Interview with Daphne Lee

I first met Daphne Lee at The Ailey School, where she was incredibly successful. Lee went on to dance with Ailey II and currently dances with Lustig Dance Theater. We spoke briefly on how she stays well. 

How do you stay in shape during the off-season?

I stay in shape during off season by combining rest, active rest and cross training. Depending on the amount of time I have off, I will do completely nothing to give my body and mind a break. Then I will simply begin going to the gym and doing small workouts, to then taking class 3x a week to build back strength, stamina, keep my technique up to par. Getting monthly massages keeps my body relaxed as well.

What is your favorite method of cross-training?

There are many things I do to cross train including swimming, and Pilates. I really love doing small workouts based on core strength and cardio. But Pilates with Former AAADT member Serita Allen makes it amazing.

Do you have any pre-performance or post-performance health routines you'd like to share?

Other than class before a show. After a show is where I really want my body to recover. I would always carry lavender or eucalyptus Epson salt with me on tour, and would take baths when I got to the hotel. Most dancers would go out for drinks after a show but I would typically run to the hotel and try to get in the jacuzzi or sauna to heal my muscles and relax.

What is the best advice you've ever gotten on staying healthy as a dancer?

The best advice I received on staying healthy was "listen to you body". As dancers, our body is our instrument and it's important to simply respond to it. Eat until you are full, stay hydrated, rest if something hurts, get enough sleep. I'm also strong on finding natural ways to help or heal the bodies through food, meditation and having a balanced life. It's essential for a long healthy career.

Is there anything that you learned or anything that differed from your expectations since making the transition from student to professional?

Going from student to professional, you learn to become a better performer. It becomes more about "expressing" yourself and what Desmond Richardson told me was to "find your brand". You start to hone in on how you like to move, why you move, and translating the choreographers language. You also learn there is a company for everyone is patience is key.  When taking class among students, I notice they are still focused on steps and combinations. The professional dancers do the same but they perform as well. I try to pretend that the studio is a stage with an audience watching and every moment counts. It helps in auditions too since companies are looking for performers.

Thank you very much for your words, Daphne! 

Photos by JReid Photo and Kristina Zaidner Photography. 

SALTy Adventures in Portugal

I am writing from a villa in the very southwestern tip of Portugal, in a little town called Sagres. It has been lovely, and I have been swimming in the salt water every day.

At the upper right of this blog is the Isak Dineson quote: "the cure for anything is salt: sweat, tears, or the sea." I've spoken a lot about sweat and tears, but not a lot about the sea. And the sea here actually seems to be curing a few of my injuries. I arrived here with a friend who had a minor case of plantar fasciitis, and the cold, salty ocean made his foot feel so much better! It's like taking an ice bath with Epsom salts.

Many of the restaurants here cater to tourists. The menus rarely have anything besides sandwiches, burgers, salads, and for some strange reason, a plethora of omelets. We didn't really find any authentic Portuguese cuisine until yesterday, at a small roadside cafe, sitting on plastic seats and watching the road. I had seabass, served with a small side salad and covered in the loveliest spices. Apparently, Portugal was originally the home of the spice trade, and we could tell from yesterday's lunch.

Otherwise, for me, the eating here has been quite a transition. I am used to eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, all fresh, and low-glycemic breads like Ezekiel bread. In most Portuguese supermarkets they sell mostly three staples: fish, bread, and candy. A favorite snack my companions have discovered: bacon-flavored chips. They're very flavorful and light, nothing like American chips.

Today in our garden we watched as the tiniest hummingbird flitted among our flowers. It was no bigger than a dragonfly.

It's important during the off-season to get away from your work, and important for artists to explore new places. I've been very inspired by our time in Portugal. It is a beautiful, and slightly run down place. When we are driving we often see abandoned buildings, ruins on beautiful landscapes. New York and our work seems worlds away.

How Dancers Stay Healthy

Dancers are a curious breed. Although many of us pay close attention to health trends, the larger majority of dancers have discovered ways to keep in shape and eat well through experience and through trial and error. This is why so much of what dancers do to keep well differs in surprising ways from what a health magazine or diet book will tell you. 

I interviewed several professional dancers on their health and wellness practices, and although I will not share their names, I will share their answers and how they manage wellness in an industry where health is crucial to how well you perform. 

