'Share Your Story' Campaign & My 12 Favorite Experiences of 2015

I can't believe that we are halfway through the holiday season. Thanksgiving has feasted, Chanukkah has lit, and it is 70 degrees outside. Well, since things are really starting to warm up, it is time that I announce Core-ography's SHARE YOUR STORY interactive fundraising campaign.

Starting today and continuing through January 15th, Core-ography wants to hear your story! To take part in this campaign, we are asking our audience to make an array of donations to share a short, personal memoir. Watch the video above or read below to see how you can become a part of Core-ography! Donations can be made by clicking here and are tax-deductible. After you make a donation ;-) read below to see my favorite 12 experiences of 2015 in honor of the 12 days of Christmas.

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Donation Options: 

$25 Donation - Offer your "One Sentence Memoir" to be shared on "Life of a Freelance Dancer" blog
$50 Donation - Offer your "One Sentence Memoir" to be shared on Core-ography Channel Youtube video (plus lower donation level perks)
$100 Donation - Offer your "One Sentence Memoir" for 10 second video of choreography expressing your story (plus lower donation level perks)
$500 Donation - Offer your "Five Sentence Memoir" for 30 second video of choreography expressing your story (plus donation perks at $25 & $50 level)
$2000 Donation - "Core-Donor" level includes Signed Pointe Shoe from Core-Artist, Skype session with Choreographer and Core-Artist, and all of the perks at $25, $50, and $500 donation levels.

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My 12 Favorite Experiences of 2015

One of my shots of the Liberty Bell

1. While not necessarily exciting, one of my most important experiences of 2015 was to stay home for 5 months. Okay, maybe I visited New York City a few times. But it is so close to Philly and I have so many friends in the city, that it really never feels like traveling. I seriously needed some downtime to rest, recenter, and reinvent. My years of freelancing burnt me out, left me exhausted, and gave no central place to ground myself and call home. I learned a lot about myself during these few months at home and regained a healthy outlook on moving forward in my career and life.

2. Many of my New York City visits had me traveling to guest teach at Peridance Capezio Center. Ever since I first visited the center of the dance world at the age of 15, I dreamt of instructing at one of the city's great institutions. It was not only a huge accomplishment, but a great honor!

My kids at Youth America Grand Prix

3. Building and protecting a ballet career is often a selfish act. This past January, I brought 4 students from Alaska to compete at Youth America Grand Prix as their teacher, choreographer, and coach. While we went into the competition with no expectations, 3 of my students placed in the top 12 of their divisions and I was awarded the Outstanding Choreographer award (by Wendy Perron, no less). For the first time since I was two, I wasn't working towards improving my performance career. Yet, it was equally, if not more gratifying to be a support system to help the future of dance succeed.

4. Speaking of Alaska, I developed my own summer intensive in Anchorage this past June. Isn't that insane? I developed my own summer intensive. In Alaska! One doesn't enter a dance career thinking they would say such words. But, it's true! And it was glorious. Beyond the endless light, non-stop dance, and glorious natural beauty, I finally got to enjoy Alaska on my own terms. Glacier tours, Bear tours, visiting Homer, and more. This was definitely a trip that goes down in both the career and personal history books.

The birthday boy at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

5. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Danya and my trip to Miami definitely sits atop this list of experiences. While we have both tagged vacations on to our travels for work, we have not taken a legitimate vacation for the sake of vacationing since moving to Philadelphia in 2011. Well, celebrating Danya's progression into his 40's was more than enough reason to make this happen. During our time in Miami, we enjoyed South Beach's beach culture, traditional Cuban food in Little havana, and the palatial Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. But walking through the slowly gentrifying Wynwood Arts District's somewhat seedy streets to view hundreds of murals by street artists proved to be our most worthwhile adventure.

6. I know many balletomanes won't understand this one. But the fact that I am only performing in one weekend (three shows) of Nutcracker is definitely a highlight of my year. Having at least 300 performances of this holiday classic under my belt, I feel no sadness for the loss. In fact, I turned down a handful of offers. I am still determining where my career is going and letting my body/mind continue to heal from my severe case of burn out.

7. Getting to show my work onstage at the McCallum Theatre's 18th Annual Choreography Festival was definitely a highlight of my year. For years, I have watched colleagues and choreographers I admire win selection into this prestigious choreography competition. I applied for the first time this year thinking that I wouldn't get it. To my surprise, I was selected as 1 of 10 out of 115 applications. My work was performed beside the likes of many choreographers that I share great respect for. While I didn't win one of the 3 prizes given, as somebody who has only recently started to focus on my choreography, I was more than elated to add this to my resume and life experiences.

8. While I have been patiently sending out choreography packages and hoping to gain commissions that allow me to continue creating dance on a large scale, I decided to start my own project (that you've been reading about in this blog). Little could I have imagined that Core-ography would take off as it has. With over 3,000 views, nearly 100 subscribers, and notice from Pointe Magazine and Dance Spirit, I couldn't be more proud of our 3 Core-artists for achieving what we have. I can't wait to see where the new year brings things!

