You're the Modern dancer in the bunch...

Oh.

I have tried very hard to omit labels as such from my own vocabulary after a dear mentor yelled at me for thinking such.

"You're NOT a ballerina! You're NOT a modern dancer! YOU ARE a JESSICA!"

Oh.

And so, the years ensued, trying to figure out what a JESSICA is.

Apparently, she's a modern dancer, who is also a "post-mod ballerina," who also can tap and execute a mean polka, equipped with Wu-Tang Kung-Fu, and just might dive into a manjini, or a kick ball change and a jazz square, depending on her mood.

I return to the undercurve. (Oh, how I love thee... let me count the ways...) For more info on the undercurve, check out this earlier post: Riding the wave and digging the trenches

In this particular rehearsal, strangely, that's exactly what I needed to access.

The undercurve is part of a transition. Transitions are more than movements from point A to point B, but a real opportunity to dance through those strange places where things might seem a bit uncomfortable (am i still talking about dance here? Dance = Life. Art is a reflection on life.)

And through grounding through the undercurve, the plie, the chasse, the inversion, more ground is transversed. More space embraced. The body grounds so that the overcurve can be that much stronger, more fully realized. For every action there is an equal an opposite reaction.

So even in pointe shoes, it's okay to be "the Modern dance in the bunch" and get down with your undercurve.