The interesting thing about dancers is that dancing itself doesn't actually burn that many calories, but it tires you out in a very intense way. So the way that dancers keep in shape is much more applicable to the average person who wants to get healthy... only dancers have gotten it down to a science. 

Many dancers acknowledge that health and wellness is a personal matter, and differs depending on individual choice. One dancer told me she has found that "there is no one size fits all for anything." 

One dancer I spoke with responded earnestly that "it starts, at least for me, with a whole lot of peanut butter." I laughed. I am a member of a large group of dancers who would agree with this statement. There's nearly always a jar of peanut butter in my pantry, and often there's also one in my dance bag. For the dancer I spoke with, the peanut butter is all about protein. She has found that "proteins are key" because they are "a rich and filling food." 

A lot of dancers seem to go back to these kinds of basic ideas about health and wellness instead of gimmicky health trends. Many, if not all, of the dancers I spoke with told me that their top ways of staying well are eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, and drinking lots of water. But I also had some answers that were fairly new health trends. One dancer, in addition to lots of water, swears by the tea Yerba Mate for hydration and energy. 

Nearly all of the dancers I spoke with use massage to maintain balance in the body and prevent injuries. One dancer told me her massage is "monthly at a Chinese massage center, where they use a mix of techniques that really help with tension and muscle soreness." 

Exercise and cross-training are a much less universal category; every dancer I spoke with had a different preferred method of keeping in shape, during the season and the off-season. Some prefer mind-body based exercises like "gyrokinesis, yoga, pilates, and meditation," while others are more geared towards swimming and trips to the weight room and the cardio machines at the gym. Despite its bad reputation for causing injuries, a startling number of dances I spoke with run regularly. Those who do are adamant about "listening to your body... If you feel the running is too intense for your knees and ankles, then you need to back off." 

Being aware of the body's messages was a common theme among all the dancers I spoke with. One said that she learned to "decode the signals you are getting" from your body, especially after a long rehearsal. "Listen to your body!" she smiled. "It's smarter than you think!" 

How to Pack for Tour (Or Just an Adventure)

This year, during the season, I was invited to go on tour with the company. I was unbelievably excited. And immediately decided on all the things I wanted to bring with me.

The company had a really successful tour, and I was glad I brought what I did. Since then, packing has become somewhat of a sport for me, an amusing challenge for the over-achieving perfectionist that I am. Today, my friends and I are leaving for three weeks in Europe, and I couldn't be more excited... or more proud of my packing job.

Here are three things I couldn't live without on tour and throughout my summer travels, and how I'm fitting three weeks' worth of stuff into a carry-on suitcase and my dance bag:

1. The first thing is the amazing travel teapot from Bonavita, which you can view here, along with my travel coffee maker from Melita, coffee filters, and of course, some freshly ground coffee. It is so small that you can stuff it full of socks and fit it right into your suitcase. And then you can have fresh coffee, wherever you are staying. Now, if you are not a coffee drinker, I'd still recommend bringing the Bonavita, especially if you're on tour. It was amazing to have in our room, and in the theater, for tea, or even for oatmeal for a quick, warm pick-me-up. It can really stretch your travel budget if you're not constantly buying coffee, tea, and snacks, and tide you over when you're somewhere remote and you don't have access to a coffee shop or a place to buy a snack. 
2. This is more for the adventure side, but works for tour too, especially if you have sensitive skin or are a light sleeper. It also helps if you are at all worried about bedbugs. This is a must for the adventure side of traveling, if you are going to be staying on a friend's couch, a hostel, or in a remote hotel. The Cocoon Silk TravelSheet is basically a sleeping sack that packs down to nothing, about the size of the palm of your hand. It's also one hundred percent silk. Having this in your bag is like bringing your own sheets with you, except it takes up less room than an umbrella. 
3. The LifeFactory glass water bottle makes life so much easier when you are traveling. Because it's glass, it is very easy to clean, and because of the outer layer, it won't break. It's also slim enough that it's not like carrying a huge Nalgene with you everywhere. I like to travel with vitamin powders that I can mix into my water, like Emergen-C, and this water bottle won't retain the smell or taste of Emergen-C after you wash it out, like other water bottles. 