9. This may sound sappy, but it has been really nice to see my cats on a regular basis. It really caught me off guard last year when I didn't see their meowing little faces for nearly 8 months. By the time I settled into my directorship in Alaska last fall, I found myself depressed. At a certain point, I was trying to teach them how to look at a computer screen to Skype with me. This was never very effective.

10. As you all know, I love to travel. Beyond this, I love to add new places to my life experience. While I did spend a nice chunk of time home this year, I also worked in or visited New York City, Anchorage, Homer, Chestertown, Little Rock, Richmond, Los Angeles, Palm Desert, and Miami. I will be spending the holidays back in Alaska for a winter intensive I developed and to create choreography for a handful of students to compete with at Youth America Grand Prix. While most of our time will be spent in Anchorage, Danya, a friend, and I will celebrate the new year in Fairbanks seeking the Aurora Borealis.

Danya working w/interior designer Taniya Nayak on an HGTV pilot

11. It has been greatly satisfying to watch my Danya's business explode over this past year. Months after moving to Philadelphia, he took a risky chance and started his own professional organizing business, Spaces Transformed. Over the years, I have nervously watched his business grow steadily from infant to maturing young adult. This year that all changed as his business grew into a full-fledged, mature adult. I have been very proud of all of his hard work and determination. To experience the realization of his vision has been so satisfying to watch!

12. While focusing on my performance career and freelancing around the nation, I missed out on a handful of common life experiences. Spending time at home has given me a chance to plug back into normalcy (at times) and to remember what it is that connects people to one another. This year I celebrated my second Thanksgiving with my family since I was 18 years old. I watched my close friend (and former School of American Ballet roommate) marry his husband. I lit fireworks with friends and family on the Fourth of July, was with my love for both his and my birthdays, and much more. While the life of a freelance dancer can be filled with excitement and sensational experiences, feeling like a normal person is necessary to keep one centered in their life and art.

4th of July with my family

MRI Talk - What Is It Like to Have an MRI?

Maybe you've noticed, maybe you haven't. I haven't been sharing much about my performance experiences this season. The reason for this is because I have barely performed since the 2013-2014 dance season. I spent the end of this past summer and all of fall in Anchorage directing Alaska Dance Theatre. Upon returning, I coached a few of my students successfully through the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals in Philadelphia, taught a handful of master classes, started sending out my choreography in search of commissions, and am working on another choreography project that I soon hope to share with you all. A lot is still going on in my freelance career, but my 2014 - 2015 season has been more about growing outside of my performance career and healing my body.

Coaching one of my students for Youth America Grand Prix at the Alvin Ailey studios

I've had injuries before, just like every professional dancer I know. But my most recent injury has been much different than any I've had in the past. While the initial injury was extremely painful and immobilizing, unlike other injuries, I have never had such an odd recovery period. In the past, I have seen marked improvement with rest, physical therapy, and time. But this time around, my gains have been marred by multiple steps back in pain and inflammation.

With my current injury, I seemed to be on the right track to recovery with physical therapy and my continuing obsession with maintaining my core strength. But when I came home from Alaska and had difficulty finding practitioners that would accept my Alaskan insurance, I was forced to continue treatment on my own. I kept up my exercises and saw a chiropractor regularly, but my pain was continuing to come back. And it was coming back stronger than it was before.

This graffiti I found in Philly perfectly represents how I felt

What I found particularly odd was that I still had my full mobility and range of movement in my body. I was taking ballet class, struggling through the first few combinations until I was warm. Then once I got warm, I could do most anything without pain, except lift my leg behind me. By the time class was over, I would feel good for about 20 minutes before my back would start to seize up. It got to the point where I couldn't sit for more than five minutes.

What confused me even more about this injury was that I couldn't figure out how to take care of it. I had been dancing in pain for some time, so I took a week off. When I took that week off, the pain got worse. So, I assumed that keeping blood flowing through those achey muscles must have benefitted them. I finally decided to take an entire month off in the middle of February and was lucky to finally find a practitioner that would treat me with my insurance.

After months of pain, struggle, and frustration, I was finally able to get a much overdue MRI yesterday. Having this type of imaging of my injury would finally give me a clue as to what has been happening in my body since October. As I prepared my MRI-seasoned self, I had to remind myself what I was getting into before I went through with the process.

Anybody that has had an MRI could quite easily scare you to death by explaining the procedure. Most people wince at the prospect of being shoved into a coffin-like tube of cacophony. But if you understand what you are getting yourself into and mentally prepare accordingly, you will have no problem acing this scan in a shavasana-like state.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, or MRI

What exactly is an MRI? MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Essentially, this style of imaging, or looking inside your body noninvasively, is like a much, much more detailed X-ray (without radiation) for whichever part of the body needs to be studied. According to the Mayo Clinic website, an "MRI is a technique that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of the organs and tissues in the body." While I could go into more detail about what exactly happens to make an MRI scan work, I'd prefer to move on to the experience of getting an MRI.

