Student/Teacher/Performer/Admirer: A Correspondence with Ramona Kelley of Twyla Tharp Dance

Many years ago, dancer Ramona Kelley was a student of mine in a teen modern class in Berkeley, California. Over the years, it has been exciting to see her head off to college at NYU and then launch into a professional career. Ramona merges technique and joy onstage and is magical to watch. Knowing that she will come full circle and be back in Berkeley in October 2015 to perform with Twyla Tharp at Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, I thought it would be fun to correspond over a few months prior to the performances. This correspondence, shared on the blog, offers a window into the world of Twyla Tharp as well as following a young and talented dance artist based in New York City.

Ramona Kelley is originally from California, where she began her training at Berkeley Ballet Theater under the direction of Sally Streets. She is a National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA) scholarship award winner and she holds a BFA in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Ramona danced the principal role "Betsy" in the North American/Japanese tour of Tharp’s “Come Fly Away.” A current member of Twyla Tharp Dance, she has also worked with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance, Oakland Ballet Company and The Phantom of the Opera 25^th Anniversary Tour among others.

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This week from Ramona: 

Can you talk about care of your body, rest, and recuperation? 

In preparation for our upcoming tour, I sometimes feel that taking care of my body has become a full-time job. I usually arrive at the studio early – at least 30 or 45 minutes before company class to work out the kinks from the previous day's rehearsal, with stretching and a few strengthening exercises. I always carry with me a couple of small rubber bouncy balls in my bag to lay on and help break up knots in my neck, back, glutes and calves (of which I have many!). Our class usually begins with a slow-ish ballet barre with interspersed yoga and core strength exercises, depending on how the company feels. However sore we may feel, we always do a full class ending often with grand pirouettes and/or a large jump manège. Moving really "big" feels necessary to prepare for a run thru of the program, followed by rehearsals. 

At the end of the rehearsal day, I make sure I do a stretching cool down in the studio before returning home. It is often very hot in the studio, and there is nothing worse than muscles cramping for the duration of the crowded subway ride home! During this rehearsal period I have been supplementing my daily dancing schedule with evening workouts in the gym – sometimes no more than 20 minutes on  the stationary bike if it has been a particularly hard day. Without doing anything to injure myself, I want to make sure I am well prepared for the strenuous days of tech/dress rehearsals before an evening show (or the days in which we have two shows). In our second week of the tour we will be performing at high altitude – a challenge I am not too familiar with – and so my mantra has been "be as strong/prepared as possible." My night ends with ice – mainly for my feet and ankles, which are often the most tender.

I have toured before, but this particular show/travel schedule will be a new challenge. We will travel with foam rollers, lots of bouncy balls (for the hotel and theater), compression socks for flying…I will squeeze as many pt "toys" into my bags as possible! With our departure date one week away, efficient packing has become a prominent focus of my job – I'll let you know how it goes!

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