Sometimes you have to know when to preserve yourself. Although the shows are a mere 11 days away, I'd prefer to mark (marking is when you pretend to do the movements without doing them full out) those specific steps now rather than doing them full out and my muscle being even worse for the performances. When you have an injury it's really important to allow it to heal. If you injure yourself right before a performance and still find yourself going onstage despite it, thankfully we have those powerful adrenaline rushes to keep us going.
One year I had a fracture in my left foot that was probably the most physically painful thing I've ever gone through. I was performing Waltz of the Flowers which is a remarkably long dance. At the beginning I would step onstage and feel just fine. The adrenaline had kicked in and I hardly noticed the pain at all. As the dance continued and the adrenaline began to wear off, I could feel the fracture more and more. By the end of the dance I literally wanted to drop dead. After the performances were all through I took a much needed vacation and allowed the fracture to heal.
Injuries during a show are no fun at all but they do happen. Sometimes you can prevent them and sometimes it's just an unfortunate twist of fate. Once you've pinpointed an injury, it's crucial that you take it easy. There's NO way I'm giving up my role in the Nutcracker so for the next few days I'm going to be as cautious as I can and hopefully it'll be better in time for the show.
Thanks for reading everyone!
Ballerinablogger~
