Feminist reflections on fitness, sport, and health
I am interested in how dancing connects us with others, such as when dark dancing provided a community for dancers during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, dancing with others can also inhibit us, especially when we fear that others see us as bad dancers out on the dance floor. Today,… Continue reading Dancing Alone
Last weekend I went to an event sponsored by a local medieval club and found myself sucked into the rabbit hole of dancing. I’m usually too busy in the kitchen or working on crafts to think about dancing, but this time it was a small event, I had plenty of time, and someone was teaching… Continue reading Renaissance Dancing for Fun and Fitness
I love this dancing video, have watched it a few times, and it provided moments of cheer. I won’t belabor the point but physio is boring and painful. That’s not exactly news. But wow, I’m doing a lot of it and I’m needing to remind myself why. Why did I have knee replacement surgery anyway?… Continue reading Sam dreams of dancing
Does the fear of being a bad dancer have an effect on your dance morale, and what do you do about it?
It was a Monday afternoon when, during an energetic phone-call, my best friend shared that she would be trialing a barre class that evening. Barre, a ballet-inspired body-weight exercise class, intrigued me because I have had a slow-burn love for ballet for most of my life. If money and time weren’t a constraint, I would… Continue reading Two Women walk into a Barre
Well, I resolved to try a new class at the gym, possibly Zumba. And I did. And it was Zumba. OMG. That was hard. But also a lot of fun. On the hard side, wow, there is just no way for me to keep up with those dance moves. It was pretty complicated (for me)… Continue reading Sam, her new knees, and her Muppet dance moves, survive Zumba
Every chance I get, I share the dance song “I like to move it” video from the animated movie Madagascar. There are several reasons for this: Watching it recently (yes, I shared it in this post) I was struck by how watching the hippo dance (apologies, I forget her name) puts me at a crossroads.… Continue reading Learning more about bodies from dancing animals and physical therapy
So while physio pretty much always begins with painful mobility work, it doesn’t always end that way. Sometimes it ends with dancing to Lizzo. I was thinking about physio the other day and how I keep going back even though it’s pretty tough going. Lately we’ve been working on leg extension and getting my leg… Continue reading Dancing to Lizzo, or physio isn’t all pain and suffering
I just got back from a long-awaited photography tour of Ireland for a couple of weeks and there were so many memorable moments with new friends and beautiful places. But one stand-out experience that delivered an unexpected blast of sheer joy for all concerned was an Irish dance class in Galway, taught by Siobhan, who… Continue reading Guaranteed fun: Irish dance class in Galway
On a March evening in 2020, I stood in front of a mirror and inspected my outfit. The shiny faux leather pants and ruby red, sequin-covered asymmetrical top was not part of my usual wardrobe, but I had to admit that I loved the spicy vibe of my reflection. My hair was slicked back in… Continue reading Dance Like You’re Watching