Before I left home for my appointment yesterday, I left all of my jewelry at home and took out my earring. Since magnets are used for these scans, you can't have any loose metal on your body. I don't know exactly what would happen, but I imagine some Matrix-like shit going down where you are lifted off the table from your ear. All kidding aside, you seriously can't have any metal on your body. There are questionnaires about pace-makers and signs about watches being destroyed. So, make sure that you leave most of your valuables at home before you head to the facility to be seen and speak up if you have any metal objects inside your body.

After arriving you will answer questionnaires about general health and metal objects in your body (shrapnel, pace-maker, etc.). Then you will be moved into a changing room to put on a gown or pair of paper shorts, which depends on the part of your body you are having scanned (I only had to put on paper shorts and got to keep my underwear, socks, and shirt on). Once you've changed and locked your belongings in a locker, you will be brought into the MRI room.

There is no specific protocol for being prepped to get your scan done, but I will give you a general idea of what happens. You will be asked a few questions that you have probably already answered, like, "Are you wearing a watch?" Then, you will be given ear plugs to put in your ears, which you will want to make sure are secure before you are put into the machine. Sometimes, facilities will have headphones with music. Once you are prepped, you will be asked to lay down on what looks like a table without legs. When they ask you if you would like a blanket, say yes. Take the blanket whether you want it or not. It gets quite cold and lonely in there.

Is it an MRI machine?

Once placed on the table, you will be scrolled into a very tight, cannoli-like tube. If you have severe anxiety issues relating to small spaces, be sure to ask your doctor before your appointment about possible medication (usually valium) to calm your nerves for the procedure. One of the last things you will be told by the technicians before you can't see more than the creme-colored ceiling of the machine will be, "Stay as still as possible." Any movement by the patient can distort the imaging process. If you move too much, it will only extend the amount of time you are stuck in the tube. Usually (but not always), you will be given a panic button in one of your hands to squeeze if you start to feel overly claustrophobic or present symptoms of a panic attack. Relax! You won't need to use this. I suggest keeping your eyes closed as the technicians put you into the machine and just keep them closed until they move you out of the machine.

If it seems that this procedure is already stressful enough, you are given those earplugs early on for a major reason. Very few things in life, besides concerts and airplanes, can mimic the sound of an MRI machine doing it's job. According to the California Institute of Technology, an MRI is so noisy "because its magnetic field is created by running electrical current through a coiled wire—an electromagnet. When the current is switched on, there is an outward force all along the coil. And because the magnetic field is so strong, the force on the coil is very large." Essentially, you are in a small space with an overzealous magnetic tap dancer practicing like there is no tomorrow on the tube you have found yourself in. While many people find this noise unpleasant, I close my eyes and choreograph movement to the techno sound of the electromagnetic noises passing over (and through) my body. If you focus on something other than what is really happening, the time passes much more quickly and you will be out of the machine before you know it. 

If you are able to stay still and manage your fears and phobias, most MRI's don't really last too long. And, honestly, they really aren't that bad. The worst thing that could happen is that they have to pull you out. You are not stuck inside the machine. Once you are finished, you are brought out of the tube and can go about your day as if nothing unusual happened to you. You will either be given a CD or physical scans of the part of your body that was being reviewed. Be sure to bring these with you to your next doctor appointment.

An MRI scan (not my own)

As for me, I was lucky enough to get my scans looked at only 24 hours (this morning) after I had them taken. Since this injury has been so odd and lengthy, I went into my appointment prepared for some pretty bad news. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the doctor tell me that I will recover and be out of pain again. Honestly, I had convinced myself that I would be given the career-ending injury conversation. While I still need more rest, therapy, and work to recover, I should be able to dance again and live my life without any pain (beyond normal dancer aches). While I may not be able to perform for the rest of this season, I will dance again. Perhaps, the best news I've heard in a long time! So, for the time being, I look forward to continuing to push my choreography, pass on my craft, and share my stories.

Can't wait to move like this again (Photo: J.J. Tiziou)

Video Break - My Choreography - Pas de Deux from Distinct Perceptions

Proud director of these four talented students from Alaska Dance Theatre

This past weekend was quite exciting for me and a few kids from Alaska Dance Theatre. After months of preparation, two of my students placed in the top 12 in the Junior and Senior Contemporary divisions at the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals in Philadelphia. We also had our male competitor win 3rd place in the men's Contemporary division. To seal the deal, I was recognized with a special award for Outstanding Choreography. It was a very exciting weekend for all of us. Who knew that dance was alive and well in Alaska ;-)

It's been awhile since I've posted a Video Break from my writings. So, in honor of our success this past weekend and to fulfill your ever-growing curiosity about my choreography ;-), I am posting the complete pas de deux from Distinct Perceptions, a ballet that I choreographed at the National Choreographers Initiative this past summer. Enjoy!