New swing of things

Feb 2, 2018 | personal

New swing of things

We’ve known this was coming for a long time now, but it finally actually happened.

January brought the start of a new dance studio, Blink Christian Performing Arts Center. It’s at our church, run by a couple who taught us previously at a different studio.

It feels like we’ve come home (and not just because our church has a huge “WELCOME HOME” on the wall of the foyer ;) ) . Melissa and Gio, the artistic directors and instructors, are that perfect blend of pushing excellence while also encouraging the joy of dancing. My kids are stretched as dancers, but are also falling in love with dance all over again.

I have the perfect role: I’m at the front desk, greeting the dancers and their parents, and getting to take pictures to give the studio. (The bulk of what gets post on Instagram is shot by me :) )

We’re so happy.

And busy. We’re making a lot of the recipes on this board, and I’ll be adding a ton more to it as I try new recipes.

Being a Misfit

Jan 4, 2018 | personal

Being a Misfit

Recently, I’ve been realizing that I’ve always felt like a little bit of a misfit.

When I was in college, I was one of a whole bunch of music education majors, but the instrumental program was much smaller than the vocal. And in the clarinet section, I was the only music major for most of my time in college. And in orchestra, I was one of two or three clarinets, so most of the directions didn’t apply to me. The bulk of the time was directed at the thousands of string instruments (okay, maybe just hundreds ;) )

I lived in Istanbul for two years. I remember walking down the street with my Turkish teacher, a petite Korean/Vietnamese lady who had lived most of her life in Istanbul, and seeing the shock on people’s faces when they heard us speaking in Turkish. I know they expected we were both tourists who couldn’t even figure out how to count their money, let alone understand what was going on around them!

Now, I’m a photographer. But I’m not like the others in the various photography groups I haunt…most focus on weddings or families. No, I do dance and only dance.

When I was thinking all this through, I started to wonder: do I ever truly fit in? And do I want to?

I think it’s possible that I actually embrace my uniqueness.

…I don’t shy away from my height or red hair like I did in high school.

…I like that we had a husky mix who was much smaller than you ever expect a husky to be.

…I don’t raise my hand when people at church ask who’s from NY, because they mean NYC and I’m most definitely from the other part of the state.

…then I wondered…does anyone feel like they truly fit in? Or is the idea of “fitting in” something that doesn’t actually exist?

And in that case, we should just rock our uniqueness. Not run from sticking out, but instead enjoy the fact that we’re different. To teach our kids that they don’t have to try to be like everyone else.

I don’t know about you, but that thought is incredibly freeing!

Getting Dance Pictures

Nov 14, 2017 | personal

Getting Dance Pictures

I have a tip for all of you moms of dancers.
No, it’s a plea.
You’re going to assume it’s because I’m a dance photographer that I wrote this. That it’s to get more money in my pocket. But no. Part of the reason I am a dance photographer is because of this very thing.
My request: order pictures of your children dancing each year.
It doesn’t matter if they didn’t like the costume that year. (Actually, that’s a point in favor of getting that particular picture. They’re going to remember how much they hated that particular costume anyhow, so this way you can all look back in 20 years to see if it was as bad as they remembered)

When I was in ballet, my studio didn’t do pictures. I’m not sure if others did at that point or if it’s because it was a small studio (we started in her basement for the first few years). But that means I have so few pictures of my time in ballet and en pointe.
And as much as I am loving being in ballet now, It’s not the same as when I was 12 and had dreams of being the next Maria Tallchief (her height inspired me tremendously).

So make sure your kids go to photo day. If you don’t do it for them now, do it for them when they’re moms and their kids start dancing and they realize that they’ve joined the generation of dance moms and that their dancing days may not be over, but will never be the same.

Tooting Your Own Horn

Aug 28, 2017 | personal

Tooting Your Own Horn

For some people, it’s as natural as breathing to talk about their passion. It seamlessly fits into every conversation and they become known for the thing they do.
For the rest of us, though, it feels like we automatically become a used car salesman if we try to mention what we love to do.

(Case in point: My children have been taking music lessons privately for 2 1/2 years. A few months ago I mentioned that I was going to teach a photography course. She had no idea I took pictures!)
There really is someplace in the middle for the rest of us.

I need to be completely honest here. This is something I’m working on myself right now. I don’t have all the answers.

But I also feel really strongly that it is important for people who know us to know what drives us. Dancers need to dance. But if people don’t know you’re a dancer, they’ll never give you those opportunities to dance. And you never know who might have a connection that could change everything!

