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| (c) Xtraice Ecological Ice, CC Attribution 2.0 |
Once upon a time I had no idea Surya Bonaly existed and was clicking aimlessly around Pinterest (Oh, how I love me some Pinterest!) and I saw some comment about how amazing she is. What I found through some rabid searching was that Surya Bonaly shattered Olympic rules.
As it happens, Surya was a power figure skater, the kind that lands ultra athletic jumps and makes you want to cross train in skates. Expect she BACKFLIPED. On figure skates. She couldn't "legally" backflip on Olympic ice, though, because the rules require landing on one foot. But who really cares about rules in the face of super powers? Surya learned to backflip one ice and land on one foot. Yeah, and live.
The day she was on that hallowed ice Surya was having a bad time with the judges and her program so she pulled out her badass move. Commentary noted that it was all for the performance and the crowd... and that she finished with her back to the judges. They ruled the move illegal in the end, although landing it on one foot should have technically made it count. She was disqualified with dignity and the knowledge that she put one a performance true to her character.
At the end of the day, it has to matter more to perform for ourselves, competition or no. Coming off a drawn out pole, blogging, and stretching rut this message rings particularly true. I am hard pressed to find time away from my second baby (my daughter was nothing like this!) and coming back slowly is excruciating--as a dancer there is always that "audience factor." Do I measure up to my own standards is I were to watch myself dance? My friends'? The knee-jerk reaction is to say "No" and stay in that place but it's bigger than that. Dance is a living story. We need to keep telling it and we need to be true to our dancer's story.
P.S.
Did you notice the new name? "Weekend Muse" is so much more descriptive than "Weekend Crush," don't you think?
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