Update: First Week Back and The Waiting Game

It's the first week back at Maine State Ballet after December break. After Nutcracker, I was only half alive. I was exhausted and barely functional having gone through weeks of rehearsals and performances. Some of you may remember, I was cast as the Dew Drop (the Balanchine rendition) and the Sugar Plum Fairy in our performances. It is REALLY difficult to have a high pressure role in every show. I know we all strive for perfection, getting a good role for every show, every performance run. But sometimes you can only take so much.
So here we are in 2014, well rested and ready to begin anew... And I'm injured. I had rather sever pain on the outside of my right ankle during Nutcracker rehearsals. During the shows it didn't bother me as much but I think the maximum doses of Advil I was taking may have had something to do with that. I was hoping after two weeks off it would either heal up or at the very least feel better. This Tuesday, (Monday classes were cancelled due to bad weather and the roof of our dance school was leaking because of the insane amounts of snow and freezing rain up here) I went back to class and it hurt even more.
Today, I went to see a doctor and he informed me that I have ankle tendonitis. It could be worse, however, tendonitis is extremely painful and can take a long time to heal. Thank goodness I'm still allowed to dance but when I'm not dancing I have to be in a boot to allow my ankle to rest. This reminds me of a quote from the YouTube video "S**t Ballerinas Say..." "I sprained my ankle, but I'll be fine by Friday."

On a better note, casting for our spring show, Cinderella, should be coming out soon. It's always so aggravating to wait, isn't it? You just want to know what you'll be working on. Whether you'll be elated or disappointed with the location of your name on the list. It'll drive a dancer mad!
Fortunately, I have back-to-school preparations to keep my mind off of things. Starting Monday, it's back into the full swing of things. Some of my school books were delivered today and they've been sitting here staring at me. Despite my best efforts to ignore and forget about them, I've engaged in the staring contest and I'm pretty sure they're winning.

Here we go again.
Monday we have a wonderful guest post from the intelligent, Amanda Howard. She'll be teaching us about the anatomy of our feet and how we can better take care of them. Something every dancer should know. And DRUM ROLL PLEASE! On Monday, the 20th, we'll have a guest interviewee! Can anyone guess who it is? Here are a few hints... She's currently a principal with the Cincinnati Ballet, former Boston Ballet principal, she's dating one of her partners, and is one of my personal favorite dancers. Stay tuned to find out and good luck!
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Thanks for reading, lovelies!
Rhiannon -