Pins & Needles

Injuries can plague those who make a profession of repetitive movement. Dealing with physical pain and stress on the body is especially difficult in this day and age. With the advent of health care debate and expensive hospital visits, it is a struggle to get comprehensive health insurance that can cover things like acupuncture and physical therapy.

Fortunately for dancers, there are people like my acupuncture goddess and clinics like the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU. The latter has free clinic hours every Monday and Thursday, but call for an appointment, as Harkness gets booked quickly - with all the Wicked and NYC Ballet dancers that might be there when you go in for your appointment! *Harkness Center Contact: (212) 598-6022*

Dancers have the most formidable threshold for pain of any people that I know. However, it is important to be vocal about pain to your employer and to your friends, especially when it's to the point that it is changing how you live your life. It might feel like complaining (which I certainly hate to do), but you never know when you will have a friend who is the connections and compassion to help you solve your problem.

As scary as the idea of needles might sound to some people, my handsome, multitalented, deliciously tall manfriend - yes Adam, this shout out is for you - is friends with this fantastic woman who has an incredible gift for using acupuncture to heal muscle based pain. She used to be a dancer, who then worked on Wall Street for a decade or so, and now does acupuncture at incredibly discounted rates just because she genuinely cares about helping people in pain. (Her gorgeous this-is-my-dream-design-aesthetic Park Avenue apartment is certainly a testament to the fact that she doesn't need the teeny amount of money she charges per session).

Ever since I met her three weeks ago, she has managed to unravel six years of tension from a hip injury, and considerably alleviate the pain in my back. I was a bit hesitant to try something as seemingly radical as volunteering myself to be a human pin cushion, but acupuncture is actually quite calming! Not scary, not painful. It's more like an intensive deep tissue massage for an hour or so. With her practice, my outcome is not only tension relief, but hope.

Remember that your health and the functionality of your body are the foundation on which you build a dance career. If one of those pillars is not stable, the whole operation could crumble at any moment! Money is always an issue for dancers trying to make it in New York, but there are some things - especially your physical and emotional health, as well as your dance technique - that will ALWAYS be worth the investment. You can always get another job, but you can't always dance. The sooner you start taking care of yourself, the better!


Yours in balance and health,

A Broadway Baby

**Stayed tuned tomorrow for more auditioning madness with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Cutman callbacks!**