January 4, 2007

My Dance Goals for 2007

To participate belatedly in Natalia's Dance Carnival, I'm including below my dance goals for 2007. Natalia of Bellydance: Experiences is encouraging dance bloggers to write about their goals for the year.

My dance goals for 2007:

- Keep making progress in the different dance classes I'm taking. I've been taking jazz for about 1 1/2 years, I started modern last September and I took my very first ballet class last night. I also want to do more social dancing this year - mostly swing dancing, which has a big community in the Washington, DC area. I take modern/jazz/ballet at Joy of Motion - I've been taking modern with Helen Hayes and jazz with Tom Mayock - both excellent teachers. And I've been taking swing with Tom & Debra -- the leading swing dance instructors in the area.

- Over the next year, I'll probably devote more time to modern dance than other styles. Even though I'm very much a beginner, I feel that I'm making good progress. Helen Hayes' Beginner 2 class is a little too advanced for me, but somehow I think I'm getting the hang of it.

- I've written in the past about responsive dance environments where a dancer's movements control various external media devices in real-time. For example, a hand gesture can activate a video sequence or a musical phrase. I'd like to advance enough in modern dance by the end of the year so that I can start experimenting with different types of responsive technologies in order to get a hands-on feel for how they work.

- Finally, I'd like to stay healthy. Almost all last year I was recovering from injuring my adductors and tendons in both legs. I did a couple of months of physical therapy and I continue to do the exercises and stretching that my physical therapist taught me. So these injuries are just about healed. But I'm always overdoing it, which isn't a good idea when you're starting to dance in your 40s. So I have to force myself to increase whatever I do in small increments so that I can avoid injuries in the future.

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