So, those three things are definitely coming with me to Europe today. But also I'm bringing a lot of outfit options, and not checking a bag. Here's how I'm fitting three weeks' worth of stuff into a carry-on suitcase and my dance bag:

• The most important thing that keeps me sane for packing, perfectionist that I am, is that I put nearly everything in a sack, packing cube, or shoe bag. This way, when you open your suitcase, you can always tell where everything is. And it doesn't look like a big mess of stuff. Also, these are definitely a must for international travel, because if someone goes through your bag at security, you'll have a very easy time putting everything back together. 

• The packing cubes not only make it so much easier to stay organized, but they also give you a little bit more room in your bag. They also simplify the packing process. For the Europe trip, I filled two packing cubes with outfits for the three weeks, pajamas, and a small bag for laundry. Pictured here is one of the packing cubes (with my pajamas on top, because I like seeing the pattern!)

• Smaller things, like swimsuits, and dance leotards and tights, go in smaller pouches. I like to use makeup bags like this one from Victoria's Secret, filled with swimsuits rolled up inside.

• This all depends on the geography of your carry-on, but what's great about cloth pouches is that you can manipulate their shape. The finished carry-on looks like this:

• I used my dance bag, the Lululemon Keep on Running small duffle, as my purse/second smaller carry-on bag. It holds my liquids, cosmetics, jewelry, sweater, scarf, travel pillow, sleep mask, glasses, vitamins, and electronics. The liquids were the biggest challenge for this trip, because I refuse to check a bag. It's expensive, and the thought of losing a bag makes me very uneasy. I used the Travelon TSA Compliant Quart Pouch to pack my liquids. The official rule is that you should have one, but I've never had a problem with bringing two. I used the bottles that came with the pouches, but also added other necessary things, all under three ounces. 

So there it is. Two bags, both carry-on size (actually, they're both slightly smaller than regulation carry-on size.) And I am off to Europe! 

Something Truly SALTy

Summer isn't really the time to talk about bath salts. 

But as I was cleaning our bathroom the other day, I found these. And because I had had enough cleaning, and frankly, had forgotten about the Tiffany blue bag of bath salts above the tub, I opened it and had a whiff. 

The strong smells of lavender and sea salt had me entranced, as did the pretty packaging. 

It turns out that these salts can be used for a lot more than just a hot winter bath. My favorite summer use for these is as an exfoliant: mix a small amount with your body wash, and you've got a lovely lavender scrub. 

Sea Salt is terrific for your skin, especially pure sea salt from a reputable brand like the one pictured above. A natural detoxifier, sea salt helps remove toxins from the skin and exfoliates dead skin cells as you rinse it off. Unlike table salt, sea salt isn't processed in any way, and so it retains the same detoxifying properties of the salt that gathers on your skin after a dip in the ocean. 

I have also started putting jars of this at various intervals in my house, for the fragrance and for its aesthetic; a mason jar full of salts, beach glass, and shells turns your kitchen table into a beachy vacationland. 

And hey, dancers, why not? It is, after all, the off-season. 

Studio Mirrors: A Response

This post is a response to the post "Mirrors in the Studio: Do They Help or Do They Hinder?" which can be viewed here on the blog, The Healthy Dancer. 

Mirrors are part of what defines dance training. And yes, dancers are a little obsessed. They scrutinize those mirrors. No flaw goes unnoticed. Student dancers learn this behavior from older dancers, older dancers from professionals, and here is where the mirror debate begins: do we have to?

Certainly, there are students who rely too heavily upon the mirror. But that is a journey almost every young student goes through. It's one I went through, and I'm a better dancer because of it. I learned to think of my dancing in the context of the entire space, not just the flattened space in the mirror. Learning to pull my focus out of the mirror was an extremely important lesson as a student.

And so I agree with the conclusion that is made on The Healthy Dancer. The use of mirrors requires balance. Balance between looking in the mirror to correct yourself and pulling your eyes out of the mirror for stability and spacial awareness.

But there is one crucial concept that always pushes me to one side of this debate. One that for me, as a professional dancer and dance educator, is the bottom line, the final say on why mirrors belong in a studio.

When I was fifteen, I was cast as a Snowflake in The Nutcracker. The Snowflake choreography was a series of incredibly challenging corps work. The kind of work that required a type of precision, spacial awareness, and focus that on a level I had no experience with.

All the other snowflakes were older than I was, and they had done the Snow scene last year. Everyone but me knew the choreography, and most unfortunately for me, the spacing tricks to making sure we all danced as one.

I have terrible, gut-wrenching memories of being screamed at in the studio, "What are you doing? Get in line!"

