Hello.
Today was the beginning of a new week and I'm so glad to be getting stuck in!
I took class this morning at Dance Base with Claire Benson, a Limon influenced and high energy class. It was so nice to take class, I got up really early while it was still dark and really enjoyed every part of it (even getting up after only 4 hours of sleep).
I only got 4 hours of sleep because last night I was being a model for a friend of mine who is studying photography. She needed a model to do a fashion shoot for some work she had to do and so she asked me.
Alot of people think modelling is just about being beautiful and glamourous but it's really hard work! There is so much acting involved, look like this, look like that, take this shirt off, put that one on, show some flesh, jump on this wall, look sexy etc etc.
Some parts I actually found really difficult because sometimes she would ask me to express something in the face and that's quite difficult when you normally express it with your body.
It got me thinking about performance and performers and how hard it is to be a character and be someone else. I also thought alot about how I can do this and if I actually could. I think it takes alot of work to bring a character out of you and to do it effectively, to really believe it.
It also made me realise how much energy is required in the face for dance, because there many photos where I thought I was showing alot of expression, but when looking back at the photos, I looked quite blank, so it made realise how much you have to give just to show expressions.
Ok, so has anyone ever wondered what it would be like to eat 8000 calories a day?
Tonight I watched a programme on Channel 4 about a 19 year old boy who is 57 stone. It was so shocking. Of course, I happened to be eating dinner at the time and it was so shocking that my body just wouldn't allow me to finish.
It just seems so crazy and unreal that someone could be allowed to become so overweight that they can't get out of bed or leave their room. It raises alot of questions about the world we live in. Of course there were and are many emotional and physcological reasons as to why his mother allowed it and somehow abused the situation, but where is the limit, is there a limit?
It's deeply disturbing.
Of course, being a Dancer, food is an important thing. I think every Dancer has a different experience with food, it's a very personal experience, so my experience and feelings about it are inevitably not the same as someone elses.
No matter what each Dancer's experiences with food are, what this programme made me realise is that we actually have an incredible power. What we have is the power and the choice to change our bodies and look after them and try to develop a better and healthier realtionship with food, something that the boy in this programme never had and will struggle to have for a long time.
It's such a sad situation, but out of this boy's misery has come inspiration for me and reminds me of the power I and we have. It's great to realise that, it's just very sad that this inspiration has to come from such a sad and shocking story.
On a lighter note, tomorrow I'll be taking class with Anna Krystek who is in residence at Dance Base this week. It's free and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll take class every day this week which is really fantastic, can't wait!
Goodnight, and remember you have the power to change things you're not happy with!
:)