Here are some subtle ways I’ve come up with to let people know what drives me (some days that means photography. Other days it means dancing.)

t-shirts with fun dance-related phrases (I have one that says “Dancers Are Always On Pointe” that I wear all the time)
fun travel mugs (I have one like this. It freaks me out to see “my lens” in the sink, but I love it)
Looking for opportunities to mention something about taking pictures. Not in an obnoxious way, but when it’s a natural thing to include.

I don’t start with “My name is Charla and I’m a dance photographer. Do you know anyone I could take pictures of?” but somehow I ended up with a conversation with a realtor at an open house, and 5 minutes after “how do you do” I was telling her about my Always A Dancer project and recruiting her into it. It was truly authentic, though. (when someone says “I’ve been dancing since I was 3. It never leaves you!” it would be inSANE not to follow up with the project about THAT VERY THING!)

I would love more suggestions for this list. What else can I do, or what do you do, that introduces your passion in a genuine way? Share your thoughts on Facebook or Instagram!

Hurdles

Jul 21, 2017 | personal

Hurdles

I have a draft of a blog post, all about how I’ve decided to push myself to a new and scary goal: to get to a full split.

I intended to hold onto it until I got to the full split, at which point it would be a huge celebratory post about how you can achieve whatever goals you put your mind to.

But right now I’m not feeling quite so optimistic.

I wasn’t very flexible as a kid. I never quite nailed my splits, though I worked on them week after week. (and therein is the problem: I didn’t practice them, or stretch out at all, between ballet classes. Doing them on Tuesdays and Saturdays just wasn’t enough!)

I wanted to get to a split, but I didn’t get there. I’m not sure how much of it was my body making it difficult, and how much was the fact that I didn’t practice it other than during class.

So I decided that this would be my summer. I would stretch out daily.

I recruited my kids (well, two of them: the oldest is struggling with flexibility too) to coach me and do it with me.

For the first few weeks it went great. We stretched daily and I was noticing progress.

But after 3-4 weeks, I started noticing that my hamstring was hurting if I stretched daily. So I would give it longer to recover…which messed up my rhythm.

Now I’m stretching every 2-3 days and giving my body time to recover…but last night I was disheartened to realize that I’ve lost some of my flexibility.

So now, here I am. Late July, definitely more flexible than I was when I started in early June, but nothing like where I’d hoped to achieve at this point.

I would love your comments and stories. Is this something you’ve struggled with in the past (or you still do now)? Or is there something else that you just feel like you should be able to do, but for some reason it’s a bigger hurdle than you expected? What are you doing to overcome?

I’m asking you to inspire ME today!

Simple Beginnings

Jul 14, 2017 | personal

Simple Beginnings

I bought my daughter a tutu when she was 1 1/2 because all toddler girls should own a tutu.

She adored it. She wore it all the time.

Then when she was 2 1/2, she got a leotard, skirt, and ballet slippers for Christmas. She adored those, too.

So when she was 3, we put both girls in ballet class. My eldest loved it, but my middle child was a little overwhelmed, so we let her drop out after Christmas.

The following school year, she was ready to jump back in. This time, she stuck with it.

The teacher had the other girls in class look to her to remember their steps in the recital dance. She was that confident.

…then we took a year off while we had the house on the market and moved 1200 miles away.

When we started dancing in Kissimmee, she joined ballet like she’d done in Buffalo. But when she tried a hip-hop class, something clicked. She was immediately in love.

Then, she tried tap during the summer session, and that was a magical experience too!

So when we let her try as many dance forms as we could possibly cram into our schedule this past year, she ended up choosing ALL of them. She was in 7 classes each week (thankfully overlapping with at least one other sibling).

…conclusion (it’s about time, right?) : my daughter is a dancer.

I don’t know what style will end up being her absolute favorite. I don’t know where she’ll take it and how far it will go. Maybe she’ll pursue it as her profession, and maybe she’ll decide at some point that she needs to head in a different direction.

but I suspect that, no matter what, dance will continue to have a portion of her heart for all of her life.

Why do I think that??

Because I’m her mom, and I’m exactly the same. No matter how long it’s been, ballet still draws me in.

So, as you get ready to start this coming school year, deciding on classes and schedules, try to let your heart lead. Obviously we all have limitations (schedule, budget, etc), but if there’s one thing being a dancer and dance mom has taught me, it’s that you can’t decide with your head what form(s) of dance speak to you.

What classes are you (or your children) doing this year? Keep the conversation going on Facebook or Instagram!