Finally, by the very end of the rehearsals, I succeeded in getting through an entire rehearsal without getting yelled at or wanting to cry. It was a huge learning experience for me.

And I couldn't have done it without the mirror.

So here is the bottom line: the use of the mirror in class is one thing, and yes, it requires a delicate balance. But rehearsals are the reasons why every dance studio needs a mirror. They are essential to the professionalism that is dancing together, creating one clean line with a number of bodies.

True, professional dance is created with the space in mind. With unison, difference, movement, and stillness. With the overall look and focus intact. And this is impossible to achieve without a frame of reference.

It's impossible without a mirror.

Contemporary Dance on Wikipedia: Looking Back

Back in June, I wrote this post about amending the Contemporary Dance page on Wikipedia, and why it's important for dancers to share what they learn.

Thankfully, my edits are still there.

But there's one thing I'm not so thankful for. It's that no one else has contributed. And that's because adding information to Wikipedia isn't something that would occur to a dancer. But this is something that has to change, especially if we want funding for our companies. If we want people to know what our work really means when we say, "I'm a dancer."

So that's the point. Let's get to it, dancers. Not a whole lot of other people know as much, or care nearly as much as we do about dance.

Why SALT?

A very close friend of mine, an avid reader, whose judgement I value above many others, wanted to hear about this blog. So, I started at the beginning. 

I started at the choosing of the name "SALT" and my intentions behind it. The idea that salt is so poetically and profoundly related to the subject of dancer health. Because health for dancers is made up of more than cross-training and injury prevention alone. It's made up of a complex need to be nourished. To be nourished as an artist, and to be nourished as a human being. That's why several posts are dedicated to food. Good food. With a little salt. 

Dancer health is also made up of an unusual number of tears. And, cliched so it may be, an extraordinary amount of sweat. It's hard work. It's physically demanding, and emotionally demanding. And that's why a huge number of posts are dedicated to the complex emotional health of dancers, and a number of them also dedicated to exercise. 

I think a vital part of dancer health, that is never discussed, is the need for vacation and escape. The need for experience outside of our profession. When you've been working towards the same thing since you were five years old and "I want to be a ballerina" was an admired and childish notion, it is overwhelmingly easy to get sucked in. To forget there is a whole world outside of dance. A world you won't get to explore on the company tour. And that's why some of SALT's posts are dedicated to travel, movement, and experience outside the realm we work in. 

In my introductory post, I attempted to define these goals. And in some ways, I succeeded. But the part that my very close and trusted friend did not understand despite having read this blog, was why it isn't called "Summer Health for Dancers." It's called "SALT." 

And my friend, the avid reader, the intellectual with whom I almost always agree couldn't understand why. 

And at the beginning, I'm not sure I would have been able to answer her. Now, I know the answer. 

It goes something like this. 

When I leave the studio, it's late. It's dark. It's usually cold (although this time of year it's just the opposite.) And somehow I can't stand the idea of having to walk all the way home in the cold unless I put my headphones in. 

And with the headphones, something strange happens. 

I start walking.

I'm not the only one who would react this way. There are entire magazine articles dedicated to what songs you should listen to on your morning run, what songs to play at your party so people will get up and dance. 

So here's the thing, here's the thing that's amazing and incredibly profound despite its simplicity: we seem to all have this in common. As human beings, we share this intrinsic physical desire to move to music. 

Just like salt, which is essential to the functioning of the human body. It's a physical need. It's built in to us. 

Resources for Dancers in the Modern World

In a previous post, I spoke briefly about how information in the dance world is exchanged almost exclusively by word of mouth. So, as a dancer navigates the field and builds a career, the pool of resources grows. Dancers learn from teachers, from fellow dancers, from dance media like exploredance.com, and the various Dance Magazine publications, and to a surprising extent, from social media.

So I think that more experienced dancers have a responsibility, now that the internet has provided us with a more efficient way of exchanging information in a way that is so similar to the one we know and rely upon, word of mouth, to provide other dancers with information about the resources we discover.

In this post I'd like to focus on one resource that has changed my career: dancenyc.org. The Dance/NYC organization website provides a forum on which auditions, internships, and administrative opportunities are posted. This is where I got hooked, as a young Ailey school student, searching for audition opportunities. But lately, as I've started to write about dance as well (I write reviews for exploredance.com, as well as write passionately about dance, dancers and dance health here on this blog) and have begun to rely upon Dance/NYC Events as a way of meeting and hearing from leaders in the field.

