong and begin a new year even stronger. Does the end of the year signify anything special for your dancing self? How do you plan to end the year and begin the new?

~All will be well

My Awesome Ballet Teacher says a lot of great stuff. I swear it’s a good thing I have a great memory otherwise I’d be standing at the barre with post-its stuck all over the mirror because I have to remember what he says, it’s just that good. Actually, hmmm… that post-it’s thing might be a good idea.

Anyway, Awesome Ballet Teacher addressed something very important in class the other night, beyond all the great instruction and corrections for actual dancing, he stopped to address when people put too much emphasis on learning the steps and then get discouraged when they don’t get every step and every combination right each and every time. This is why my teacher gets gold stars. As an adult with no real background in dance, being in a dance class is like being in a foreign country complete with a foreign language and different customs and an unusual culture. It’s important for adult dancers to be given good information about how to space yourself at the barre and that you should tuck your laces into your shoes (please, please tuck your laces in, that drives me nuts) and all that but also how to work with ballet class mentally and emotionally. It isn’t like the gym where a trainer shows you how to use a weight machine and there you are counting reps. There is a lot of room for failure that doesn’t exist with number of other pursuits. It’s so very easy to get discouraged, especially in the early stage when each little simple thing is just so confusing and there are so many opportunities to make mistakes. So I really appreciate it when my teacher takes the time to talk to us about how to deal with the challenges of dance class.

Therefore I pass on to you the wise words that my Awesome Ballet Teacher had to say about getting discouraged. Don’t. Just don’t get discouraged. Try your best, focus, give your best effort and that’s it. When we give it a good effort and focus, ballet class does not leave us – we will keep thinking about it, as we are driving, brushing our teeth, the next morning while making coffee – we will keep thinking about it. Ballet ferments in our minds.

Okay, seriously, you have to admit, that’s pretty awesome – ballet fermentation!

All that ballet information will ferment in our minds and some day, maybe the next class or maybe ten classes down the line, all that fabulous fermented ballet stuff will find its way into our arms, legs, feet, everything and we will dance. Let’s just keep going to class, giving it our best, smiling when we progress, smiling when we fail, just keep dancing because dancing isn’t for someday, it’s for today.

Photo property of Align Ballet Method

~All will be well.