No More Sickness, No More Pain

I hate being sick. I hate, hate, hate it.

And you lovelies know that I never use the word hate.

This week has been a whirlwind of suck it ups and rise to the occasions.

On Sunday, I realized that I had strained my ankle when I rolled over my pointe shoe the day before. Simple fix– a little ice, a little heat, a little rest. But I ended up marking most of Miss Mia’s Training 3 class on Monday. (Note to self: Remembering Christmas choreography is a whole lot easier when you’re actually dancing.)

By Wednesday, my ankle was practically good as new, but I was too nauseous to stand for more than a few seconds. I texted Miss Bethanny an “I have germs” message, which was just about the most awful thing, for I knew that I couldn’t assist with the ballet/tap kiddos. I did, however, bundle up and watch my other classes. The modern Christmas piece is looking great, and I learned a lot about tendus, degages, ronds de jambes and turns by watching April (she basically had a private class with Miss Sara; it was a hectic day for everybody).

On Friday, I was feeling significantly better and was able to take both my ballet and pointe classes full-out. Miss Mimi began our Intermediate Pointe 1 dance to “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Michael Buble. It is going to be so beautiful (even if we end up wearing ugly sweaters for the parent performance…!).

To my immense irritation, my nausea returned on Saturday morning. I was forced to perform Miss Mimi’s company class petite allegro with my hands and fudge her double pirouettes. I hate fudging things, too.

During break, Peter (Prince of Darkness) brought me a steamed orange juice, which I honestly believe got me through the first round of rehearsals (Thank you!). The entire cast (minus Caroline, who is currently traveling to see Dancing with the Stars in person. We miss you!) convened to run the performance. I was able to dance full-out on the opening piece, but I had to mark through the Firebird variation. Valerie (Bluebird) and I had quite a time figuring out the timing for our duet, but that got settled. Act II was sad, since half of us were feeling sick. Partnering would not have been pretty.

And then I took a nap.

Two hours later, Moriah came to watch my rehearsal with Bluebird and Prince of Darkness. At that point, Bluebird was the only cast member/teacher who was remotely feeling well, but that didn’t stop Miss Mimi from beginning choreography on my duet with Prince of Darkness. I am so grateful for Miss Mimi.

Things I learned:

• I consistently have my right splits.
• Dance provides an excellent distraction from sickness.
• Lifts are called lifts because your feet don’t touch the ground.