Trapezius Muscle Pain

And wow did I ever have that yesterday -- trapezius muscle pain and stinging -- like a swarm of bees stung me!

I don't know how else to describe it. Burning, smarting stinging in my left trapezius!

source.

 I had never experienced that in a muscle before. Usually a strained muscle would ache, spasm a bit, and respond if I used a sports ball or roller. Relief!

Not this time! I was in the middle of a task - with some repetitive motion involved. And I'd had a sensation of tightness in the muscle for few days -- or is that weeks?

You know how time flies when you're busy!

I put some Bio Freeze on it - I had the roll on or I couldn't have reached. I contemplated getting ice, but I didn't want to stop what I was doing. I could have!

Yeah, I'll fix it later right? Typical dancer think?

Anyway today I got the chance to get a half hour massage for the stinging -- which was a little better than yesterday's killer bee swarm affect - and while I was telling Shirley Martin about it I reflected on my ergonomic computer workstation at home.

O.K., I confess right now it's my couch. The Ouch Couch. I have a table set up too -- but isn't the couch more inviting most evenings?

And the ergonomic workstation design at the office? The area was built in 1999 when no one had any idea what would be required for a good layout once everything was digitalized. I've reconfigured it as best I can. But the rebuild of the room hasn't been approved lol.

So back to the couch -- I am now supported by a Sobakawa pillow and am facing forward (eliminating the twist to the thoracic spine) (oh, and neck!) and thinking how silly I am to let it get to the point where I got such trapezius muscle pain!

Here's a video by Kai Wheeler showing how to relax the trapezius - using a ball.

This type of tension release is for experienced dancers and athletes. It is not meant to replace a person consulting a chiropractor, a physiotherapist or a medical doctor.

Misty Copeland Ballerina

"African American ballerina" -- "Misty Copeland Ballerina" -- raw talent live some say!

As a phenomena, yes, but raw talent - no, that never applies to ballet! Even the twice a week recreational dancer knows that!

"Ballet" and "raw" do not go together - not with the five to ten years training required. Yet there are exceptional talents, those "born to dance" but they too have to work very hard to perform classical ballet.

Reverence Is More Than A Curtsy

Any dancer will tell you that reverence is more than a curtsy, or bow, done at the end of class.



The reverence acknowledges all the good work, the sweat, the effort put forth by the dancers, the teacher, and the pianist too. This easy and powerful read by a young ballet student in the 1940's, who is both taught and dances with the "ski's" and "ova's" from the Ballet Russes, Balanchine and American Ballet Theater is a page turner.



I read it well into the wee hours, eyes burning and feet pointing in my dreams all night. Sometimes I wake up with the Charley Horse calf cramps, which means I've been dreaming about ballet - again! (I have just come back here to add -- if you're not able to even spend $3 on a Kindle book --yes dancers go through that -- check your local library. Often books are in ebook form and you can read through your free Kindle app on computer or other device!)

Misty Copeland Tale On PBS And Netflix

A Ballerina's Tale

 Here is the link to the trailer:

This ballet documentary covers her working through an injury, retraining after surgery, and continuing to expand her career.

Her achievements in the world of ballet don't need repeating here. It is wonderful to see her reaching into television production. Ms. Copeland will be teaming up with Tracy Oliver for a dance drama series on Fox.

I look forward to more material created by real ballet professionals and not the fluff imagined by someone with no experience in the training and day to day lives of real people.

The pain, the emotional abuse, the supposed deprivation of a dancer's life can be easily "romanticized" meaning overblown and melodramatized.

There is a real history to all mentioned above, and I reflect back to "Ballerina: Sex, Scandal, and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection" by Deirdre Kelly.

The book  is an excellent read and Deirdre Kelly gives us some reflections on the history of the extremes ballerina's have been subjected to in this film, regarding body image.

And with Misty Copeland comes -- more ballet!