Thursday, June 20, 2013

Back in the Studio

Once upon a time, anyone who knew me, knew me as a dancer.  Growing up, I spent countless hours in classes and rehearsals and performances.  In high school, I danced upwards of 20 hours per week.  After college, I danced with a professional jazz company for a few years as well as taught the advanced jazz classes at a couple of studios.  My dancer life started around age 3 and ended around age 29.  At that time, I thought I'd take a break and then go back to dance with a different company, but it turned out that I just didn't miss it enough.

My first ever dance solo at age 4

Salt Creek Ballet Company Apprentices 1988

Me and Murray Phillips in "And the Winner Is..." by Susan O'Connell.

Company members as Snowflakes in The Nutcracker


Flash forward to today and almost no one I hang with knows me as a dancer, save a few friends who have been in my life for many, many years.  Life took me on a different path, one I'm enjoying immensely, as a photographer. It's been an interesting change and one I know in my heart has been the right direction for me to go.

For the past 10 years, I've sat on the Board of Directors for Salt Creek Ballet, where I danced in high school and through my first year in college.   As my photography career has developed, it allowed my love for both art forms to intersect during times when I was able to photograph the dancers during various events in support of SCB.  This week, however, I found myself back in the dance studio after more than a 12 year absence, not as a photographer but as a dancer again.


The founder of Salt Creek Ballet, Patricia Sigurdson, passed away this past March.  She had such an impact on so many of our lives and her loss has truly been felt. This Friday, we are holding a Memorial to remember, honor and celebrate Patti's life. In a brief moment of insanity, I agreed to be a part of a piece created for this special event performed by Salt Creek alumnae. Julia Rhoads, former SCB dancer and founder of an amazing dance company called Lucky Plush Productions, has put together a very creative piece following the lines of Patti's life story.  Any alumnae who wanted to participate were welcome to join in. There are about 10 of us who agreed, all from different times in SCB history.  Thankfully, Julia has kept it very simple and not too rigorous, for those of us who no longer dance on a regular basis.  I was a bit sore after rehearsal but I'm happy to report my body wasn't in nearly as much pain as I had expected.



It was wild to be in a studio again.  I felt very comfortable in the rehearsal process as it all came back to me easily with how it felt and how it works.  Watching Julia create this piece for Patti, with input from everyone in the room, was most definitely the best part of the night.  I never thought I'd be in a studio dancing again with my former co-dancers but it happened.  Life can surprise us all from time to time.




I found myself being a part of the dance, but catching so many moments where I had to resist the urge to run and get my camera.  I captured moments where I could as I wanted to share just a little peak into this really cool experience.






I can hardly wait for Friday night to see this wonderful program created in Patti's honor with multiple dancers and pieces performed in her memory.  There will be alumnae from many different years who have danced with SCB and I'm excited for the reunion I think it will be.  I'm thankful for this unique experience I get to have and for the fact that I was able to snap even a few photos to capture it.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you my sweet Daughter for posting this blog and sending me down that memory path too. Those days were so exciting and I loved watching you dance beautifully all those years. Miss it...but love that you that you have become such an amazing photographer!!

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