The passing of a legend

As most of you know,  I began my professional ballroom career in 1999. One of my very first coaches (and frankly one of my favorite) was Frank Regan. I was fore warned of his quirkiness and his love of dance physics (I've never heard the phrase "rotary dynamics" so much in my life). It didn't prepare me for the man I met. This small older Brittish man that walked onto the hardwood in an ascot, colored glasses and purple dance shoes was not at all what I expected.  Nor was I expecting to stand still in frame or in a contracheck for hours on end until every instructor had it right. What slayed me most however was the first time I stepped into his frame. This rather frail looking older fellow nearly ran me over. His power, speed, balance and length of stride were astonishing. This man nearly 50 years my senior was blowing me away.  We developed a bond from that day forward.  When I'd go to comps that he'd be judging at, he'd always ask me to dance. We could separate from each other and freestyle and come back in perfect sync with one another.  Many times he asked me to move to D.C. and dance in his performance group.  I loved him like a grandfather,  danced with him like a partner and respected and idolized him as a dance legend and icon. When I stepped away from competing we'd kept in touch via Facebook.  He'd suffered an illness at the last competition I was competing at,  and was in the hospital for months.  He was never the same after coming out of the hospital.  The last time I put my arms around him and kissed him goodbye, I turned away from him so he wouldn't see me crying.  He was so fragile.  None of the strength and power that he had remained.  The illness had robbed him of that. Today we lost a man paramount to the dance world. Save a Mambo for me, Frank.

Insomnia

With the aforementioned back injury comes another fun thing....insomnia.  I've had cyclical insomnia since I was a teenager.  When you're in constant pain sleep doesn't come easy.  That being said, it sent a president.  Now even when I'm not in pain I still have nights where I find sleep eludes me.  It's not unusual in my house to find me up working on choreography or cutting music at 3:30 in the morning.  It seems to be self-perpetuating.  The more I can't sleep, the more I can't sleep. I'm on my 3rd night of sleeping from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m.  Once I hit the 1:00 a.m. mark, my mind starts wandering to all of the things I could be getting done; Costuming, choreography, answering emails, etc. But then I lay there and debate with myself.  "If you get up, then you're DEFINITELY not going to sleep." "Yeah...but I'm not going to sleep anyway, so I could be getting SO much done in the interim!" This week...I'm getting nothing done.  And still not sleeping anyway.

G

Birthday Issues...

So I haven't celebrated my birthday in 6 years.  It's a long story involving a big family blow-up and frankly not worth repeating.  Needless to say, it left me with a sour taste in my mouth.  Frankly it's never really been a big deal to begin with...being January 3rd, I was usually heading back to school or work, and it frequently got overlooked with the hustle and bustle of the holidays anyway.  But this year marks the 5th year of existence of Cin City Burlesque, and what I'm hoping to be my last year on stage (don't worry...I'll still produce, teach and choreograph!).  So I'm actually going to celebrate this year.  Saturday, January 4th at Moerlein Brewery's Tap room (it's an AMAZING space!) we're gonna do it up right.  I was going to make it an invite-only thing, but fuck it.  Come out and point out a few new lines around my eyes.

G

The Lady and The Tramp...

Tonight I get the honor and pleasure of dancing with Lola van Ella's traveling show for a second year in a row.  I SO adore this woman, and all of the wonderful performers she employs. Complete pros on stage, and complete sweethearts back stage.  Although I've been dealing with this back issue for the last week (I'm still pretty miserable), I decided that there was just no way in HELL I was going to miss the opportunity of joining them on stage again.  I can suck it up for 4 minutes.  They are at The Know Theater in Over-the-Rhine Cincinnati tonight, and again for 2 more shows on Friday.  You don't want to miss it.

G

I'm going to be an asshole.

Ok.  I am sick to death of seeing these 8-minute solos where the performer spends 5 minutes just walking around the stage with duck face, 2 minutes standing still and peeling clothes off, 30 seconds of hitting highlights in the music (that we can see coming from a mile away), and only 30 seconds of any real entertainment value.  I've got news for you...anyone can do that.  You shouldn't be paid for that.  80% of your content is boring the hell out of the audience.  They're just waiting for you to get naked already. NO ONE is that interesting...especially if every other routine in the show looks just like it.  It feels phoned in and self-indulgent. Don't get me wrong...I ADORE an over the top classic costume. But if that's all you can offer?  I'm not saying you have to do back flips, and I understand that not everyone has my dance background, but do SOMETHING! ENTERTAIN ME! Make me laugh.  Make me gasp.  Make me weep.  Make me hold my breath. But for the love of Stripper Jesus....do SOMETHING.

G

Thanks for the medical advice, but....

Soooo....I was a dancer, a gymnast and a diver from the time I was 3 years old.  I loved it.  I was good at it.  By the time I was 13 years old, I had to "sleep" over a stack of pillows to try and get any sort of back pain relief.  The fracture, or pars defect, I had developed from the sports I loved was making me miserable.  I had to stop tumbling and diving...the hyperextension on my spine was just too much.  But I continued dancing...through high school, college, and then beyond.  I became a ballroom professional in 1999 (I know...I'm old) and began teaching full-time to pay my bills.  8-9 hours a day in heels, with tall men standing over top of me in dance position. I tried chiropractors (HUGE mistake on that one - made it worse). I tried physical therapy (Oh? It hurts to hyerextend it?  Let's put you in a cobra position!). I tried massage (Nice...but not helpful long-term). I tried acupuncture (All it did was make me break out in welts). I tried oral steroids (Rage much?). I was even doing epidural steroid injections every 6 months (Only helpful on occasion). In the mean time I can't sleep, I can't sit comfortably, I'm in varying amounts of pain every single day, and in general I'm getting a shooting pain down the back of my leg that's bad enough to make me see stars with every step I take. I have constant pins and needles in my left foot.  I keep tripping over it as I lose strength in it.  I finally found a doctor specializing in decompression therapy.  It's a combination of traction (like being stretched on a rack, but with computers), ultra sound, physical therapy, and bracing.  It's a loooong process that I've gone through twice now.  2 weeks every day, 2 weeks every other day, and 2 weeks every third day.  The first week is pure misery.  The second week isn't much better.  But I've gotten better results from this than all the other "cures" combined.  Every 4-5 years I usually end up having to go back and have another round. We're at about year 6...and ouchy.  In the mean time I go to my PCP and get a shot in the hip of anti-inflammatories and pain killers to get by for a few weeks.  So when you see a little less of me on stage each time...please don't be angry.  I'm doing as much as I'm capable of.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spondylolysis

G