By Nina Anonas, ACBE
This may not be new to you; but when faced with death-defying challenges, dancers’ antennas are always hypersensitive toward solving problems.
There’s no time to panic when there are stray nails onstage. One simply changes the blocking and cues their co-dancers with a flick of an eyebrow or an exaggerated eye roll. And when the orchestra pit is carelessly left opened, dancers backstage will automatically warn each other through frantic arm movements.
This was the life prior to COVID-19.
COVID-19 is the mother of all challenges as it forced me to reframe “live” classes with social distancing protocols. The entire dance industry has quietly migrated to doing online classes that recently and thankfully mushroomed, owing to the great need to stay in shape.
I say “quietly” because I have not heard any complaint on how different things are now; just solution-oriented mindsets and discussions on how we can solve our halted training programs, and shows; but that is another big topic altogether.
Let me share with you some tips which I’ve shaped into my “new reality” that I hope can help you in forming your own practices in the comfort of your home:
1. Roll with the punches and stay positive. The mind is a powerful weapon against doomsday predictions.
2. Keep in mind that you need to keep a level of fitness so that you can get on with your tasks seamlessly when the quarantine is lifted.
3. Choose an online class that best fits your stamina and skill. Going to one that is difficult and not suited to your current abilities will only frustrate you.
4. Do your grand jetés or your big leaps outside of your home, in the village park, or even on the street. Jumping, leaping, running, skipping, these lift the spirit. Do them!
5. Support your fellow dancers in isolation over coffee catch-ups in Zoom conferences. Talk about anything and everything.
6. “Marie Kondo” something. I’m sure you have a cleaning/organizing project you’ve always wanted to do but never had the time to do before. I recently “Marie Kondo-ed” my home office. I felt a great sense of accomplishment as I weeded out things that did not spark joy anymore. It’s always good to edit the non-essentials out of your life.
7. I give myself a “barre” daily at 6:00 p.m. These are exercises done holding on to a barre (a metal or wooden handrail), which is now either a chair or a table depending on the height that I require, to warm up my muscles and maintain strength, turnout, and balance. There are no excuses. This cultivates self-discipline.
8. I do stretches and strengthening Pilates- and yoga-based exercises to supplement my “barre.” I love that I use my own body weight in planks. I do at least eight to 12 repetitions of the exercises, depending on how I feel for the day. I also take two- to three-minute breaks between the exercises as the added summer heat can give you a migraine if you’re not careful.
9. I do a daily set of abdominal exercises, mindfully doing them in smooth, controlled movements. I pay close attention to form, lengthening through the spine, and stabilizing the pelvis.
10. For foot articulation, I use a Theraband, so I can pointe and flex with some resistance. Spending too much time seated and sedentary in front of the computer can cause water retention.
11. I watch many livestreamed West End or Broadway shows which are stress-relieving.
12. Practice healthy food choices. Keep off the complex sugars as they tend to depress you after consuming them. Water is your best friend.
Now is the best time to be open to all kinds of inspiration, experiment with the unchartered frontier of isolated exercise routines, and still be creative in the process. It’s a call to be the new architects of a changing face of the arts. If our art form was already ephemeral from the start, this is the time to find more concrete solutions to packaging that ephemerality into a shiny, irresistible box, without re-inventing age-old standards.
About the author: A former soloist at Ballet Philippines and a principal dancer at the Manila Metropolis Ballet, Nina Anonas is currently the chairperson of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, School of Design and Arts’ Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance Program. She is a Ballet Conservatoire Accredited Lecturer and International Examiner.