I'm reminded of my age when I get a knee injury so easily. Last night in rehearsal, I was demonstrating a common bend of the knee to spring up and to the side, and I felt my right knee "grab". It didn't hurt, so I kept working with the dancers. Then when I was walking toward the sound system, it twisted and gave out unexpectedly.
I went home and looked at the knee and saw redness and swelling. The redness had me worried since there might be blood in the knee. Soooooo........
Worst case scenario - it's a meniscus tear. I've had them before, and they suck. Depending on the severity of the tear, I could be out of much physical activity from 2 weeks to 6 months if surgery is needed.
Best case scenario - it's just inflammation and I can be back to my normal physical activity in a few days.
That's just what I remember from past injuries from dancing. If it continues to swell and make me immobile for the most part, I need to see a doctor.
Now, relating to the thread title, I've known for a little bit that the knees are always the first to go on a dancer. I'd accepted that as happening "someday", and that it'll be time for me to reduce my time on stage or to change my activity toward something my knees will handle. But that was when I was still leaping, twisting, spinning, reaching to the stars, extending my legs to forever.....not when I'm sitting with a swollen knee after a simple knee bend.
The reality of my age in my field is hitting me. Most professional dancers retire by 35. I'm 40, and even if the injury isn't serious, the perspective has shifted from an everlasting youthfulness, endurance, and mobility to the reality that this will end. Slowly but surely, this will end.
I will submit that aging for me isn't necessarily good OR bad. It just is. My profession has been shifting from the one leaping and bouncing around on stage to the mentor, the coach, and the one opening the doors for the next generation of performers. Although I have done many shows, there are a few that I never did that I wanted to. But instead of lamenting what "could" have been, I can look back and say that it simply "was."
It's been part of my mark in this lifetime, and truth be told the story isn't done yet. There's more I can do, however that looks, to creating magic on the stage.
.
.
.
For you, what does aging mean to you? Do you fear it? Do you embrace it? Do you simply observe?
IOW, how do you cope?
I went home and looked at the knee and saw redness and swelling. The redness had me worried since there might be blood in the knee. Soooooo........
Worst case scenario - it's a meniscus tear. I've had them before, and they suck. Depending on the severity of the tear, I could be out of much physical activity from 2 weeks to 6 months if surgery is needed.
Best case scenario - it's just inflammation and I can be back to my normal physical activity in a few days.
That's just what I remember from past injuries from dancing. If it continues to swell and make me immobile for the most part, I need to see a doctor.
Now, relating to the thread title, I've known for a little bit that the knees are always the first to go on a dancer. I'd accepted that as happening "someday", and that it'll be time for me to reduce my time on stage or to change my activity toward something my knees will handle. But that was when I was still leaping, twisting, spinning, reaching to the stars, extending my legs to forever.....not when I'm sitting with a swollen knee after a simple knee bend.
The reality of my age in my field is hitting me. Most professional dancers retire by 35. I'm 40, and even if the injury isn't serious, the perspective has shifted from an everlasting youthfulness, endurance, and mobility to the reality that this will end. Slowly but surely, this will end.
I will submit that aging for me isn't necessarily good OR bad. It just is. My profession has been shifting from the one leaping and bouncing around on stage to the mentor, the coach, and the one opening the doors for the next generation of performers. Although I have done many shows, there are a few that I never did that I wanted to. But instead of lamenting what "could" have been, I can look back and say that it simply "was."
It's been part of my mark in this lifetime, and truth be told the story isn't done yet. There's more I can do, however that looks, to creating magic on the stage.
.
.
.
For you, what does aging mean to you? Do you fear it? Do you embrace it? Do you simply observe?
IOW, how do you cope?