From Blog Director Jill Randall:

For this month, or this week, what about considering the idea of contentment in relation to your wellness? I am trying this one on.

In much of the dance world, contentment is an unfamiliar word. We live in the arena of, "What are you working on right now?" Whether it is our training, choreographic process, or performance calendar – we are working, hustling, dreaming, striving. Constant. Continuous. And seemingly neverending. I feel the weight of this exhaustion on my body and spirit very much.

So, this new word towards wellness — contentment. What do you think?

Other words in the neighborhood include: pausing, enjoying, savoring. Being right where we are.

I am reminded of four quotes from the blog today.

From Linda C. Smith:

Enjoy the journey. Be patient. Decide why you love to dance and then just DO IT. Don’t question yourself every day. Just get up and work and work and work.

Dance is for everyone but life as a professional performer is not for everyone. There are so many ways to make dance part of your life. Don’t get stuck. Experience dance on many levels. Teach it, perform it, make it, fund it, watch it, write about it…love it.

From Randee Paufve:

You’re training is up to you, your body is yours, you are perfect the way you are, but you can always be more of who you are. Don’t do things that hurt.  Breathe, stay tuned (in and out), eat good food, work hard, push yourself, find good teachers, don’t overdo it, less is more. Release techniques are absolutely necessary to study, dance from your bones and all that but you also need to develop your muscles. 

From Shelley Senter:

speaking of questions, there is a difference between the question "should i dance, be a dancer?" and "how can i dance/be a dancer in this moment?" and "how can i make this happen?"

From Abby Fiat:

Learning is risky business. You are going through a treacherous landscape with peaks and valleys inside of it. In some ways, the learning environment has kept me whole. It has allowed me to feel full in my life, and human. It has given me an opportunity to get a perspective in this building and outside this building (both in my personal and professional life). With my students, there is an affirmation – “This is where you are. This is where you are right now." And in that moment, that’s enough. They as people are enough.  It’s not that they aren’t going to keep risking and stretching and growing, because they are. 

My main objective in terms of my students and my own children has been….to give them the opportunity to find out who THEY are…what’s THEIR voice….what’s THEIR vision?  

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