From a journalistic point of view, especially in terms of travel journalism, dance is an unexplored and fascinating subject. And organization websites like Dance/NYC not only provide information about local audition opportunities, but also provide the backbone for credible research for local dance journalism. Dance/NYC has, for the last few years, begun conducting annual research on numbers that previously went unacknowledged. Numbers like audience increases, ticket sales, and number of tours; also less hopeful numbers. The number of unemployed dancers. The percentage of employed dancers who work outside of dance in order to support themselves. This information is, for the dance journalist, an invaluable resource.

It's also an important resource for dancers themselves. Because it's important to know how many of us are struggling. How many companies are struggling. It's important for us to know not only where the opportunities may be found, but also what they may entail. Because the economics of this business aren't what they used to be. And we need all the information we can get.

Why New York is a Good Place for Dancers

Of all the reasons to love New York, the vibrancy and cultural relevance of the performing arts is one that all of us, especially dancers, hold dear. We cherish the opportunity to work in such a place, a place that is the pinnacle of artistic creation and dance in the United States. After spending so much time away from the city after the end of the season, and returning for a brief few weeks, I discovered a new appreciation for how life in New York uniquely contributes to the life of a dancer. In New York you're surrounded by movement, by sound, and by art. It is a catalyst stick and immensely gratifying atmosphere for an artist.

Every day I am inspired simply by my commute, the movement of the trains and the poetic music of the wheels on the tracks. My favorite train ride is the one on the Q train, from Dekalb Avenue in Brooklyn to Canal Street in Manhattan. The train goes over the Manhattan Bridge, with a pulsing and ever-changing view of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan. 

Here is a video I created to capture this feeling:



 

Even when getting by on a dancer's wage in one of the most expensive cities in the United States, living here as a dancer is much more than bearable. Not only can we rely on incredible organizations like Career Transition for Dancers or the vast dance community here in the city, but we may also count on a much more important and stable resource: the fact that we are surrounded constantly by movement and sound, things that drive us as artists and creators of dance. 

A Favorite, Nutritionist-Approved Snack for Dancers

Some dancers eat whatever they want.

You wouldn't know it if you saw them. Svelte, strong, lean, long. They look like dancers. And everyone thinks they're on a diet. One dancer I know lives almost exclusively on Shake Shack and Ensure drinks. She has what most would call "the perfect dancer's body."

I am, sadly, not a member of this group. And so, over the years, I've learned to eat and exercise in a way that makes me a successful and healthy impostor. 

The two most important takeaways from these experiences so far: 

1. Eat every three hours, or four hours at most. Never go over four hours without eating. 
2. Drink 64 ounces of water each day. 

These were, for me, the hardest things to change about my eating when I made the jump from student to professional. And gradually, I've learned how to make accomplishing these things a little bit easier. One of my favorite ways is this super-healthy, protein-packed, delicious snack, approved by an expert in dancer and athlete nutrition. 

It's very simple: microwave one Garden Lites souffle (any flavor will do, the spinach is my favorite) according to the package instructions. Then spread one light Laughing Cow cheese (again, any flavor) wedge on top. That's it! 

Although in your balance you'd technically count the Garden Lites souffle as a starch serving, it comes with a little extra protein, and a little extra vegetable kick too. The laughing cow cheese balances the snack for sustained energy. 

Nutritionally, it's just a starch and a milk serving, like a snack of crackers and cheese. But the souffle is so much more delicious than most every whole grain cracker on the market. Enjoy whenever you need to eat something substantial, but don't have time for a full meal. 

Maine's Rocky Coast, Through Another Lens

A friend of ours who had stayed in our house had left us a broken blue vase, along with a note: "to make seaglass with." 

So we got on our bikes with the bag of glass, and parked them at the top of Prouts Neck. We climbed down, settled ourselves among the rocks, and threw the glass down against them and into the sea. 

I braced myself against the rock, sliding slowly down, careful not to slip. Below us, the waves threw frothy salt water onto stone. 

Making sea glass is a more violent affair than I thought it would be. As each shard of our shattered blue vase broke against the rocks below, I marveled at the simplicity of it. At how within fifty years, it would be sea glass. 

Maine's rocky coast inspires me, with its gritty rocks and salty waves. It is forever, and yet, each moment is shatteringly impermanent.